The ‘Counter-Syllabus’ Canard:
Written by I. Shawn McElhinney
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Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith or CDF) referred to the Vatican II Constitution Gaudium et Spes (GS) as a "counter-syllabus". This reference is unfortunate, not for the truth of the statement properly understood but for the images it conjures. In the minds of those who assert the positions of the post-modernists, it confirms their presumptions, which would (if true) put the entire status of the deposit of Catholic doctrine in peril. Likewise, many well-meaning people who are at a loss to explain the crisis of the Church today in a logical manner assert that the teachings of the Council or the Popes since the Council is somehow responsible for the problems we see on all levels. To them these comments by Cardinal Ratzinger about a "counter-syllabus" are often taken to mean that the Syllabus has been controverted in its teachings. Rather, the intended meaning of the Cardinal Prefect was that the condemnation of errors in the Syllabus could logically be seen as being countered by positive teaching in GS that encapsulates the elements of truth contained in the aforementioned errors. Seen in this light, the negative element of the summary condemnations complimented by the later positive and elaborated teaching encapsulating what elements of truth the previously condemned errors contained results in the climate moving from negative and reactive to positive and pro-active. GS outlined a positive agenda while the Syllabus of Errors (and Quanta Cura) merely condemned errors and outlined no actual agenda.
Thanks. Great post.
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