Vaticano II

Num artigo que merece ser lido com atenção, Pat Buchanan compara os papados de Pio XII e João Paulo II.

Pius XII and John Paul II

Now that the mourning for John Paul II has ended and he has been laid to rest in St. Peter’s, it is time to consider the state of the church he led for 27 years. For, despite his extraordinary life, his holiness and his critical role in bringing an end to communist rule in Eastern Europe, the condition of the church is grave. ###

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The papacy of Pius XII was a time of explosive growth in the church, while that of John Paul II coincided with Catholic scandal and decline. Was the Holy Father responsible for the latter? No, but it is regrettably true that the decline that began at the close of Vatican II continued unabated through the papacy of John Paul II. Conceding his sanctity and charisma, he was unable to stop it.

But what was the cause of it? Defenders of Vatican II say that blaming the council “reforms” they cherish for the decline in vocations and devotion is a classic case of the logical fallacy, “Post hoc, ergo propter hoc.” After this, therefore, because of this.

Simply because a precipitous Catholic decline began with Vatican II does not mean Vatican II was the cause, they contend. Perhaps not. But there is no question but that—measuring what the council produced against what Catholics were promised—it was, in Jimmy Carter’s phrase, “a limited success.” Neither Paul VI nor John Paul II was able to arrest the spread of heresy, defections and disbelief that followed the Second Vatican Council.

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With much of the church having succumbed to the heresy of modernism, it needs an Athanasius. As good a man as the pope was, as great as were his achievements, as noble as was his witness for life, the Catholic Church still awaits that bishop.