The work What Has Happened to the Catholic Church? (Radecki; Radecki, 2006) constitutes one of the most comprehensive attempts within the sedevacantist field to explain the crisis in the Church in the period following the Second Vatican Council. Written by Fathers Francisco and Dominic Radecki, members of the Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen (CMRI), it combines historical narrative, theological analysis, and abundant documentation to support the thesis that the post-conciliar Church underwent a process of self-demolition officially initiated at the Council and deepened by the reforms of Paul VI.
📜 According to the authors, the remote roots of this crisis are to be found in the spread of Modernism in the early 20th century. Although it was condemned by St. Pius X in the encyclical Pascendi Dominici Gregis (1907), Modernism was not eliminated from the ecclesial body, remaining active in Catholic universities and seminaries. For the Radeckis, this phenomenon explains how a group of theologians and experts, already inclined to modernist theses, managed to decisively influence the drafting of the conciliar documents. The Second Vatican Council, in this context, was not an isolated event, but the result of an intellectual and spiritual preparation dating back decades of infiltration by ideas contrary to the traditional Magisterium.
⚖️ The judgment that the Radeckis make of the Council is essentially negative. Unlike previous ecumenical councils, whose dogmatic clarity aimed to define the faith and condemn error, Vatican II was characterized by an ambiguous and malleable language that opened the door to contradictory interpretations. Documents such as Unitatis Redintegratio, on ecumenism, and Dignitatis Humanae, on religious freedom, are pointed out as paradigmatic examples of a break with tradition. In the first case, because it would relativize the exclusivity of the Catholic Church as the sole ark of salvation, contradicting previous conciliar definitions and the bull Unam Sanctam of Boniface VIII; in the second, because it would reverse centuries of teaching on the social kingship of Christ, in flagrant contradiction with encyclicals of Leo XIII such as Immortale Dei (1885) and Libertas (1888). Lumen Gentium, with its notion of episcopal collegiality, is also accused of diluting papal authority, bringing the Church closer to an almost democratic model. Thus, the Radeckis conclude that Vatican II cannot be considered a legitimate continuation of the Catholic Magisterium, but a foreign body introduced into the heart of the Church.
🙏 The critique deepens when the authors analyze the liturgical reform of Paul VI. The Novus Ordo Missae, promulgated in 1969, is considered by the Radeckis as the most visible expression of the conciliar revolution. According to their reading, the traditional Mass, which clearly expressed the sacrificial nature of the rite, was replaced by an ecumenical celebration, marked by the assembly and the character of a community meal. The involvement of Protestant observers in the drafting of the new rite is used as proof that the intention was to make the Catholic liturgy acceptable to non-Catholics. The result, according to them, was the attenuation of the elements that affirm transubstantiation and the sacramental priesthood, so that the Novus Ordo dangerously approaches Protestant liturgies. For the Radeckis, this modification cannot be seen as a simple reform, but as a substantial rupture that compromises the very essence of Catholic worship.
📿 The practical consequences of this liturgical and doctrinal transformation also had repercussions on the devotional and disciplinary life of the Church. The abandonment of Latin and Gregorian chant, the relativization of fasting and abstinence, the devaluation of Marian and Eucharistic devotions, and the decline in the frequency of confession are cited as symptoms of a deeper crisis. Catholic spirituality, previously marked by a sense of sacrifice, penance, and adoration, was replaced by horizontalized expressions adapted to the modern mentality. At this point, the Radeckis emphasize that such apparently minor changes had a devastating impact on the spiritual formation of entire generations, creating a Catholicism with no clear identity and increasingly similar to liberal Protestantism.
📉 Finally, up to the middle of the book, the authors expose the concrete effects of this process. The drastic reduction in priestly and religious vocations, the closing of monasteries and seminaries, the decline in sacramental practice, and the advance of moral relativism among the faithful are interpreted as natural fruits of the conciliar revolution. A council inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Radeckis maintain, could not have produced such disastrous results. The numbers presented regarding the decline in Sunday practice, the abandonment of the faith by young people, and the loss of Catholic identity in once deeply Catholic countries, such as France and the Netherlands, are used as empirical proof that something essential was broken.
🔗 In this journey, the work constructs a coherent narrative: the remote causes of the crisis lie in Modernism; the immediate cause, in Vatican II; its most radical expression, in the liturgical reform; its practical dissemination, in the disciplinary and devotional changes; and its visible effects, in the pastoral and moral decay. The conclusion towards which the book moves, although more explicit in later chapters, is already hinted at this point: the post-conciliar Church cannot be identified with the Catholic Church of all time, but with a new ecclesial structure, born from the rupture with tradition.
📚 References
LEO XIII. Immortale Dei. Rome: Vatican Press, 1885.
LEO XIII. Libertas Praestantissimum. Rome: Vatican Press, 1888.
PIUS X. Pascendi Dominici Gregis. Rome: Vatican Press, 1907.
RADECKI, Francisco; RADECKI, Dominic. What Has Happened to the Catholic Church? Youngstown, OH: St. Joseph’s Media, 2006.
⚖️ The judgment that the Radeckis make of the Council is essentially negative. Unlike previous ecumenical councils, whose dogmatic clarity aimed to define the faith and condemn error, Vatican II was characterized by an ambiguous and malleable language that opened the door to contradictory interpretations. Documents such as Unitatis Redintegratio, on ecumenism, and Dignitatis Humanae, on religious freedom, are pointed out as paradigmatic examples of a break with tradition. In the first case, because it would relativize the exclusivity of the Catholic Church as the sole ark of salvation, contradicting previous conciliar definitions and the bull Unam Sanctam of Boniface VIII; in the second, because it would reverse centuries of teaching on the social kingship of Christ, in flagrant contradiction with encyclicals of Leo XIII such as Immortale Dei (1885) and Libertas (1888). Lumen Gentium, with its notion of episcopal collegiality, is also accused of diluting papal authority, bringing the Church closer to an almost democratic model. Thus, the Radeckis conclude that Vatican II cannot be considered a legitimate continuation of the Catholic Magisterium, but a foreign body introduced into the heart of the Church.
🙏 The critique deepens when the authors analyze the liturgical reform of Paul VI. The Novus Ordo Missae, promulgated in 1969, is considered by the Radeckis as the most visible expression of the conciliar revolution. According to their reading, the traditional Mass, which clearly expressed the sacrificial nature of the rite, was replaced by an ecumenical celebration, marked by the assembly and the character of a community meal. The involvement of Protestant observers in the drafting of the new rite is used as proof that the intention was to make the Catholic liturgy acceptable to non-Catholics. The result, according to them, was the attenuation of the elements that affirm transubstantiation and the sacramental priesthood, so that the Novus Ordo dangerously approaches Protestant liturgies. For the Radeckis, this modification cannot be seen as a simple reform, but as a substantial rupture that compromises the very essence of Catholic worship.
📿 The practical consequences of this liturgical and doctrinal transformation also had repercussions on the devotional and disciplinary life of the Church. The abandonment of Latin and Gregorian chant, the relativization of fasting and abstinence, the devaluation of Marian and Eucharistic devotions, and the decline in the frequency of confession are cited as symptoms of a deeper crisis. Catholic spirituality, previously marked by a sense of sacrifice, penance, and adoration, was replaced by horizontalized expressions adapted to the modern mentality. At this point, the Radeckis emphasize that such apparently minor changes had a devastating impact on the spiritual formation of entire generations, creating a Catholicism with no clear identity and increasingly similar to liberal Protestantism.
📉 Finally, up to the middle of the book, the authors expose the concrete effects of this process. The drastic reduction in priestly and religious vocations, the closing of monasteries and seminaries, the decline in sacramental practice, and the advance of moral relativism among the faithful are interpreted as natural fruits of the conciliar revolution. A council inspired by the Holy Spirit, the Radeckis maintain, could not have produced such disastrous results. The numbers presented regarding the decline in Sunday practice, the abandonment of the faith by young people, and the loss of Catholic identity in once deeply Catholic countries, such as France and the Netherlands, are used as empirical proof that something essential was broken.
🔗 In this journey, the work constructs a coherent narrative: the remote causes of the crisis lie in Modernism; the immediate cause, in Vatican II; its most radical expression, in the liturgical reform; its practical dissemination, in the disciplinary and devotional changes; and its visible effects, in the pastoral and moral decay. The conclusion towards which the book moves, although more explicit in later chapters, is already hinted at this point: the post-conciliar Church cannot be identified with the Catholic Church of all time, but with a new ecclesial structure, born from the rupture with tradition.
📚 References
LEO XIII. Immortale Dei. Rome: Vatican Press, 1885.
LEO XIII. Libertas Praestantissimum. Rome: Vatican Press, 1888.
PIUS X. Pascendi Dominici Gregis. Rome: Vatican Press, 1907.
RADECKI, Francisco; RADECKI, Dominic. What Has Happened to the Catholic Church? Youngstown, OH: St. Joseph’s Media, 2006.
🖋️ The Authors
The authors of the book, Fathers Francisco Radecki and Dominic Radecki, are twin brothers and American traditionalist Catholic priests. Their religious life is intrinsically linked to the Congregation of Mary Immaculate Queen (CMRI), one of the best-known sedevacantist Catholic organizations.