protestants

History

Pope John XXIII Opening Address to Vatican II, and Yves Congar, True and False Reform, Conclusion

11/09/2022 Bruce Strom 0

Pope John Paul XXIII opens his speech with:
“A positive proof of the Catholic Church’s vitality is furnished by every single council held in the long course of the centuries.” “And now the Church must once more reaffirm that teaching authority of hers which never fails but will endure until the end of time.”
This echoes Congar’s sentiments that true reform must rediscover the ancient traditions of the church, that the moral teachings never change, but history itself does change, and the church must change with history. […]

History

Yves Congar, True and False Reform, Part 2, True Reform by Returning to Tradition

11/04/2022 Bruce Strom 0

Yves Congar reflects: Who were the successful reformers? Who were the divisive reformers? Successful reformers are those reformers who respect the tradition of the church, whose reforms seek to return the church to its ancient traditions recently forgotten, to return to the ancient sources of the faith. These successful reformers include St Francis of Assisi, and St Thomas Aquinas, and he contrasts them with reformers who broke with the church, including Peter Waldo and Luther, while being careful to acknowledge when these divisive reformers did provide valuable spiritual and practical insights. […]

History

Yves Congar, True and False Reform, Part 1, Finding Common Ground

11/02/2022 Bruce Strom 0

When Archbishop Angelo Roncalli, the future Pope John XXIII, reflected on this book, he asked, “A reform of the church? Is such a thing really possible?” Yves Congar reflects, What is the role of the church? Is the church the hierarchy in the Curia; or is the church the parishioners in the pews? What are the sacraments? What is the church’s definition of commonly misunderstood concepts, such as infallibility?
This book, along with help by the Holy Spirit, encouraged the pope to call for a church council, and helped set the tone for Vatican II. As Yves Congar teaches us, spiritual reform cannot be a revolution, false reform divides rather than unites. […]

History

What Happened at Vatican II, Embracing Democracy and Modernity

05/04/2022 Bruce Strom 3

Pope Benedict once said that both the supporters and opponents of the Second Vatican Council have one characteristic in common, and that is, most of them have never read the decrees or the history of Vatican II and are ignorant of the actual teachings of the council. His solution was to draft the Catholic Catechism, but unfortunately, nobody reads that either. […]

AntiSemitism

Vatican II Declaration on Freedom of Religion, Embracing Democracy, Rejecting Fascism

08/18/2020 Bruce Strom 7

The Church Fathers of Vatican II believed that the Catholic guarantee of Religious Liberty was crucial for regaining the respect of many believers and the modern world.  History had evolved so that the Catholic Church was not on the side of truth regarding religious liberty.  From ancient times the Catholic Church was supported first by the Roman emperors starting with Constantine, and then the royalty of medieval Europe, but the absolute monarchies had all disappeared, giving way to dictators and republics, some of which were constitutional monarchies.  The Jacobism of the French Revolution and its grandchild communism were the enemies of the church, and the church supported fascism to combat communism.  World War II totally discredited fascism, now the Catholic Church saw democracy as the bulwark opposing communism, and religious liberty was a cornerstone for democracy. […]

Morality

Yves Congar, Meaning of Tradition, Blog 2

01/07/2020 Bruce Strom 2

By abandoning diatribes, by abandoning the proclaiming of anathemas against those who disagree with Catholic doctrine, the post-Vatican II Catholic Church now explicitly believes that both Catholics and Protestants can both attain Salvation through the grace of God and His Son Jesus Christ.  By opening a dialogue, the Church teaches we can learn from both Catholic and Protestant theologies, and this also infers that this encourages study, effort, and dedication.  In the spirit of Vatican II, we should strive to view these as differences of emphasis rather than as differences that divide. […]

Morality

Yves Congar, Meaning of Tradition, Blog 1

12/31/2019 Bruce Strom 2

The cleric whose writings most influenced the decrees of Vatican II was Yves Congar, including his work on the Meaning of Tradition. He examined what the Church Fathers taught us about tradition throughout Church History, and as expected, since it was not hotly debated until the Reformation, there was a great many teachings on what tradition meant. […]