Traditionalist Catholic: Encyclopedia II - Traditionalist Catholic - Traditionalist beliefs

Traditionalist Catholic - Traditionalist beliefs

Traditionalist Catholics believe that they preserve orthodoxy by refusing to accept certain changes introduced since the Second Vatican Council, changes that some of them describe as "a veritable revolution".

Those who accept Pope Benedict XVI and his immediate predecessors as true Popes view the Second Vatican Council as a valid, albeit problematic, Council. But most "sedevacantists" regard Pope Pius XII as the last true Pope, and judge the Council, convened and ratified by his successors, to be as invalid as these were as Popes.

Traditionalist Catholics claim that what mainstream Catholics now accept would have been considered "Modernist" or "liberal" at the time of the Second Vatican Council, and that they themselves hold views that were then considered "conservative" or "traditional".

What Pope Benedict XVI called "the interpretation of discontinuity and rupture" of the Council’s documents is common among traditionalist Catholics, as opposed to the interpretation of "reform and continuity" proposed by the Popes, beginning with Pope John XXIII, who, on opening the Council, said that the Council "wishes to transmit the doctrine, pure and integral, without any attenuation or distortion", and added: "Our duty is not only to guard this precious treasure, as if we were concerned only with antiquity, but to dedicate ourselves with an earnest will and without fear to that work which our era demands ... This sure unchangeable doctrine, which must be faithfully respected, has to be studied in depth and presented in a way that answers the needs of our time. For the deposit of the faith, that is, the truths contained in our venerable doctrine, is one thing, and the way in which they are enunciated, while still preserving the same meaning and significance, is another."[2] [3]

Traditional Catholics, instead, largely believe that errors have crept into the presentation and understanding of Catholic teaching, either because of liberal interpretations of Vatican II documents, and/or because of post-conciliar pastoral decisions that they believe have harmed the Church, and/or, as some believe, because of the Council's documents themselves. Most traditionalist Catholics see the Second Vatican Council itself as a valid Council, but one that was pastoral and produced no infallibly-presented, solemn definitions that Catholics must accept as part of the Faith. Support for this claim is sought in Pope John XXIII's Opening Address to the Council, Pope Paul VI's closing address, the lack of formal definitions and anathemas in the Council's sixteen documents, and the alleged ambiguity of the documents themselves, which makes an "authentic" interpretation, other than that presented and acted upon by the Holy See, difficult to discern.

A catalog of some of the perceived errors by some traditionalists are:

• A new understanding of collegiality which they claim has weakened the papacy and made bishops' conferences a veritable "second Vicar of Christ" for the Church. They see this as contradicting, among other documents, Pope Leo XIII's Satis Cognitum and the Nota Praevia (appendix) to Vatican II's Lumen Gentium.

• A new ecclesiology that they claim doesn't equate the Catholic Church with the Church established by Jesus Christ, but treats the Church established by Jesus Christ as merely "subsisting in" the Catholic Church in an undefined way. They claim that the typical interpretation of this "subsistence" contradicts Pope Pius XII's Mystici Corporis Christi, among other papal documents, and leads to "false ideas" of ecumenism.

• A new focus on the natural world and the environment coupled with a de-emphasizing of the supernatural and preternatural worlds. This, they say, leads to Deism, Pragmatism, and moral relativism.

• A new focus on "the dignity of man", which they claim ignores original sin and the need for supernatural grace, and which they also claim has led to a sort of Utopianism that sees peace as possible without recognizing the Kingship of Christ. They see this attitude, and teachings rooted in it, as contradicting Pope Pius XI's Quas Primas, Pope Leo XIII's Testem Benevolentiae Nostrae and Rerum Novarum, Pope Pius X's Notre charge apostolique, and other papal and conciliar documents that deal with social teaching.

• A "false" ecumenism that has as its goal a religious unity that they see as not requiring conversion to the Catholic faith. They see this as contradicting Sacred Scripture, Pope Pius XI's Mortalium Animos, Pope Pius XII's Humani Generis and other documents.

• A new view of ecclesiastical tradition that sees it as extremely changeable and has led to what they see as dangerous modifications in Catholic practices, the liturgy, and the Church's pastoral orientation. They see this as contradicting, among other papal and conciliar documents, the Fourth Anathema of the Second Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, the teaching of the First Vatican Council (especially the document Pastor Aeternus).

• A new pastoral orientation and attitude toward novelty that they claim was unheard of in the Catholic Church before the Second Vatican Council. Some of them see this as contradicting the papal oath that they claim was taken by all Popes from Pope Agatho to Pope Paul VI, Pope Pius X's Motu Proprio Sacrorum antistitum (an oath taken by all priests prior to the Council), Pope Gregory XVI's Mirari Vos, the Fourth Anathema of the Second Ecumenical Council of Nicaea, and other papal and conciliar documents.

• A new and critical attitude towards Sacred Scripture that contradicts Leo XIII's Providentissimus Deus and Benedict XV's Spiritus Paraclitus among other documents.

• An ignoring of the traditional belief that the Church and the world are at variance with one another to some degree, and that the Church has enemies. They believe that Pope Pius X's warnings in Pascendi Dominici Gregis, Leo XIII's Humanum Genus, and other papal warnings against secret societies and enemies of Christendom have gone unheeded and that the enemy warned against has entered into the human element of the Church itself.

• A new "Paschal theology", which they see as de-emphasizing the Sacrifice of the Mass and which they claim leads the faithful to believe that it is Christ's Resurrection alone, and not the Blood shed by His Sacrifice on the Cross, that saves. Traditional Catholics see the revision of the Mass liturgy under Pope Paul VI as a fruit of this "paschal theology," a theology they see as contradicting Scripture and Encyclicals such as Pope Pius XII's Mediator Dei. They also see this paschal theology as de-emphasizing the meaning of suffering, ignoring Christ's admonition to Christians to "take up their crosses" (Matthew 10:38), and forgetting St. Paul's admonitions to mortify the flesh (Galatians 5:18–25, Colossians 1:23–24).

• A "new Mass", which they also call the "Novus Ordo Missae". This they construe as rooted in the aforementioned Paschal Theology and as accordingly de-emphasizing traditional Catholic teaching on the Mass as a Sacrifice (the offering up of Jesus to his Father in a re-presentation of Calvary and for the remission of sins). They contend that it has been stripped of important Catholic prayers, is open to abuse because of the variety of options allowed, de-emphasizes the ordained priesthood, is divisive because of the abandonment of Latin, which brought people of various nations together, is man-centered rather than God-centered, allegedly omits readings that mention Hell, Pharisaism, miracles, etc., and is less beautiful, poetic, and able to act as a sign of Mystery (cf. Ottaviani Intervention). On its validity and acceptability traditionalist Catholic views differ:
  • Some see it as valid, and as acceptable when necessary, though the "traditional Mass" should be attended when at all possible.
  • Some, including members of the Society of St. Pius X, hold that, though valid if offered with valid matter and the intention to do as the Church does, it must be avoided, on the grounds that the changes are sacrilegious and harmful to the Catholic Faith, and that the actual use of valid matter and the proper intention are often questionable.
  • Some, including most sedevacantists, see it as invalid and absolutely inacceptable.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Traditionalist beliefs", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki