A Complete Misunderstanding of Vatican Council II

Over at The National Catholic Reporter, Fr. McBrien posted this article:

Some highlights:

For the past several weeks this column has been underscoring some of the most important ecclesiological principles espoused by the council. This week the emphasis is on the council's teaching that the church is a communion -- a communion between God and ourselves (the vertical dimension) and a communion of ourselves with one another in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit (the horizontal dimension).

[...]

The church is a communion of local churches, or dioceses, each of which is the Body of Christ in its own particular place (Lumen gentium, n. 26).

[...]

The church's mode of activity will necessarily differ from region to region. It will take longer, for example, in some regions of the world to accept a married clergy or the presence of women in positions of real pastoral authority than in other regions, like our own.
But such developments as these are inevitable, even though some bishops, such as William Morris of Australia, have been sacked for even raising the possibility.

My response is as follows.  Although, I would be willing to bet that this will never be published.  So, I'm moving it over here....

Fr. McBrien,

I am utterly perplexed by your view.  I cannot for the life of me make out how you come to the conclusion that you do.  You have completely misinterpreted Lumen gentium #26.  There is no mention of "communion" in the sense that you're trying to convey.  LG #26 speaks about being united to their bishops, yet you immediately tear down that very union which is made manifest in the two most recent popes.

Also, this understanding of "experience" is flawed.  You go on about how a younger Catholic cannot understand the Church without having lived it.  That is fallacious and you know it.  It is analogous to saying that a psychiatrist cannot possibly know how to treat a crazy man, unless he was first crazy himself.  No.  I resist that incorrect notion. 

The Church has 2000 years of history and Vatican Council II should be seen in that light, not in the light of the "reformers" of the 1960s.  This is not an ecclesial communion created in their image.  It is the Catholic Church which is the mystical body of Christ.  We can know the Church through her teachings, both through Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition.  So, a young Catholic, such as myself, can know, understand, appreciate and be drawn to the Church as a whole, not just the Church as seen through the cracked lens of the Vatican Council II reformers.

I do believe Vatican Council II was necessary.  I do believe that Vatican Council II was meant for the time in which it took place, but I also think that the authentic application of Vatican Council II should be allowed to take place.  It is through jaded and incorrect notions of "reformers" that terms like "communion" replace the actual word, which is community.  It is through jaded and incorrect notions that collegiality is applied to the faithful.  We are not a democracy in the Church.  We are exactly what you say we are not.  We are a monarchy.  Christ is our King and the pope is his regent.  It is not for you or me to determine whether or not this is the best action.  God deemed it to be so.  Radical humanism cannot cause the Church to fail, but it can cause damage.  We need to see the Church for what she is, not for what a few liberal minds after Vatican Council II wanted it to be.

Let's call a spade a spade Fr. McBrien, the reason Vatican Council II is failing isn't because it is being re-imaged, it's because those who imagined and tried to implement what they thought best, did not have the best interest of the faithful in mind.  The real intent was to undermine the Church.  Had Vatican Council II, been authentically rendered immediately following the closing, the Church would be a much different place and a much better place.

Your view has failed.  What you embraced following Vatican Council II has been proven false.  Now we, the younger generation, are left to pick up the pieces of what you and your contemporaries attempted to destroy.  Thankfully, those of us left with the rubble you created, know that the Church will not fail and it is that which keeps me Catholic.