Vatican II does not teach anything infallibly

The labels which Vatican II gives to its documents

do not show that any of them teach infallibly.  These labels merely show the council’s intellectual sloppiness.

There are many superficial reasons for supposing that Vatican II infallibly teaches truth and does not teach error.  However, those suppositions are false.  There are many proofs that Vatican II’s teachings are not infallible.  For example:

  • The council does not use the necessary language showing that it speaks infallibly.

  • The council’s statements were deliberately made ambiguous and contradictory, whereas nothing which is ambiguous or contradictory can be infallible.

  • The council’s teachings are novelties, whereas it is impossible for any novelties to be infallible.

  • Even the council fathers and the popes during and after Vatican II agreed and declared that Vatican II is not infallible.

Read the full explanations of these proofs that Vatican II is not infallible, in this article: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/vatican-ii-is-not-infallible.html

Examination of another argument, viz., that certain documents of Vatican II are infallible based on their being designated as “dogmatic constitutions”.

There is another superficial argument sometimes given for supposing that Vatican II’s teachings are infallible (however much they plainly seem to contradict the truth).  

According to this argument, Vatican II must teach infallibly at least in those documents which are called “dogmatic constitutions”, e.g., the council documents called Lumen Gentium and Dei Verbum.  This argument supposes that those documents are infallible because Catholic dogma is infallible and the council’s label shows (supposedly) that those documents teach dogma.

But this supposition contains an unsupported assumption.  Vatican II labeled these documents “dogmatic constitutions” but that label does not tell us that these documents infallibly define dogma.  Those documents could be labeled “dogmatic constitutions” because they discuss dogmatic subjects without themselves infallibly defining any dogma.  

On the other hand, other Vatican II documents which are not called “dogmatic constitutions” also discuss dogmas (and teach heresies against dogmas).  Why aren’t those other documents also called “dogmatic constitutions”?  What does that label tell us, if anything?

A prominent Protestant observer at Vatican II, Dr. Robert McAfee Brown, gave his eye-witness impression regarding the labels which the council placed on its documents:

In those early days of the Council there was much discussion about the relative degree of binding authority between, say, a ‘constitution’ and a ‘decree.’  It seemed fairly clear that a ‘constitution’ was of higher authority, and it would be a wise rule of interpretation to say that the ‘constitution’ On the Church [i.e., Lumen Gentium], for example, was the context in which to understand the ‘decree’ On Ecumenism, rather than vice versa.  As it actually worked out, however, there seemed little reason by the end of the Council why The Church in the World Today [i.e., Gaudium et Spes] should be a ‘constitution’ (albeit a ‘pastoral constitution’) while the document on Missionary Activity should be a ‘decree’ or the statement on Religious Freedom a ‘declaration’.[1]

Our own research supports McAfee Brown on this historical point, viz., that there was not, and still is not, any authoritative clarity or any consistent and comprehensive rationale regarding the respective weights of the documents, based on their designated labels (viz., “dogmatic constitution”, “pastoral constitution”, “decree” or “declaration”).  This lack of clarity is exemplified in Pope Paul VI calling the Declaration on Religious Liberty “one of the greatest documents of the Council”[2] even though it has what seems to be the lower status of a “declaration”.  

This uncertainty fits with the revolutionary character of the council (and of the conciliar church since then), viz., that just like in other revolutions, much that occurs is unclear and in flux.[3] 

All Vatican II documents are evil.[4]  But regardless of whatever authority the council might be supposed to give the documents, there is no reason to suppose that their labels designate any of them as teaching infallibly, i.e., by the fact that the council teaches in a document designated as a “dogmatic constitution”.

Nothing in the conciliar church is carefully done or well thought-out.

The fruits of the conciliar church are not only evil, but are shallow.  For example, the new mass is not only a sacrilege, but its inner emptiness is obvious from its banal outward manifestations, for example:

  • Burlap vestments;  

  • Guitar-strumming folk songs;

  • Childish banners;

  • Sports equipment and breakfast cereal used in “bringing up the gifts”[5] (viz., at the new mass’s substitute for a real Offertory); and

  • Countless other banalities.  

The conciliar church is empty of meaning and is being emptied of people.  

Protestant and conciliar intellectual bankruptcy

The conciliar church is merely “warmed over” Protestantism.  As a consequence, it has no serious intellectual content (as the Protestants have none either).  Before Vatican II, any large Catholic bookstore was replete with the riches and wisdom of 2000 years of the Church, e.g., St. Thomas Aquinas, the Imitation of Christ, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, St. Augustine, Gregorian Chant, and so many other works from many centuries ago.  

By contrast, walk into a Protestant bookstore before or after Vatican II, and you would find it is full of “bestsellers” and new, short-lived titles, because Protestantism has no serious legacy to offer from its five centuries of revolutionary existence.

The conciliar church is like Protestantism.  Conciliar bookstores are full of new (post-Vatican II) offerings which are quickly replaced by the next fad-of-the-day and are forgotten.  The conciliar church has no deep and penetrating theology or philosophy.  Nothing conciliar is carefully done or well thought-out.

Under the guidance of the Holy Ghost, the Catholic Church has comprehensively worked out true theology and philosophy.  In comparison, Protestant and conciliar thinkers are “lightweights” and amateurs (as well as revolutionaries).  The edifice of Catholic intellectual patrimony, compared to Protestant and conciliar thought, is like a magnificent cathedral compared to a few sticks leaning against each other.

 

The haphazard way in which the documents of Vatican II were labeled, is an example of intellectual sloppiness and was a harbinger of what would come (and now exists) in the post-conciliar church.

Conclusion

The conciliar church does not have the answers any more than Protestantism does.  They have nothing to add or give us except harm and evil.[6]  Let us be ever grateful for the great spiritual and intellectual treasures of Catholic Tradition and enrich ourselves with them every day through study and prayer!

Catholic Candle note:

The conciliar church is Catholic in name only.  A Catholic will gradually lose his Faith if he fails to understand that.  When he hears the word “Catholic” outside of the context of genuine Traditional Catholicism, he should guard himself against conciliar poison by understanding that this word refers to anti-Catholicism.

Archbishop Lefebvre declared the conciliar church is a different, false church.[7]  The “old” SSPX faithfully taught the same truth.[8]  The “new” SSPX rejects its founder’s position and denies that the conciliar church is a separate (and false) church.[9]  The N-SSPX priests and laymen will gradually lose their Faith under that delusion.


[1]          Robert McAfee Brown, Ecumenical Revolution, Doubleday, Garden City, 1967 (2nd ed., 1969), p.176 (emphasis in original; bracketed words added for clarity).

[3]          For an explanation why revolution is always wrong, read this article: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/against-sedevacantism.html#section-6

[4]          E.g., regarding the hundreds of errors in Vatican II’s document, Lumen Gentium, as they are compared to the consistent teaching of the Fathers, Doctors and popes throughout the ages, read this article: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B49oPuI54eEGbzRhdmQ3X0Z6RFE/view 

There are about 19 errors per page in Vatican II’s document, Lumen Gentium.  Read this explanation here: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/priests/sspx-the-new-sspx-claims-archbishop-lefebvre-endorsed-vatican-iis-lumen-gentium,-as-free-of-all-errors-and-ambiguities.html#fn17


See also, e.g., regarding how Vatican II’s Dignitatis Humanae, teaches religious liberty for error and contradicts what the Catholic Church has always infallibly taught, read this article:  https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/religious-liberty-vatican-ii.html

[5]          For example, Cheerios and Chex were brought up as “gifts” during the new mass for the so-called “beatification” of Fr. Solano Casey.  Watch at minute marker 1:53:40, at this link: https://video.search.yahoo.com/search/video;_ylt=AwrBT74Jhx1aax4A8A1XNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEyZWVzMmpzBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMzBHZ0aWQDQjQ0ODNfMQRzZWMDc2M-

[6]          The conciliar church has nothing good in it.  Read the explanation of this fact here: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/nothing-good-conciliar-church.html

 

The conciliar church’s new mass never gives grace.  Read the explanation of this fact here: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/new-mass-never-grace.html

[8]          Here  are the words of the “old” SSPX (cited back to its own sources), that the conciliar church is a different and false church: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/priests/sspx-faithful-and-informed-catholics-reject-even-the-concept-of-recognition-by-modernist-rome.html

[9]          Read the “new” SSPX’s own words (cited back to its own sources) in this article: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/archbishop-lefebvre-the-conciliar-church-is-not-the-catholic-church-nor-a-mere-mindset-but-is-a-new-church.html

The “New” SSPX Follows the Conciliar Popes in Minimizing the Abuse Crisis

Catholic Candle note: Pope Pius XI declared that “purity of morals” is a “most delicate matter”.[1]  When talking about the Sixth and Ninth Commandments, the Council of Trent Catechism warns that a person sins if he does not use “great caution and prudence, and … great delicacy”.[2]  The article below attempts to use that great delicacy which God requires.

Although this article involves conciliar clergy, the inherent doubts[3] concerning their “ordinations” and “consecrations” do not mean that those clergy do not possess the jurisdiction of their offices (for governing).  For a full explanation of this principle, read this article: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/against-sedevacantism.html#section-10

Honest Catholics know that Vatican II’s promotion of laxity and “openness to the world” has caused unimaginable harm to the morals of Catholics and (indirectly) to non-Catholics.  Since Vatican II, pornography, adultery, divorce, murder of the innocent, euthanasia, unnatural impurity, rejection of the children God Wills to send, and countless other grave vices, have dramatically multiplied.

The true Catholic Church is the Light of the world[4] and anchors the world regarding morals and the Natural Law.[5]  Beginning only at Vatican II, when the Catholic Church’s human element became increasingly lax, “decent” non-Catholics began to accept a great many vices they previously rejected.  For example, “decent” non-Catholics opposed cremation and tattoos before the Vatican II revolution.[6] 

Therefore, Vatican II’s very bad fruits will continue (and worsen) until the human element of the Catholic Church rejects Vatican II and the conciliar church through Our Lady’s miraculous intervention when Russia is consecrated to Her Immaculate Heart.  

Until then, no Catholics (if they have any common sense) are surprised by additional bad fruits when they hear of them.  One such example, is the impurity crisis of conciliar “priests” abusing the innocent.  Honest and informed Catholics would never deny the problem nor deny that the conciliar revolution caused it.

So many conciliar “priests” have committed these crimes that the attorneys general of all fifty United States (Republican as well as Democrat) are investigating this abuse within their states.[7]

One might hope that the “new” SSPX, as it ought, would accuse Vatican II and its resulting conciliar church of forming the lax “priests” who commit these crimes so widely.

One might further hope that, because of this crisis, the N-SSPX would warn its followers to stay away from the conciliar church and its horrific, evil fruits.  The N-SSPX does no such thing because the N-SSPX wants to join the anti-Catholic conciliar church.

Former Pope Benedict and the N-SSPX both minimize this Abuse Crisis

The N-SSPX follows the minimizing tactics of conciliar popes.  For example, while former Pope Benedict XVI oversaw (for the Vatican) all cases worldwide of these abuse crimes committed by “priests”, he downplayed the problem by falsely claiming that in the United States “less than 1% of priests are guilty of acts of this type.”[8]

The SSPX downplays yet more extremely than former Pope Benedict by hesitating to admit that any conciliar “priests” have committed this abuse.  Here are the N-SSPX’s words: “Even if perverts or unbalanced men can be found among consecrated men …” – thereby suggesting that it is doubtful that there are any abusers at all among conciliar “priests”.[9]

Who would say “if the devil is not God” unless the person was leaving open that the devil might be God?  Likewise, why would anyone who accepts these clergy crimes as fact say “if clergy are committing these crimes”?

By supposing that no conciliar “priests” are abusers when countless priests are, the SSPX fights the truth.

Pope Francis and the N-SSPX deflect blame away from the lax, conciliar “new priesthood”.

Pope Francis deflects blame from conciliar “priests” by blaming “clericalism”, i.e., blaming a lack of power-sharing by the hierarchy.[10]  Here are Pope Francis’ words:

Clericalism, whether fostered by priests themselves or by lay persons, leads to an excision in the ecclesial body that supports and helps to perpetuate many of the evils that we are condemning today. To say ‘no’ to abuse is to say an emphatic ‘no’ to all forms of clericalism.[11]

Thus, Pope Francis blames the conciliar “priest”-abuse on (comparatively conservative) Catholics who oppose democratic decision-making in the church.  Of course, the true blame for this abuse lies with the lax, conciliar “priesthood” which Archbishop Lefebvre rejected – calling it modernist Rome’s “new priesthood”.[12]

The N-SSPX uses a tactic similar to Pope Francis’ tactic – by deflecting the blame from where it belongs, viz., the lax, conciliar “new priesthood”.  The N-SSPX blames evil media outlets, saying that any problem is only with a comparatively “tiny” group and the media have exaggerated this problem.  Here are the N-SSPX’s words:

The media attacks the Church furiously while pretending to forget that these cases, as scandalous as they may be, are only a tiny minority compared to the abuse committed by adults on children in schools, sports activities, or stepfamilies, not to mention the shady circles of fashion, the show business and the media.[13]

The N-SSPX not only deflects blame from the lax, conciliar “priesthood” – which is where the blame belongs – but the N-SSPX falsely suggests the media is the problem “if” there are any pervert-“priests” and that this abuse involves only a comparatively “tiny” minority.  

The N-SSPX also deflects blame for the abuse caused in the lax, conciliar “new priesthood”, on the grounds that godless civil society is worse.  By contrast, relatively conservative Catholic media sound the alarm about abuse in the new, conciliar priesthood:  

  • Media such as (the relatively conservative, Catholic) Lifesitenews.com reports on a new study showing the “priest”-abuse crisis is worse than “commonly thought”.[14] 

  • Media such as Lifesitenews.com report increasing statistics of abuse.  (However much abuse actually occurred in 2002, temporarily fewer abuses came to light because the abusers were scared by the lawsuits and media then.)[15]

Whereas the N-SSPX faults the media for (supposedly) exaggerating the “priest”-abuse crisis, Lifesitenews.com reports on a new study which specifically blames this abuse on the immorality of the conciliar hierarchy and the “new priesthood”, i.e., upon that fact that:

you’ve got eight times the proportion of [unnaturally impure men in the conciliar priesthood] as you do in the general population – it’s as if the priesthood becomes a particularly welcoming and enabling and encouraging population for [that kind of unnaturally impure] activity and behavior.[16]

Lifesitenews.com cited a survey in which most of the recently “ordained” conciliar “priests” disclosed the existence of a subculture and network of men at their seminaries who were steeped in unnatural impurity.[17]

This is a crisis!  Yet the N-SSPX deflects blame from the lax “new priesthood” to the media.  Pope Francis could not ask for a better partner than the N-SSPX to deflect blame from that same conciliar “new priesthood” which Archbishop Lefebvre entirely rejected.

The N-SSPX minimizes the abuse crisis by citing the lower abuse numbers from a report which conciliar “bishops” commissioned and financed.

Honest Catholics know that they cannot trust the conciliar “bishops” to protect the innocent.  Those conciliar “bishops” want to appear to defend innocent victims.  However, they never implemented the “Dallas Charter” regulations to restrain their “priests”, until the media and other external pressure drove them to do so in 2002.  Even then, the “bishops” exempted themselves from this regulation.[18]

The Ordinary of the Diocese of Burlington, VT, “bishop” Christopher Coyne, admitted (concerning his own fellow-“bishops”), that “The mistrust underlying all this was earned ….  The bishops had proven over the last two decades that they had not been able to police themselves.”[19] 

The U.S. conciliar “bishops” hired and paid for a study by John Jay College which concluded that 4% of “priests” are credibly accused of committing abuse which became public (at least eventually).[20]

A different study, not paid for by the U.S. “bishops”, concluded that the actual percentage was about 50% higher than that, i.e., about 6%.  These statistics, of course, include only abuse for which there were complaints which were made public, at least eventually.[21]  In other words, these percentages leave aside unreported as well as privately-handled abuse.

Even using the lower statistics used by the U.S. “bishops” and the N-SSPX, this abuse still shows there is a crisis.  This abuse is a type of spiritual death caused by 4% (or 6%) of the “priests” not counting (maybe much higher incidences of) unreported abuse as well as privately-handled abuse.  Doubtlessly, the victims number in the thousands or tens of thousands in the U.S. alone.

Further, the “bishops” shuffle the “priest”-abusers from parish to parish to hide the spiritual death they cause.  Also, the conciliar dioceses settle confidentially with victims, to keep this spiritual death hidden.

Let us suppose an analogous crisis of physical death:

  • Suppose there were a soft drink which was sold throughout the U.S. (and throughout the world), of which, 4% (or 6%) of the cans caused death, killing thousands or tens of thousands of persons in the U.S. alone.  

  • Suppose further the stores and the soft drink’s manufacturer moved the cans from one store to another, when the people began to notice persons dying from the soft drinks they bought at a particular store.  

  • Suppose then (like the “bishops” in the current “priest”-abuse crisis) the soft drink’s maker made confidential settlements to keep the deaths hidden from the public.

No honest person would say the type of thing which the N-SSPX says about the spiritual deaths caused by “priest”-abusers, viz., Even if there are any poison soft drink cans, the media is blowing the matter out of proportion from what is only a tiny minority of soft drink cans.

Conclusion

Plainly, the “new” SSPX is trying to ingratiate itself with the conciliar revolutionaries.  The N-SSPX minimizes the evil of the conciliar hierarchy and the lax “new priesthood”.  The “new” SSPX will say anything to have its followers accept the coming deal with modernist Rome.  This shows that you should not expect the truth from the N-SSPX.[22]


[1]          Divini Illius Magistri, (On Christian Education), Pope Pius XI, 1929, §65.  

To learn more about this grave duty to use great caution in discussing the sins against purity and to discuss them only when necessary, read this article: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/sins-caused-by-obscene-speech.html

[2]
         Warning given by the
Council of Trent Catechism in the section on the 6th Commandment.

[3]          Faithful and informed Catholics know that conciliar ordinations and consecrations are inherently doubtful and so must be treated as invalid.  For an explanation why this is true, read these articles:

[4]

          St. Matthew’s Gospel, 5:14.

[5]          The Natural Law is what we know we must do by the light of the natural reason God gave us.  One example of the Natural Law is that we must never tell a lie.  We naturally know this because we know that the purpose of speech is to convey the truth and so we naturally know that telling a lie is abusing the purpose of speech.  

Here is how St. Thomas explains what the Natural Law is:

[L]aw, being a rule and measure, can be in a person in two ways: in one way, as in him that rules and measures; in another way, as in that which is ruled and measured, since a thing is ruled and measured, in so far as it partakes of the rule or measure.  Wherefore, since all things subject to Divine providence are ruled and measured by the eternal law, as was stated above [in Summa, Ia IIae, Q.91, a.1]; it is evident that all things partake somewhat of the eternal law, in so far as, namely, from its being imprinted on them, they derive their respective inclinations to their proper acts and ends.  Now among all others, the rational creature is subject to Divine providence in the most excellent way, in so far as it partakes of a share of providence, by being provident both for itself and for others.  Wherefore it has a share of the Eternal Reason, whereby it has a natural inclination to its proper act and end: and this participation of the eternal law in the rational creature is called the natural law.  Hence the Psalmist after saying (Psalm 4:6): "Offer up the sacrifice of justice," as though someone asked what the works of justice are, adds: "Many say, Who showeth us good things?" in answer to which question he says: "The light of Thy countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us": thus implying that the light of natural reason, whereby we discern what is good and what is evil, which is the function of the natural law, is nothing else than an imprint on us of the Divine light. It is therefore evident that the natural law is nothing else than the rational creature's participation of the eternal law.

Summa, Ia IIae, Q.91, a.2, respondeo.

[8]          Words of former Pope Benedict XVI before he became pope, in November 2002, when he was in charge of all abuse cases for the Vatican, quoted from an interview here:

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/AtAGlance/USCCB_Yearly_Data_on_Accused_Priests.htm

[9]          Emphasis added.  Here is the longer quote from the SSPX:

Even if perverts or unbalanced men can be found among consecrated men, we must not lose sight of the general hypocrisy that reigns in our “liberated” societies, where everything is permitted, and the worst depravities are encouraged.  

Here is the entire N-SSPX article: https://fsspx.news/en/news-events/news/300-priests-united-states-suspected-abuse-between-1947-and-2010-40486?utm_source=Society+of+Saint+Pius+X+%7C+Newsletter&utm_campaign=9d1eca99f1-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_09_21_04_48&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8c13eb2341-9d1eca99f1-203947293 (emphasis added).

[10]          The Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s only definition of “clericalism” is “a policy of maintaining or increasing the power of a religious hierarchy”.  https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/clericalism

[12]          In his November 21, 1974 declaration of principles, Archbishop Lefebvre wrote:

We refuse, on the other hand, and have always refused to follow the Rome of neo-Modernist and neo-Protestant tendencies which were clearly evident in the Second Vatican Council and, after the Council, in all the reforms which issued from it. …

It is impossible to modify profoundly the lex orandi without modifying the lex credendi. To the Novus Ordo Missae correspond a new catechism, a new priesthood, new seminaries, a charismatic Pentecostal Church—all things opposed to orthodoxy and the perennial teaching of the Church.

This Reformation, born of Liberalism and Modernism, is poisoned through and through; it derives from heresy and ends in heresy, even if all its acts are not formally heretical. It is therefore impossible for any conscientious and faithful Catholic to espouse this Reformation or to submit to it in any way whatsoever.

http://sspx.org/en/1974-declaration-of-archbishop-lefebvre (emphasis added).

[13]          https://fsspx.news/en/news-events/news/300-priests-united-states-suspected-abuse-between-1947-and-2010-40486?utm_source=Society+of+Saint+Pius+X+%7C+Newsletter&utm_campaign=9d1eca99f1-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_09_21_04_48&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_8c13eb2341-9d1eca99f1-203947293

Here is the longer N-SSPX quote:

The Hypocrisy of the World and the Statistical Reality

Even if perverts or unbalanced men can be found among consecrated men, we must not lose sight of the general hypocrisy that reigns in our “liberated” societies, where everything is permitted, and the worst depravities are encouraged.  The media attacks the Church furiously while pretending to forget that these cases, as scandalous as they may be, are only a tiny minority compared to the abuse committed by adults on children in schools, sports activities, or stepfamilies, not to mention the shady circles of fashion, the show business and the media.

The creators of opinion, who are so careful to decry any form of amalgam on certain topics, between Islam and terrorism for example, or immigration and invasion, etc., are having a field day here.  And yet, as the blog “[], Church and Media” recalled in 2016, the most complete study on the cases of [] abuse in the Church is that of the John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the University of New York, published in February 2004.  Drawing up an inventory of all the court cases between 1950 and 2002, this study makes a strict distinction between allegations and condemnations.

Thus, out of the 4,392 allegations listed in the study, 1,021 led to police investigations resulting in only 384 criminal accusations. This enabled the blog to draw up more precise statistics on the cases of confirmed [abuse]. The numbers go from 4% of priests accused of alleged [] abuse, to 0.35% of priests actually convicted of these acts.  Of course, “in this difference, not all the priests are innocent (some are no longer alive, statute of limitations, etc.), but there are some who are innocent, for unfortunately, false testimony and defamation do exist.”  And based on the rate of convictions among the inquests that were conducted and completed without being interrupted by the statute of limitations or the death of the accused, the blog concludes that between 98.5% and 99.65% of American priests are innocent.  The black sheep represent between 0.35 and 1.5% of consecrated men. Obviously, this is still too many.

In France, statistics show, according to the National Observatory of Social Action, that in 75% of the cases recorded, abuse of minors happens in the family, and a quarter of these cases of abuse are committed by other minors.  The proportion of Catholic priests convicted and imprisoned for such acts, all sentences combined, represents 0.48% of the clergy in function, as the French Bishops’ Conference pointed out on January 23, 2017.  As serious as it may be, it remains a marginal reality, much more marginal, in any case, than the media, always ready to pounce on an opportunity to dishonor the Church, would have it.

The Church intercedes for her wounded children, not for this hypocritical and corrupt world for which Christ refused to pray (see Jn. 17:9).

Emphasis added; slightly edited (at brackets) for delicacy.

[16]          Read the longer Lifesitenews report here: https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/landmark-study-proves-homosexuality-is-strongly-linked-to-catholic-cle (bracketed synonyms substituted for delicacy).

[18]
         “The bishops specifically excluded themselves from the [2002 Dallas Charter] landmark child protection measures”.
 https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/landmark-study-proves-homosexuality-is-strongly-linked-to-catholic-cle

How to Destroy the Catholic Church (in Her Human Element)

Catholic Candle note: The article below was written by a man who has always been Traditional Catholic and who has been continually fighting liberalism since before Vatican II.

That is exactly what the Masons and the modernists did to the Catholic Church through a heresy of the Second Vatican Council – that of universal salvation, (i.e., everyone goes to heaven).  How did this heresy become respectable?  I’ll tell you how, in the context of a funeral:

  1. Draping the casket in white;

  1. Stating over and over again that the deceased is now in heaven, or “in a much better place smiling down on us,” etc.;

  1. Using the new conciliar “mass of the resurrection”;

  1. Revising the words of the Consecration of the Wine, from “many” to “all” to suggest that everyone’s sins are forgiven;

  1. Reciting the Glorious Mysteries or the conciliar Luminous Mysteries (if the family insists on prayers);

  1. There is never a request for a mass said for the soul of the deceased;

  1. The priest implies there is no need for prayers because the deceased is already in heaven;

  1. There is no need for “Christians” (i.e., heretics) to convert as they are already united to Christ in Baptism;

  1. There is no longer a need for a prayer card for the deceased because their life story on a page or two, with pictures, is “more appropriate” now.

  1. The Novus Ordo mass is a community meal and not appropriate for prayers of atonement for the sins of the deceased.  When they eliminated the traditional Catholic Requiem Mass for the salvation of the deceased, they had to point out there is no longer a need for the Requiem Mass because “everyone goes to heaven now.”[1]


With the above heresy made respectable, why is there a need to go to mass, confession, receive the sacraments, or ever go to a church, or support the Catholic Church?  Everyone goes to heaven, no doubt.  The Catholic Church is unnecessary, obsolete; there’s no need for it anymore.  To sell a product, the salesman must convince the buyer that he really needs the item being sold.  When there is no longer a need for the Catholic Church and all its regulations, sacraments, doctrines, service,
etc., it is easy to predict the Church’s substantial loss of influence and membership.


The results of this heresy – that everyone goes to heaven, and that there is no further need of the Church for salvation – can be clearly seen by comparing Catholic Church statistics for the U.S., from 1965 to 2016.  It spotlights that the Church is losing influence and that Catholics’ perceived need for the Church is greatly diminished or completely eliminated:

  1. Total priests:  58,632 to 37,192 (and these are doubtfully valid priests anyway);[2]

  1. Ordinations:  994 to 548 (and these are doubtfully valid ordinations anyway);

  1. Religious Sisters:  179,954 to 47,170;

  1. Religious Brothers:   12,271 to 4,119;

  1. Parishes without a resident priest:  549 to 3,499;

  1. Baptisms of infants: 1.31 million in 1965, to 670,481 in 2016 (and when these baptisms occur at all, they are usually delayed for months or years, as shown by the sizes of the baptismal gowns now widely sold);

  1. Marriages:  352,458 in 1965, to 145,916 in 2016; and

  1. Mass attendance:  55% to 22%.[3]

The above very, very sad and disheartening statistics indicate a real problem for those few who adhere to and live the traditional Catholic Faith.  Moreover, these statistics do not include the rampant impurity and pervasive abuse of countless victims in every diocese through the world.

Don't expect the above statistics to improve at all.  This fact of life is based on Pope Francis and church leaders criticizing traditional Catholicism.  More and more, Traditional Catholics will be considered by Church and local civil authorities to be a disruptive group that acts contrary to the lifestyle and accepted morals of the majority, and that this group must be “dealt with”. 

It might come to that.

Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven.  For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you.[4] 

Catholic Candle note: We might be in the End Times and, if we are not, there certainly seems to be a strong basis for comparing the current great apostasy to the apostasy then.

Here is the teaching of St. Ambrose, Doctor of the Church, regarding widespread apostasy in the End Times:

With so many people apostatizing from Christianity, the brightness of the faith will be dimmed by this cloud of apostasy ….

Further, when the End Times come, the Catholic Church will be persecuted everywhere.  Here is the teaching of St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church:

[Our Lord’s End Times prophesy] will come to pass when tribulations shall be so spread through the whole world that it will affect the Church (which will be persecuted in every place) and not those who will persecute her; for it is they who will say “peace and security”….

Both quoted from the Catena Aurea on St. Luke’s Gospel, ch 21, vv. 25-33, St. Thomas Aquinas, editor.

 





[1]          Here the Council of Trent interposed with a definition of Faith (Sess. XXII. can. iii) “If anyone saith, that the Mass is only a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving … but not a propitiatory sacrifice; or, that it profits only the recipient, and that it ought not to be offered for the living and the dead for sins, punishments, satisfaction, and other necessities; let him be anathema."  Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. X, pp. 16-17.

[2]          For an explanation of the inherent doubtfulness of conciliar ordinations and why every conciliar ordination must be treated as invalid, read the analysis in these articles:

[4]
        
St. Matthew’s Gospel, ch.5, vv. 10-12.

Pope Francis teaches that all general principles are relative and adjustable

 

The Catholic Church has many unchangeable, general principles which do not contain exceptions.  For example, divorced and (so-called) “re-married” Catholics are forbidden from receiving Holy Communion.

Pope Francis falsely teaches that all the Catholic Church’s general principles must be adapted to local circumstances and cultures.  Here are his words: 

[C]ultures are in fact quite diverse, and every general principle needs to be inculturated[1], if it is to be respected and applied.

Quoted from Pope Francis’s apostolic constitution, Episcopalis Communio, Sept 15, 2018, §7 (ellipse is in the original; emphasis added).

 



[1]           Inculturation is: “the adoption of the behavior patterns of the surrounding culture”.  https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Inculturation

 

It is Revolutionary for Church leaders to Hold Regular, Frequent General Councils (Synods)

The Traditional Role of General Councils in the Catholic Church

A General Council of the Catholic Church is a council called by the pope.[1] The authority of a General Council apparently does not depend on the number of bishops who attended, since Catholics have never questioned the authority of a Church Council based on the small number of bishops who attended.[2]

A General Council is a rare event.[3] In approximately 2,000 years, there have been only 21 General Councils up to, and including Vatican II.[4] A General Council is generally called to address a great crisis in the Church.[5]

 

Holding Regular, Frequent General Councils is revolutionary and is not part of Catholic Tradition.

The idea of holding regular and frequent General Councils was a novelty that was attempted once before Vatican II (in 1417), by a valid (but in some ways, evil) General Council of the Catholic Church called the Council of Constance.[6] Among other things, this council commanded frequent future councils. Here are its words:

[B]y this perpetual law, we command that, from this time on, General Councils shall be held as follows: the first within five years immediately following the close of this present council; the second within seven years of the close of the council immediately following this present council; and ever afterwards thenceforward every ten years ….[7]

Such implementation of regular, frequent General Councils was completely revolutionary in the history of the Catholic Church.[8] It is not the way that Our Lord Jesus Christ established the Church to be governed.

After the Council of Constance, the next Church Council was scheduled for five years later, as commanded by the Council of Constance. This council was to be held at Pavia, Italy (near Milan). But almost no bishops came and a plague struck that town and broke up the little group assembled for the council.[9]

As the Council of Constance ordered, the next Council (after the failed Pavia attempt) was scheduled for seven years later – to be convened in Basel, Switzerland. Id. Although this Council did convene in Basel, it was moved to Ferrara, Italy, and then moved to Florence. Id. This Council treated various business and eventually disbanded but there is no record of when or why it disbanded and there is no final Council document. Id.

In practical terms, this was the end of the Council of Constance’s legislation that regular and frequent General Councils must be convened. Strangely, the Council of Constance’s legislation (mandating regular and frequent Councils) was never formally revoked, although it was ignored after that.

 

The conciliar church has done what the Council of Constance tried to do

After Vatican II, the conciliar church began the novelty of holding General Councils/synods of “bishops”[10] about every three years.[11] These synods are called by the pope, with “bishops” chosen to represent all of the other “bishops” in the world. The legislation for these synods was decreed by Pope Paul VI in 1965, who established these synods as a new, permanent Council of “bishops”.[12] This permanent General Council/synod is designed to promote collegiality[13] and Vatican II’s false teaching that the Catholic Church has two supreme authorities.[14]

After Vatican II, the conciliar church has declared itself a “synodal church”[15] to promote collegiality and decentralization[16] in the Church, despite the truth that the Catholic Church is essentially a monarchy.

In the 52 years since Vatican II, the conciliar church has held 29 councils/synods[17], compared with the Catholic Church holding 21 Councils[18] (including Vatican II) in the roughly 2000 years before that!

 

The synods promote the evil of ecumenism

Among the many other evils of this revolutionary post-Vatican II “synodality”, is the promotion of ecumenism with false religions. The synods include as participating but non-voting “delegates” the members of various false religions, who are called “fraternal delegates”. For example, the 2015 synod included 14 such “fraternal delegates”, including heretics from Anglicanism, the Baptists, and the so-called “Orthodox” sects.[19]

 

These synods bring about evil effects

Bad trees bear only bad fruit. These revolutionary synods are bad trees which predictably bear only bad fruit. For example:

  The Amazon Synod in October 2019 promoted the policy of ordaining married men,[20] and also promoted the ordination of women. As a step in the revolutionaries’ push for female priests, the Amazon synod specifically recommended that women be ordained to the priestly minor orders of Lector and Acolyte.[21]

  The Synod on the Family promoted reception of Holy Communion by divorcées who (supposedly) “remarry”.[22]

 

Conclusion

We live in the time of the Great Apostasy. Let us always be vigilant and stand strong against the novelties of the conciliar church!

Let us thank God every day for giving us the tremendous and completely-undeserved blessing of the fully-Traditional Catholic Faith!



[1] Historian Msgr. Philip Hughes wrote a history of the Catholic Church’s 20 general councils (before Vatican II). Here is how he stated this truth:

 

Ever since the popes were first articulate about the General Council, they have claimed the right to control its action and, to take their place in it (whether personally or by legates sent in their name) or by their subsequent acceptance of the council, to give or withhold an approbation of its decisions, which stamps them as the authentic teaching of the Church of Christ. Only through their summoning it, or through their consenting to take their place at it, does the assembly of bishops become a General Council.

 

Quoted from: THE CHURCH IN CRISIS: A History of the General Councils: 325-1870, by Msgr. Philip Hughes, Hanover House, New York, ©1961, introduction (emphasis added).

 

[2] Historian Msgr. Philip Hughes wrote a history of the Catholic Church’s 20 general councils (before Vatican II). Here is how he stated this truth:

 

Nowhere in these early centuries, in fact, do we find any member of the Church questioning the truth as the General Councils have defined it. What they teach as the truth is taken to be as true as though it were a statement of Scripture itself. The question was never raised, seemingly, that the greater or smaller number of bishops who in response to the summons attended, in any way affected the peculiar authority of the General Council.

 

THE CHURCH IN CRISIS: A History of the General Councils: 325-1870, by Msgr. Philip Hughes, Hanover House, New York, ©1961, introduction (emphasis added).

 

[3] Historian Msgr. Philip Hughes wrote a history of the Catholic Church’s 20 general councils (before Vatican II). Here is how he stated this truth:

 

The General Council of the teaching Church, in all the sessions of the occasions on which it has met, in the nineteen hundred years and more of the Church’s history, has sat for perhaps thirty years in all, at most. It is an exceptional phenomenon in the life of the Church, and usually it appears in connection with some great crisis of that life.

 

THE CHURCH IN CRISIS: A History of the General Councils: 325-1870, by Msgr. Philip Hughes, Hanover House, New York, ©1961, introduction (emphasis added).

[4] The Church Councils are listed in chronological order in the table of contents of this book: THE CHURCH IN CRISIS: A History of the General Councils: 325-1870, by Msgr. Philip Hughes, Hanover House, New York, ©1961. Each Council is given its own chapter of the book.

[5] Historian Msgr. Philip Hughes wrote a history of the Catholic Church’s 20 general councils (before Vatican II). Here is how he stated this truth:

 

The General Council of the teaching Church, in all the sessions of the occasions on which it has met, in the nineteen hundred years and more of the Church’s history, has sat for perhaps thirty years in all, at most. It is an exceptional phenomenon in the life of the Church, and usually it appears in connection with some great crisis of that life.

 

THE CHURCH IN CRISIS: A History of the General Councils: 325-1870, by Msgr. Philip Hughes, Hanover House, New York, ©1961, introduction.

[6] The Council was held in the Swiss town of Constance. Though the Council of Constance was a real council of the Church, like Vatican II was, the Council of Constance taught a number of grave errors (although it did not teach those errors infallibly), just as Vatican II taught countless grave errors, but not infallibly.

 

For example, among other grave errors, the Council of Constance taught that a Church Council was superior to the pope and could punish the pope. Here are the words of that Council:

 

This holy Council of Constance … declares, in the first place, that, lawfully come together in the Holy Spirit, being a General Council and representing the Catholic Church, it holds an authority directly [derived] from Christ, which authority everyone, of whatever status or dignity, even the pope, is bound to obey in those matters concerning the faith, the extirpation of the said Schism, and the reformation of the Church in head and members. It declares, furthermore, that whoever contumeliously scorns to obey the commands and the laws of this holy council, or of any other General Council lawfully assembled [commands, etc. referring to the matters stated], he is to be duly punished, whatever his status or dignity, even though he is the pope.

 

Quotation from the Council document, Sacrosancta, from THE CHURCH IN CRISIS: A History of the General Councils: 325-1870, by Msgr. Philip Hughes, Hanover House, New York, ©1961, ch.16 (emphasis added; bracketed words in the original).

[7] Here is a longer part of the summary of this Council, given by historian, Msgr. Philip Hughes:

 

Five decrees were accordingly published on October 5, 1417. The first, and by far the most important in its consequences, is that called, from its first word, Frequens. It is a kind of practical corollary to the decree Sacrosancta already mentioned. Here is its text: "The frequent celebration of General Councils is the best of all methods for tilling the Lord’s field, and for extirpating the weeds and thorns of heresy, schisms and errors …. This it is that brings the Lord’s vineyard to the fullness of its fertility. The neglect to hold General Councils fosters and encourages all the disorders here spoken of; the history of former times and the events we ourselves are witness

to make this very evident. Therefore, by this perpetual law, we command that, from this time on, General Councils shall be held as follows: the first within five years immediately following the close of this present council; the second within seven years of the close of the council immediately following this present council; and ever afterwards thenceforward every ten years; all these councils to be held in a place which the pope is bound to announce one month before the end of the council, and with the approbation and consent of the council. Should the pope fail to do this, then the council itself is to choose the place and time. So that, in this way, by a kind of continuity, there shall always be a council in session or the expectation of a council. The term appointed for the coming council the pope may, with the consent of the cardinals, shorten, but in no case may he make it any longer."

 

Quoted from THE CHURCH IN CRISIS: A History of the General Councils: 325-1870, by Msgr. Philip Hughes, Hanover House, New York, ©1961, ch.16, at footnote 309.

 

[8] After describing the Council of Constance’s declaration that there be regular General Councils in the Catholic Church, Msgr. Hughes then adds:

 

There is no need to explain what a revolution in the government of the Church was thus attempted.

Quoted from THE CHURCH IN CRISIS: A History of the General Councils: 325-1870, by Msgr. Philip Hughes, Hanover House, New York, ©1961, ch.16.

 

[9] THE CHURCH IN CRISIS: A History of the General Councils: 325-1870, by Msgr. Philip Hughes, Hanover House, New York, ©1961, ch.17.

 

[10] We place the word “bishop” in quotation marks because conciliar ordinations and consecrations are inherently doubtful. For an explanation of this, read these articles:

 

  https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/new-ordination-doubtful.html

 

  https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B49oPuI54eEGd2RRcTFSY29EYzg/view

  https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B49oPuI54eEGZVF5cmFvMGdZM0U/view

 

However, conciliar “bishops” who are given jurisdiction (for governing) by the pope do possess this jurisdiction because this jurisdiction does not depend on the valid ordinations and consecrations of the “bishops”. A layman can wield Episcopal jurisdiction when it is given to him by the pope. For an explanation of this, read section ten of this article: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/faith/against-sedevacantism.html

[12] Here are Pope Paul VI’s words, in his legislation:

 

It was also the Ecumenical Council that gave Us the idea of permanently establishing a special Council of bishops …. We hereby erect and establish here in Rome a permanent Council of bishops for the universal Church ….

 

The Synod of Bishops, whereby bishops chosen from various parts of the world are to offer more effective assistance to the supreme Shepherd, is to be constituted in such a way that it is: a) a central ecclesiastical institution; b) representing the whole Catholic episcopate; c) of its nature perpetual; d) as for structure, carrying out its function for a time and when called upon.

Pope Paul VI , Apostolica Sollicitudo, Establishing The Synod Of Bishops For The Universal Church, 1965.

 

[13] Pope Francis described the synods as “one of the fruits of the Second Vatican Council” and “an expression of collegiality.” https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/pope-says-structures-collaboration-collegiality-need-strengthening

Similarly, Pope John Paul II referred to the Church Synod as “a particularly fruitful expression and instrument of the collegiality of bishops”. http://www.synod.va/content/synod2018/en/the-synod-of-bishops.html

 

[14] Among the many revolutionary changes made by Vatican II and the subsequent conciliar church, is the promotion the errors of collegiality and that the bishops (with the pope) is a separate supreme authority in the Church. Here is Vatican II’s revolutionary teaching that the Church has two supreme authorities:

 

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. The order of bishops, which succeeds to the college of apostles and gives this apostolic body continued existence, is also the subject of supreme and full power over the universal Church, provided we understand this body together with its head the Roman Pontiff and never without this head. … The supreme power in the universal Church, which this college enjoys, is exercised in a solemn way in an ecumenical council. … [I]t is the prerogative of the Roman Pontiff to convoke these councils, to preside over them and to confirm them. This same collegiate power can be exercised together with the pope by the bishops living in all parts of the world ….

 

Quoted from Vatican II document, Lumen Gentium, §22 (emphasis added).

 

Vatican II’s fuzzy, illogical teaching here, indicates that there are dual authorities in the Church: 1) the pope singly and 2) all the bishops together. This concept – of a double supreme authority – makes no sense, any more than two spouses can each be the head of the family, since there cannot be two greatest authorities. The conciliar church’s error of two supreme authorities in the Church is thus analogous to the false and contradictory conciliar error of “mutual submission” of spouses, as both heads of the family. (Pope John Paul II sets out this error of “mutual submission” in his encyclical, Mulieris dignitatem, §24.)

 

To read the Catholic Church’s infallible condemnations of the error of dual supreme authority in the Church, read: Lumen Gentium Annotated, by the Editors of Quanta Cura Press, © 2013, beginning on page 187. This book is available at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B49oPuI54eEGbzRhdmQ3X0Z6RFE/view (free) & at Amazon.com (sold at cost).


[15] For example, Pope Francis declared on October 17, 2015:

 

The journey of synodality is the journey that God wants from his [sic] church in the third millennium. A synodal church is a listening church, aware that listening is more than hearing. It is a reciprocal listening in which each one has something to learn.

 

Words of Pope Francis, quoted here: https://www.ncronline.org/news/vatican/pope-calls-synodal-church-listens-learns-shares-mission

 

[16] Declaring his intent to decentralize the Catholic Church, here are the words of Pope Francis, quoted in a news report:

 

“In this sense, I feel the need to move ahead with a healthy decentralization,” he [viz., Pope Francis] said. [Pope] Francis also said it was “necessary and urgent to think about a conversion of the papacy”, a possibility that was first floated by the late Pope John Paul II in 1995.

 

https://religionnews.com/2015/10/18/pope-francis-calls-for-changes-to-papacy-and-a-more-decentralized-church/ (bracketed words added for clarity).

 

[18] THE CHURCH IN CRISIS: A History of the General Councils: 325-1870, by Msgr. Philip Hughes, Hanover House, New York, ©1961, See, the table of contents and introduction.

 

[21] https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/vatican-leaves-out-call-for-womens-ministries-from-english-version-of-amazon-synods-final-doc

 

Although the conciliar hierarchy has eliminated the traditional four minor orders in the evil novus ordo “ordination” rite (for men), it is interesting that these modernists would propose those minor orders for women as a concrete step toward women’s (supposed) ordination to the priesthood.

 

The Crisis in the Church Affects Members in Different Ways

 

First:  There are the low-information Catholics who accept and obey any changes as good and worthwhile.  They fail to realize their perceived faith is meaningless, with little or no value for what counts in their hope of salvation.  It is based on the

feeling that you pray or go to Mass only if you really want to.  (If it’s “meaningful”.)  They also have a misguided understanding of obedience.

 

Second:  Members who go-along-to-get-along.  They are willing to compromise their principles and their faith, as well as to accept a liberal pastor in order to obtain the Sacraments and the Mass, no matter what the cost.  Their plan is to avoid conflict, overlook gradualism, and to be highly thought of.  They don’t want to give up friendships or family ties.  They refuse to believe their compromises will greatly weaken their faith.  They (mistakenly) believe God will understand.  They take comfort in numbers for there are a great many with them on the wide, smooth path to perdition that they travel.  They fail to do any research on the crisis for fear they will find they are wrong and therefore must re-think the direction they are headed.   

 

Third: Members who are uncompromising and are devastated by the very disastrous changes caused by Vatican II and post-VC II additional and even more harmful changes.  These members realize just how destructive the changes have been to a point that it seems there is no longer a recognizable Catholic Church.  The conciliar hierarchy has taken the lead in seeking to destroy all worthwhile Catholic attributes and religious communities.  It seems that the Catholic Church has evolved into an anti-Catholic Conciliar church.  They have also eliminated the traditional Catholic Sacraments and the Tridentine Mass, founded by Christ, and replaced them with the conciliar (anti-Catholic) “sacraments” and the Novus Ordo “Mass”, which fail to give grace.  It’s easy to see that the Masons’ Vatican II plan is working.

 

Our Blessed Mother at Fatima stated that there would be a time when we will have only her Immaculate Heart and the Rosary.  It’s surely beginning to look like today is the time she was referring to.  We in the true Resistance know how hard it already is to find an uncompromising Catholic priest or parish, and I can assure you it will be almost impossible to find them in the future.

 

It is hard to believe that, in the human element of the Church, the traditional uncompromising Catholic Faith could fall so fast and so far in such a relatively short time.  Actually, it is understandable when we consider that the Conciliar church “sacraments” and “mass” fail to give grace.  I attribute that to little concern regarding the manifest liberal gradualism that has been promoted by the human element in Rome and local dioceses.  This liberalism started with John XXIII, the weak pope responsible for calling VC II.  It also proves God will not take away one’s free will, even if it is against His Mystical Body, the Catholic Church.

 

The conciliar corruption spread beyond the visible Catholic Church.  It has also adversely affected Culture throughout the world, education, Catholic influence, music, entertainment, the family, health, etc., etc.  Yes, every aspect of life.  And that’s all to be expected, considering the strong Masonic influence in Vatican II, and the implementation of their plan that followed.

 

Don’t despair.  God is still in charge, with the correction coming in His own good time.  Meanwhile, we in the real Resistance must pray every day for the consecration of Russia to Mary’s Immaculate Heart, and to stand strong and uncompromising for Christ the King.  I’m sure we will receive extra graces to help us to remain confident and to succeed.

 

 

 

 

 

The Evils of Vatican II’s Decree On Priestly Training

There are no good documents of Vatican II

Vatican II is a bad tree which cannot bear good fruit

One of the sixteen documents of Vatican II is a short decree On Priestly Training (called Optatam Totius).[1] 

Although the decree is short – fewer than 5,000 words and roughly seven typed pages – the decree is also too long.  Like the other documents of Vatican II, it is full of trite, empty statements and the reader quickly experiences an almost overwhelming urge to either stop reading or to at least begin skimming.  

Here are a few mind-numbing examples from the decree, which we first summarize and then quote from the decree:

  • Seminaries are important:

“[T]his sacred synod … proclaims the extreme importance of priestly

training.”[2]

  • The bishops must help:

“Bishops … must assist without stint those whom they have judged to be called to the Lord's work.”[3]

  • Be organized and use what is appropriate:

“The synod [viz., Vatican II] moreover orders that the entire pastoral activity of fostering vocations be methodically and coherently planned and, with equal prudence and zeal, fostered by those organizations for promoting vocations which, in accord with the appropriate pontifical documents, have already been or will be set up in the territory of individual dioceses, regions or countries.”[4] 

  • Use age-appropriate materials:

“In minor seminaries … the students should be prepared by special religious formation, particularly through appropriate spiritual direction … and …  their daily routine should be in accord with the age, the character and the stage of development of adolescence.”[5]   

  • Guide the youth with care:

“Teachers and all those who are in any way in charge of the training of boys and young men, especially Catholic associations, should carefully guide the young people entrusted to them so that these will recognize and freely accept a divine vocation.”[6]

Optatam Totius is relatively unknown and seems to have had almost no impact

If the world is likened to a pond, Vatican II’s decree On Religious Liberty would be like a refrigerator-size rock plunging into the pond.  This is because, just as that huge rock would send violent waves throughout the whole pond, likewise the decree On Religious Liberty caused tremendous, revolutionary upheaval throughout the whole world.

By contrast, the decree On Priestly Training would be like a small pebble falling into the pond because the pebble would be hardly noticed, as seems true of that decree.

Optatam Totius is seemingly a shrewd choice for pseudo-conservatives to use to claim the existence of a (supposedly) “good” document of Vatican II

Few Traditional Catholics have ever read the decree On Priestly Training.  Because it is so unknown and seemingly has had very little impact, the pseudo-conservative wing of the conciliar revolution (e.g., the N-SSPX) uses this decree as an example of a (supposed) “good” document of Vatican II.  

To support the N-SSPX’s position that “there is no doubt that many Vatican II texts are traditional”[7], the N-SSPX needs an example of a document of Vatican II which is (supposedly) traditional.  Thus, the N-SSPX uses On Priestly Training as a supposed good (traditional) document.

Here are the N-SSPX’s words from its Catechism of the Crisis in the Church:

        [Q.] Should all of the Vatican II documents be rejected?

[A.] The documents of Vatican II can be divided into three groups: 1) Some are acceptable because they are in conformity with Catholic doctrine, as for example the decree on the formation of priests; 2) others are equivocal, that is they can be understood correctly, but can also be interpreted erroneously; and 3) some cannot be understood in an orthodox way ….[8]

Notice that the N-SSPX asserts that the decree On Priestly Training is unequivocally (i.e., unambiguously) good; i.e., it is not in the second group of documents which are ambiguous.

Below, let us examine Vatican II’s decree On Priestly Training, which the “new” SSPX claims to be unambiguously good.  The principal errors of the decree On Priestly Training can be divided into nine types:

  1. Vatican II’s decree On Priestly Training promotes the false, modern pseudo-science of sociology;

  1. Vatican II’s decree On Priestly Training promotes the evil of modern psychology;

  1. Vatican II’s decree On Priestly Training promotes false, modern pedagogy;

  1. Vatican II’s decree On Priestly Training promotes the conciliar novelty of emphasis on the “paschal mystery” of the New Theology;

  1. The decree On Priestly Training is evil by incorporating the errors of other documents of Vatican II;

  1. Vatican II’s decree On Priestly Training promotes the conciliar novelty of permanent, standing conferences of bishops;

  1. The decree On Priestly Training is evil because it orders seminarians be formed into men of dialogue;

  1. The decree On Priestly Training is evil because it promotes conciliar ideas through promoting conciliar terminology; and

  1. The decree On Priestly Training is evil because it promotes modern philosophy.

Below, we examine each of these nine types of errors.

  1. Vatican II’s Decree On Priestly Training promotes the Modern Pseudo-Science of Sociology

The council declares that seminary training henceforth must use modern sociology.  Here are the council’s words:

 

“[N]o opportune aids are to be overlooked which modern psychological and sociological research has brought to light.”[9]

Sociology is a social science that studies human societies, their interactions, and the processes that preserve and change them.[10]  In a general way, this type of philosophical study has occurred for millennia and can be good and true.  However, modern sociology as a separate science (and given the new name “sociology”) was invented in the two centuries before Vatican II[11] and is one of the false “sciences” arising out of the evil (so-called) Enlightenment.[12] 

This modern sociology is a pseudo-science which was a fad at the time of Vatican II and was a darling of the modernists who ran the council.  One of modern sociology’s main theories is “Social Darwinism” which treats the behavior of people according to the false, anti-Catholic, evolutionary theories which Charles Darwin promoted for biology.[13]

It is easy to see why the conciliar modernists would promote sociology because both modernism and sociology are evolutionary:

  • sociology (“Social Darwinism”) embraces a false theory of social evolution; whereas

  • modernism embraces the false theory of the evolution of truth (including, of Catholic dogma).

Besides all of Darwin’s other errors regarding biological evolution, sociology adds the further error of applying these false principles to the choices of man himself, who has a free will.

Sociology teaches that God and morals are invented by society and that all morals are relativistic.[14]

Two of sociology’s other main theories are Karl Marx’s false economic determinism and inevitable class conflict.[15]   Sociologists saw the 1960s civil rights movement and the 1970s anti-war movement as class conflicts that were part of sociology’s general, neo-Marxist, class-conflict theory.[16]

Besides Vatican II promoting sociology for seminary training, the decree On Priestly Training implicitly promotes this false, corrupting, and anti-Catholic “science” not just for seminary training but for use in education more broadly throughout society (because sociology must be good to study more broadly, since the council directs that it be used for seminarians.)

  1. Vatican II’s Decree On Priestly Training promotes the Evil of Modern Psychology

The council declares that seminary training henceforth must use modern psychology.  Here are the council’s words:

 

“[N]o opportune aids are to be overlooked which modern psychological and sociological research has brought to light.”[17]  …

In seminaries, the “norms of Christian education are to be religiously observed and properly complemented by the newer findings of sound psychology and pedagogy"[18]   

Modern psychology arises from the false, so-called Enlightenment philosophers.[19]

In the first half of the 20th Century, in the run-up to Vatican II, modern psychology was dominated by Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung,[20] who have done incalculable harm by their false theories of psychology.  Freud was anti-Catholic (he despised organized religion[21]) and promoted obsessive, anti-Catholic theories which attacked the Sixth Commandment.  Jung was an irreligious man[22] who promoted many false ideas such as the “collective unconscious”.[23]

The “science” of modern psychology accepts neither the existence of the immortal soul nor anything which is properly supernatural.  It reduces everything to one of the body’s biological functions or to some other material cause.[24] 

Besides Vatican II promoting modern psychology for seminary training, the decree On Priestly Training implicitly promotes this false science not just for seminary training but for use in education more broadly throughout society (because modern psychology must be good, since the council directs that it be used for seminarians.)

  1. Vatican II’s Decree On Priestly Training promotes False Modern Pedagogy

Pedagogy is the theory and practice of teaching and learning.[25]

Whereas, the Council of Trent, wisely required the use of the traditional liberal arts among other traditional methods of education[26], by contrast, Vatican II requires that seminaries use the new theories of education (pedagogy).  Here are the council’s words:

In seminaries, the “norms of Christian education are to be religiously observed and properly complemented by the newer findings of sound psychology and pedagogy[27] 

Thus, the decree On Priestly Training requires that seminaries use the new approaches or theories of teaching and learning.

The 20th Century theories of education (pedagogy) were heavily influenced by the same false philosophers of the so-called Enlightenment which influenced modern psychology.[28]

The “newer” pedagogy contains much that is strange and a lot which was a fad in the years before Vatican II, some of which is so ephemeral that it soon fell out of fashion.  Although there is no definition of what constitutes “newer” pedagogy, here are some of the weird, fad theories which are included: 

The newer pedagogy called “progressive education” deemphasized praising students, and deemphasized giving academic grades and awards.  This new approach emphasized basing activities on the interests of the student rather than basing them on the traditional wisdom and the teachers’ own understanding of what is best for the students.[29] 

John Dewey is one of the most famous (or infamous) proponents of new pedagogical theories.  His theories received much attention and were fashionable especially in the United States.[30]  Dewey rejected moral absolutes in favor of pragmatism (which gave rise to the heresy of situation ethics).[31]  According to Dewey, education is the “participation of the individual in the social consciousness of the race”.[32]  Among Dewey’s innovations was his idea of having his students make breakfast as a means of learning biology, chemistry and physics.[33] 

Another newer pedagogy was that of Helen Parkhurst.  In her ideas (which were implemented throughout the world):

[L]earning became the students’ own work; they could carry out their work independently, work at their own pace and plan their work themselves.  The classroom turned into a laboratory, a place where students are working, furnished and equipped as work spaces, tailored to meet the requirements of specific subjects.  Useful and attractive learning materials, instruments and reference books were put within the students’ reach.  The benches were replaced by large tables to facilitate co-operation and group instruction.  This second experiment formed the basis for the next experiments, those in Dalton and New York, from 1919 onwards.  The only addition was the use of graphs, charts enabling students to keep track of their own progress in each subject ….[34]

There were many other new theories of pedagogy (education).  It is enough to see that there is much that is weird, bad, and experimental in the motley group of often-contradictory pedagogic theories which Vatican II broadly endorsed without distinction and blamably required to be used.

As with Vatican II promoting modern psychology and sociology for seminary training, the decree On Priestly Training implicitly promotes these false newer theories of pedagogy for use in education more broadly throughout society (because modern pedagogy must be good, since the council directs that it be used for seminarians.)

  1. Vatican II’s Decree On Priestly Training promotes the Conciliar Novelty of Emphasis on the “Paschal Mystery”

Vatican II’s decree On Priestly Training declares that seminarians should be formed to “live His [i.e., Christ’s] paschal mystery themselves that they can initiate into it the flock committed to them”.[35]

This is a reference to and a promotion of, the new conciliar theology of the “paschal mystery” which is promoted more fully in the council’s decree, Sacrosanctum Concilium.  Here is how Si Si No No explained this heterodox theology in 2003:

Vatican II officially adopted the obscurantist idea of the “Paschal mystery”, the battering ram of the “New Theology”.  Redemption is realized principally “in the paschal mystery of the passion, resurrection and ascension” of Christ (Sacrosanctum Concilium §5). Therefore, redemption is no longer principally the result from the Crucifixion’s value as an expiatory sacrifice by which Divine justice was satisfied.  Moreover, the Holy Mass is identified with the “Paschal Mystery”.  The Council declared that the Church, from its beginning, was always brought together in an assembly “to celebrate the Paschal mystery” [Sacrosanctum Concilium §6] and that she “celebrates the Paschal mystery every seventh day” [Sacrosanctum Concilium §106]”.[36]

The “old” SSPX warned (in the words below) that the phrase “Paschal Mystery” promotes the heretical “new theology”:

  • [T]his substitution of the paschal mystery for the Redemption, [is] taught by Vatican II, the New Mass, the 1992 Catechism of the Catholic Church, and every single one of Pope John Paul II's encyclicals.  …

  • [T]he Redemption is simply the full manifestation of God's infinite love and mercy by the Passion and Resurrection, but mainly by the Resurrection. The Cross is thus simply “the sign of God’s universal love” (Nostra Aetate §4). Sin is not an injustice, nor is there any debt of punishment owed for it, nor must we do penance for it, nor is the Cross an act of satisfaction, nor consequently is the Mass a propitiatory sacrifice. The Eucharist is simply a manifestation of God's goodness, a “mystery of light” (§62) as the Pope is proud to call it.[37]

  1. The Decree On Priestly Training is Evil by incorporating the Errors of other Documents of Vatican II

In the decree On Priestly Training, the council requires that seminarians be taught the (false) doctrine of the other documents of Vatican II.  The decree incorporates those evil novelties by reference:

[T]his sacred synod … lays down certain basic principles … by which those new elements can be added which correspond to the constitutions and decrees of this sacred council[38] … [to ensure that in the future, priests would be formed] in the spirit of the renewal promoted by this sacred synod.”[39] 

The decree On Priestly Training specifically requires teaching seminarians to appreciate the good in non-Catholic religions:

Let them also be introduced to a knowledge of other religions which are more widespread in individual regions, so that they may acknowledge more correctly what truth and goodness these religions, in God's providence, possess, and so that they may learn to refute their errors and be able to communicate the full light of truth to those who do not have it.[40]

The decree On Priestly Training specifically requires indoctrinating seminarians with ecumenism so they can be ecumenical change-agents:

The circumstances of various regions being duly considered, students are to be brought to a fuller understanding of the churches and ecclesial communities separated from the Apostolic Roman See, so that they may be able to contribute to the work of re-establishing unity among all Christians according to the prescriptions of this holy synod.[41]

The decree On Priestly Training specifically incorporates Vatican II’s errors concerning the Church:

The students should be so saturated with the mystery of the Church, especially as described by this sacred synod,[42]

The decree On Priestly Training specifically incorporates the errors of other documents of Vatican II:

[The] teaching of canon law and of Church history should take into account the mystery of the Church, according to the dogmatic constitution “De Ecclesia” promulgated by this sacred synod.  Sacred liturgy, which is to be considered as the primary and indispensable source of the truly Christian spirit, should be taught according to the mind of articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy.[43]

  1. Vatican II’s Decree On Priestly Training promotes the conciliar novelty of permanent, standing conferences of bishops

The conciliar church promotes the novelty of permanent, standing conferences of bishops for each country.  This one innovation works two types of evil:

  • it serves to weaken the traditional authority of the bishop in his own diocese by taking away (or appearing to take away) his authority; and

  • it promotes the bishops collectively as a collegial[44] or corporate authority, as does Vatican II’s declaration that the bishops collectively are a second supreme authority in the Church.[45]

Here are the council’s words, giving authority to such standing conferences[46] of bishops (which then required that such conferences must be created):

  • “Since priestly training, because of the circumstances particularly of contemporary society, must be pursued and perfected even after the completion of the course of studies in seminaries, it will be the responsibility of episcopal conferences in individual nations to employ suitable means to this end.”[47]

  • “a special ‘program of priestly training’ … must be set up by the episcopal conferences ….”[48] 

Pope Paul VI implemented this novelty by ordering the bishops of every country or territory which has not already formed a bishops’ conference, to do so immediately.[49] 

In the history of the Church, a bishops’ conference had been an occasional event usually responding to a special, grave problem that those particular bishops shared.  After Vatican II, bishops’ conferences became permanent standing bodies with regular and frequent meetings.[50]

  1. The decree On Priestly Training is Evil because it orders Seminarians be formed into Men of Dialogue

Dialogue is the exchange of ideas and opinions, not emphasizing the truth.  Truth is secondary to this exchange.  Instead of seminarians being prepared to teach the truth, in season and out of season[51], the council orders that they be trained to dialogue.  Here are the council’s words:

In general, those capabilities are to be developed in the students which especially contribute to dialogue with men ….[52] 

The net result should be that the students, correctly understanding the characteristics of the contemporary mind, will be duly prepared for dialogue with men of their time. The history of philosophy should be so taught that the students, while reaching the ultimate principles of the various systems, will hold on to what is proven to be true therein and will be able to detect the roots of errors and to refute them.[53]

  1. The Decree On Priestly Training is Evil because it promotes Conciliar Ideas through promoting Conciliar Terminology

The decree uses language of the modernist innovators, such as “ministry of the word” and “ministry of worship and of sanctification”.[54]

The decree uses the phrase, the “People of God”.[55]  This is an ecumenical term which the conciliar modernists obtained from a Lutheran heretic and is also a term used by the conciliar church to promote a non-hierarchical church.[56]

By using such modern jargon of the New Theology, the decree is promoting those ideas.

  1. The Decree On Priestly Training is Evil because it Promotes Modern Philosophy

The Catholic Church has only one philosophy, that of St. Thomas Aquinas.[57]  It is especially suited for our times[58].

Vatican II turns this upside down, by ordering that seminarians be taught modern philosophy.

Seminarians should take into account modern philosophy ….[59] 

It would be naïve to think that the council merely intended the seminarians to be taught how to refute the errors of modern philosophy.  The council requires that the seminarians be taught the truth of the multiple philosophical systems (plural).  Here are the council’s words:

The history of philosophy should be so taught that the students, while reaching the ultimate principles of the various systems, will hold on to what is proven to be true therein and will be able to detect the roots of errors and to refute them.[60]

It is not surprising that the council would give a broad endorsement to (false) modern philosophical systems.  Various council fathers themselves already adhered to false philosophies, e.g., Cardinal Karol Wojtyla (Pope John Paul II) adhered to the false philosophy of personalism.

There are so many false, contradictory, and anti-Catholic modern philosophies.  We don’t discuss them at length but merely show that it was evil for Vatican II to broadly endorse studying the (supposed) truth of the modern systems of philosophy.

The N-SSPX plays its Archbishop Lefebvre “trump card” to deceive its followers that Vatican II has good documents and that Optatam Totius is good.

As shown above, the decree On Priestly Training (Optatam Totius) is evil (like all documents of Vatican II).  

To “prove” the false, viz., that this decree is good, the “new” SSPX recently claimed Archbishop Lefebvre endorsed this decree as free of all errors and ambiguities.  Here are the words that so-called “Archbishop Lefebvre” supposedly said:

There are some conciliar documents that are obviously in conformity with Tradition, which pose no problem: I am thinking of … the one on priestly formation and the seminaries.[61] 

Note that the interview of the supposed “Archbishop Lefebvre” says the decree on priestly formation is not simply good, but “obviously” good.

However, the “new” SSPX published this supposed interview without giving any information about its provenance, i.e.:

  • without identifying the interview date;

  • without identifying the interview location;

  • without identifying the interviewer; and

  • without identifying the media outlet where it was published.

The “new” SSPX published this supposed “interview” recently, many years after Archbishop Lefebvre’s death, as part of the N-SSPX’s liberal push to make a deal with modernist Rome.

Conclusion

The decree On Priestly Training is a bad fruit of Vatican II.  That council is a bad tree and so it cannot bear good fruit, nor has it borne any.  There are no good documents of Vatican II.  Each one is evil.


[1]          Decree On Priestly Training, Optatam Totius, October 28, 1965, found at this link:

From http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decree_19651028_optatam-totius_en.html

[2]          Decree On Priestly Training, quoted from the introduction.

[3]          Decree On Priestly Training, ¶2.

[4]          Decree On Priestly Training, ¶2.

[5]          Decree On Priestly Training, ¶3.

[6]          Decree On Priestly Training, ¶3.

[7]          http://archives.sspx.org/sspx_and_rome/is_the_sspx_heretical_3_12-11-2012.htm

Note that when the “new” SSPX says that there are “many” traditional documents of Vatican II, this is many out of the total of sixteen!  The truth is that there is not even one good Vatican II document.

Further, Bishop Fellay states that:

to accept the Council is not a problem for us”.  

Emphasis added, quoted from Bishop Fellay’s May 11, 2001 interview by La Liberte which had been posted by the N-SSPX at this link: http://www.fsspx.org/fr/organisation/supgen/entretiens-mgr-fellay/a_une-interview-de-mgr-fellay/ but has since been removed.  This interview was in French.  Here are Bishop Fellay’s words, in his original French: “Accepter le concile ne nous fait pas problem.”

[8]          The Catechism of the Crisis in the Church, Fr. Matthias Gaudron, Angelus Press, Kansas City, © 2014, p.51 (bracketed “Q.” and “A.” added for clarity).

[9]          Decree On Priestly Training, ¶2 (emphasis added).

[14]          A History of Philosophy, Frederick Copleston, S.J., vol. 9, part 1, p.145, Image Books, New York, ©1977.

[17]          Decree On Priestly Training, ¶2 (emphasis added).

[18]          Decree On Priestly Training, ¶11.

[24]          The theories of modern psychology often are contradictory and clash chaotically with each other as well as the Catholic Faith.  The aim of this article is not to discuss those theories in detail but to show briefly that it was evil for Vatican II to broadly declare (in the decree On Priestly Training) that seminarians should be trained using modern psychology.

[26]          In session 23, the Council of Trent commands that seminarians shall learn “grammar, … and the other liberal arts”.

[27]          Decree On Priestly Training, ¶11 (emphasis added).

[31]          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_education in the section about John Dewey.

For more about the heresy of situation ethics, read this article: https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/priests/williamson-teaches-situation-ethics.html

[34]          https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_education

Regarding this fad in education, education author, Theodore Dalrymple, dryly comments:

Despising routine and rote … [the] educational theorists came up with the idea that children would learn to read better if they discovered how to do so for themselves. This is only slightly more sensible than sitting a child under an apple in the hope that it will arrive at the theory of gravity.

Spoilt Rotten: The Toxic Cult of Sentimentality, Theodore Dalrymple ©2010, quoted at: https://www.lifesitenews.com/opinion/american-education-system-fails-our-children-and-its-getting-worse?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com&utm_campaign=5014a35b48-Daily%2520Headlines%2520-%2520U.S._COPY_343&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_12387f0e3e-5014a35b48-403889765

[35]          See, e.g., Decree On Priestly Training, ¶8.

[36]          Errors of Vatican II, published by Si Si No No, part II, March 2003, #51, found at:

http://www.sspxasia.com/Documents/SiSiNoNo/2003_March/errors_of_vatican_II.htm

[37]          Commentary On "Ecclesia De Eucharistia", by Fr. Peter R. Scott, published in the August 2003 Angelus, found at: http://www.angelusonline.org/index.php?section=articles&subsection=show_article&article_id=2219

[38]          Decree On Priestly Training, introduction. 

[39]          Decree On Priestly Training, conclusion. 

[40]          See, e.g., Decree On Priestly Training, ¶16 (emphasis added).  Lack of capitalization of the word “Providence” is in the original.

It is a conciliar error is that there is good in all religions.  Pope Pius XI condemned this error:

[It is a] false opinion which considers all religions to be more or less good and praiseworthy, since they all in different ways manifest and signify that sense which is inborn in us all, and by which we are led to God and to the obedient acknowledgement of His rule.  Not only are those who hold this opinion in error and deceived, but also in distorting the idea of true religion they reject it, and little by little, turn aside to naturalism and atheism, as it is called; from which it clearly follows that one who supports those who hold these theories and attempt to realize them, is altogether abandoning the divinely revealed religion.

Mortalium Animos, §2.

Heretical faith is purely human and natural.  Summa, St. Thomas Aquinas, IIa IIae, Q.5, a.3, Respondeo.  

All false “religions” are bad, simply speaking, because they do not have the good they should have.  The traditional teaching of the Church is that no heretical cult (i.e., false “religion”) has any truth of itself.  

A heretical cult is entirely false, except for any tiny bits of the truth and of the good which are a reflection of sound reason in the natural order or a residue of the original revelation or come from Catholic revelation.  Any such truths properly belong to the true Catholic religion and not to the false “religions” as such.  

[41]          See, e.g., Decree On Priestly Training, ¶16 (emphasis added).

[42]          See, e.g., Decree On Priestly Training, ¶9.  

For an analysis of Vatican II’s errors concerning the Catholic Church, see Lumen Gentium Annotated, by Quanta Cura Press, © 2013, especially beginning on page 47.  This book is available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B49oPuI54eEGbzRhdmQ3X0Z6RFE/view

for free, & at Amazon.com (sold at cost).

[43]          See, e.g., Decree On Priestly Training, ¶16 (emphasis added).

[44]          Pope John Paul II observed that Vatican II is the cause of this collegial innovation.  Here are his words:

Episcopal Conferences constitute a concrete application of the collegial spirit.  Basing itself on the prescriptions of the Second Vatican Council ….

Apostolos Suos, ¶14.

When the Bishops of a territory jointly exercise certain pastoral functions for the good of their faithful, such joint exercise of the episcopal ministry is a concrete application of collegial spirit (affectus collegialis),(51) which “is the soul of the collaboration between the Bishops at the regional, national and international levels”.

Apostolos Suos, ¶12 (emphasis added).

[45]          Vatican II’s Lumen Gentium, ¶3.

[46]          Pope John Paul II makes clear the permanent, standing character of these bishops’ conferences in these words:

Every Episcopal Conference has its own statutes, which it frames itself. These must however receive the recognitio of the Apostolic See.  Among other things these are “to provide for the holding of plenary meetings of the Conference as well as for the establishment of a permanent council, of a general secretariat of the Conference, and other offices and commissions which in the judgement of the Conference will help it fulfil its aims more effectively”.

Apostolos Suos, paragraph 18 (emphasis added).

[47]          Decree On Priestly Training, ¶21 (emphasis added).

[48]          Decree On Priestly Training, ¶1 (emphasis added).

[49]          Ecclesiae Sanctae, ¶41(1).  We note that Pope Paul VI chose to issue this document on August 6, 1966, i.e., 8 6 66.

[50]          Pope John Paul II remarked on the greatly increased use of bishop’s conferences in these words:

Following the Second Vatican Council, Episcopal Conferences have developed significantly and have become the preferred means for the Bishops of a country or a specific territory to exchange views, consult with one another and cooperate in promoting the common good of the Church: “in recent years they have become a concrete, living and efficient reality throughout the world”.

Apostolos Suos, ¶6, the quotation marks show where Pope John Paul II is quoting himself in his Address to the Roman Curia, on 28 June 1986 (emphasis added).

[51]          St. Paul declared the necessity to:

Preach the word: be instant in season, out of season: reprove, entreat, rebuke in all patience and doctrine.

2 Timothy 4:2.

[52]          See, e.g., Decree On Priestly Training, ¶19 (emphasis added).

[53]          See, e.g., Decree On Priestly Training, ¶15 (emphasis added).

[54]          See, e.g., Decree On Priestly Training, ¶4.

Although the Mass is worship, the term “worship” is more general than the term “Mass” and is the term used by the conciliar church and by protestants to name what they do at church.  “Worship” is a more ecumenical term because it appears to include the “prayer services” of the protestants, which are certainly not the Mass.  

[55]          See, e.g., Decree On Priestly Training, ¶2.

[57]         Because St. Thomas so magnificently surpasses all other Doctors and teachers, the Church calls him the Common Doctor, that is, the best teacher to learn from on any question. As Pope Pius XI declares, “the Church has adopted his philosophy for her own.”  Encyclical Studiorum Ducem, Pope Pius XI, 11 (emphasis added).

[58]         St. Thomas’ teaching is not only his, but he synthesizes the finest wisdom and the truth from all of the other Fathers and Doctors put together. Here is how Pope St. Pius X praises St. Thomas:

He [St. Thomas Aquinas] enlightened the Church more than all the other Doctors together; a man can derive more profit from his books in one year than from a lifetime spent in pondering the philosophy of others.

Motu Proprio, Doctoris Angelici, Pope St. Pius X, 29 June 1914, quoting Pope John XXII’s Consistorial address of 1318.

In his Syllabus of Errors, Pope Pius IX infallibly condemned the error that the principles of St. Thomas are not suitable for our modern times. Here are his words:

Condemned:

The method and principles by which the old scholastic doctors [viz., St. Thomas Aquinas and his disciples] cultivated theology are no longer suitable to the demands of our times and to the progress of the sciences

Quanta Cura, condemned error #13 (emphasis added).

St. Thomas’ philosophy is the best one to refute the modernists:

Thomas refutes the theories propounded by Modernists in every sphere ….  Modernists are so amply justified in fearing no Doctor of the Church so much as Thomas Aquinas.  

Pope Pius XI, Studiorum Ducem, ¶27.

[59]          See, e.g., Decree On Priestly Training, ¶15.

[60]          See, e.g., Decree On Priestly Training, ¶15 (emphasis added).

[61]          Here is the fuller quote that the N-SSPX says came from the supposed “Archbishop Lefebvre”:

There are some conciliar documents that are obviously in conformity with Tradition, which pose no problem: I am thinking of Lumen Gentium, but also of other documents, such as the one on priestly formation and the seminaries.  Then there are some ambiguous texts, which nevertheless can somehow be “interpreted” correctly according to the previous Magisterium. But there are also some texts that are plainly in contradiction with Tradition and which can in no way be “integrated” [with it]: the Declaration on Religious Liberty, the decree on Ecumenism, the one on the Liturgy. Here, agreement becomes impossible.

Quoted from the SSPX, at this link: http://fsspx.org/en/%E2%80%9Cif-it-my-duty-i-will-consecrate-bishops%E2%80%9D (bracketed words in the original; bold emphasis added; italic emphasis in the original).

Notice that this supposed “Archbishop Lefebvre” also says that Vatican II’s Lumen Gentium is “obviously” without errors, despite the fact that it has hundreds of errors and even thirty (30) errors in a single paragraph.  https://catholiccandle.neocities.org/priests/sspx-the-new-sspx-claims-archbishop-lefebvre-endorsed-vatican-iis-lumen-gentium,-as-free-of-all-errors-and-ambiguities.html