At the time when the announcement of the Vatican II council was made, the Catholic Church experienced many challenges in the period before the Second Council. This period is actually referred to as the Counter-Reformation Period by some scholars since it was characterized by more emphasis on rule and regulations (Doyle, p
Heresy or the problem was regarded as a threat to the Church because it had a huge impact on people's view and opinion of the church. Due to the problem, many of the church's policies appeared to be out of place as her forms of worship were outdated and stiff (Green par, 9)
As opposed to the significant points of interpretation explained by the Church's faith, the historical-critical method demanded total exclusivity in interpretation of Scripture. Definition of the Relationship between the Church and State: There was a great need to provide a new definition of the relationship between the Church and modern state in order to guarantee impartiality for people of other ideologies and religion (Lamb & Levering, p
The legitimization of the validity of history as part of the theological process has enriching and liberating results. For a long period of time, Catholicism was characterized by the static perception of reality and resisted the historical and dynamic means of reading the Bible (Sullivan & Sullivan, p
The significance of this response is evident through the deep transformation that has been continually demonstrated in the church at every level since then. Through its landmark documents, the council renewed priesthood and religious life, updated the liturgy, opened dialogue with other religions, and improved the role of lay Catholics (Thavis par, 2)
Through its very nature, the Vatican II Church Council was a ramified progression of occurrences from the moment it was announced by the pope. Origin of the Vatican II Church Council: Both the Church and the world were surprised by Pope John XXVIII in January 25, 1959 following his announcement of a general Council for the Universal Church (Wilde, p
" Those who anticipated "an event" were awed; those who anticipated the assertion of Catholic theology were shocked. For example, when Cardinal Larraona wrote to Pope Paul VI in preparation for the Third Session concerning the schema Constitutionis de Ecclesia, he said, it "brings us…inaccurate, illogical, incoherent and encouraging -- if it were approved -- endless discussions and crises, painful aberrations and deplorable attacks on the unity, discipline and the government of the Church" (Lefebvre 16)
But the SSPX must understand that if it has much to offer to Rome, it also has much to receive from it. It must therefore stop rejecting Vatican 2 outright and accept the guiding principles in interpreting them as proposed by the Holy Father today" (Lelong)
Liturgical abuses were seen everywhere. Anything discernibly "Catholic" in the "traditional" sense was gone and replaced by a new-age style of worship which took its inspiration from Protestant supper services (White 147)