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Consider this statement in Dei Verbum: "The Church has always venerated the Divine Scripture as she has venerated the Body of the Lord in so far as she never ceases, particularly in the Sacred Liturgy, to partake of the bread of life and to offer it to the faithful from the one table of the Word of God and the Body of Christ." (DV 21.)

The statement is strangely discordant with Catholic truth. The Church has NEVER venerated the two in the same way. One contains the VIRTUAL presence of the Lord, the other the REAL presence. The former was venerated, the latter was ADORED.

Yes, the statement is ambiguous. Yes, everything hinges on the word "sicut" which means "as". Yes, it is a statement that would appeal to Protestants. Yes, it blurs the distinction between Scripture and the Blessed Sacrament. Yes, its meaning demands interpretation. Yes, it ignores the enormous significance of the Real Presence.

But this is precisely the problem with Vatican II. In the past councils declared what was binding and true in ruthlessly clear dogmatic statements. The faithful who are being bound intellectually have an absolute right to at least this much. Jusice alone would demand this. But this is precisely what is lacking in the collection of documents that has come out of the last Council. They say whatever the present magisterium decides, whenever it decides. That is not good enough, especially when such interpretations class with traditional teachings of the Catholic Church.