Documents for your files

Home

PROGRESSIVIST DOCUMENT OF THE WEEK


Card. Wojtyla: Vatican II Closed the Constantine
Era of the Church

During the Council, the Polish ecclesiastics would meet in extra-official gathering to exchange ideas about the goals of Vatican II. Cardinal Wojtyla was invited to chat with friends, young and old, who sipped chamomile tea in the apartment of Msgr. Malinski. The latter, in his book My Friend Karol Wojtyla, reports the words of the Cardinal of Krakow on that occasion.

At right is the cover of the book. At right below, a photocopy of the French text. Below, we present our translation of the lines highlighted in yellow.

Question - What problems will be oriented differently by the Council, Your Emminence?

Wojtyla's Answer - Above all, it will serve to give more value to the authority of each Bishop and to promote decentralization within the Church, as well as to return to the principle of collegiality, re-evaluate pastoral methods in force until now, and effectively introduce new methods and ways - at times most audacious ones.

There is also the question of the universal character of the Church; there is a change of attitude toward the ancient cultures of the non-European peoples. It is necessary to de-Westernize Christendom. The peoples possessing their own ancient cultures have understandable psychological barriers against Christianism when it presents itself in its European trappings! The Africanization, Indianization, Japonization, etc. of Catholicism reveals itself necessary. This consists of making Christian substances germinate in their cultures. We know that all this is neither simple nor easy to accomplish.

It is the end of the Constantine era, which was characterized by a strict accord between the Altar and the Throne, between the Church and the State, illustrated in its highest point by the birth of the Holy Roman Empire in the 9th century. We face a grave problem: to elaborate new forms for relations between the Church and the State, the right of the Church to religious liberty.

Going further, it is necessary to speak of giving new importance to the lay people in the Church, and, finally, to develop ecumenical ideas on a scale unknown until now in the History of the Church.


(Mieczyslaw Malinski, Mon Ami Karol Wojtyla, Paris: Centurion, 1980, pp. 190-191)


A_063_WojtylaConstantin01.jpg - 47195 Bytes


A_063_WojtylaConstantin02.jpg - 22835 Bytes

A_063_WojtylaConstantin03.jpg - 128594 Bytes


Share

Blason de Charlemagne
Follow us



Posted on September 2, 2006


burbtn.gif - 43 Bytes


Related Topics of Interest


burbtn.gif - 43 Bytes   Card. Koenig: Vatican II Approved what Pascendi Condemned

burbtn.gif - 43 Bytes   Card. Congar Rejects the Pope as Vicar of Christ

burbtn.gif - 43 Bytes   Card. Suenens Rejects the Church as a Perfect Society

burbtn.gif - 43 Bytes   Fr. Ratzinger under Suspicion of Heresy

burbtn.gif - 43 Bytes   Card. Ratzinger: My Progressivist Convictions Didn't Change

burbtn.gif - 43 Bytes   Fr. Bouyer Applauds the 'End of Catholicism'

burbtn.gif - 43 Bytes   Card. Ratzinger against Scholasticism

burbtn.gif - 43 Bytes   How a Catholic Should Act in face of Bad Popes

burbtn.gif - 43 Bytes   The Crisis in the Church and the Message of Fatima

burbtn.gif - 43 Bytes   Declaration of Resistance to the Vatican Ostpolitik


burbtn.gif - 43 Bytes


Related Works of Interest


A_Offend1.gif - 23346 Bytes
Animus Injuriandi II
A_ad1.gif - 32802 Bytes
A_ad2.gif - 31352 Bytes
A_ff.gif - 33047 Bytes
Destructio Dei
A_hp.gif - 30629 Bytes
A_ecclesia.gif - 33192 Bytes


Documents  |  Home  |  Books  |  CDs  |  Search  |  Contact Us  |  Donate

Tradition in Action
© 2002-   Tradition in Action, Inc.    All Rights Reserved