Misinterpretation of Vatican II.

Chicago--Spain gave rise to the Cursillo movement, and the Cursillo movement has given rise to a Lay Institute called Miles Jesu--Soldier of Jesus--founded by a Spanish priest, Alphonsus Maria Duran. This Institute is presently 850 strong, existing in thirteen countries, its members being both clerical and lay, the latter being both single--some in vows--and married.

A major passion of Father Duran is Church unity. To that end he sponsors Path to Rome conferences. The latest was in Chicago, September 18-20, 1998. There were 800 attendees, presided over by the former Anglican bishop of London, England, now a Catholic priest, Father Graham Leonard.

The speakers included two Cardinals (Stafford and George), five bishops (Obiefuna, Wiwchar, Hannan, Surinach, and Karpinski), and one Archduchess (Alexandria of Austria, who gave a brilliant history of the "Spanish Inquisition"), and one politician (Dr. Alan Keyes, 1996 US Presidential candidate).

Bishop Wiwchar is Chicago's Ukrainian Catholic bishop, and Saturday morning saw a splendid liturgy in the Ukrainian Greek-Catholic rite. (The Pope says we have to learn to breathe with two lungs, East as well as West.)

Cardinal Stafford

Here now is an excerpt from Cardinal Staffords's address, an item which identifies nine major sources of current Church disunity. He said:

"We are all aware of the misinterpretation of Vatican II. Few of us have been wise enough to avoid these misinterpretations ourselves. I freely confess I am one of those. Let us list a few:

* The misinterpretations of `subsists in', in the phrase `The Church of Christ susbists in the Catholic Church [Lumen gentium, no. 8]

* the misapplication of the ends of marriage [making love and life into an either/or instead of a both/and]

* the misuse of the historico-critical method in biblical and theological reflection [thereby undermining the historicity of the Bible]

* the continuous separation of theology from spirituality; [making knowing the faith and living the faith into an either/or instead of both/and]

* the misunderstanding of the nature, origin, and purpose of episcopal conferences [See Apostolos suos, June, 1998]

* the imbalance between duties and rights [as if rights could be fabricated, and as if, again, rights and duties could be separated]

* the refusal to affirm the universality and immutability of the moral commandments, particularly those which prohibit always and without exception an intrinsically evil act [for example, contraception; prenatal infanticide]

* the imbalance of the relationship between conscience and the truth [further examples of the twin evils of separating things that belong together and forcing together things that belong apart]

* the meaning of human freedom [freedom in Christ, not freedom from Christ]

Cardinal Stafford went on to make superbly the point that the local Church--any local Church--will simply get swept away by the phoney freedom of current culture unless it remains loyal to Rome, the guardian and conduit of the freedom of the sons of God.