A Blog for Dallas Area Catholics

The formula of faith of Vatican II February 26, 2013

Yes, that’s it, I’m here to beat you down with more excerpts from Roberto de Mattei’s The Second Vatican Council: an unwritten story.  But, this time, it’s different. Instead of pointing out the efforts of modernists, I will present you with a “what might have been” scenariio.  In late 1961, as various documents were being prepared to form the basis of the Council (all of which save the one of the liturgy, drawn up by progressives, being thrown out at the start of the Council).  One of these documents was a Formula Fidei, or statement of faith, almost an updated Oath to be taken by all priests, and basically combined the

Alfredo Cardinal Ottaviani

Tridentine profession of faith with the anti-modernist oath.  It consisted of eighteen points that reaffirmed traditional Catholic truths, condemning a series of errors such as secularism, the denial of the Catholic Church as the One True Church, the denial of the difference between the universal priesthood of the laity and the hierarchical priesthood, minimalism in Mariology, the abadonment of the doctrine of hell, etc.  It was developed under the aegis of Cardinal Ottaviani, and was such a precise, clear cut statement of truths held and errors rejected that it makes an interesting counterpoint with the much more vague, “pastoral” language of Vatican II (de Mattei, pp. 129-130, this is just an excerpt of the final portion of the Formula Fidei):

I acknowledge with sincere faith original sin, through which all men have sinned in their first father, Adam, as a sin strictly speaking that is transmitted by generation and belongs to each individual. [because rejection of original sin is very prevalent among modernists, to this day]

I acknowledge as absolutely certain signs the external proofs of revelation, and first of all the miracles and the prophecies, through which without any doubt it is demonstrated that the Christian religion has a divine origin, and I maintain that even today it is suited to the human intellect. I also maintain that the Church itself, considered per se, on account of its universal unity, its sublime holiness, its inexaustible fruitfulness in all good things, its marvelous diffusion, and its invincible firmness, is a perpetual reason for belief and an indisputable testimony to its divine inheritance. [Scripture is true, Tradition is true, the Church is our supreme authority in matters of Faith and what she proclaims as true must be given full assent of the intellect and will -religious assent]

I sincerely accept the doctrine of faith handed down to us by the apostles by way of the orthodox fathers with the same meaning and with the same expressions. Therefore, even though the Church grows in its understanding of revealed truth, I nevertheless reject as heretical the opinion of the evolution of dogmas which with the passage of time take on a different meaning from the one that the Church taught once and for all.

I hold that the deposit of faith, that is to say, the Word of God, written or handed down by the apostles, is complete. I firmly hold that Sacred Scripture, fre of all error, must be explained with the guidance of the Magisterium of the Faith, according to the norm of tradition and according to the analogy of the Faith. [this specifically rejected modernist biblical exegesis, which attempts to undermine the Faith by casting doubt on the veracity of scripture through reliance on historical-critical methods, textualism, etc.  Many “scientific certainties” regarding Scripture that purported to show how wrong the Church was and how Christ was just a man, which were so dominant in the mid-20th century, have now been repudiated themselves by further “scientific developments.” In a few years, it will switch back again.]

I profess that faith is not just an obscure religious sentiment or just an opinion of the mind, but a true assent of the intellect to the Truth, received from outside by hearing, through which we believe what has been revealed and testified by a personal God, because of the Authority of God Who is supremely truthful, and in believing in Him we offer the full submission of our intellect and will, with the inspiration and the help of God’s Grace. [faith is not a private matter, Christianity is a social faith and our Lord is the Social King of the Universe]

I profess without any doubt all of the other truths defined and proclaimed by the ecumenical councils and above all by the sacred Council of Trent and the First Vatican Ecumenical Council, particularly with regard to the primacy of jurisdiction of the Roman pontiff and his infallible Magisterium, and so I condemn and reject what has been condemned and rejected in those same councils and in the encyclical letters, especially Pascendi and Humani Generis [written by Venerable Pope Pius XII and released in 1950].

This True Catholic Faith, apart from which no one can be saved, [very different from what we get in Dignitatis Humanae?] I now profess freely, and I sincerely uphold it, and I will strive so that it may be preserved whole and inviolate by me and by those who are subject to me, until the final breath of my life, with the utmost firmness and absolute constancy, with the help of God…………

————————–End Quote———————————

Cardinal Ottaviani’s Formula Fidei was rejected by the central preparatory commission of Vatican II as being too “defensive.”  So much for that!  But I, for one, find nothing at all offensive, limiting, or contrary to the right belief and practice of the Faith in those statements above. I think they possess much that should be confirmed and adhered to, especially in our present state of crisis in the Church.  But such formulas, such open, bold statements of Catholic belief, still are not terribly popular in the Church.  I pray for more men like Cardinal Ottaviani!