By Rev. Eusebius J. Beltran

A stage of cold weather accompanied by a fresh blanket of snow cannot stifle genuine enthusiasm. Such was our experience last week at the University of Notre Dame. Hundreds of men and women, many from distant countries, had gathered for a week of intense study of the Council documents. The prophecy of Pope John was being fulfilled. In 1962 at the beginning of Vatican II, he had stated: “As the Council opens, a new day dawns in the Church, a day resplendent in radiant light.” A new day had indeed dawned and the spirit of the Council was vibrant in all present.

The Theological Conference held at Notre Dame from March 20th to 26th was a sign of the Church’s continuing renewal. Not only were the participants disposed to reexamine their inmost thoughts but everyone was prepared to listen. And when we are prepared to hear our brother, are we not prepared to hear Christ?

Each day began with a Mass of Concelebration at seven o’clock. Despite the early hour, the voices of the congregation rang out in hymns of praise. It was good to hear people from all over singing the fine traditional hymns and the new ones we had learned in our own parishes in Atlanta. The liturgy was well carried out with fine homilies, offertory processions and full participation.

The actual sessions of the Conference were conducted throughout the remainder of the morning, in the afternoon and long into the evening. It seemed to me quite fitting that the sessions were held in the University’s new “Center of Continuing Education.” The Conference was indeed a continuing education for the Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox and Jewish theologians and religious leaders who were present.

A special depth of quality was evident by the fact that many of the active participants were the same men who had labored to help produce the Council’s constitution and decrees. Archbishop Hallinan publicly thanked these men, the periti, who had been indispensable to the bishops at the Council. By their courage and zeal, they had given the bishops and the Council clearer insights and greater confidence.

In a Conference where so many contemporary Catholic theologians and religious leaders of the Protestant, Jewish and Orthodox religions are gathered, it is difficult to highlight the events without going into great detail. This conference, however, stressed that the documents of the Vatican Council direct us to service. Our theology cannot be primarily concerned with the past. It must come to grasp with the problems people face today. Guided by the Council, such theology will be more biblical and certainly more pastoral. In this light, the laymen are not looked at as appendages to the Church but as true and active members of the Christian community. And in this community, there is a universal vocation to sanctity.