Nothing Much Different

Recently, the following question was asked:

"What would the bishops of Vatican II have done differently if they had a crystal ball and could see how the Second Vatican Council was implemented 50 years later with all the developments that have happened in the last 50 years?"

I repsonded this way:

I don't think that they would have done much of anything differently.  What Vatican Council II "promulgated" and what happened are two separate events, with regard to the liturgy.  There is no connection between Sacrosanctum Concilium and the Novus Ordo.

With regard to so-called "ecumenism;" I think that they got exactly what they wanted, which is a change in theology.  The view of catechesis, ecumenism, and evangelization has been so compromised that in order to teach it properly today, one has to spend too much time unpacking the true understanding of Protestantism, Orthodoxy, and Paganism in the world.

As for Religious Liberty, I think that they got exactly what they wanted with that too.  I think they wanted to change the tambor of how Catholics viewed Protestants and how we "tolerate" them.  They wanted us to not tolerate them any longer, but to accept them as valid Churches.  I think that most bishops of Vatican Council II would be upset with the term "ecclesial communion."

With regard to the Magisterium of Vatican Council II, I think that most of the bishops would be mortified to think that their work is being critiqued in such an objective way.  By and large the whole point of Vatican Council II was to introduce Subjectivism into the Church as a valid basis for theology and philosophy.

So, save for the Mass itself, I don't think they would have done much differently.  I think that by and large they have accomplished what they set out to do.  I think that most of the bishops would be disappointed that we have Benedict XVI.  I think they would see him more as a Pius XI type and not a John XXIII type.

In essence, the answer is that they would not have allowed the Mass to be as radically disassembled as it was, but other than that...nothing.