Recently, serious attacks have begun to appear against Mons. Brunero Gherardini’s theological reflections on the Second Vatican Council, as well as the history of that event which I, personally, have offered for examination.
From the interview granted by Prof. Roberto de Mattei, author of Il Concilio Vaticano II: una storia mai scritta (The Second Vatican Council – a never before written history), to Austrian Catholic website Kath.net:
Congratulations to Prof. Dr. Roberto de Mattei for receiving the 44th Acqui Storia award – the most prestigious award for history books in Italy – for his groundbreaking history of the Second Vatican Council, Il Concilio Vaticano II: una storia mai scritta (The Second Vatican Council – a never before written history). Some victories come with a bonus – in this case, the president of the award jury, Prof. Guido Pescosolido, was so irate that the award was given to de Mattei that he resigned his position in the board.
In this small snippet from Dr. Roberto de Mattei’s fascinating history of the Council, the author tries to answer some perplexing questions. Was the Second Vatican Council dominated by a “progressive” majority? Or were the “progressives” also in the minority? And, if so, why did they turn out to be the most influential minority? [Contributor and translator: Francesca Romana].
The First Session (1962) of the last Council was the only one in which no documents were approved – and the only one held during the papacy of the man who had planned and called the assembly, Pope John XXIII. Was it also the most important of the sessions? Roberto de Mattei thinks so.
This translation of some interesting pages of Roberto de Mattei’s great history of Vatican II was sent to us by a kind reader – it is a book we truly recommend to all Italian-speaking readers, and it would seem that translations should be published in French and English soon.