Vatican II's Textual Problems: Authoritative Testimony

There are several positions regarding the Second Vatican Council and its relation the current crisis in the Church. One position states that the council is the cause of the crisis which saw the destruction of the practicing Catholic and decline in vocations. 

Another argument is that the Second Vatican Council is perfectly fine. It has some flaws like any other council, but the controversies are overblown and reactionary. The council’s documents are easy to understand and do not introduce any novel thinking or ambiguity. Instead, the real problem was caused by bad men who hijacked the council, and it simply needs to be implemented correctly.  

Still others will try convincing one’s audience that it takes 100 years to implement a council. Then there is the argument that the culture was getting so bad that it eventually became the root cause of the entire crisis in the Church. The external forces of the cultural decay slammed the Church so hard, like a castle being besieged, it eventually caused many of her members to fall away or be corrupted. 

This post is not going to analyze these arguments in any detail. Rather, we will provide documentation from those who worked at the council itself, or who were associated with it in some way. We will also throw in a few more theological opinions on the nature of the council from other scholarly sources.  

These sources will explicitly indicate that the texts of the Second Vatican Council are problematic. The texts are sometimes full of ambiguity, imprecision, silence, or badly worded explanations. All of this produces an excess number of differing interpretations, which is one of the main ingredients for confusion.

The Problems with the Luminous Mysteries

The issue of the Luminous mysteries has already been dealt with by various other outlets, most notably by Christopher Ferrara. However, we will be highlighting the most harmful aspects of this innovation by examining the opinions of Pope John Paul II in his Apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae. The Luminous mysteries are not problematic in an intrinsic sense, but their inclusion does harm to the 15 promises of Our Lady, the Psalter characteristic of Her prayer, and further feeds the mindset that we can change everything even if it is a prayer given to us by Heaven Itself. 

Outside the Church there is no Salvation: Subsistit in and Redefining "Outside"

The dogma Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus (outside the Church there is no salvation) has seen numerous interpretations as a result of the theological revolutions of the 20th century and misconceptions in the post-conciliar era. In this article we will examine the doctrine and how it relates to the nature of the Church. Included will be how the words “outside” and "inside" pertain to membership in the Church and salvation. We will also look at whether the concept of “Church of Christ” is a distinct entity from the Catholic Church. 

 

The Primary End of Marriage: A Teaching Obscured

In this article we will demonstrate that the primary end of marriage is the procreation and education of children and that this teaching has not changed. The secondary end, which consists of the mutual love and support of the spouses, is a divine precept and cannot be discarded or rendered optional. We will first examine the clear Church teaching from Popes Pius XI and Pius XII. Afterward, we will explore what the Second Vatican Council says and how the post-conciliar era presents the teaching. The clear statements of the pre-conciliar era will make way for the more obscure and ambiguous formulations of the post-conciliar era.

Pastor Aeternus, Papal Infallibility, and Modern Popes

 

Recently some Catholics are having reservations about Papal infallibility or the authority of the Holy See itself. To summarize simply, a few controversial teachings from more recent Popes are apparently in conflict with the First Vatican Council’s explanation of Papal authority. 

 

Beyond Ambiguity: Circiterisms

 

In the current malaise of the Church we often hear people talk about how ambiguity is employed in documents or speech so that it may be manipulated later by the so-called “liberals.” 

...

However, there is another tactic that the New Theologians and innovators use to try and push change. This is what Catholic philosopher Romano Amerio called, “circiterisms.” 

 

Traditionis Custodes and the Catholic Real World

  

In the Catholic Church there is currently a crisis of faith and morals. Pointing this out is about as obvious and exciting as explaining how water is wet. All the data points show a massive drop in practicing Catholics over the last 60 years, disbelief in truths such as Transubstantiation, or the embrace of evils such as contraception and an empty hell. Catholics are split on what to believe and some separate themselves from their local parish entirely. Hence, what we are seeing are several different types of divisions in the Church.