“That an ecumenical council which satisfies the conditions above stated [convoked by the pope, presided over by him or his legate, the decrees of which receive the pope’s approbation] is an organ of infallibility will not be denied by anyone who admits that the Church is endowed with infallible doctrinal authority.”
This according to the Catholic Encyclopedia’s entry on Infallibility; the 1917 Catholic Encyclopedia that is.
So, what does this say about the doctrinal weight of the decrees of the Second Vatican Council, an ecumenical council that met each of the conditions thus mentioned?
Absolutely nothing, and it is precisely for this reason that it is so instructive.
You see, John XXIII’s idea of employing an ecumenical council, this most profound and solemn expression of the infallible magisterium, when nary a doctrinal crisis beset the Church, for purposes strictly pastoral, deliberately devoid of any intent whatsoever to either define doctrine or condemn error, is in itself a novelty that in a healthier ecclesial age could not but reflect poorly upon his cause.
What then is one to make of Pope John’s stewardship of the authority vested in the Petrine Office?
So, what shall we do now?
Well, if you’re a modernist hell bent on constructing the church-of-man, or an ill-formed and under-nourished Catholic who just doesn’t know any better, the answer is obvious:
Canonize the pope who lit the match to God’s House, fast track the cause of the successor who doused it with gasoline, treat the entire regrettable disaster as if it fell to earth like rain from Heaven, and await the coming of a new springtime.
Continued at Harvesting the Fruit of Vatican II
