By their fruits you shall know them (Mt 7:16). It was the hope of the council fathers, led by Pope John XXIII, that the Second Vatican Council would herald a “new Pentecost”. That has not happened. Sixty years on, it is time to consider why, and to look seriously at what has unfolded before our eyes.
One enormous change that took place was in the everyday language and tone the Church’s clerical representatives frequently use. This is not to paint all priests and religious with the same brush, which would be deeply unfair, but when one reads or listens to homilies and writings from before Vatican II compared to after, there is a marked difference. A note can be found repeatedly present in virtually all things called “Catholic” before, which suddenly, inexplicably, fades into hushed, trailing echoes afterwards: gravity.
