Thomism at Vatican IIby Fr. Komonchak (who translated
some of the Vatican II Preparatory Commission's schemas)
This is a very interesting article about how Vatican II ended up eschewing St. Thomas.
The Commission for Studies and Seminaries prepared two texts on St. Thomas for Vatican II's Central Preparatory Commission:
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De sacrorum alumnis formandis on seminary formation:
[It] set out a two-year program in philosophy “to teach seminarians how to use the light of reason to examine truths about the nature of things and about human life and to provide the immediate preparation for the study of theology.” “Scholastic philosophy in all its parts,” it said, “is to be transmitted according to the principles and method of St. Thomas Aquinas so that the students acquire his complete and coherent synthesis by solid and accurate study of his chief arguments,” obsolete and trivial questions being omitted and “the more subtle questions” left for higher studies. Students were also to be introduced into a critical study of modern philosophical systems, particularly those influential in their own countries. The four-year program in theology in all its parts was to be offered “according to the principles of St. Thomas.
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De obsequio erga Ecclesiae magisterium in tradendis disciplinis sacris, which
had three chapters: I. Fundamental Notions; II. How to Teach Sacred Scripture; III. Maintaining the Doctrine of St. Thomas.3 The five short paragraphs of the last chapter say that the Church has adopted Thomas’ doctrine as its own; that the Council solemnly endorses this choice and orders philosophers and theologians closely to study his doctrine and all who have a teaching role from the Church to faithfully adhere to it; that these measures do not take away from the wisdom of other Catholic teachers but provide a “guide and example,” particularly because of Aquinas’ use of the sources and his defense of the rights of reason; that the universal authority of Thomas is to be understood dynamically so that his method, principles and doctrine enable philosophers and theologians to deal with new discoveries and questions; and that the choice of Aquinas, now confirmed by the Council, applies not only to ecclesiastical teachers but also to teachers in universities and other schools, and indeed is to be extended to the faithful themselves, particularly to those who engage in any apostolic functions.
During Vatican II's debates, Card. Ruffini said "St. Thomas should be considered
princeps in philosophy (and in theology) also because he has been commended as such by nearly eighty Supreme Pontiffs." "Cardinal Bacci argued that to ignore these papal prescriptions would 'place this Council not only above the Roman Pontiffs but against the Roman Pontiff.'"
It's mind-boggling to think that Vatican II goes against at least "eighty Supreme Pontiffs"!To the criticism of the weakness of arguments from authority, he [Aniceto Fernandez, O.P., Master General of the Dominicans] replied that here the authority “is not the authority of Thomas alone but of the Magisterium of the Church itself which again and again commends and prescribes him, and therefore it is of a much higher order.” St. Thomas’ doctrine should be accepted because “it speaks the truth about the basic metaphysical and theological principles and structures, as is clear to anyone who honestly seeks and studies the truth of natural and supernatural realities.” Since commendation of Aquinas was compatible with acknowledging truth wherever it may be found, “it is unjust and illogical to conclude that it makes the Church a Church of a single Doctor.”
According to Chenu, "What was passing for Thomist philosophy and theology had very little in common with the method, inspiration, and thought of Aquinas himself." Thus, he wrote
Une école de théologie: le Saulchoir, which Rome censored. Chenu had to sign a set of 10 propositions, which Fr. Komonchack has translated into English for the first time:
(1) Dogmatic formulas state absolute and immutable truth.
(2) True and certain propositions, whether in philosophy or in theology, are firm and not at all fragile.
(3) Sacred Tradition does not create new truths; one must instead firmly maintain that the deposit of revelation, that is, the complex of divinely revealed truths, was closed at the death of the last apostle.
(4) Sacred Theology is not some spirituality which has found instruments adequate to its religious experience; it is rather a true science, by God’s blessing acquired through study, whose principles are the articles of faith as well as all the revealed truths to which the theologian adheres by at least unformed divine faith.
(5) The various theological systems are not simultaneously true, at least with regard to points on which they disagree.
(6) It is a glorious thing that the Church considers the system of St. Thomas to be quite orthodox, that is, quite in conformity with the truths of faith.
(7) It is necessary to demonstrate theological truths by Sacred Scripture and Tradition and to explain their nature and intimate meaning by the principles and doctrine of St. Thomas.
(8) Although properly a theologian, St. Thomas was also properly a philosopher; for that reason his philosophy does not depend for its intelligibility and truth on his theology, and it states truths that are absolute and not merely relative.
(9) It is quite necessary for a theologian, in his scientific work, to make use of the metaphysics of St. Thomas and diligently to follow the rules of dialectics.
(10) In speaking about other writers and doctors one should use respectful moderation in one’s style of speech and writing, even when they are found to be defective on some matters.