Vatican II and its Fruits (2)

Primary Sources Include: Davies, Amerio

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Item

Desirable Direction

Direction After Vatican II^*

Number of Religious Brothers 

Desire Increased

Greatly decreased since Vatican II.

Note: Before the Second Vatican Council, the number of religious brothers had seen a continual increase. Since the council, there has been a continual decrease. By 2002, there was a nearly 70% decrease in the ratio of brothers to Catholics (as compared to 1965). (Source: Jones)

Number of Religious Sisters 

Desire Increased

Greatly decreased since Vatican II.

Note: Before the Second Vatican Council, the number of religious sisters had seen a continual increase. Since the council, there has been a continual decrease. By 2002, there was a greater than 70% decrease in the ratio of sisters to Catholics (as compared to 1965). Of the remaining sisters, as many as 50% may be 70 years old or older. (Source: Jones)

Number of Seminarians

Desire Increased

Greatly decreased since Vatican II.

Note: "Previously full seminaries have been closed." As Davies mentions, "The official 1998 Catholic Directory for the U.S. reveals that the number of seminarians is now only 1,700, a decline of almost 97% from the 1965 figure of 48,992." 

Obedience

Desire Increased

Greatly decreased since Vatican II.

Note: Not only is there very little obedience in the Church today, but those who are disobedient are generally not punished ("unless they are traditional Catholics or very flagrant liberals"). It has even been seen that liberals who are disobedient are rewarded.

Obscuring of Truth

Desire Never

Greatly increased since Vatican II.

Note: There is so much obscuration of truth that many Catholics have no idea what is true and what is not. Even an imprimatur may have little value.

Orthodoxy of Clergy

Desire High

Greatly reduced since Vatican II.

Note: It is not uncommon for the laity to encounter unorthodox priests. If they complain, their concerns are often disregarded.

Orthodoxy of the Faithful

Desire High

Greatly reduced since Vatican II.

Note: Many Catholics today are so unorthodox as to be thought to be Catholic only in name. 

Papal Authority

Desire Strengthened

Greatly weakened since Vatican II.

Note: Papal authority has been weakened greatly by the adoption of collegiality. Recently years have also seen an apparent reluctance of popes to exercise their supreme authority. Many Catholics today act in open defiance of the pope, not excluding bishops and priests.

Papal Control Over Prelates

Desire High

Greatly harmed since Vatican II.

Note: It appears as though the pope has lost control over prelates in many areas. 

"Cardinal Seper admitted quite frankly that the American Bishops were defying Rome. I asked him why the Holy See was taking no action to discipline them, and he gave me the depressing reply that the Holy See no longer exercised effective control over the American hierarchy." (Davies)

"At the November 1978 meeting of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops of the U.S.A. (NCCB), a message was sent to the Holy See: Romanus Episcopus non habet iurisdictionem in hac republica - 'the Bishop of Rome hath not any jurisdiction in this republic.' The American Bishops did not express themselves quite so bluntly, but the message which they sent to the Pope was perfectly clear. The Bishops of the United States would only comply with papal legislation which met with their approval. If they did not approve of what the Pope commanded they would legislate for themselves." (Davies)

"In his editorial in the January 1983 issue of the Homiletic and Pastoral Review, its courageous and respected editor, Father Kenneth Baker, S.J., noted that Catholics in the United States are witnessing the rejection of the hierarchical Church founded by Jesus Christ, to be replaced by a Protestant American Church separate from Rome. The decision of the American Bishops at the 1978 November meeting to defy Rome in the matter of Communion under both kinds is just one of many instances which could be cited to prove the truth of Father Baker's allegation. It is a particularly appropriate example as the practice has, since the sixteenth century, been considered in the West as specifically Protestant. The imposition of Communion under both kinds was the first step taken by Thomas Cranmer in his campaign to destroy the faith of English Catholics by means of liturgical innovation." (Davies)

Priestless Parishes

Desire Never

Greatly increased since Vatican II.

Note: It is estimated that about 25% of all parishes will have no priest by 2020. (Source: Jones)

Priestly Dignity

Desire Increased

Greatly decreased since Vatican II.

Note: Many priests have lost the concept of gravity of conduct.

"What sad effects would not arise if that gravity of conduct which belongs to the priest, should be in any way lessened; if he should yield with lightness to the charm of every novelty; if he should deport himself with pretentious indocility towards his superiors; if he should lose that weight and measure in discussion which is so necessary, particularly in matters of faith and morals." (Pope Leo XIII, "Fin Dal Principio", 1902 A.D.)

"Let them, however, have it always present to their minds that the priest even in the midst of his people must preserve intact his august character as a minister of God, being as he is placed at the head of his brethren. Any manner whatever, in which he employs himself among the people, to the loss of the sacerdotal dignity, or with danger to the ecclesiastical duties and discipline, can only be warmly reproved." (Pope Leo XIII, "Fin Dal Principio", 1902 A.D.)

Priests' Abandonment of Ministry

Desire Never

Greatly increased since Vatican II.

Note: In the wake of the Second Vatican Council, thousands of priests left the priesthood.

Protection of Truth

Desire Strengthened

Greatly weakened since Vatican II.

Note: With the "lowering of the bastions" after the Second Vatican Council, many safeguards of truth have been lost. Reasons include: the imposition of the New Mass with reduced safeguards (click here), the withholding of the anathema, the toleration of error (e.g. ecumenism), etc. "This 'lowering of the bastions' occurred precisely at a time when the bastions should have been raised! The situation might be compared with that of a nation which is experiencing threats from all around - at such a critical time, would not a smart nation control its borders and strengthen its military? What would one think if such a nation threw open its borders and reduced their military? Would they not be asking for trouble?" ()

Religious Indifferentism

Desire Decreased

Greatly increased since Vatican II.

Note: In contradiction to the Church's continual teaching, many Catholics today are so religiously indifferent as to believe that all 'basically good' persons will go to heaven, regardless of what religion they adhere to. Note: Click here for more on this topic.

Religious Life

Desire Growth

Greatly declined since Vatican II.

"All religious communities, great and small, male and female, contemplative, active or mixed, if not strictly decimated, have been reduced to a fraction of their former selves in the course of twenty five years." (Amerio)

Respect For the Holy Eucharist

Desire Increased

Greatly decreased since Vatican II.

Note: Sadly, in many areas of the Church today, there is very little respect for the Holy Eucharist. This dreadful state of affairs is further fostered by certain practices which are now tolerated / promoted in Mass (e.g. Communion in the Hand, use of 'lay ministers', sign of peace, etc.).

Respect for the Priesthood

Desire Increased

Greatly declined since Vatican II

Note:  Many of the faithful have lost the sense of the ministerial priesthood and have come to believe there is little difference between themselves and the priest. They increasingly encroach on his responsibilities, even to the possible loss of eternal souls (click here for an example). They have even called for the priesthood to be brought down more - they might advocate the elimination of celibacy, women priests, priestless 'liturgies', etc. Most of the faithful have taken to calling the priest by his first name (e.g. "Fr. Bob") instead of the more respectful form (e.g. Fr. Smith). Biblical instructions such as "With all your soul, fear God, revere his priests" (Sirach 7:29) and "...treat him as sacred, because I, the LORD, who have consecrated him, am sacred" (Lev. 21:8) may seem foreign to most Catholics nowadays.

"We are witnessing not simply a diminution in respect for the Blessed Sacrament, where such respect exists at all, but a diminution in respect for, and awareness of, the sacred character of the priesthood, where such respect and such awareness exist at all. Very few young Catholics today think of their priest primarily as another Christ, an alter Christus, a man who differs not simply in degree but in essence from the rest of the faithful, a man whose primary function is to enter the sanctuary and perform sacred rites which he alone can undertake." ()

Respect Shown for Sacred Things

Desire Increased

Greatly decreased since Vatican II.

Note: Many Catholics nowdays show very little respect for sacred things - they may enter the sanctuary, they may allow the Holy Eucharist to be placed in their hand (click here), they may fail to offer signs of respect to the priest, etc.

Reverence of Laity in Church

Desire Increased

Widespread decrease since Vatican II.

Note: Many Catholics today not only fail to show reverence in church, but they may instead may talk, walk around, socialize, greet others, etc., and make it almost impossible for others to pray. 

Reverence to the Blessed Sacrament

Desire Increased

Greatly decreased since Vatican II.

Note: It is heartbreaking to see that many Catholics today show very little reverence to the Blessed Sacrament. Even priests may not show great reverence to the Blessed Sacrament. 

"No objective observer should deny that here has been a widespread decline in reverence toward the Blessed Sacrament since the Second Vatican Council." (Davies) 

Sacredness & Nobility of Mass

Desire Increased

Greatly decreased since Vatican II.

Note: With the introduction of the Novus Ordo Mass, the concepts of sacredness and nobility, seem almost to be "thrown out the door".

"Three characteristics of which Our predecessor [Pope St.] Pius X spoke should adorn all liturgical services: sacredness, which abhors any profane influence; nobility, which true and genuine arts should serve and foster; and universality, which, while safeguarding local and legitimate custom, reveals the Catholic unity of the Church." (Pope Pius XII, "Mediator Dei", 1947 A.D.)

Safety of a Catholic Higher Education

Desire Widespread

Greatly harmed since Vatican II.

Note: One can no longer be certain that 'Catholic Higher Education' is actually Catholic. As Archbishop Fulton Sheen has said, "I tell my relatives to send their teenagers to secular colleges where they will have to fight for their faith rather than to Catholic colleges where it will be stolen from them." 

Scandals in the Church

Desire Never

Greatly increased since Vatican II.

Note: In addition to being plagued with sexual abuse scandals, the Church has also suffered various other scandals (e.g. interfaith events, certain actions and statements of high ranking prelates, etc.)

Secularization of Religious Life

Desire Never

Greatly increased since Vatican II.

Note: Not only might those in religious life adopt the dress of secular persons, they may also adopt the activities and attitudes of the secular world. 

Sense of the Sacred

Desire Increased

Greatly decreased since Vatican II.

Note: There has been almost a total loss of the sense of the sacred since the Second Vatican Council. A perfect example of this is the widespread practice of Communion in the hand by standing lay persons, who generally fail to check their hands afterwards for Sacred Particles, leaving them to fall to the floor, be wiped on kneelers, on their clothing, etc. (click here for more information on Communion in the hand).

Serious Eucharistic Abuses

Desire Never

Greatly increased since Vatican II.

Note: It is well known that there have been numerous and serious Eucharistic abuses since the Second Vatican Council, even requiring papal intervention. In some cases, the Mass has even been invalid (no consecration occurred - e.g. due to invalid form, matter, intention). In other cases, the Blessed Sacrament has been validly consecrated, but then given over to non-Catholics and other unbelievers. It has also been treated with great irreverence, and even sacrilegiously. 

Stability

Desire Increased

Greatly decreased since Vatican II.

Note: "The Church has lost the sense of stability. Prior to Vatican II, there was great stability. Those who sought change were the ones who were looked at suspiciously. Now, the psychology has been shifted to accept change. It now almost seems as if nothing is free from change."

Subversion of Papal Authority

Desire Never

Greatly increased since Vatican II.

Note: Even bishops have publicly & directly subverted papal authority.

Toleration of Abortion Among Catholics 

Desire Eliminated

Greatly increased since Vatican II.

Note: Despite the fact that abortion is a grave sin - and that that takes the life of an unbaptized soul - many Catholics fail to accept that an intentional abortion is always a grave sin. In fact, one study showed that more than half of Catholics thought one could have an abortion and "remain in good standing in the Church".

"The woman who destroys voluntarily a fetus incurs the pain of murder." (St. Basil the Great, Doctor of the Church)

"Can. 1398 A person who procures a completed abortion incurs a latae sententiae excommunication." (1983 Code of Canon Law)

"Among all the crimes which can be committed against life, procured abortion has characteristics making it particularly serious and deplorable." (Pope John Paul II)

"... infant children have no other means of salvation except baptism." (Catechism of the Council of Trent)

"The souls of those who die in mortal sin, or with original sin only, however, immediately descend to hell, yet to be punished with different punishments." (Council of Lyons II, Denzinger #464) [Note: Infants who die in the state of Original Sin only (that is, unbaptized infants), are traditionally believed to descend to the "upper regions of hell" where - although not suffering physical torments and are in a state of 'natural happiness' - are pained by being deprived by the loss of the Beatific Vision. Never has the Church recognized another means of salvation for such infants besides Baptism.]

"It (the Roman Church) teaches...that the souls...of those who die in mortal sin, or with only original sin descend immediately into hell; however, to be punished with different penalties and in different places." (Pope John XXII, Denzinger #493a).

"...the souls of those who depart [die] in actual mortal sin or in original sin only, descend immediately into hell but to undergo punishments of different kinds." (Council of Florence, Denzinger #693)

"'If anyone denies that infants newly born from their mothers' wombs are to be baptized,' even though they be born of baptized parents, 'or says they are baptized indeed for the remission of sins, but that they derive nothing of original sin from Adam, which must be expiated by the laver of regeneration' for the attainment of life everlasting, whence it follows, that in them the form of baptism for the remission of sins is understood to be not true, but false: let him be anathema. For what the Apostle has said: 'By one man sin entered into the world, and by sin death, and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned' (Rom. 5:12), is not to be understood otherwise than as the Catholic Church spread everywhere has always understood it. For by reason of this rule of faith from a tradition of the apostles even infants, who could not as yet commit any sins of themselves, are for this reason truly baptized for the remission of sins, so that in them there may be washed away by regeneration, what they have contracted by generation, (see n. 102). 'For unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Ghost, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God' (Jn. 3:5)." (Council of Trent, Denzinger #791)

Unity in Language

Desire Increased

Greatly decreased since Vatican II.

Note: Despite the Second Vatican Council's desire to retain Latin: 

"The use of the Latin language, with due respect to particular law, is to be preserved in the Latin rites." (Second Vatican Council)

Latin has been almost completely abandoned, with a great many consequences. As Pope John XXIII, the pope who called the Second Vatican Council, has said:

"It will be quite clear from these considerations why the Roman Pontiffs have so often extolled the excellence and importance of Latin, and why they have prescribed its study and use by the secular and regular clergy, forecasting the dangers that would result from its neglect." (Pope John XXIII, "Veterum Sapientia", 1962 A.D.)

As predicted, the dangers that have resulted from its neglect have been great. Note: Click here for more information on the reasons for using Latin.

Unity in Teaching

Desire Increased

Greatly decreased since Vatican II.

Note: Previously, all Catholics were taught fixed truths. Nowadays, however, Catholics may be taught all sorts of things from the orthodox to the heretical. Complains usually have little to no effect.

Unity of Worship

Desire Increased

Greatly decreased since Vatican II.

Note: With the Novus Ordo Mass, unity of worship was discarded. In some parishes it seems that "anything goes". There have been incultrated liturgies, children's liturgies, clown Masses, polka Masses. Masses are said in a multitude of languages. Abuses and novelties abound. Some incorporate pagan rituals, Protestant music, etc. Suddenly, however, when it comes to reverence toward the Blessed Eucharist, some prelates harass the faithful in order to drop acts / postures of piety on the claim that they want "unity" in worship.

Unorthodox Catechesis

Desire Never

Greatly increased since Vatican II.

Note: Many parishes offer unorthodox catechesis to their unsuspecting students. It is well known that many parents have had to remove their children from poisonous religious education programs.

Use of Contraception Among Catholics 

Desire Eliminated

Greatly increased since Vatican II.

Note: Despite the fact that this is a grave sin, many Catholics make use of contraception. Of those who contracept and go to Mass, many (most?) receive Holy Communion.

Violation of the Directives of Rome

Desire Decreased

Greatly increased since Vatican II.

Note: Not only do lay persons violate the directives of Rome, but it is well known that many bishops also violate these directives.

"[T]hrough some crack, the smoke of Satan has penetrated the temple of God." (Pope Paul VI, 6/29/72)

"Is this the reform or the suicide of the Church?" (Fr. Kennedy)

"[T]he opening to the world has become a veritable invasion of the Church by worldly thinking. We have perhaps been too weak and imprudent." (Pope Paul VI)

"Change must be judged not so much for its own sake as for its content, its finality.. Is the new of today leading us to a really better Christianity?" (Pope Paul VI)

"If the Church were not Divine, the [Second Vatican] Council would have buried her." (Cardinal Siri)

"It was believed that after the council a sunny day in the Church's history would dawn, but instead there came a day of clouds, storms and darkness." (Pope Paul VI, 1972 A.D.)

"[The Second Vatican Council] was also followed by confusion, some decline, especially in the west, and pockets of collapse." (Cardinal Pell)

"Unless we are blind, we must even state bluntly that what we see looks less like the hoped-for regeneration of the Catholicism than its accelerated decomposition." (Fr. Louis Bouyer)

"The Church is in a disturbed period of self-criticism, or what would better be called self-demolition. It is an acute and complicated upheaval which nobody would have expected after the council. It is almost as if the Church were attacking herself." (Pope Paul VI, 1968 A.D.)

"The liturgical reform, welcomed with so much idealism and hope by many priests and lay people alike has turned out to be a liturgical destruction of startling proportions - a debacle worsening with each passing year. Instead of the hoped-for renewal of the Church and of Catholic life, we are now witnessing a dismantling of the traditional values and piety on which our faith rests." (Msgr. Gamber)  

"The results appear cruelly different from everyone's expectations, beginning with those of John XXIII and later of Paul VI. A new Catholic unity was expected; instead, there was a dissention that...went from self-criticism to self destruction... The balance, therefore, appears to be negative... It is undeniable that this period was decidedly unfavorable to the Catholic Church." (Cardinal Ratzinger, the future Pope Benedict XVI, 11/9/1984)

"The smoke of Satan has entered everywhere. Everywhere!" (Fr. Gabriele Amorth, chief exorcist in Rome) 

"The fruits of a tree must decide whether it be a good or a poor one (Lk. vi. 44). One should examine if there have been satisfactory results from abandoning the paths marked out by the Church, and so zealously kept to by our fathers in the faith." (Liturgical Year)

"We must admit realistically and with feelings of deep pain, that Christians today in large measure feel lost, confused, perplexed and even disappointed; ideas opposed to the truth which has been revealed and always taught are being scattered abroad in abundance; heresies, in the full and proper sense of the world, have been spread in the area of dogma and morals, creating doubts, confusions and rebellions; the liturgy has been tampered with; immersed in an intellectual and moral relativism and therefore in permissiveness, Christians are tempted by atheism, agnosticism, vaguely moral enlightenment and by a sociological Christianity devoid of defined dogmas or an objective morality." (Pope John Paul II, 1981 A.D.) 

"It must be lamented that, especially in the years following the post-conciliar liturgical reform, as a result of a misguided sense of creativity and adaptation there have been a number of abuses which have been a source of suffering for many. A certain reaction against 'formalism' has led some, especially in certain regions, to consider the 'forms' chosen by the Church's great liturgical tradition and her Magisterium as non-binding and to introduce unauthorized innovations which are often completely inappropriate." (Pope John Paul II, 2003 A.D.)

"With ever more ardent zeal and humility of heart, let us, our beloved sons and venerable brothers, never stop offering our prayers and petitions to God through Jesus Christ that His Church, driven by this most turbulent tempest, may recover from such great disasters, enjoy the most blessed peace and freedom throughout the world, and gain new and more splendid triumphs over her enemies. Let us pray that the errant be flooded with the light of his divine grace, may turn back from the path of error into the way of truth and justice and, experiencing the worthy fruit of repentance, may possess perpetual love and fear of his holy name." (Pope Pius IX, "Quanto Conficiamur Moerore", 1863 A.D.) 

"Turn your steps toward the utter ruins, toward the sanctuary devastated by the enemy. Your foes roared triumphantly in your shrine; they set up their own tokens of victory. They hacked away like foresters gathering boughs, swinging their axes in a thicket of trees. They smashed all your engraved work, pounded it with hammer and pick. They set your sanctuary on fire; the abode of your name they razed and profaned." (Ps. 74:3-7)