How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it! Beware of false prophets, who come to you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
~ Jesus [Matthew 7:14-15]
The Problem
Certain doctrines taught by the documents of the Second Vatican Council are distinct from the doctrine taught by the Catholic Church prior to Vatican II. No one denies this fact. The question in dispute concerns whether this difference is one of kind or of degree only.
Two Principal Facts
First: Several doctrines proposed in the documents of the Second Vatican Council (hereafter, Vatican II), and that have been assumed, proposed or defended by Popes John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVI, and Francis, and various and sundry Vatican congregations and dicastories subsequent to Vatican II are distinct from the perennial doctrine of the Catholic Religion.
Second: The distinctive doctrines of Vatican II have been embodied in rituals, sacraments, universal laws, moral instruction and precepts that are also distinct from the rituals, sacraments, universal laws, moral instruction and precepts of the Catholic Religion as it was proclaimed, taught, defended and lived up to the pontificate of Pope Pius XII.
The Central Issue
Do the distinctive doctrinal and moral teachings proposed in the documents of Vatican II represent a substantial change from the doctrine and morals taught by Catholic Church of the ages?
Put another way...
Do the documents of Vatican II teach "the doctrine of the faith as handed down to us from the Apostles by the orthodox Fathers, always in the same sense and with the same interpretation in which it was originally given" OR do they teach new doctrines that are contradictory to the Catholic Religion?
Is there is a substantial difference between the perennial Catholic Faith and the doctrine of Vatican II (and the doctrines, liturgical rites, sacramental forms, canons, and disciplines that flowed from it)?
Is Vatican II and all of the doctrinal, liturgical, canonical and disciplinary changes that have flowed from it a faithful continuation of the Catholic Religion or not?
Two Critical Questions
First: If the distinctive doctrines and morals of Vatican II do not represent a substantial change from the perennial doctrine and morals of the Catholic Church, then what is the theological and moral justification for the systemic changes to the rituals, sacraments, universal laws, moral instruction, precepts and structure of the Catholic Church and for the radical alteration in the Church's mission adopted in the wake of Vatican II?
Second: If the distinctive doctrines and morals of Vatican II do represent a substantial change from the perennial doctrine and morals of the Catholic Church, then how are faithful Catholics to account for these distinctive teachings without doing violence to the Catholic Church's perennial doctrine concerning her nature, structure, rituals, sacraments, universal laws, moral instruction, precepts and mission?
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