Vatican II and the Present Day

His Grace, R. Walter Nickless, Bishop of Sieux City, doesn't mince his words:

SIOUX CITY, Iowa, October 16, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Catholics must learn to "exorcise" the so-called "spirit of Vatican II" to end the secularization that has "wreaked havoc" on the Church since the Council, says Bishop R. Walker Nickless of Sioux City, Iowa.

In a pastoral letter issued Thursday to the lay and religious of his diocese, Nickless wrote that he has "no other desire" than to see the reforms of Vatican II implemented properly. However, he said, "It is crucial that we all grasp that the hermeneutic or interpretation of discontinuity or rupture, which many think is the settled and even official position, is not the true meaning of the Council."

The "hermeneutic of discontinuity," under the guise of the "spirit of Vatican II," sees "the Second Vatican Council as a radical break with the past," explained the bishop. However, "There can be no split ... between the Church and her faith before and after the Council."

I think the worst excesses of Vatican II were less the result of reforms coming from the Council itself than the openings they later presented to radicals, who saw them, correctly, as an opportunity to ram through an innovative agenda for which there was little or no demand. The radicals must have also realized their opportunity would be a short one thus the need to move quickly effecting the changes, then hoping they would stick. In that respect their behavior bears a remarkable resemblance to our President and Congress today and the radical programs they work feverishly to enact. We must pray the damage done by them proves not so long lasting as that done by their post Vatican II counterparts.