Radislav Pp. I Romano-Ruthenicus
Introduction: Why Vatican II Still Matters
From the standpoint of the Apostolic Churches that retained continuity of doctrine and worship without rupture, the Roman Catholic Church’s Second Vatican Council nevertheless is an event of both concern and far-reaching effect and influence. Few events in modern Christianity have had consequences as wide-ranging as the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965). For Roman Catholics, it marked the most dramatic transformation of ecclesial life in centuries. And, for the Orthodox and the Old Catholics, as well as Protestant Christians, it altered Rome’s posture toward doctrine, worship, and authority in ways that reshaped ecumenical relations and even influenced broader Christian practice.
Supporters of Vatican II often describe it as a “new Pentecost,” intended to breathe new life into the Church. Critics, especially from a traditional Roman Catholic perspective, argue that while the Council did not formally overturn doctrine, it initiated a practical and cultural rupture whose effects have been devastating: collapsing vocations, doctrinal confusion, liturgical disintegration, and a loss of confidence in the Church’s own identity.
Thus, considering the ongoing application of Vatican II and its far-reaching effects, we in the United Roman-Ruthenian Church cannot ignore it. We must answer a simple but serious question: How could a council that officially changed little in doctrine nonetheless change almost everything in practice?
1. What Vatican II Was and Was Not
Vatican II differed from earlier ecumenical councils in a fundamental way. Earlier councils, such as Trent or Vatican I, were convened for purposes such as condemning specific heresies, defining doctrine precisely, and restoring discipline. Vatican II, by contrast, explicitly defined itself as pastoral, not dogmatic. It aimed not to settle doctrinal disputes but to present Roman Catholic teaching in a way that, as it claimed, could be more intelligible to the modern world. This distinction is crucial.
While Vatican II issued no new dogmatic definitions, it nevertheless changed emphases, introduced new theological language, and encouraged adaptation, dialogue, and reform to fit the style of the modern world.
The Council’s documents were often deliberately broad, leaving room for interpretation. That openness, initially seen by some as a strength, became the mechanism by which profound changes followed.
2. The Foundational yet Flawed Assumption: That the Church Needed “Updating”
The idea of aggiornamento (“updating”) presupposed that the Roman Catholic Church, as she existed before the 1960s, was in some sense out of step with the modern world. But this is a flawed premise at the core, for the Church is never supposed to seek to be in sync with the world, but rather is supposed to follow always and everywhere the timeless faith.
Furthermore, their diagnosis is historically questionable. On the eve of Vatican II, seminaries were full, religious orders were flourishing, Roman Catholic schools and parishes were strong, and belief and practice were coherent and unified. This is not to claim that all was perfect, but rather that the Roman Catholic Church’s internal coherence had not yet collapsed.
While the Church faced external pressures from secularism, communism, and egalitarian democracy, internally she was effectively stable. To “update” such a body required more than superficial adjustment. It required rethinking how the Church related to history, culture, and authority itself. This shift in self-understanding would prove decisive.
3. Vocations and the Collapse of Religious Life
Perhaps the most measurable post-conciliar effect was the dramatic collapse in priestly and religious vocations. This was not merely a demographic trend. It followed several concrete changes.
One critical change was that the priesthood was fundamentally reimagined. Traditionally, the Catholic priest, like those of the Apostolic Church in general, was understood primarily as one who offers sacrifice, a mediator between God and man, and a figure set apart, visibly and ritually. Yet, after Vatican II, the priest increasingly came to be described as a “presider” over the community, a facilitator of participation, and a pastoral companion.
The shift may sound subtle, but it altered the fundamental meaning of the vocation at a very profound level. Men do not give their lives for functional roles. They do so for mystery, sacrifice, and transcendence. When the priesthood became less visibly sacrificial and more managerial, vocations declined.
Another related and critical change was that religious life was effectively “renewed” out of existence. Religious orders were urged to reevaluate their charisms, adapt to modern culture, as well as modify habits, enclosure, and asceticism. The result was predictable. Distinctive identities dissolved, contemplative life was marginalized, and community discipline weakened. As religious life became indistinguishable from secular life, its rationale disappeared.
4. Doctrine: Unchanged on Paper, Altered in Practice
Defenders of Vatican II often respond: “But the Church’s teachings did not change.” Formally, this is substantially true. Substantively, it is incomplete.
It must be acknowledged that many bishops and theologians involved in the Council acted with sincere pastoral concern. Yet, the Council moved from Doctrine to “pastoral discernment.” Before Vatican II, doctrine determined pastoral practice, as it historically has throughout the Apostolic Church. Yet, after Vatican II, pastoral concerns increasingly reshaped how doctrine was applied, emphasized, or even explained. This reversal had enormous consequences. Moral absolutes became “ideals,” sin was reframed as psychological brokenness, and judgment, hell, and conversion receded from preaching.
Now, no dogma was denied, for to do so would have created an internal crisis. But the hierarchy of truths was reordered. What the Church stopped emphasizing, the faithful largely stopped believing. One need not formally deny or modify dogma or doctrine to render it effectively removed or modified through example and practice.
5. Liturgy: The Engine of Change
Nothing shaped post-conciliar Roman Catholicism more than the transformation of the liturgy. The traditional Tridentine Rite (often simply referred to as “the Latin Mass”) emphasized sacrifice, was oriented toward God (literally and symbolically), and formed belief through reverence, silence, and continuity. On the other hand, the so-called “reformed” liturgy emphasized comprehensibility, participation, and community expression. While these goals were not necessarily illegitimate, the execution led to the loss of sacred language, an horizontal focus, and a dramatic break from inherited worship.
And indeed there was no need, for the traditional liturgy itself involved participation and community expression, and it was made comprehensible through education and practice. The issue was that this participation, community expression, and comprehensibility was not in line with the modernist ideals that the reformers sought.
Most importantly, because worship forms belief (lex orandi, lex credendi), the liturgical rupture catechized generations into a different understanding of Christianity. That new understanding was less sacrificial, less transcendent, more immanent.
6. Broad Impact
Many things changed as the result of Vatican II. For example, a necessary result was a reduction in doctrinal clarity. Truth was reframed as something approached together rather than possessed and proclaimed. This shift in epistemology arguably converged with Anglican liturgical reforms and mainline Protestant theology, as well as a broader Christian move toward inclusivity over doctrinal clarity. Ironically, the Vatican adopted patterns already weakening other Christian bodies, and those patterns had already proven corrosive. When modernist concepts such as theological subjectivism, relativized truth, and historicism over revelation came to the Vatican, it was like pouring petrol on a bonfire.
7. Vatican II as an Ideological Boundary
Today, Vatican II functions less as an ecumenical council among others and more as a litmus test. To question its fruits is often treated as disobedience, fear of modernity, and rejection of the Spirit. This result is often seen even within the broader Apostolic Church and some Protestant communities. To question Vatican II’s principles, even among non-Roman Catholics, is often to be viewed as being stuck in the past, a nostalgic antiquarian, or focused on the wrong things rather than whatever they define as the common good.
This is why, in the Vatican Church, ancient liturgical forms are highly restricted, pre-conciliar theology and those professing it are viewed with suspicion, and tradition is tolerated only as an aesthetic preference (and then only to a point). Vatican II has become a meta-principle: not simply something to be interpreted, but something that interprets everything else.
8. Why the Vatican Hierarchy Appears “Trapped”
Many Roman Catholic leaders sincerely believe in Vatican II, not merely as a historical council, but as the foundation of the modern Church’s legitimacy. To admit that its implementation failed would feel like admitting pastoral error or even undermining authority, calling decades of governance into question.
Thus, the response to crisis is often “More Vatican II.” It is proclaimed that the council was not flawed, but they merely need “better implementation” or “greater openness.” Such a paradigm cannot be questioned because it defines the system itself.
9. Conclusion: Continuity or Rupture?
From the perspective of the Apostolic, Orthodox, and Catholic Church, and indeed also from a traditional Catholic perspective, the problem is not Vatican II’s texts alone, but the spirit of rupture they enabled. Christianity is not sustained by relevance, adaptation, or dialogue, but by continuity, sacrifice, and fidelity to what has been handed down. This is what the United Roman-Ruthenian Church was given in unbroken succession to maintain. We would sincerely hope our brethren in the Roman Communion would do likewise, for when inheritance gives way to experimentation, institutions may survive, but they lose their soul.
The ongoing debate over Vatican II is therefore not about nostalgia versus progress. It is about whether Christianity understands itself as something received or something reconstructed. That question affects not only the Roman Catholics directly impacted by Vatican II, but all Christians facing modernity’s pressure to change in order to survive. Yet, history suggests the opposite is true.
