Sorry Sister, But This Is Not What Vatican II was About

I am a full supporter of Vatican II & what it actually said & intended to do. Unfortunately, after it was over & didn't do what some people wanted, they came up with the phrase "Spirit of Vatican II" to justify a lot of things that were on their agenda. Actually what they were promoting was a "False Spirit of Vatican II". The true spirit of the Council, the Holy Spirit, was no where to be found in their "spirit". I have my suspicions of where their "spirit" actually came from. As the Church lady would say: "Could it be, o say, SATAN?????"

Being young (10 when V2 ended), I didn't realize that a lot of what was going on wasn't what was intended. But as time went on & I learned what was actually in the documents, I came to see what was really intended. & understood why some things that had bothered me were bothering. Under Pope John Paul things began heading the right way. & with Papa Benedetto, we are seeing things getting more & more on track, especially with the liturgy.

Last Sunday (25 Jan 2009) was the 50th Anniversary of when Pope John XXIII announced he was calling the Council. Naturally the Main Stream Media focuses in on the misinterpretation of the Council as good, while making the right interpretation seem to be the villian.

An article from the Cleveland Plain Dealer is a prime example. (Vatican II reforms set in motion 50 years ago with Pope John XXIII's edict)

Let's start with the following quote from Sister Christine Schenk of Cleveland, a St. Joseph nun. "'You went from a guy with his back to you, speaking in a language you didn't understand, to where you were one of the celebrants,' said Schenk. 'You went from a spectator to a player. It was all very exciting and new.'" Wrong, wrong wrong! We never became a celebrant. The "guy" as you call him is the only celebrant. & he isn't just a guy either. He is the ordained alter Christus who is the only one that can confect the Eucharist. We are not players, were are pray-ers. (Any bets she doesn't wear a habit, is into "New Age" & supports women's ordination?)

Then there is their parenthetical comment on what a nun said about the change of dress: "One nun told a documentary filmmaker that it was strange to feel wind on her forehead and in her hair. (John's fresh air?)" Does this show the author hasn't a clue about what Pope John really ment or not?

Want another sign of his cluelessness. Try this: "Vatican II eventually put an end to meatless Fridays and long hours of fasting before receiving Communion. It restored the stature of the Bible, which had taken a back seat to church teachings, and allowed lay people to hand out consecrated Communion wafers, a job only a priest had been allowed to do." No it didn't end meatless Fridays, they are still there, even outside of Lent. It did correct a myth that Catholics weren't supposed to read the Bible. They were & were called to do so in 2 Papal Encyclicals that came out in the years before V2. & the Bible never took a back seat to Church teaching. It was the basis & support for it. & calling distributing the Eucharist a "job" reeks od blasphemy to me.

Then we get to the heart of the matter, the "hot button issues". "But the newly empowered laity would speak up, unleashing a host of hot-button issues that today remain subjects of fierce debate: Ordination of women, marriage for priests, gay sexual intercourse and the use of contraception - all, to various degrees, not approved by the church hierarchy." Various degrees only in so far as the priest or Bishop was willing to defend the Church's stand on these issues, not various degrees of them not being approved.

That paragraph leads up to this quote from Marilyn Cunin, 78, of Cleveland Heights. They describe her as a lifelong practicing Catholic. From what you are about to read she is out of practice in my mind.

"I can't imagine why Rome would object to ordaining women. Women are perfectly equal." Maybe it is because equal doesn't mean the same.

& then there is this bit where she basicly throws out everything that Vatican II never got rid of: "Cunin said the church in pre-Vatican II days was preoccupied with the trappings of ritual - rosaries, candles, incense, icons, novenas - which, today, she said, have little meaning for her."

& she creates a false dichotomy. "I can appreciate the rituals, but sometimes there are people down the street going hungry while you're saying the rosary. I believe faith should be more about addressing the problems of world hunger, AIDS and injustices." Does she not know that the same Nuns, priests & religious who faithfully prayed the Rosary over the centuries are the same ones who built hospitals, ran soup kitchens etc. It was their devotion to the Eucharist & prayer that led them to do so as well as gave them the power to do it.

Now we get to the way they present those who support what the Church actually teaches with this section headline: "Small group of Catholics rejects reforms as heresy" After presenting the above as real reform which it wasn't, they go on to try & trivialize those who uphold the true reform by making it sound like they are the dodos heading for extinction. It is those who pushed the "false spirit" who are the dodos.

It starts with this: "Most Catholics, both liberal and conservative, support Vatican II, although they may differ in their interpretations of it. And most believe Pope John Paul II slowed the Vatican II movement by issuing conservative decrees and reaffirming Rome's authority, which to some is a blessing and to others a disappointment." Actually Pope John Paul slowed the false movement & started the work to get the real work of Vatican II on the track. Papa Benedetto has done even more since he became Pope.

It then goes on to look at what they say is "A small minority of Catholics" that " rejects Vatican II outright, calling it heresy and the work of the devil." It goes on to spend only 4 paragraphs on that minority & in particular it talks about "The Society of Pius X, based near Kansas City, Mo., is a breakaway group flatly opposed to Vatican II." Nothing about the Pope's lifting of the excommunication the previous week.

& after their hatchet job they go to the Rev. Donald Cozzens, who teaches religious studies at John Carroll University to wrap things up. Here is another person who has done much to undermine the authentic teaching of the Church. He is a darling of dissident groups like Voice of the Faithful. The article concludes with this quote from him after he talks about following & forming your conscience: "The commandments are really in your heart. They're not imposed arbitrarily by a church." ARGHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Like I said, I fully support what Vatican II really was. & it wasn't what this article said it was at all. This was a part of te effort of the MSM as a part of the "culture of death" to undermine the Catholic Church.