18 October, 2009

Retreat from Vatican II ?

Recent events in the Catholic Church seem to indicate that there is a retreat from the theology and practices of Vatican II. Some of these indications are:

1) The recent permission, gladly given, for the frequent celebration of the Liturgy in the Tredentine Rite.

2) Benedict XVI's minor revision of the invocation regarding the Jews in the Good Friday Liturgy for the Tredintine Rite.

3) The lifting of excommunication of 4 traditionalist bishops who reject a number of major teachings of Vatican II, one of whom is a Holocost Denier.

4) Liturgical changes in the Mass that reduce the roles of laypersons in liturgical ministries and re-ephasizes the separation of the priest-presider from the community.

5) A return to the Pre-Vatican II theology emphasizing that the priest is a different / higher level or kind of being than laypersons.

6) A retreat from emphasis on the Church as "the People of God" and the centrality of Baptism and a return to a model of the church as hierarchical institution.

Most of these changes seem innocuous in themselves and few people see larger implications in any one them , however together they pressage a return to a pre Vatican II Catholic Church of the 1950s or earlier.

Are there any others who have noticed these changes? Will the Church be better off as a result of this revision of Vatican II theology and practice?

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