What is the Second Vatican Council? - Episode 08 - SSPX FAQ Videos

Certainly the most debated event of the twentieth century was the Second Vatican Council. Praised by many, criticized by others, Vatican II raises a lot of questions. In this video we will explain what the Second Vatican Council was. Pope John XXIII opened the Second Vatican Council on October 11, 1962. John XXIII died the following year, but his successor, Paul VI, continued the Council and brought it to a close on December 8, 1965. Vatican II consisted of four sessions. The first session (October 11 to December 3, 1962) the only one to occur during the pontificate of John XXIII promulgated no document; it was essentially used to shockingly discard the documents wisely prepared during the previous 3 years of preparation. Vatican II was the twenty-first ecumenical council. It was the biggest in terms of the number of participants: over two thousand bishops attended. However, the Second Vatican Council was declared to be no more than a “pastoral” council, one that does not resolve questions of faith definitively, but which gives pastoral directives for the life of the Church. The Popes decided against defining dogmas, and so they renounced the infallibility, which normally pertains to a council. Thus its documents are not infallible. Furthermore, some of its own defenders themselves proclaim loud and clear that the Council was a revolution in the Church. For instance, Cardinal Suenens made a parallel between the Council and the French Revolution, saying that Vatican II was 1789 in the Church; Fr. Yves Congar, a conciliar theologian, compared the Council to the Bolshevik Revolution, saying: “The Church has peacefully undergone its October Revolution.” Vatican II wished to remain a “pastoral council,” however by the time it was over it was “dogmatized”. A new spirit and teaching was imposed on the Catholic Church, in opposition with what the previous Popes had taught, for example: The documents on The Church, on The Bishops and on The Missions, present novelties on the question of the relationship of the bishops and the Pope: Collegiality. Lumen Gentium introduced a new notion of the priesthood. Lumen Gentium introduces a new notion on the liberty of worship and of conscience and on the concept of liberty; new notions previously condemned by the Popes. “Gaudium et Spes” reverses the purposes of marriage. A change that John Paul II will introduce in the New Canon Law. Also, new ideas of ecumenism and regarding the relations with non-Christian religions and even with atheists are also adopted. And we could go on… In short we can say that Vatican II was a revolution in the Church; so many changes were introduced at the time and happened since, that anyone who would come to the present from the past, would not recognize the Church, neither in its teaching nor in its liturgy. For further understanding and insight on this question, we recommend reading “I Accuse The Council!” and “A Bishop Speaks” both by Archbishop Lefebvre, which can be found at Angeluspress.org Another great source we recommend is to read “The Second Vatican Council: An Unwritten Story” by Roberto de Mattei also available at Angeluspress.org For those who would like to study in depth the issues raised by Vatican II we recommend reading: “Iota Unum” by Romano Amerio at AngelusPress.org To learn more, go to sspx.org and subscribe to our email list.