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This document was referred to in the Thread (07/21/07): “A SIMPLE, COMMON SENSE REBUTTAL to SSPX, SSPV and CMRI". The traditionalists have a difficult time seeing that the ecclesiology of Vatican II was not a departure from past teachings of the Church but rather a deepening of our understanding of the Church’s ecclesiology. This paper is a study of the single phrase, "subsists in", found in the most important document of the Second Vatican Council, the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church (Lumen Gentium). Since the time of the council, more ink has been spilt over the meaning and interpretation of...

CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITHRESPONSES TO SOME QUESTIONS REGARDING CERTAIN ASPECTSOF THE DOCTRINE ON THE CHURCH IntroductionThe Second Vatican Council, with its Dogmatic Constitution Lumen gentium, and its Decrees on Ecumenism (Unitatis redintegratio) and the Oriental Churches (Orientalium Ecclesiarum), has contributed in a decisive way to the renewal of Catholic ecclesiolgy. The Supreme Pontiffs have also contributed to this renewal by offering their own insights and orientations for praxis: Paul VI in his Encyclical Letter Ecclesiam suam (1964) and John Paul II in his Encyclical Letter Ut unum sint (1995).The consequent duty of theologians to expound with...