Vatican II Documents

[teachccd]

Are the sixteen documents of the Vatican II Council infallible writings? I know that the last infallible proclamation was the Assumption of Mary in 1950 but someone told me that all of the Vatican II documents are to be considered infallible since they fall under the infallibility of the bishops during an ecumenical Council. Any thoughts??

 

[davidv]

Are the sixteen documents of the Vatican II Council infallible writings? I know that the last infallible proclamation was the Assumption of Mary in 1950 but someone told me that all of the Vatican II documents are to be considered infallible since they fall under the infallibility of the bishops during an ecumenical Council. Any thoughts??

No. Documents cannot be infallible, only teachings can be. See this article on what infallibility means: newadvent.org/cathen/07790a.htm

 

[Verbum]

Hi Teach,

Contrary to the style of the previous councils, Vatican II did not “anathemize” anyone. And, consistent with the directives of John XXIII, it did not introduce new doctrines but stated, in contemporary terms, the consistent teaching of the Church.

All the documents were voted by a majority of the bishops and approved by Paul VI. Anyone denying the teachings of Vatican II would either be putting themselves out of the Church through heresy or sinning gravely against the faith.

This, of course, does not apply, to disciplinatry matters,on which one can respectfully disagree.

Verbum

 

[teachccd]

No. Documents cannot be infallible, only teachings can be. See this article on what infallibility means: newadvent.org/cathen/07790a.htm

Regarding your above mentioned reference, can you help me to understand the section entitled : III. ORGANS OF INFALLIBILITY ; A. Ecumenical Councils?

It seems to me that documents issued in an ecumenical council would be considered infallible since collectively the bishops with the Pope decide on matters concerning faith and morals.

I’m still confused but this caught my eye. Any comments?? thank you …teachccd

 

[teachccd]

Hi Teach,

Contrary to the style of the previous councils, Vatican II did not “anathemize” anyone. And, consistent with the directives of John XXIII, it did not introduce new doctrines but stated, in contemporary terms, the consistent teaching of the Church.

All the documents were voted by a majority of the bishops and approved by Paul VI. Anyone denying the teachings of Vatican II would either be putting themselves out of the Church through heresy or sinning gravely against the faith.

This, of course, does not apply, to disciplinatry matters,on which one can respectfully disagree.

Verbum

Does this render these documents as infallible since they reflect the teachings and approvals of men who are granted infallibility?

 

[scylla]

No one can deny Vatican II as a Catholic as it just presents Catholic teaching. This teaching is the same as the last 2000 years so they would be denying Catholicism if they do deny it.

Now to complain about implementation there is nothing wrong with that, as the decisions in applying the initiatives of Vatican II could be poorly made.

The documents are not infallible, but understood in light of tradition can reflect infallible teaching and do reference it from other councils.

God Bless
Scylla

 

[richardeekw]

Are the sixteen documents of the Vatican II Council infallible writings? I know that the last infallible proclamation was the Assumption of Mary in 1950 but someone told me that all of the Vatican II documents are to be considered infallible since they fall under the infallibility of the bishops during an ecumenical Council. Any thoughts??

By Dr. (Rev.) Robert P. Balhetchet, PHD. (Theol)
What is Vatican II?

It is an Ecumenical Council. This is a general meeting of all the Bishops of the Catholic Church called by the Pope to discuss and decide on matters of great importance either of doctrine (teaching and Belief) or of discipline and order, or a mixture of both, concerning the whole church.

THE DOCUMENTS OF VATICAN II
Types of Documents. ( In descending order of weightage)
Dogm. Const. = Dogmatic Constitution (relates to Belief)
Past. Const. = Pastoral Constitution
(relates to practice)
Const. = Constitution
Decr. = Decree
Decl. = Declaration

Documents of Vatican II.
The Council produced a total of 16 documents which are usually published in order of the dates they are promulgated, starting with the constitution of the Liturgy. The rest follow according to time frame, but do not represent any logical sequence. This results in the impression that the Council dealt haphazedly with a whole lot of topics – which wasn’t the case! A great deal of time was spent in elaborating the overall scheme. When various Commissions have their drafts ready they were submitted to the whole assembly for approval. Individual drafts would consequently receive approval on various dates and would get promulgated.

We propose a logical sequence with the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church as the central theme of the Council. The other 15 documents are then arranged as they relate to various Chapters of the document on the Church and, as it were, dealt in depth with the content of specific Chapters.

Chapter 1 – Mystery
*Dogmatic Constitution *The Church-Light of the World (Lumen Gentium)
*Dogmatic Constitution *Divine Revelation-The Word of God (Dei Verbum)

Chapter 2 - People of God
Past. Constitution * Church in the Modern World (Gaudium et Spes).
Decree * Missionary Activity (Ad Gentes Divinitus).
Decree Social Communication {(Inter Mirifica).
Decree Catholic Eastern Churches (Orientalium Ecclesiarum)
Decree * Ecumenism (Unitatis Redintegratio
Declaration * Religious Freedom (Dignitatis Humanae
Declaration Relationship of the Churchto Non-Christians Religions
` (Nostra Aetate).

Chapter 3 – Hierarchy
Decree * Pastoral Mission of Bishops (Christus Dominus)
Decree * The Formationation of Priestly (Optatam Totius)
*Decree * Ministry and Life of Priests (Presbyterosum Ordinis)

Chapter 4 – Laity
D*ecree * Lay Apostolate (Apostolicam Actuositatem)
*Declaration * Christian Education (Gravissimum Educationis)

Chapter 5 – Holiness
Dogmatic Constitution Sacred Liturgy (Sacrosanctum Concilium)

Chapter 6 – Religious
Decree The Renewal of Religious Life (Perfectae Caritatisf)

Chapter 7 – Pilgrim Church

Chapter 8 - Mary