‘Why did Vatican II ignore Communism?’
December 11, 2012
Journalist Edward Pentin examines why the Second Vatican Council failed to issue an explicit condemnation of Communism.
“Today we must ask: were those who denounced the brutal oppression of Communism in the Council, calling for its solemn condemnation, prophets?” says historian Roberto de Mattei. “Or were those who believed, as the architects of Ostpolitik, that it was necessary to come to an agreement with Communism—a compromise—because Communism interpreted humanity’s anxieties over justice and would have survived one or two centuries, improving the world?”
“If the Second Vatican Council would have condemned Communism, it would have helped accelerate its decline,” Mattei added. “The opposite occurred.”
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Posted by: -
Dec. 11, 2012 9:17 AM ET USA
This is a good lesson that an ecumenical council confirmed by the Pope is protected from error by the Holy Spirit in what it says - not in its silences. Whether a denouncement of Communism was wise at the time was a prudential judgment of the Council Fathers - in retrospect, perhaps not a prudent decision.
