Benedict to Reinterpret Vatican II

"Forty years after the event, the president of the Pontifical Committee for Historic Sciences, Walter Brandmeuller, clears up some historical issues. On December 8th, the Pope will give his assessment."

This from Sandro Magister in Rome, December 9, 2005. Among the conflicting interpretations of Vatican II is the wide-spread idea that it maked a "new beginning" in Church history (one thinks of the French Revolution), and that thanks to it -- its "spirit" more than the words of its actual documents -- the Church and its dogmas, laws, structures and traditions have entered into a phase of permanent reform, or, shall we say, permanent experimentation. Magister notes:

However, Joseph Ratzinger has shown on a number of occasions that he does not share this reading of the facts. And so has -- amongst others -- his cardinal vicar for the diocese of Rome, Camillo Ruini.

Only last June Ruini declared: "It is time for history to produce a new reconstruction of Vatican II -- one that finally tells a true story."

Read more of this excellent article, along with Walter Brandmeuller's illuminating survey of the issue in Sandro Magister's "Benedict XVI Is to Reinterpret the Second Vatican Council. This Is the Preface," www.chiesa (December 9, 2005). (Gratia tibi, James P. Caputo)