Letters

Vatican II

Peter D. Howard

Contents - Sep 2007 - Buy a copy now Editorial: How to ensure AD2000's continuing impact - Michael Gilchrist Pastoral Letter: NSW and ACT Bishops call for a shake-up in Catholic education - Michael Gilchrist News: The Church Around the World A successful quest for vocations in Melbourne - Br Barry Coldrey Rome reaffirms Vatican II's teaching on 'one true Church' - Frank Mobbs New Age: Centering Prayer and other spiritualities: are they Catholic? - Wanda Skowronska 'Thought that has been thought out' - John Haldane Rediscovering the real history of Australian Catholic education - Eamonn Keane Catholic education must be 'unashamedly Catholic' - Bishop Robert Finn Laity: How the Legion of Mary can benefit parishes - Fr Hugh Thwaites SJ Letters: Vatican II - Peter D. Howard Letters: Infallible? - Francis Vrijmoed Letters: Dr Mobbs' response - Frank Mobbs Letters: Extraordinary? - Mark Szymczak Letters: Lapsed Catholics - Robert Garratt Letters: Preaching - Kevin McManus Letters: Religious attire - Tom King Letters: African prisoners - John Evans Poem: A poem for Mary's Birthday - Brian Joseph Mulligan Books: THE BEAUTY OF THY HOUSE, by Mark Alessio - Tim Cannon (reviewer) Books: FAITH AND CERTITUDE, by Thomas Dubay SM - Tim Cannon (reviewer) Events: Silent Retreat 9-12 November 2007 Books: Books available from AD2000 Reflection: An informed conscience: what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches - Bishop Luc Matthys

Dr Frank Mobbs argues that Vatican II did not teach infallibly (April, August AD2000).

Yet, the Council defined that the assent of will and intellect are required of non-infallible papal teaching, for the first time, in the Dogmatic Constitution Lumen Gentium, 25.

This Council, for the first time in conciliar history, defined unequivocally that the sole Church of Christ subsists in the one, holy catholic and apostolic Church and that Christ's Church is not an end yet to be achieved by all churches and ecclesial communities (LG, 8).

Vatican II defined the exercise of collegial infallibility by bishops in an Ecumenical Council (LG 25), a turning point in doctrinal history.

In a new doctrinal development, this Council declared what may be summarised as 'Non-Catholics have a right to immunity from coercion in propagating their religion publicly' (to the extent it does not violate public order) (Dignitatis Humanae, 2-3, 10).

All of these doctrines did not exist explicitly so why should it be assumed they are non-infallible?

As Pope Paul VI stated: 'But one thing must be noted here, namely, that the teaching authority of the Church, even though not wishing to issue extraordinary dogmatic pronouncements, has made thoroughly known its authoritative teaching on a number of questions (Address to the Last General Meeting of Vatican Council II, quoted in Catholic Dossier, March/April 1998).

PETER D. HOWARD
Springwood, Qld

Reprinted from AD2000 Vol 20 No 8 (September 2007), p. 14