Rome – Pope Francis on January 30 urged those charged with transmitting the principles of the Catholic faith to hold the teachings of the Second Vatican Council as sacred, saying that to be a Catholic you must adhere to the reforms brought about by the historical event.
“You can be with the church and therefore follow the counsel, or you can not follow the counsel or interpret it in your own way, however you want, and you are not with the church,” the Pope said in a meeting with a group. . of catechists associated with the Italian Bishops’ Conference.
“The council is the magisterium of the church,” said the Pope. ‘We have to be demanding and strict at this point. The council is non-negotiable. ‘
“Please, do not compromise on those who wish to present a catechesis that is inconsistent with the Church’s Magisterium,” he told the catechists.
The Second Vatican Council, convened by Pope John XXIII and held in Rome from 1962 to 1965, brought about a number of reforms for the global Catholic Church, including the use of local languages during liturgies and the redefinition of the Church as the ‘people of God . “
The effect of the council has been hotly debated by Catholics in the decades since the event, and some movements now even chose to revert to a Latin celebration of the Mass.
Francis told the catechists that the church is experiencing a problem of “selectivity” with regard to the council’s teachings, and said it was a problem similar to one experienced after previous consistory.
The pope named a group of Catholic bishops who decided to establish their own church over disagreements after the First Vatican Council, held in Rome from 1869 to 1870, in clear reference to what is now known as the Old Catholic Church.
“I often think of a group of bishops who left after Vatican I … to continue the ‘true doctrine’ that was not that of Vatican I,” said the Pope.
“Today they ordain women,” the Pope continued, adding, “The strictest attitude, to guard the faith without the magisterium of the Church, will destroy you.”