This morning, a young man who studied all his life at Catholic schools, up till this year when he began College, asked; what happened after Vatican II? He told me how two of his classmates from catholic school are no longer Catholic and are now going to “Cross Roads”, a non-denominational, (fast religion chain, like fast food chain).
Before we get into the answer to his question, which is rather complex, a few simple facts need to be reiterated: The devil hates the only One Holy Catholic Church founded by Jesus Christ in 33AD. He has tried to destroy it since its beginning, 2000 years ago. He wants to destroy it because the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church are the only ones that truly have the unbroken Apostolic Succession and therefore are the only ones who have valid Sacraments. He wants to destroy Her because She is the only church that has the true ordination of priests. This is the true priesthood of Jesus Christ, by the unbroken passing on by the laying on of hands from the Apostles to the bishops, up until today, in the Ordination Rite of Priest. The devil wants to destroy Her because, she is the only Church that has the Eucharist and Confession. Since we have the true priesthood of Jesus Christ, we are the only ones who can consecrate the bread and wine into the Real Body and Blood of Jesus and forgive sins. The devil is father of all divisions, called “schisms”, that have been ripping the Body of Christ apart. This has happened from the very inception of the Catholic Church. He is also a liar. He uses his servants to introduce false teachings, called heresies, into the Church. These also have been plaguing the Church from the beginning as we find written down by St. Paul in his Letters.
“But I fear lest, as the serpent seduced Eve by his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted, and fall from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Christ, whom we have not preached; or if you receive another Spirit, whom you have not received; or another gospel which you have not received; you might well bear with him.” 2 Cor.11:3-4 So, to get back with the question, “What has happened to the Church since Vatican II”, here is what I explained to him.
In Europe, after the horrors of World War II, people inside and outside the Catholic Church were disenchanted with life, and society in general, after seeing such massive destruction and taking of human lives. They wanted to try to find a different way of thinking and living that would not provoke similar wars in the future. “The present-day conditions of the world add greater urgency to this work of the Church so that all men, joined more closely today by various social, technical and cultural ties, might also attain fuller unity in Christ.” Vatican II document Lumen Gentium, Nov. 21 1964 So they thought if people would all be of the same religion, there would be less fighting. So the ecumenical movement, that had always been around in a small way, began trying to find common denominators contained in all religions. And so the Catholic Church began to allow Catholics to go to other religion’s services and work together on social justice issues, like peace. (Remember that Catholics attending other religious services had always been condemned as sinful before). Before this, Catholics truly believed in what was contained int the Creed, especially the Antanasius Creed, that clearly stated that anyone who was not a Catholic was condemned. Here is the beginning of this wonderful Truly Catholic Creed. “Whoever wishes to be saved, needs above all to hold the Catholic faith; unless each one preserves this whole and inviolate, he will without a doubt perish in eternity.” Can you imagine finding any Catholic pope, cardinal, bishop, religious, priest or faithful believing in this anymore since Vatican II? The Catholic Church taught that all Sacraments, graces and truth, were only to be found in Her. And for this reason, Salvation is only found in the Catholic Church.
St. Bellarmine, in his classic treatise “De ecclesia militante”, (“The Church Militant”), explains how membership in the true Church is defined
