The future Blessed Pope John XXIII, born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli’s vision stretched far, very far. Vatican II had to return to its evangelical roots and get rid of the shell that had built up around it over the centuries, driving it further and further away from its Master. “There will never be a Pius XIII”: to Read more
As my recently deceased spiritual guide, Peter Steele, would never tire of saying: ‘There are only two conditions in the spiritual life — you’re either growing or you’re dying.’ What makes for spiritual growth? In my childhood and adolescence, it was all about going to Sunday Mass, confessing your sins once a month at least, going Read more
Pope Benedict XVI marked the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council on Thursday with a Mass and the re-enactment of the great procession into St. Peter’s Square that launched the council in 1962. A report by the Associated Press said the anniversary comes as the church is fighting what it sees as a wave Read more
Catholics have been arguing about the Second Vatican Council—about what it did and didn’t do, about what it meant and still means or what it never meant and could never mean—for half a century. Many reform-minded Catholics today are disappointed by what they see as a retreat, under the papacies of John Paul II and Read more
The teachings of the Second Vatican Council have emerged as the main obstacle to reconciliation between the Society of St Pius X and the Holy See. Three conditions for SSPX reconciliation with Rome have been revealed in a letter from its secretary-general, Father Christian Thouvenot, to regional superiors. Part of the first condition is “The Read more
Both the Society of St Pius X and the Vatican have left the door open for further dialogue after an exchange of statements in which the SSPX affirmed it recognises the authority of the Pope over the universal Church. The SSPX issued a statement drafted by 40 of its most senior members who met in Read more