Petition to Pope Benedict XVI for a more in-depth examination of the Second Vatican Council

In case you missed this, upwards of fifty-seven Catholic leaders have affixed their signatures to a document petitioning the Holy Father for an in-depth study and clarifications regarding the Second Vatican Council. The original post, in Italian, is at Riscossa cristiana (dated September 24, 2001, but with a list of signatories last updated October 20, 2011). An English translation of the document may be found at Documentation Information Catholiques Internationales (October 14, 2011), but with only a partial list of signatories.

The petition begins by rehearsing the recent history of such petitions to the Holy Father, beginning with Msgr. Brunero Gherardini, a canon of St. Peter's Basilica and well-known professor of Ecclesiology at the Pontifical Lateran University and dean of Italian theologians, who wrote to Pope Benedict in 2009:

“For the good of the Church—and more especially to bring about the salvation of souls, which is her first and highest law (cf. the 1983 CIC, canon 1752)—after decades of liberal exegetical, theological, historiographical and “pastoral” creativity in the name of the Second Ecumenical Vatican Council, it seemed urgent to me that some clarity be created by answering authoritatively the question about the continuity of this council with the other councils (this time not simply by declaring it so but by proposing a genuine demonstration), the question about its fidelity to the Tradition of the Church.” ...

Somewhat later, the document mentions the recent, well-documented History of Vatican II by Professor de Mattei (pictured right), whose study offers a precise, realistic analysis of "the tormented, dramatic unfolding of that Council," which he concludes with the words:

“At the end of this volume, allow me to address reverently His Holiness Benedict XVI, whom I acknowledge to be the successor of Peter to whom I feel inseparably bound, expressing my deep thanks to him for having opened the doors to a serious debate about the Second Vatican Council. I repeat that I wanted to make a contribution to this debate, not as a theologian, but as an historian, joining however in the petition of those theologians who are respectfully and filially asking the Vicar of Christ on earth to promote an in-depth examination of Vatican II, in all its complexity and its full extent, to verify its continuity with the twenty preceding councils and to dispel the shadows and doubts which for almost a half a century have caused the Church to suffer, with the certainty that the gates of hell will never prevail against Her (Mt 16:18).”

And there is much, much more; well-worth the reading. This strikes me as a very significant development indeed. Read more>>

[Hat tip to J.M.]