Benedictus XVI

Joseph Ratzinger

19.IV.2005

28.II.2013

Cardeal Joseph Ratzinger :“A verdade é que o próprio Concílio não definiu nenhum dogma e conscientemente quis expressar-se em um nível muito mais modesto, meramente como Concílio pastoral; entretanto, muitos o interpretam como se ele fosse o super dogma que tira a de todos os demais Concílios". (Cardeal Joseph Ratzinger, Alocução aos Bispos do Chile, em 13 de Julho de 1988, in Comunhão Libertação, Cl, año IV, Nº 24, 1988, p. 56).
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger

FROM SELF-CRITICISM TO SELF-DESTRUCTION

"Certainly, the results [of Vatican II] seem cruelly opposed to the expectations of everyone, beginning with those of Pope John XXIII and then of Paul VI: expected was a new Catholic unity and instead we have been exposed to dissension which---to use the words of Paul VI---seems to have gone from self-criticism to self-destruction. Expected was a new enthusiasm, and many wound up discouraged and bored. Expected was a great step forward, and instead we find ourselves faced with a progressive process of decadence which has developed for the most part precisely under the sign of a calling back to the Council, and has therefore contributed to discrediting for many. The net result therefore seems negative. I am repeating here what I said ten years after the conclusion of the work: it is incontrovertible that this period has definitely been unfavorable for th Catholic Church."

L'Osservatore Romano (English edition),
24 December 1984