The New Practice of Dialogue:
The Apostolic Spirit Destroyed by Vatican II

by Rev. Fr. Benedict Hughes, CMRI

* Originally published in The Reign of Mary, Issue No. 149, Winter 2013

Dialogue does not aim at conversion, but at better mutual understanding.” These shocking words were not spoken by a Protestant, but by none other than Benedict XVI, in an address to the members of the Roman Curia on December 21, 2012. As shocking as they are to the Catholic reader, they are yet more remarkable for their forthright admission that the Conciliar Church has lost the concept of conversion. Here are a few more quotations from the same speech:

“It is necessary to learn to accept the other in his otherness and the otherness of his thinking. ... The search for an answer to a specific question becomes a process in which, through listening to the other, both sides can obtain purification and enrichment. ... Dialogue does not aim at conversion, but at understanding. ... Accordingly, both parties to the dialogue remain consciously within their identity, which the dialogue does not place in question... (http://tinyurl.com/benedictxvi-2-21-12-speech).

Some may argue that we are taking these words out of context, but I do not believe that to be the case. It is true that he states later in the address that “the search for knowledge and understanding” involves a “drawing closer to the truth,” but this nebulous statement does not change the reality that he is promoting a practice of dialogue which abandons the intention to seek to convert others to the truth. In fact, this new dialogue of Vatican II is entirely at odds with the teaching of the Catholic Church, as we can see from this quote of Pope Pius XI in Mortalium Animos: “This Apostolic See has never allowed its subjects to take part in the assemblies of non-Catholics: for the union of Christians can only be promoted by promoting the return to the one true Church of Christ of those who are separated from it” (par. 10) (http://tinyurl.com/vatican-mortalium-animos).

In an article in the last issue of The Reign of Mary, I mentioned some of the principal errors of Vatican II. But there are many others, including errors which are not stated in so many words, but are implied. One of these is the rejection of the missionary spirit of the Church, which seeks to bring all men to the Faith. After all, if other religions are means of salvation, as Vatican II taught, then why try to bring someone out of them? Modernism teaches that God is ultimately behind all religions, so, in turn, all religions are good and praiseworthy. That is why modernists do not see any need to convert others to the Catholic Church. Consequently, missionary efforts aiming at conversion are looked upon by them as entirely unnecessary and even arrogant.

We have seen the devastation this error has caused. Many religious orders, whose focus had been missionary work, have now become centered on social work, as a result of this new spirit of Vatican II. Missionaries themselves are more interested in humanitarian works than in converting souls. We could say that the Conciliar Church has lost the apostolic spirit, by which we mean the desire to bring all men to the truth, to bring about conversions to the Catholic Church through prayer and missionary activity.
Jesus Christ told His apostles to go forth and teach all nations. In response to this commission, the Church has throughout the centuries sent forth missionaries to bring all men to Christ and His truth. The annals of Catholic history are filled with the lives of men and women who left their native lands and, at great risk of their lives, traveled to foreign lands for no other purpose than to bring souls to the Faith.

Call to mind the labors and fatigue of St. Patrick, St. Boniface, Ss. Cyril and Methodius, St. Hyacinth, and especially of the great missionary St. Francis Xavier. These saints are but a small sampling of the vast army of missionaries the Church has sent forth over all the world throughout the centuries. Inspired by the truth of the Gospel, by the thought of the value of an immortal soul, and by the example of the apostles, they braved every danger and sacrificed their comfort and security to bring the Faith to as many souls as possible. Many of them left their families and their native lands, knowing that they would never see them again. But it was all worth it, for they were sacrificing for the salvation of souls.

Further, we do not have to look far back in history to find such examples. In our own country we have seen the generous zeal of missionaries like the Maryknoll Fathers, many of whom were tortured and/or martyred for the Faith in China. In the 19th century the great Cardinal Lavigerie of France founded the order known as the White Fathers. These priests penetrated the jungles of Africa to bring the Faith to the infidels. Such was their zeal that, even though they knew they might die of malaria or other illness (as many of them did after a short missionary career), they nevertheless were willing to brave those dangers.

These and countless other missionaries were all inspired by one thing: the realization of the value of an immortal soul. We could say that a soul is worth the Precious Blood of Jesus, for He was willing to shed His blood even if only one soul could be saved. Each soul is loved by God, its Creator, who desires all souls to come to the knowledge of the truth and achieve salvation. Each soul will live forever, either with God or separated from Him for all eternity. Knowing that the eternal salvation of each soul is determined by how that person lives, and that countless souls are sunk in the darkness of error and vice, the heroic missionaries of the Catholic Church braved all to reach them.

But Vatican II has changed all that. In fact, that infamous council has totally distorted the notion of the purpose of missionary work and the concept of conversion. Its new spirit of “evangelization” is quite foreign to the practice of the Church. What an insult to Christ, the divine Founder of the Catholic Church! To hide or minimize the truth, to be embarrassed of the same, is to be embarrassed of Christ. Let us not forget His words: “He who denies Me before men, him will I deny before My Father” — words that the practitioners of this new spirit of dialogue should meditate upon with trepidation.

At least we should be grateful to Benedict XVI for openly admitting the forfeiture of the apostolic spirit on the part of the Conciliar Church. Most often, he cloaks his modernism under traditionally-sounding expressions. On this occasion, however, he has openly acknowledged what astute Catholics have known all along — that this new church is a different church and certainly not the Catholic Church of our forefathers. Let him who reads understand and abandon once and for all this apostate church of Vatican II.