by Atila Sinke Guimarães, Michael J. Matt, John Vennari, Marian Therese Horvat, Ph.D
Chapter 1 - Status Quaestionis
- Since Vatican Council II, the Holy, Roman, Catholic and Apostolic Church has been passing through a radical change.
- Cardinal Leo Jòzef Suenens described it as the French Revolution in the Church; Cardinal Yves Congar compared it to the Communist Revolution of 1917; Fr Hans Küng affirmed that with the Council, by means of "a revolution within the order," the Church had "changed her course in an extraordinary way."
(citations available from the book)
A few notes on these men who helped shape the Council:
- Cardinal Suenens: Proponent of the so-called 'Charismatic Renewal,' opponent of Humanae Vitae (and believer that conjugal love takes precedence over procreation), at the forefront of ecumenism, proponent of collegiality, religious liberty, increased role of the laity, and relaxation of religious life rules. If there was ever a singular "poster boy" for the post-conciliar changes, it is Cardinal Suenens. He controversially wrote that the God known historically to the Catholic faith should die. (Here) He also published the following: "The Second Vatican Council marked the end of an epoch, or even several epochs, depending on one's historical perspective. It brought to a close the Constantinian era, the era of "Christendom" and the era of the "Counter-Reformation" and the era of Vatican I. In reference to that past, it marks a turning point in the history of the Church." (Co-Responsability: Dominating Idea of the Council and its Pastoral Consequences," in Theology of Renewal, Montreal: Palm Publishers, 1968, vol. II, p. 7)
- Yves Congar: Active in the ecumenical movement, Congar was once removed from teaching or publishing for a time by the Holy See, during the pontificate of Pope Pius XII. At least one of his books was placed on the Index of Banned Books by the Vatican. However, his reputation was rehabilitated, as he was made a cardinal, in 1994, by Pope John Paul II. Congar encouraged openness to ideas stemming from Protestant Christianity and has been described as the single most formative influence on Vatican II. He rejected the idea of the monarchical structure of the Church under the sovereign rule of the papacy and the notion of the "Vicar of Christ" advocating instead for collegiality and a democratic Church (Here in the book "Jean Puyo Interviews Fr. Congar"). He was one of the leading influences in the post-conciliar "humanocentric" (man focused) theology instead of theocentric (God focused); the abused terminology "human dignity" could have potentially stemmed from his ideas about turning all of the focus onto humanism versus love of neighbor for love of God.
- Hans Küng: In the late 1960s, he became the first major Roman Catholic theologian since the late 19th century Old Catholic Church schism to publicly reject the doctrine of papal infallibility. Consequently, on December 18, 1979, he was stripped of his missio canonica, his licence to teach as a Roman Catholic theologian, but carried on teaching as a tenured professor of ecumenical theology at the University of Tübingen until his retirement (Emeritierung) in 1996. To this day he remains a persistent critic of papal infallibility, which he claims is man-made (and thus reversible) rather than instituted by God. He was not excommunicated...and is considered "a Catholic priest in good standing." He appeared on the Phil Donahue Show. In October 1986, he participated in the Third Buddhist-Christian Theological Encounter held at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana. In the early 1990s, Küng initiated a project called Weltethos (Global Ethic), which is an attempt at describing what the world's religions have in common (rather than what separates them) and at drawing up a minimal code of rules of behaviour everyone can accept. He visited the nearby Beth El synagogue and spoke there on modern German-Jewish relations. In 1998, he published Dying with Dignity, co-written with Walter Jens, in which he affirms acceptance of euthanasia from a Christian viewpoint. On September 26, 2005, he had a friendly discussion about Catholic theology over dinner with Pope Benedict XVI, surprising some observers. In a 2009 interview with Le Monde, Küng deeply criticised the lifting of the excommunications on the bishops of the Society of Saint Pius X. His latest publication, Der Anfang aller Dinge (The beginning of all things), discusses the relationship between science and religion. In an analysis spanning from quantum physics to neuroscience, he comments on the current debate about evolution in the United States, dismissing those opposed to the teaching of evolution as "naive [and] un-enlightened."
- [Questions began to surface about the "purpose of the Catholic Church."] From this perspective the omnifarious glorification of God per omnia saecula saeculorum [forever and ever], we understand the salvific mission of the Catholic Church. The Glory of God and the exaltation of Holy Mother Church are her principal ends, along with the distribution of grace for the salvation of the elect.
- Innumerable times Catholics who have expressed the voice of the two-thousand-year-old tradition of the Church have directed themselves to the Chair of Peter...humbly they have begged Pope John Paul II and Paul VI to clarify the confusion that those reforms have caused and to show them how these conciliar reforms could harmonize with Catholic doctrine. However, their pleas have not been heard by the Pope or other representatives of the Church. Pope John Paul II has listened to and honored persons from the most varied of backgrounds, has been open to some of the most audacious initiatives, and has nourished certain dreams of the vanguard of progressivism. At the same time, he seems to regard with suspicion and turn his back on those who represent the Catholic tradition.
For example, while apologizing to the world for the "sins" of Catholics throughout history, he seems to have forgotten about an apology to the concerned faithful of the Church who have experienced unprecedented confusion and discouragement as a result of the Conciliar Revolution.
Unfortunately, it is not only silence that greets the voice of traditionalists. There is also a process of trying to extinguish their voice.
- Some laymen who remain faithful to the perennial teaching of the Catholic Church see themselves forced, as a question of conscience, to take a stand.
Chapter II - The Principal Initiatives That Advance the Conciliar Revolution: Secularization and Ecumenism
- Two great initiatives: secularization (ad intra), or the adaption of the Church to the modern world; and ecumenism (ad extra), or the adaptation of the Church to false religions.
1. The Revolution ad intra, or SECULARIZATION
- With his aggiornamento, John XXIII initiated the work of the adaptation of the Church to the modern world...The alleged pretext was to "bring Christ to the world," but instead what took place was the opposite: the world entered inside the Church.
- In Gaudium et Spes, we can note the euphoria and enthusiasm about the Church's union with the world that prevailed at that time.
- The modern world is the fruit of three revolutions that have aimed to destroy Christendom: The Protestant Revolution, the French Revolution, and the Communist Revolution.
- Almost everything in the modern world is different from the society inspired by the principles of the Gospel. Thus, by adapting to the modern world, the conciliar Church in truth adapted herself to the Revolution. It is not surprising that this decision has inagurated, as Paul VI termed it, the process of the autodemolition of the Church.
A. Desacralization
- Liturgical reforms have brought about the following:
1. The destruction of the altars versus Deum (turned toward God)
2. The abolition of the communion rail and discontinuing the separation etween the presbytery and the nave of the faithful
3. Doing away with the Latin and replacing it with the vernacular
4. The introduction of "dialogue" between the celebratn and the faithful which disturbs recollection, prayer, and the act of adoration
5. The continuous impoverishment of liturgical vestments, altar cloths, and linens
6. The gradual abandonment of sacred chant and music and the introduction of popular music
- In addition, Churches themselves have been despoiled:
1. The end of side altars
2. The elimination of pulpits
3. The removal of the confessionals and statues
4. The selling of the rich objects
5. The silencing of church bells and hand bells (note, he means the bells rung during the Consecration, not choir hand bells like during Novus Ordo Christmas mass)
6. The adoption of the modern architecture in the building of new edifices.
[Further damage to the ecclesial hierarchy is as follows:]
1. The bishops rejected their position as the Princes of the Church, symbolized by the abandonment of their episcopal palaces, mantles, and amethyst rings
2. Many priests put aside their cassocks, discontinued praying the Breviary, and generally mitigated the life of piety. Their promises of obedience and chastity were strongly relativized.
3. In the seminaries, the serious study of History of the Church was replaced by social studies and keeping up with teh secular daily news
4. The study of Morals was substituted in part with sex education
5. reading from the lives of the Saints was left aside to watch the latest films and television programs
6. Religious formation ceded way to a political formation
7. Spiritual direction was supplanted by psychiatric orientation
8. Recollection and asceticism were abolished
9. The study of Latin was abandoned altogether in most seminaries
10. Religious rules were either relaxed or set aside
11. Centuries-old Catholic spirituality saw itself replaced with Buddhist asceticism and the practice of yoga
*An important consequence (aka [rotten] fruit) of this desacralization has been the crisis of vocations.
B. Egalitarianism
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