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By: David Cloud
While the declarations of the Catholic Vatican II council of the 1960s did bring changes to the Catholic Church, it did not change its foundational dogmas. Not only did Vatican II uphold Rome's false dogmas, it actually strengthened them.
The hundreds of bishops attending Vatican II reaffirmed such Roman Heresies as papal supremacy, the Roman priesthood, the mass as re-sacrifice of Christ, a polluted sacramental gospel, Catholic tradition on equal par with Scripture, Mary as the Queen of Heaven and co-redemptress with Christ, auricular confession, Mariolatry, pilgrimages to "holy shrines," purgatory, prayers to and for the dead, etc.
All of these Roman dogmas are reaffirmed in Vatican Council II - The Conciliar and Post Conciliar Documents. This book is published by the Roman Catholic Church and contains the Imprimature: Walter P. Kellenberg, DD., Bishop of Rockville Center, August 12, 1975. "Imprimature" is the official Catholic stamp of approval and means: let it be printed".
Consider some quotes from the Vatican II documents: --
The Mass, a sacrifice of Christ--
"The Mass, the Lord's Supper, is... a sacrifice in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated."(p.108)
"In this sacrament Christ is present in a unique way, whole and entire, God and man, substantially and permanently. This presence of Christ under the species 'is called real, not in an exclusive sense, as if the other kind of presence were not real, but par excellence'".(p.114)
The Host to be worshipped--
"All the faithful ought to show to this most holy sacrament the worship which is due to the true God, as has always been the custom of the Catholic Church. Nor is it to be adored any the less because it was instituted by Christ to be eaten. For even in the reserved sacrament he is to be adored because he is substantially present there through that conversion of bread and wine which, as the Council of Trent tells, is most aptly named transubstantiation."(pp. 109-110)
"It is necessary to instruct the faith that Jesus Christ is the Lord and Saviour and that the same worship and adoration given to God is owed to him present under the sacramental signs." (p.221)
Masses for the dead--
"The Church offers the Pascal Sacrifice (the Mass) for the Dead so that...the dead may be helped by the prayers and the living may be consoled by hope." (p.197)
Catholic tradition on equal par with scripture--
"Sacred Tradition and sacred Scripture, then, are bound closely together, and communicate one with the other. ... Thus it comes about that the Church does not draw her certainty about all revealed truths from the holy Scriptures alone. Hence, both Scripture and Tradition must be accepted and honoured with equal feelings of devotion and reverence." (p.682)
Salvation through sacraments and the church--
"[Christ] also willed that the work of salvation which they preached should be set in train through the sacrifice and sacraments, around which the entire liturgical [ritualistic] life revolves. Thus by Baptism men are grafted into the paschal mystery of Christ. ... They receive the spirit of adoption as sons." (pp.23-23)
Salvation through baptism--
"By the sacrament of Baptism, whenever it is properly conferred in the way the Lord determined and received with the proper dispositions of soul, man becomes truly incorporated into the crucified and glorified Christ and is reborn to a sharing of the divine life." (p.427)
Popes distribute salvation--
"God's only-begotten Son ... has won a treasure for the militant Church ... he has entrusted it to blessed Peter, the key-bearer of heaven, and to his successors who are Christ's vicars on earth, so that they may distribute it to the faithful for their salvation ... The merits of the Blessed Mother of God and of all the elect ... are known to add further to this treasury."(p.80)
The Pope is supreme head of the church--
"The Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, namely, and as pastor of the entire Church, has full, supreme and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered."(p.344)
Mary, the sinless mother of God, perpetual virgin, bodily assumed into Heaven as queen over all--
"Joined to Christ the head and in communion with all his saints, the faithful must in the first place reverence the memory of the glorious ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ...Because of the gift of sublime grace she far surpasses all creatures, both in heaven and on earth. ... The immaculate Virgin preserved free from all stain of original sin, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, when her earthy life was over, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things." (p.378, 381-382)
Mary, co-redemptress with Christ--
"As St. Irenaeus says, she being obedient, became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race. Hence not a few of the earthly Fathers gladly assert with him in their preaching ... 'death through Eve, life through Mary'... This union of the mother with the Son in the work of salvation is made manifest from the time of Christ's virginal conception up to his death."(pp.380-381)
Mary, Heavenly intercessor--
"Take up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation. By her maternal charity, she cares for the brethren of her Son,. who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties, until they are led into their blessed home. Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix."(pp.382-383)
Mary, To be worshiped by the church--
"Mary, has by grace been exalted above all angels and men to a place second only to her Son, as the most holy mother of God who was involved in the mysteries of Christ: she is rightly honoured by a special cult in the Church. ... The sacred synod teaches this Catholic doctrine advisedly and at the same time admonished all the sons of the Church that the cult, especially the liturgical cult, of the Blessed Virgin, be generously fostered, and that the practices and exercises of devotion towards her, recommended by the teaching authority of the Church in the course of centuries be highly esteemed,and that those decrees, which were given in the early days regarding the cult images of Christ, the Blessed Virgin and the saints, be religiously observed."(pp. 384-385)
Intercessions of and prayers to dead "saints"--
"The union of the living with their brethren who have fallen asleep in Christ is not broken. ... Now that they are welcomed in their own country and at home with the Lord, through him with him and in him they intercede unremerittimgly with the Father on our behalf, offering the merit they acquired on earth through Christ Jesus. ...Their brotherly care is the greatest help to our weakness."(p.77)
Purgatory--
"The doctrine of purgatory clearly demonstrates that even when the guilt of sin has been taken away, punishment for it or the consequences of it may remain to be expiated or cleansed. They often are. In fact, in purgatory the souls of those who died in the charity of God and truly repented, but who had not made satisfaction with adequate penance for their sins and omissions are cleansed after death with punishments designed to purge away their debts." (P.75)
It is plain that the Catholic church continues to uphold doctrines which are blasphemous and contrary to the Word of God.
Further quotes (including Vatican II's affirmation of the Council of Trent) are given in David Cloud's book : Is the Roman Catholic Church Changing? This is available from Way of Life Literature, 1219 North Harns Road, Oak Harbor, Washington 98277.
