The Trouble with GAUDIUM ET SPES, I-I

FLAWS IN SOME TEXTS OF GAUDIUM ET SPES

Observations by Alexis Bugnolo

The documents of the Second Sacrosanct Ecumenical Council of the Vatican are acts of the authentic Church exercising in an extraordinary form the authentic Ordinary Magisterium. In this regard it is crucial to a right understanding of Vatican II to remember what His Holiness Pope John XXIII declared in his opening discourse (L'Osservatore Romano 10/12/1962), what was reaffirmed by the Secretariate of the Council (November 16, 1964), by His Holiness Pope Paul VI at the close of the Council (L'Osservatore Romano, 12/7/1965; AAS 1967,57;Audience of 1/12/1966 published in L'Osservatore Romano 1/21/1966) namely that the Council did not intend, nor did it in fact propose any teaching as an infallible, irreformable definition. His Eminence Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, addressing the Chilean Episcopal Conference (cf. Il Sabato 7/30--8/5/1988), reaffirmed the same when he said, "The truth is that the Council itself did not define any dogma, and that it consciously wanted to express itself on a more modest level, simply as a pastoral Council." Vatican II therefore an exercise of the prudential Magisterium, that is of the authentic teaching office exercised in a non-infallible, consultory manner, which inasmuch as it reiterates that faith once and forever handed on to the Apostles by Christ Our Lord accurately is infallible (evidencing the Ordinary Magisterium) and when inaccurately, is fallible. And so in all matters, wherein Vatican II proposes novel teachings and or novel expressions, the Catholic faithful are not obliged in conscience to accept these as definitive teaching. To this extent therefore it is not only permissible but licit for the faithful in communion with the rightful and true successor of St. Peter, His Holiness Pope John Paul II, to examine the texts of the Conciliar documents and to identify and propose alterations which would make any such statements more conformable to the Ordinary Magisterium of the Church.

Therefore to speak of flaws in Gaudium et Spes is not to accuse the Church of imposing error, since neither the Council nor Pope Paul VI imposed the acceptance of the teaching of Vatican II with the obligation of the assent of divine faith, but merely with a religious respect, which according to Cardinal Journet (Church of the Incarnate Word), may be broken if sufficient study shows objective reasons. This study therefore proposes emendations and corrections and comments on Gaudium et Spes to call attention to the inherent instability of the document in being a norm for theological guidance and pastoral action. We must hold with Pope John Paul II (Ecclesia Dei adflicta) that Vatican II must be understood in harmony with Sacred Tradition and the perennial Magisterium.

CHAPTER I

THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON

12:1 An Error of Fact contrary to a sensus fidei Catholicus?

OFFICIAL LATIN TEXT

12:1 (De homine ad imaginem Dei) Secundum credentium et non credentium fere concordem sententiam, omnia quae in terra sunt ad hominem, tamquam ad centrum suum et culmen, ordinanda sunt. (Acta Synodalia, Vol 4, periodus quartus 7: p. 739)

OFFICIAL ENGLISH TEXT AT VATICAN WWW STIE

12:1 According to the almost unanimous opinion of believers and unbelievers alike, all things on earth should be related to man as their center and crown

COMMENTS ON OFFICIAL TRANSLATION

The Latin term concordem which is translated "unanimous" actually has the proper meaning of "harmonious"; to translate this term as "unanimous" is to make the statement say more in English than in Latin. Also, the Latin term culmen which is translated "crown" actually means "summit" and is used in reference to both topographic features as well as the human head. Thus to translate this as "crown" is to add to the meaning of the text. Finally and most significantly, the Latin verb ordinanda sunt, which is translated "should be related" does not mean this but rather, "must be ordered".

PROPOSED REVISION OF ENGLISH TEXT

12:1 (Concerning man made to the image of God) According to the almost harmonious opinion of believers and non believers, all things which are on Earth must be ordered to man, as to their center and summit.

COMMENTS

The text as it stands is the fundamental postulate of Gaudium et Spes. Inasmuch as even in authentic Catholic Theology man is seen as the summit of terrestrial creation, there is a rightful assertion that such creation should be subordinated to mankind. But this admission must be expressed in such a manner as not to exclude the subordination of man to the supernatural. If this postulate is understood as simply and merely speaking of the natural order, then it is valid. But without mention of the necessity of subordinating man to the supernatural order, especially to God, it fosters the possibility that the text will be understood in strictly humanistic terms, and exclusive of such subordination.

It might be said that the phrase "all things on Earth" qualifies the statement and thus saves it from such a possibility. However the phrase on Earth is not the same thing as in the natural order; for God, who is strictly supernatural, is present in the Eucharist. Furthermore, what about things on the Moon, Mars? Are they not also to be ordained to man?

Strictly speaking Catholic Theology has always held that all things must be subordinated to God and Christ, mankind included. But then, non believers do not agree with believers on this score. The official English translation fosters the notion that there is greater agreement, than the Latin text does, and furthermore obscures the Latin text's assertion of subordination of creation to mankind. The Latin text fails to speak adequately to avoid a non-Catholic reading.

Expressions conformable to secularist/modernist mentality, not Catholic.

15. § 1 In our times he has won superlative victories, especially in his probing of the material world and in subjecting it to himself. [The 20th Century? Victories?? More like stunning defeats at the hands of the malevolent spirits of wickedness.]

21. §7 Above all the Church knows that her message is in harmony with the most secret desires of the human heart when she champions the dignity of the human vocation, restoring hope to those who have already despaired of anything higher than their present lot. Far from diminishing man, her message brings to his development light, life and freedom. [Catholicism is not the fulfillment of interior religious sense, but is objectively true. To say otherwise is to speak like a Modernist.]

Expressions which obscure superiority of Supernatural Order

16. § 1 In fidelity to conscience, Christians are joined with the rest of men in the search for truth, and for the genuine solution to the numerous problems which arise in the life of individuals from social relationships. [Christians are not joined in the search for truth; they have it already Christ Jesus Our Lord].

21. §4 Meanwhile every man remains to himself an unsolved puzzle, however obscurely he may perceive it. For on certain occasions no one can entirely escape the kind of self-questioning mentioned earlier, especially when life's major events take place. To this questioning only God fully and most certainly provides an answer as He summons man to higher knowledge and humbler probing. [As if a man with faith is in the same precarious state as a man without faith. This denies Christ's words, "He who follows Me will have the light of life."]

21. §6 While rejecting atheism, root and branch, the Church sincerely professes that all men, believers and unbelievers alike, ought to work for the rightful betterment of this world in which all alike live; such an ideal cannot be realized, however, apart from sincere and prudent dialogue. [Contemplatives have no obligation to better this world in the natural order, let alone to enter into a dialogue. Moreover contemplatives are essential components of the Church to fulfill Her mission of plumbing the riches of Christ, "In who is all the riches of knowledge and wisdom."; therefore as written this statement compromises the transcendence of the supernatural vocation of some members of the Church over the natural vocation of mankind, simply considered.]

Expressions that lump the guilt of Protestantism and schismatics with Catholics

19. §3 Undeniably, those who willfully shut out God from their hearts and try to dodge religious questions are not following the dictates of their consciences, and hence are not free of blame; yet believers themselves frequently bear some responsibility for this situation. For, taken as a whole, atheism is not a spontaneous development but stems from a variety of causes, including a critical reaction against religious beliefs, and in some places against the Christian religion in particular. Hence believers can have more than a little to do with the birth of atheism. To the extent that they neglect their own training in the faith, or teach erroneous doctrine, or are deficient in their religious, moral or social life, they must be said to conceal rather than reveal the authentic face of God and religion. [The Catholic Faith and Catholic Life have never in any manner fostered atheism; in this matter the neglect of the Catholic Faith and Life alone is the cause; not just of Christian Faith and Life, which is merely a label for many man-made religions, and is undoubtedly the primary cause of atheism and Christianity's bad name.]

Explicit omission of Catholic Doctrine:

21. §3 For man was made an intelligent and free member of society by God Who created him, but even more important, he is called as a son to commune with God and share in His happiness. [Mankind was not created in a pure state of nature and then called to a supernatural destiny. He was created in a state of grace. Omission of this truth leads necessarily to a distortion of anthropology and soteriology.]

22 §3 In Him God reconciled us(25) to Himself and among ourselves. [In a passage where there should be an explicit statement of the Divinity of Christ, there is a resort to a Biblical passage that permits an Arianizing interpretation.]

Humanistic reinterpretation of Catholic Doctrine:

22. §1 Christ, the final Adam, by the revelation of the mystery of the Father and His love, fully reveals man to man himself and makes his supreme calling clear. [Objectively Christ reveals the truth of God to man, not of Man to man.]

22:6 Obscurment of Catholic Doctrine regarding the Incarnation?

OFFICIAL LATIN TEXT

22:6 Ipse enim, Filius Dei, incarnatione cum omni homine qudammodo Se univit. (Acta Synodalia, Vol 4, periodus quartus 7: p. 749)

OFFICIAL ENGLISH TEXT AT VATICAN WWW STIE

22:6 For by His incarnation the Son of God has united Himself in some fashion with every man.

COMMENTS ON OFFICIAL TRANSLATION

The English text changes the syntax of the Latin sentence slightly.

PROPOSED REVISION OF ENGLISH TEXT

22:6 For He, the Son of God, by the Incarnation has united Himself with every man in a certain manner.

COMMENTS

The Latin text as written naturally serves to introduce the following sentences by its use of quodammodo "in a certain manner"; the English text by changing the word order obscures this relationship and enables the sentence to be understood in the sense of a postulate. It should be noted that the Latin text, but resorting to the words univit cum "united with" properly refers to a sharing of communion of persons not natures. If the Latin text had said univit ad "united to" it would be refering to the latter. And thus, the Latin text as it stands cannot be reasonably used to support the assertion that in becomming man God the Son united himself to every human person; but rather that He entered into communion with every man inasmuch as He came to share our human way of living and being.

22:19 Expression that obscure necessity of Christ and Church?

OFFICIAL LATIN TEXT

22:19 Cum enim pro omnibus mortuus sit Christus cumque vocatio hominis ultima revera una sit, scilicet divina, tenere debemus Spiritum Sanctum cunctis possibiliatatem offerre ut modo Deo cognito, huic paschali mysterio consocientur. (Acta Synodalia, Vol 4, periodus quartus 7: p. 745)

OFFICIAL ENGLISH TEXT AT VATICAN WWW STIE

22:19 For, since Christ died for all men,(32) and since the ultimate vocation of man is in fact one, and divine, we ought to believe that the Holy Spirit in a manner known only to God offers to every man the possibility of being associated with this paschal mystery.

COMMENTS ON OFFICIAL TRANSLATION

The Latin word scilicet, which is translated "and" means rather "namely". The Latin word tenere, which is translated "believe" infact means "hold". The Latin terms omnibus and cunctis, which are translated "all men" and "every man" respectively, stricly mean "all" (considered singularly) and "to all" (considered collectively). The Latin term modo, which is translated "in a manner . . . only", means simply "in a manner"; though it could be read as "only" nevertheless the Latin is ambiguous; it might as well not. Finally the Latin verb consocientur can only be translated as an infinitive of purpose, not as a gerundive ("of being associated").

PROPOSED REVISION OF ENGLISH TEXT

22:19 For, since Christ has died for everyone and since the ultimate vocation of man is in truth one, namely divine, we ought to hold that the Holy Spirit offers a possibility to all mankind to be associated with this paschal mystery in a manner known to God.

COMMENTS

The English text clearly obscures the meaning of the Latin. For the Latin text merely asserts that the first two truths (Christ's death and mankind's divine vocation) lead to the conclusion that we must hold (in some unspecified manner) that the Holy Spirit offers the possibility of salvation to the entire human race.

However the English text inverses the meaning of the Latin words omnibus and cunctis and asserts that we must believe (ostensibly by divine faith) that Holy Spirit offers a means of salvation (even if outside the Church and Her sacraments and faith in Christ) to each and every individual. This is a patently erroneous translation. Certainly a possibility is offered and it includes actual graces that lead to conversion to the Catholic Faith; for it is absurd to claim today that there is anyone in the world at present that does not know something of Christ and His true and only Church, so that God must offer some other means. How easily it is forgotten that God is not obliged to save anyone after Adams fall, nor even after Christs death and resurrection.

CHAPTER II

THE COMMUNITY OF MANKIND

Misrepresentation of Christ's teaching

24. §2 For this reason, love for God and neighbor is the first and greatest commandment. Sacred Scripture, however, teaches us that the love of God cannot be separated from love of neighbor: "If there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.... Love therefore is the fulfillment of the Law" (Rom. 13:9-10; cf. 1 John 4:20). To men growing daily more dependent on one another, and to a world becoming more unified every day, this truth proves to be of paramount importance. [However this misrepresents the teaching of Christ, who said, "The first and greatest commandment is this, "To love the Lord Thy God ... The Second is like the first, 'Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.'"(Mt 22:35-40). For, although "Love is the fulfillment of the whole law" (Rom. 13:10) when considered as the supreme genus of human acts, nevertheless, inasmuch as love is considered a particular act to be precepted for the salvation of the individual and to this extent, love must be directed to another as a particular person(s), the precept of love is first that of God, the Most Holy Trinity, and secondly that of our neighbor, as Christ Himself teaches. To misrepresent Christ's teaching in this manner is to equate the dignity of the Divine Persons with the dignity of created human persons.]

Obfuscations of Catholic teaching

24. §3 Indeed, the Lord Jesus, when He prayed to the Father, "that all may be one. . . as we are one" (John 17:21-22) opened up vistas closed to human reason, for He implied a certain likeness between the union of the divine Persons, and the unity of God's sons in truth and charity. [Why not say what this likeness is? Rather than leave vagary to the imagination of humanists? The likeness is this union accomplished by "Sanctifying grace" in mens' souls. Sanctifying grace is a participation in the very life of God who is the Supreme Simplicity and Unity.]

Erroneous Teaching

24. §3 This likeness reveals that man, who is the only creature on earth which God willed for itself, cannot fully find himself except through a sincere gift of himself.(2) [God wills nothing for itself, except those acts which are directly and immediately ordained to Himself, such as knowing and loving Himself, for to act in any other way would be unworthy of God who is Infinite and Perfect. As written this statement makes God an idolater: which. is strictly blasphemous. It also fosters the erroneous notion of personalism, namely that the human person is as much a person as a divine person, whereas Bl. John Duns Scotus teaches clearly that the notion of "person" in respect to man is conceived by way of negation and analogy, but in reference to a divine Person, it is conceived properly and univocally. Furthermore this statement is grossly humanistic, as if the ontological destiny of mankind in either the natural or supernatural order consisted in self-discovery. This statement is erroneous therefore both as regards theology and philosophic anthropology. The statement would be entirely Catholic if it read, ". . .who is the only creature on earth which God willed not to be ordered to another natural good, but rather to transcend the entire natural order, by being ordered to Himself and thus, cannot..."]

25. §1 For the beginning, the subject and the goal of all social institutions is and must be the human person which for its part and by its very nature stands completely in need of social life.(3) [This is humanism pure and simple with a vengeance. It also perfectly harmonious with atheistic Marxist Leninism, inasmuch as it conceives human society purely in natural terms. The Church Herself is a social institution, for She is a society of men. Therefore this statement is implicitly heretical, inasmuch as it asserts that the Church herself must have mankind as Her goal, rather than the honor and glory of the Most Holy Trinity.]

CHAPTER III

MAN'S ACTIVITY THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

Temerious expressions

36. §2 Consequently, we cannot but deplore certain habits of mind, which are sometimes found too among Christians, which do not sufficiently attend to the rightful independence of science and which, from the arguments and controversies they spark, lead many minds to conclude that faith and science are mutually opposed.(7) [It is erroneous to speak of a "rightful independence of science" since empirical science depends upon eternal Truth, inasmuch as it is through Him that all things came into being, all things which are the object of the empirical sciences, and inasmuch as empirical science perfects the human mind by knowledge, it depends upon the Eternal Truth who is the Word of the Father, who is the cause of the intellectual light. Hence it is and has no rightful independence from the Creator, who is the God of Christianity,( cf. St. Bonaventure's "Return of the Arts to Theology") The Council Fathers themselves, to their credit, noticed this deviation, and corrected it in 36 §3, which clearly shows the divergence of tendencies among them.]

Use of Scripture in a less than clear manner

38. §2 Appointed Lord by His resurrection and given plenary power in heaven and on earth,(13) Christ is now at work in the hearts of men through the energy of His Holy Spirit, arousing not only a desire for the age to come, but by that very fact animating, purifying and strengthening those noble longings too by which the human family makes its life more human and strives to render the whole earth submissive to this goal. [In the context of humanism, which so pervades Gaudium et Spes, this statement will seem to imply that Christ Jesus is not Lord by the infinite dignity of his Divine Personhood. It would be clearer if "lord" was employed in the quote above, to signify the office of Redeemer and not the ontological dignity. This ability to be misinterpreted is enforced by the usage of "God" in Gaudium et Spes, a word which although is explicitly applied to the Father (e.g. God the Father) is not found in the equivalent Catholic form in the body of the text in regards to the Son (God the Son or even God the Holy Spirit.). Why the silence? (In the footnotes this silence is broken, by the use of the word "divine", which however is not univocal in either Latin or English; cf. Part 1: Intro fn. 22; Chapter 4 fn. 11) This corroborates the manifest divergence of the views among the Council fathers.]

OFFICIAL LATIN TEXT	12:1 (De homine ad imaginem Dei) Secundum credentium et non credentium fere concordem sententiam, omnia quae in terra sunt ad hominem, tamquam ad centrum suum et culmen, ordinanda sunt. (Acta Synodalia, Vol 4, periodus quartus 7: p. 739)
OFFICIAL ENGLISH TEXT AT VATICAN WWW STIE	12:1 According to the almost unanimous opinion of believers and unbelievers alike, all things on earth should be related to man as their center and crown
COMMENTS ON OFFICIAL TRANSLATION	The Latin term concordem which is translated "unanimous" actually has the proper meaning of "harmonious"; to translate this term as "unanimous" is to make the statement say more in English than in Latin. Also, the Latin term culmen which is translated "crown" actually means "summit" and is used in reference to both topographic features as well as the human head. Thus to translate this as "crown" is to add to the meaning of the text. Finally and most significantly, the Latin verb ordinanda sunt, which is translated "should be related" does not mean this but rather, "must be ordered".
PROPOSED REVISION OF ENGLISH TEXT	12:1 (Concerning man made to the image of God) According to the almost harmonious opinion of believers and non believers, all things which are on Earth must be ordered to man, as to their center and summit.
COMMENTS	The text as it stands is the fundamental postulate of Gaudium et Spes. Inasmuch as even in authentic Catholic Theology man is seen as the summit of terrestrial creation, there is a rightful assertion that such creation should be subordinated to mankind. But this admission must be expressed in such a manner as not to exclude the subordination of man to the supernatural. If this postulate is understood as simply and merely speaking of the natural order, then it is valid. But without mention of the necessity of subordinating man to the supernatural order, especially to God, it fosters the possibility that the text will be understood in strictly humanistic terms, and exclusive of such subordination. It might be said that the phrase "all things on Earth" qualifies the statement and thus saves it from such a possibility. However the phrase on Earth is not the same thing as in the natural order; for God, who is strictly supernatural, is present in the Eucharist. Furthermore, what about things on the Moon, Mars? Are they not also to be ordained to man? Strictly speaking Catholic Theology has always held that all things must be subordinated to God and Christ, mankind included. But then, non believers do not agree with believers on this score. The official English translation fosters the notion that there is greater agreement, than the Latin text does, and furthermore obscures the Latin text's assertion of subordination of creation to mankind. The Latin text fails to speak adequately to avoid a non-Catholic reading.

OFFICIAL LATIN TEXT	22:6 Ipse enim, Filius Dei, incarnatione cum omni homine qudammodo Se univit. (Acta Synodalia, Vol 4, periodus quartus 7: p. 749)
OFFICIAL ENGLISH TEXT AT VATICAN WWW STIE	22:6 For by His incarnation the Son of God has united Himself in some fashion with every man.
COMMENTS ON OFFICIAL TRANSLATION	The English text changes the syntax of the Latin sentence slightly.
PROPOSED REVISION OF ENGLISH TEXT	22:6 For He, the Son of God, by the Incarnation has united Himself with every man in a certain manner.
COMMENTS	The Latin text as written naturally serves to introduce the following sentences by its use of quodammodo "in a certain manner"; the English text by changing the word order obscures this relationship and enables the sentence to be understood in the sense of a postulate. It should be noted that the Latin text, but resorting to the words univit cum "united with" properly refers to a sharing of communion of persons not natures. If the Latin text had said univit ad "united to" it would be refering to the latter. And thus, the Latin text as it stands cannot be reasonably used to support the assertion that in becomming man God the Son united himself to every human person; but rather that He entered into communion with every man inasmuch as He came to share our human way of living and being.

OFFICIAL LATIN TEXT	22:19 Cum enim pro omnibus mortuus sit Christus cumque vocatio hominis ultima revera una sit, scilicet divina, tenere debemus Spiritum Sanctum cunctis possibiliatatem offerre ut modo Deo cognito, huic paschali mysterio consocientur. (Acta Synodalia, Vol 4, periodus quartus 7: p. 745)
OFFICIAL ENGLISH TEXT AT VATICAN WWW STIE	22:19 For, since Christ died for all men,(32) and since the ultimate vocation of man is in fact one, and divine, we ought to believe that the Holy Spirit in a manner known only to God offers to every man the possibility of being associated with this paschal mystery.
COMMENTS ON OFFICIAL TRANSLATION	The Latin word scilicet, which is translated "and" means rather "namely". The Latin word tenere, which is translated "believe" infact means "hold". The Latin terms omnibus and cunctis, which are translated "all men" and "every man" respectively, stricly mean "all" (considered singularly) and "to all" (considered collectively). The Latin term modo, which is translated "in a manner . . . only", means simply "in a manner"; though it could be read as "only" nevertheless the Latin is ambiguous; it might as well not. Finally the Latin verb consocientur can only be translated as an infinitive of purpose, not as a gerundive ("of being associated").
PROPOSED REVISION OF ENGLISH TEXT	22:19 For, since Christ has died for everyone and since the ultimate vocation of man is in truth one, namely divine, we ought to hold that the Holy Spirit offers a possibility to all mankind to be associated with this paschal mystery in a manner known to God.
COMMENTS	The English text clearly obscures the meaning of the Latin. For the Latin text merely asserts that the first two truths (Christ's death and mankind's divine vocation) lead to the conclusion that we must hold (in some unspecified manner) that the Holy Spirit offers the possibility of salvation to the entire human race. However the English text inverses the meaning of the Latin words omnibus and cunctis and asserts that we must believe (ostensibly by divine faith) that Holy Spirit offers a means of salvation (even if outside the Church and Her sacraments and faith in Christ) to each and every individual. This is a patently erroneous translation. Certainly a possibility is offered and it includes actual graces that lead to conversion to the Catholic Faith; for it is absurd to claim today that there is anyone in the world at present that does not know something of Christ and His true and only Church, so that God must offer some other means. How easily it is forgotten that God is not obliged to save anyone after Adams fall, nor even after Christs death and resurrection.