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The Satanic "Spirit" Of Vatican II

Three possible interpretations of Vatican II

1) Introduction

The Vatican II Council was started by Pope John XXIII in 1962, and was ended by Pope Paul VI in 1965. Basically, the Pope and a bunch of Bishops got together in Rome to solve some problems and give the Catholic Church it's "roadmap" for the next few hundred years.

The product of Vatican II is mostly four documents called (in Latin): Lumen Gentium, Dei Verbum, Sacrosanctum Concilium, and Gaudium et Spes. There are also twelve less-important documents.

In this text, we're going to talk about the infamous "spirit" of Vatican II, which is a coded expression used by liberal Protestants who pretend to be Catholics (i.e. "crypto-Protestants"), when they talk about their excessively left-wing interpretation of Vatican II. We won't talk here about the other exaggeration, the excessively right-wing interpretation of so-called extreme "Traditionalists".

2) How to find the "spirit" of Vatican II

The spirit of Vatican II, canonized by Leftists.
The spirit of Vatican II, canonized by Leftists.
[Source]

If you want to find this mysterious "spirit" of Vatican II, don't waste your time reading the official documents of Vatican II! On the contrary, those official documents specifically contradict this "spirit"! This is why, inevitably, when some crypto-Protestant starts talking about the "Good Old Days" of the "spirit of Vatican II", they either abstain from actual quotes, or stick with the romantic but vague passages like the famous introduction to Gaudium et Spes:

"The joys and the hopes, the griefs and the anxieties of the men of this age [...] these are the joys and hopes, the griefs and anxieties of the followers of Christ. Indeed, nothing genuinely human fails to raise an echo in their hearts."

To actually find out what this "spirit" means, you have to go read statements written by dissident Priests and Nuns. For example, in 2006, the Canadian Religious Conference (CRC), presided by Alain Ambeault and claiming to represent 230 religious congregations throughout the country, published a 26-page open letter "To our Brother Bishops" ([broken link: www.crc-canada.org/bd/fichierNouveaute/284_1.pdf] PDF file, about 118K), which I was told was written by Father André Charron, CSC.

Their demands are based on the "spirit" of Vatican II and, as usual, revolve around 4 main objectives:

- Destruction of the leadership of Christ;
- Destruction of the Revelation of Christ;
- Destruction of the Family;
- Destruction of the Liturgy and Sacraments.

Let's look at some quotes from the CRC letter, along with quotes from actual Vatican II documents.

3) Destruction of the leadership of Christ

3.1) Satanic "spirit" on collegiality:
"4. [We regret] The eclipse or retreat of major inroads of the Vatican II Council, on collegial structure and collegiality, as proposed and adopted at that Council" (p. 22)

"1. [We regret] That often our hierarchical Church, far from the progressive statements and proposals of the Vatican II Council, still exerts a clerical, minimally synodic and minimally collegial power in leading the People of God." (p. 10)

Actual Vatican II quotes:

"But the college or body of Bishops has no authority unless it is understood together with the Roman Pontiff, the successor of Peter as its head. The Pope's power of primacy over all, both pastors and faithful, remains whole and intact. In virtue of his office, that is as Vicar of Christ and pastor of the whole Church, the Roman Pontiff has full, supreme and universal power over the Church. And he is always free to exercise this power."
Lumen Gentium, #22, §2.

"And all this teaching about the institution, the perpetuity, the meaning and reason for the sacred primacy of the Roman Pontiff and of his infallible magisterium, this Sacred Council again proposes to be firmly believed by all the faithful."
Lumen Gentium, #18, §2.

3.2) Satanic "spirit" on "autonomy" of Bishops from Rome:
"2. [We regret] The reticence of Bishops to express what could be perceived as contradicting or softening Rome's discourse." (p. 22)

Actual Vatican II quotes:

"Bishops, teaching in communion with the Roman Pontiff, are to be respected by all as witnesses to divine and Catholic truth. In matters of faith and morals, the bishops speak in the name of Christ and the faithful are to accept their teaching and adhere to it with a religious assent"
Lumen Gentium, #25, §1.

"Although the individual bishops do not enjoy the prerogative of infallibility, they nevertheless proclaim Christ's doctrine infallibly whenever, even though dispersed through the world, but still maintaining the bond of communion among themselves and with the successor of Peter, and authentically teaching matters of faith and morals, they are in agreement on one position as definitively to be held."
Lumen Gentium, #25, §2.

4) Destruction of the Revelation of Christ

4.1) Satanic "spirit" on who decides what Christ should say:
"7. [We regret] That our Church has so little influence in the great social debates, because of its conservatism and that of Rome which it supports, and also because it does not accept any dissent, even responsible dissent. It stifles its prophets..." (p. 23)

Actual Vatican II quote:

"But the task of authentically interpreting the word of God, whether written or handed on, has been entrusted exclusively to the living Magisterium of the Church, whose authority is exercised in the name of Jesus Christ. This Magisterium is not above the word of God, but serves it, teaching only what has been handed on, listening to it devoutly, guarding it scrupulously and explaining it faithfully in accord with a divine commission and with the help of the Holy Spirit, it draws from this one deposit of Faith everything which it presents for belief as divinely revealed."
Dei Verbum, #10, §2.

4.2) Satanic "spirit" on unbridled ecumenism:
"11. [We regret] The position of our Church that creates a disservice to the cause of ecumenism: a fear of dialogue with other Churches, other religions [...]" (p. 6)

Actual Vatican II quotes:

"Christ the Lord founded one Church and one Church only."
Unitatis redintegratio, #1, §1.

"Nothing is so foreign to the spirit of ecumenism as a false irenicism, in which the purity of Catholic doctrine suffers loss and its genuine and certain meaning is clouded."
Unitatis redintegratio, #11, §1.

"Common participation in worship (communicatio in sacris) which harms the unity of the Church or involves formal acceptance of error or the danger of aberration in the Faith, of scandal and indifferentism, is forbidden by divine law."
Orientalium ecclesiarum, #26.

4.3) Satanic "spirit" on the unimportance of dogma and morals:
"6. [We regret] That our Church often gives priority to the reaffirmation of dogma and traditional morals rather than listening to the people's search for meaning and journeying alongside them in the discovery of their deeper motivations." (p. 6)

Actual Vatican II quote:

"[Priests] should act toward men, not as seeking to please them, but in accord with the demands of Christian doctrine and life. They should teach them and admonish them as beloved sons, according to the words of the Apostle: «Be urgent in season, out of season, reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine»"
Presbyterorum ordinis, #6, my emphasis.

5) Destruction of the Family

5.1) Satanic "spirit" on divorce and the pill:
"1. [We regret] In terms of ethics and bioethics, the holding up of an ideal that leaves little room for advancement and progress; the defence of principles that do not reflect human experience (divorce, contraception, [...])." (p. 5)

Actual Vatican II quotes on divorce:

"For the good of the spouses and their off-springs as well as of society, the existence of the sacred bond no longer depends on human decisions alone. For, God Himself is the author of matrimony [...] Thus a heman and a woman, who by their compact of conjugal love "are no longer two, but one flesh" (Matt. 19:ff) [...] As a mutual gift of two persons, this intimate union and the good of the children impose total fidelity on the spouses and argue for an unbreakable oneness between them."
Gaudium et spes, #48, §1.

"It has always been the duty of Christian married partners but today it is the greatest part of their apostolate to manifest and prove by their own way of life the indissolubility and sacredness of the marriage bond"
Apostolicam actuositatem, #11, §3.

Actual Vatican II quotes on the pill:

"Relying on these principles, sons of the Church may not undertake methods of birth control which are found blameworthy by the teaching authority of the Church in its unfolding of the divine law."
Gaudium et spes, #51, §3.

"married love is too often profaned by excessive self-love, the worship of pleasure and illicit practices against human generation."
Gaudium et spes, #47, §2.

"For the Church is, by the will of Christ, the teacher of the truth. It is Her duty to give utterance to, and authoritatively to teach, that truth which is Christ Himself, and also to declare and confirm by Her authority those principles of the moral order which have their origins in human nature itself."
Dignitatis Humanae, #14, §3. (In other words, the Church has authority to infallibly interpret Natural Law, which includes things like contraception, abortion, etc.)

6) Destruction of the Liturgy and Sacraments

6.1) Satanic "spirit" on the general absolution:
"3. [We regret] The prohibition, by Roman authorities, from holding communal celebrations of penance with general absolution despite the fact that the People of God had expressed their positive support for this practice." (p. 14)

The Church is clearly against general absolution (See Misericordia Dei), but Vatican II doesn't say anything directly about it. There is one indirect quote, and I can't see how it could be compatible with general absolution:

"Pastors should also be mindful of how much the sacrament of Penance contributes to developing the Christian life and, therefore, should always make themselves available to hear the confessions of the faithful."
Christus Dominus, #30, §2.

6.2) Satanic "spirit" on married Priests:
"10. [We regret] The unconditional alignment of our Church with directives issued from Rome: [...] the lack of consistency in regard [...] to married priests..." (p. 6)

Actual Vatican II quote:

"[...] celibacy, which first was recommended to Priests, later in the Latin Church was imposed upon all who were to be promoted to sacred orders. This legislation, pertaining to those who are destined for the priesthood, this holy synod again approves and confirms"
Presbyterorum ordinis, #16, §3. (Note that the paragraphs just before this quote beautifully explain why priestly celibacy is such a good thing)

6.3) Satanic "spirit" on fiddling with the Liturgical texts:
"2. [We regret] The resistance of efforts to translate and update liturgical texts" (p. 14)

Actual Vatican II quote:

"Therefore no other person, even if he be a Priest, may add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy on his own authority."
Sacrosanctum Concilium, #22, §3.

7) Things missing from Vatican II

There are some common demands, made in the name of the "spirit" of Vatican II, for which the actual Vatican II documents are (as far as I know) totally silent. I have no idea how the "spirit" of Vatican II came about to support those claims, especially since the teachings of the Church are crystal-clear concerning those topics.

7.1) Satanic "spirit" on women's ordination:
"5. [We regret] That the ministerial role of women in our Church does not reflect their numerical importance in communities; that they do not have access to various decision-making processes or to all aspects of Church ministry" (p. 10)

See "Women's Ordination, Or Feminist Propaganda?"

7.2) Satanic "spirit" on homosexual attractions:
"9. [We regret] The legalistic image of the Catholic Church [...] its rigidity and its intransigent stands on sexual morals; [...] its unwelcoming attitude towards homosexuals: images and attitudes that represent a regression from the evangelical perspectives advocated by Vatican II." (p. 6)

See "A Reading List for Homosexual Persons"

8) Conclusion

The best conclusion is probably another quote from the CRC document, but this time a passage that doesn't start with "We Regret":

"1. [We hope] That the universal Church, to be prophetic, recover the spirit of Vatican II and adopt the outlook expressed in the major documents of the Council. That the Canadian Church will influence the universal Church [...]" (p. 23)

All you need is to make a few changes to that quote, like saying that it's the Universal Church which should influence the "Canadian Church", and not the other way around!

But there is one thing in that quote which is just perfect as it is, i.e. that people like Alain Ambeault and the CRC should "adopt the outlook expressed in the major documents of the [Vatican II] Council"!

9) Post-scriptum

Alain Ambeault, typical crypto-Protestant of the CRC.
Alain Ambeault, typical crypto-Protestant of the CRC.
[Source]

On March 23, 2006, I invited the following CRC members to an Internet debate, concerning their "To our Brother Bishops" letter:

Margaret Toner, SCIC; Lise Barbeau, SCSL; Louise Stafford, FSP;
Jean Bellefeuille; Mary Corbett, CND; Sheila Smith, RSCJ;
Francine Cabana; Yvette Plessis, SCSL; David Bouchard; Jacques Morin;
Denis Douville

Canadian Religious Conference
100 - 4135 rue de Rouen
Montréal, QC
H1V 1G5
Tel.: (514) 259-0856
www.crc-canada.org

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