Lad, I certainly respect your intelligence and opinion, but I disagree with you on this matter, here is my response:
1) At least two of the theologians on Father Cekada’s list were part of the Ecclesia Docens and those two are also Doctors of the Church. I didn’t check to see if any of the others were bishops also.
2) The Ecclesia Docens tacitly approves the unanimous opinion of the theologians. Honestly, how could it be otherwise? Does the Teaching Church not realize what the theologians are saying especially when the opinion is unanimous? If that wasn’t the case, then the Church would have no need at all for any theologian to explain or help interpret any council or any teaching for that matter. Also, the bishops rely on the theologians to instruct the seminarians. What you’re putting forward makes no sense, a superfluous bunch of theologians.
3) Father Cekada knew very well that the theologians are not part of the Ecclesia Docens in so far as the ones who are not bishops. This is a strawman.
4) As for the theologians who rejected VII, it seems that most of the orthodox ones were caught off guard. At that early stage of the crisis, not many had the fortitude to resist the “pope”. Fr. Fenton, Cardinal Brown (I believe he was a theologian), Canon Berto, and Fr. Guerard Des Lauriers come to my mind for being critical of it. I’m sure there were many others who we do not know about.
5) To be clear, I hold that it is necessary to explicitly believe in the Trinity, the Incarnation, and the Redemption. This belief can be imparted to an individual by God unbeknownst to anyone.
How do you address the two examples I gave ...
1) where a teaching was held unanimously for 700 years but then overturned by the Church?
2) where Fr. Cekada himself rejects something that was taught universally (and Magisterially) for 1500 years?
No, pointing out that theologians are not part of the
Ecclesia Docens is not a strawman. I'm drawing implications from that. They don't have any Magisterial authority to require assent, so where does it come from?
You suggest that it's due to "tacit approval" by the Church. Tacit approval is not a Magisterial act by any stretch. Church history is replete with examples of opinions of theologians that were held for some time and then only much later rejected by the Church. Letting theologians teach something is not tantamount to actually teaching it. Historically the Church has allowed a significant amount of freedom on matters that have not been defined Magisterially ... until such a time as she considers it prudent.
Nor is your explanation for what happened at Vatican II satisfactory. It really doesn't matter WHY all these theologians caved. Fact is that they caved. I can and have gone into great detail to explain WHY these theologians are mistaken about BoD. This has nothing to do with fortitude or the lack thereof. Either they're capable of being wrong or they're not ... regardless of the reason.
You'll notice that there's a broad range of opinion regarding the theological NOTE of BoD. Well, I hold ... and can prove ... that the note of BoD is nothing more than a piece of speculative theology that has been tolerated by the Church. It has not been revealed, nor has it been demonstrated to flow necessarily from other revealed truths. I heard even an EWTN Novus Ordite, who speculated that people can be saved without membership in the Church, admit that this is speculation and not revealed.