The Church since Vatican II

To say that there are opposing views on the history and progress of the Church since the Second Vatican Council would be an understatement.

There are now various groups within the Church (and outside it) with widely-differing approaches, practices and even beliefs. It seems clear that people of genuine good will have come to opposing conclusions as to the nature of developments in the 20th century Church, and the way forward from now.

Above all, we must "bear with one another" as S. Paul says somewhere. We must beware of the solemn warning of the Scriptures: If we have no charity, we are nothing, whatever our learning or experience.

On the other hand, we are not free to dismiss or wash our hands of truths which may be uncomfortable or unpleasant.

Neither are we laypeople authorised to step beyond the boundaries set by Mother Church.

We must make a personal decision to rid ourselves of disinformation if it exists, and to prioritise our time. Some simply ignore it when the crisis is all around them; others spend so much time studying the matter that they neglect their everyday Christian duties, particularly that of charity to our neighbour, or the upbringing of our children.

The Second Vatican council clearly exhorted all Catholics to make themselves adequately informed and educated about our Faith.

It is in this spirit that the Webmasters offer herewith the information and contributions to debate.

In the later Middle Ages, the Catholic Church was in an untidy, but generally confident state. There was great variety in such things as the number of Mysteries of the Rosary or Stations of the Cross; the liturgy of the Mass had become well fixed by the Ninth Century, but there were many local additions woven into it (no-one thought of removing what was already there); many things were taken for granted.

The Protestant Rebellion (known by its supporters as The Reformation) shook this state of affairs to the core. The Council of Trent addressed the problem by infallibly defining doctrine and standardising practice. One would be surprised at how much before this had been tacitly assumed, yet never actually set down officially once and for all: for example, the number and contents of the books of the Bible, the number of Sacraments, the form of the Rosary and Stations, and the compiling of a definitive catechism. All forms of the liturgy less than two hundred years old were suppressed (as they had been exposed to heretical influences, either unconsciously or by stealth) and a "default liturgy' was established, which was basically the form in the diocese of Rome, purged of many relatively recent accretions, and with judicious additions from other places. There were many reforms of practice, such as the requirement for a priest to witness a marriage, and the requirement for Confession boxes in Church to ensure privacy-with-transparency.

It would be a great mistake to believe that the enactments of the Council of Trent were pure innovations in the Church; on the contrary, it was a formal codifying of what had previously been tacitly assumed. Under the widespread threat to the integrity of the Faith, a certain happy-go-lucky attitude had to be sacrificed.

Click on the link for a one-page account of "How the Reformation Happened" in the "History" sidebar.

The Counter-Reformation of the 17th Century was one of the most fruitful periods in the history of the Church. "If only" some of these things had been done two centuries earlier ...

Now the Church entered a stable period for centuries. Meanwhile The World was undergoing a progressive rejection of all that Christendom had built, rejecting in turn The Catholic Church, the Kingship of Christ over nations, the authority of Holy Scripture itself, the Moral law, and finally the integrity of Rational Thought itself. It was Pope S. Pius X who declared definitively against this "synthesis of all heresies" which he named as "Modernism" and denounced in the strongest possible terms. He set up structures within the Church designed to counteract this most insidious of heresies, including the Oath Against Modernism to be taken by every Catholic priest.

The Second Vatican Council, the twentieth such General council in the history of the Church, was unique in many ways. Fifty years later, its definitive history is still being written.

One feature of the post-Vatican II Church is that different "camps" are now emerging. Labels that were never heard of before have become widespread. Here are some, given for ready reference, without editorial comment on the legitimacy of their position:

Charismatics: These believe in direct inspiration from the Holy Spirit.

Liberals and/or Modernists: These claim to be genuine Catholics, but have adopted the Liberal or Modernist mindset. §Please note that these and other words tend to be used fairly loosely in the English language; in Continental languages (and thought) they are more sharply defined.

"Take the word "socialism," for example; that means to some of us, first and foremost, a social ideal of brotherhood and justice. We have had our Christian socialists. On the Continent, however, Socialism is uncompromisingly anti-religious, or almost a substitute for religion, and Communism is seen as the natural development from it. [...] Liberalism [is not] the Liberal Party, or of the virtue of liberality, but [...] that religious liberalism which exalts human liberty above the claims of God or of His Church, and which Newman said it had been his life's work to combat. [...] Modernism, too, has a special meaning: not a simple urge to be up-to-date, but the particular system of ideas which was condemned by Pope St. Pius X on the grounds that, on the pretext of making Revelation acceptable to the modern mentality, it destroyed the very foundations of belief in revealed Truth. And while making these clarifications, we may mention the word "Revolution" [...] Sometimes [this refers] to the French Revolution of 1789, with its slogan of "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity"; but [it also indicates] the general revolt against the Church which made its appearance in some aspects of the Renaissance, was nurtured by the Freemasons, burst out violently in 1789, and proceeded to produce Marxist Communism. The same rejection of God and His Revelation inspires all these." (From Rev. M. Crowdy, in the Preface to "Open Letter to Confused Catholics", ISBN 0-93952-13-6).

Neo-Catholics or Novo-Catholics: (the latter is a better word) ... those who try consciously to follow and defend everything emanating from the mainstream hierarchy since Vatican II.

Traditionalists: Those who reject what they identify as illegitimate novelties in the doctrine and practice of the Church, as the invasion of Modernism, the arch-enemy of the Church.

Sedevacantists: Those who claim to be faithful Catholics, but who have formally refused to recognise the publicly-elected Pope.

Conclavists: A sub-group of the Sedevacantists, who have organised a papal conclave on their own initiative and elected another whom they acclaim as Pope.