I just watched the first episode of a series detailing the history of the Catholic Church in my country, and hearing some of the older interviewees, I started to get a sense of the necessity of Vatican II.
Mid-20th century Catholic society was described as revolving around the church 24/7. You went to mass as often as possible, listened to Catholic radio, read the Catholic newspaper, were involved in Catholic social clubs and generally tried to gain as much indulgences as possible by praying the rosary and supporting the church in whatever way you could. Priests had an incredibly high status and their word was seen as law - it was even said that angels kneeled for them. If the priest didn't like the name you picked for your child, you'd better change it, and if it had been a little too long since your last baby, you could be sure the priest would be knocking on your door to ask when the next one's due.
This strong Catholic social life however did not have a lot of room for the catechesis of the laypeople. While latin was widely used, few really understood it well enough to follow what was going on during mass and generally there was not a lot of room for education on the how and why of the church.
Mid-episode, a brilliant Catholic writer made the point that for centuries the church had been like a snowglobe. Within it everything is rock solid and they just had to follow whatever the church laid out for them. However, with the technological innovations and societal changes, cracks started to appear in the globe until in the 60s and 70s it finally burst, leaving everyone inside it exposed to the winds of doubt that had hitherto remained outside.
It's not difficult to see how with media like the newspaper and radio, catholics started to be able to look over the hedge and get exposed to influences that weren't dictated by the church. The 20th century was also the first time where a lot of people got confronted with people, religions and philosophies outside of their country and social milieu. The pill started the sexual revolution and generally the post-war generation was much less willing to submit to authority and craved more democratic principles.
I think the church rightly judged that any sense of 'Catholic bubble' could no longer be maintained and their modus operandi had to change, leading to Vatican II.
We've all heard the horror stories of 'the spirit of Vatican II' and in the documentary it gets pointed out how the following decades let to a coarsening of society, a degradation in taste and morals and a loss of tradition. But it also gets pointed out how Catholic society became less restrictive and oppressive, people stopped being overly fearful and there was an increased notion of looking after your neighbour, be he Catholic or not.
Getting a quick snapshot of pre-VII life, I'm glad I live post-VII. Yes, in a sense our society has broken and we've been weathering a storm for the last half century, but I'm also able to follow along during mass and understand what I'm doing and why I'm doing it. Additionally, due to documents like Lumen Gentium, we have also gained incredibly possibilities and potentialities. I'm able to become catechised to a degree my ancestors could have only dreamt of. My grandfather loved studying the faith in whatever little way he could and I'm sure he would be more than overjoyed by the amount of resources we have now. Instead of simply submitting to our priest and meekly following whatever he says, we are called to - under guidance of the church - do our part to spread and maintain the faith.
Most importantly, I firmly believe that Vatican II directly lead to the resurgence we are now seeing. Laypeople have been called to emancipate themselves, to be educated and to become strong lay apostles. We directly see this in the younger generations, where they are coming or returning to the church and in full understanding submitting to what the church teaches. Where before the majority of people were Catholic because of their social milieu, we are more freely able to 'yes' to God. Despite all the confusion, hurt and chaos following Vatican II, that is an incredible gift.
In summation, I highly encourage everyone to look more into the Catholic Church pre-Vatican II. I think it will make the necessity of the council much more clear.
