Was God Behind the Ambiguities of Vatican II?

Few questions divide faithful Catholics today like the standing of Vatican Council II (1965): was it infallible, dogmatic, or even authoritative, especially where its documents seem to introduce novel ideas? On one point most sides agree. In at least some places the Council's wording is genuinely ambiguous. Cardinal Kasper acknowledged as much in April 2013: “In many places, [the Council Fathers] had to find compromise formulas, in which, often, the positions of the majority are located immediately next to those of the minority, designed to delimit them. Thus, the conciliar texts themselves have a huge potential for conflict, open the door to a selective reception in either direction.”

Robert Sungenis takes that ambiguity as his starting point and asks a bolder question: what if God himself permitted it? Drawing on precedents from both the Old and New Testaments, this study argues that thesis and shows how, and why, such ambiguity may have been allowed. A short, pointed book for anyone trying to think clearly about the Council rather than merely take sides.