First of all, forgive me for my English, but I am not native. I’m writing this as such because I’m moving to Twitter and English is our lingua franca. I am also writing on my phone, so please be extra lenient. Anyway…

I have recently read a book called “Infiltration”, by Dr. Taylor Marshall. It verses on the current state of the Catholic Church and on how certain events have brought it about. The Second Vatican Council is a prominent protagonist, as it should be expected.

This is what prompted me to write this very brief comment.

At least both Saint Paul VI and Saint John Paul II have either stated that the Council did not issue any extraordinary, infalible, pronouncements (1) or that it was mainly pastoral (2). If the Holy Ghost has guided the Council Fathers in this direction, who am I to give it more weight than that it actually has? As such, I am as free as I can be to disagree with its documents and its decrees in what they differ from previous teachings or phrasings.

The actual actions of Saint Paul VI attest to this fallible character, since the new mass, for example, does not follow the Council document on the Liturgy (3).

It is also interesting to notice that when Pope Francis says that the liturgical reform is irreversible (4), he is actually saying that the previously mentioned document is rather irrelevant.

Again, if the Pope can imply that one of the Council’s documents is not binding, and recall that we are talking about the text concerning the Sacred Liturgy, not some other, less important, matter, it should be sufficient for the faithful to reconsider how they look at the Council as a whole.

Summary: the Council did not make any infallible pronouncements; its decrees can, and were ignored by none other than the Pope that closed it; the following Pope insisted on its pastoral character; and the current Pope says that the resolutions that go against one of its main documents are irreversible.

Should we be more papists than the Popes?

Pedro Pulquério Vieira

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(1) https://w2.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/it/audiences/1966/documents/hf_p-vi_aud_19660112.html

(2) http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_constitutions/documents/hf_jp-ii_apc_19921011_fidei-depositum.html

(3) http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19631204_sacrosanctum-concilium_en.html

(4) https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2017/08/24/pope-francis-says-magisterial-authority-vatican-ii-liturgical-reform-irreversible