Vatican III? Heck No

American Catholic does a pretty good job here of fisking this article by a Priest that was written for ABC. See Time For Vatican III? No!

Besides the whole celibate priesthood issue we get to the big banana.

Many feel that other issues should also be addressed if a new Vatican Council was ever convened. Women priests, sexual ethics, inter-religious dialogue, globalization and ecology are but some of the topics that get mentioned.

Above all people seem to desire an open dialogue, simply to be able to talk about these issues in an adult forum where their life experience and hard-earned wisdom is acknowledged as a indispensable element in the establishment of church law and doctrine.

This would mean that more than Red Hats gather for such a Council. The laity would need to be more than window dressing this time. They would rather be respected as serious deliberators who help the ecclesiastical hierarchy to shape a new and spirit-filled vision.

In other words lets hurry up and the follow the example of many mainline Protestant groups of the last 40 years and do what they are doing. I don't think this is a big secret but that appears to have been a colossal failure.

Also such moves would no doubt caused a massive schism, and a huge defection to Eastern Orthodoxy if they would "ever occur". Speaking of the Orthodox such moves would no doubt be the nail in the coffin to any reuniting with the Eastern Orthodox Churches and healing that painful schism.

There is present in this an amazing lack of self reflection. Let us be honest since at least the 70's there has been a major revolt among the powers that be in the Dioceses, in the religious orders, and at Catholics Universities against the See of Peter.

The "progressives" have in reality been in effective control. What do we have? Catholic Colleges that seem pretty good of producing "Catholics in Name Only", less vocations, a scandal of many Catholics embracing the culture of Death in it's many forms, and a couple of generations of Catholics have a horrible knowledge of their faith.

This "adult forum" has he has called it has been in reality happening at a local level for some time led by the Catholic progressives. That is simply the reality. Yet there appears to be again a amazing reluctance by many to look at their own failures. BLAME ROME!! Well these people have been bucking Rome for decades and in fact encouraging their flock to do so.