I see the ‘Vatican II Phenomenon’ as being enclosed in a circle of logic, which, if you don’t see all the elements, you
think you can reach a conclusion but end up going around in a circle.
The circle is something like this:
- Someone proposes that ‘Vatican II’ says X.
- Traditionalists say X is different from tradition
- Neo-conservatives say VII can only be interpreted as being in line with tradition.
- Neo-conservatives say VII is ‘infallibile’,
- Traditionalists say infallibilty is only invoked on specific occasions when the Pope defines a doctrine and this did not occur at VII.
- Neo-conservatives say VII partakes of the ‘infallibility of the Magisterium’ and is owed assent or is binding in some way.
- Traditionalists say, well, what exactly is ‘binding’ in these documents, that is different from what we are doing. Are ecumenisn without conversion, collegiality, ‘freedom of conscience’ and indifferentism ‘binding’?
- Neo-conservatives say the documents don’t propose this.
- Traditionalists say they are used to justify them.
Personally, I would say that a traditionalist can be a Catholic in good standing without ever reading or heeding the documents themselves or whatever speaker X
says they imply. They don’t really impinge on ones daily, traditionalist, religious life.
But for those with an agenda to move the Church in a progressive, ‘modern’, updated, fashionable direction, they are very important. Because of VII and the huge revision in the Mass, the precedent for major changes in our religion has been set.
You can’t say NEVER! to a small thing like altar girls after a major rewrite of your rite and versus-populum with altar tables and so on.
The dam has burst.