Recently, a woman of good repute, who shall remain nameless has sent a question asking the Canons of Antwerp Cathedral about the Council and what we should think of it. It suffices to say that the Council of Vienne is dangerous for several reasons and cannot be followed by Catholics in all of its points. If we wish to preserve the Medieval Faith, the former age, we certainly must be wary of the Conciliar innovations which have poisoned the minds of men leading to a great apostasy and a spirit of materialism.
What are Catholics to make of the Council of Vienne?
The general principle to judge what points of the Council are in agreement with Sacred Tradition and which are not is to judge them according to the former age, the age which is so keenly spoken of in the Scriptures and which is highly expressed in the Medieval Faith.
Dear faithful in Christ, it must be said that whenever one things or speaks of a Holy and Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Faith, one imagines that it will promote and talk of the greatness and splendours of Our Lord Jesus Christ, define a dogma, defend the Faith against heresies or promote an inquisition or crusade against the enemies of the Church. What does the Council of Vienne concern itself with?
One entire Chapter is exclusively concerned with what Black monks ought to wear and precisely how ornate it has to be. There is no mention of pious fervour, nor mention of the path to holiness that these monks are called to live, but only human reforms concerning the buttons on their habit and the material of their boots! This is a council that is more concerned with irrelevant temporal matters than the spiritual. Look at the words of the Apostle Paul who tells us: "For in this also we groan, desiring to be clothed upon with our habitation that is from heaven." (2 Cor. 5:2). Why do the Conciliar men therefore worry more about the material used in the habits of monks and friars than with whether or not the True Faith is being lived? The consequences and aftermath as we have seen is that men now are more concerned with making the right use of the materials that they have for their habits than of being clothed in the Faith and bathed in Grace.
Now, does that mean that we altogether reject the Council and all of the reforms that have followed from it? Of course such a spirit would lead to the inevitable belief that the Pope as Vicar of Christ on Earth has no authority over the Church or that the promises of Our Lord were in vain regarding the Gates of Hell. We fully hope to implement the reforms of the Council concerning the heretical and nefarious Saracens, who publicly show their worship for Mahomet in Christian lands. Such practices as we are reminded by the Council, are displeasing the Divine Majesty.
We should all therefore be wary and cautious of some of the innovations brought forth by the Council. As we have seen, most of these innovations have led men to worry more about temporal things than of the spiritual realm. The consequence of this over-concern with the temporal matters has lead to an increase of materialism and a loss of faith, piety and fervour among the people of God. From Saxony to the Two Sicillies, men no longer live the faith, practice the virtues but rather return to the barbarism of their ancestors. We reject that which is not Catholic and keep and maintain that which is in accordance with the former age, the Middle Ages.
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