VATICAN II — In Defense of Tradition
Was Gospel origin “carefully worked out”
to accommodate Ecumenism
(and the Synodal church)?
The command of the risen Jesus to the apostles regarding how they were to evangelize was clear:
“Go, therefore, make disciples of all nations; baptize them… teaching them to observe all I have commanded you…” (Mt 28:19-20).
For its first two millennia until the Second Vatican Council — deeply-rooted in the teachings of Christ through the apostles and disciples and soon by the four authentic Gospels — the Catholic Church thrived, reaching what was called its “Golden Age” in the decades preceding the 1960s. It was a time when seminary capacity could not keep pace with vocations, when long lines at confessionals reflected the widespread awareness of Catholics of the need for repentant sorrow for Moral sin. It was a time when the Baltimore Catechism ensured that Catholic citizens of the U.S.A. knew the fundamentals of their faith as did citizens of England and Wales, thanks to the Penny Catechism.
However, influential Fathers of the Second Vatican Council apparently decided that an emphasis on ecumenism — ecumenical dialogue with other Christian entities— rather than on evangelization would better serve the mission of the Church. The Vatican II Decree on Ecumenism served that purpose.
The Decree on Ecumenism called for dialogue with other Christian entities, but in a way that would not result in argument:
- “10. Sacred theology and other branches of knowledge, especially of a historical nature, must be taught with due regard for the ecumenical point of view, so that they may correspond more exactly with the facts. It is most important that future shepherds and priests should have mastered a theology that has been carefully worked out in this way, and not polemically…” (Italics and underlining added).
However, if polemics were to be avoided it would be necessary to somehow suppress certain biblical passages such as, “You are Peter, and upon this rock…” (Mt 16:15-30), A certain Historical Critical theory, the Markan Priority Two Source theory of Gospel origin, seemed to offer the solution. Essentially it involves intertextual analysis of the Gospels, primarily the Synoptics (the first three), to determine Gospel authenticity and origin — but without reference to external evidence such as that provided by the Early Church Fathers.
The Historical Critical Markan Priority Two Source Theory of Gospel origin is a Mark-wrote-first theory proposed in 1796 by a Protestant theologian, in which an unknown “Matthew” — NOT the apostle Matthew — supposedly used Mark’s Gospel as a source. Whatever this pseudo-“Matthew” wrote, including “You are Peter…,” (Mt 16:15-30) would be just hearsay; not the first-hand account of the apostle Matthew, making this theory seem ready-made for avoiding polemics. With this understanding of Gospel origin, both participants in ecumenical dialogue would have to agree that Jesus may not have given Primacy in the Church to Peter.
In accord with the Decree on Ecumenism, the Historical Critical Markan Priority Two Source Theory of Gospel origin has been taught in the great majority of Roman Catholic seminaries and universities since soon after Vatican II as the “best explanation of Gospel origin.”
At this writing, the website of the USCCB reflects this Markan Priority Two-Source theory as it has been taught to most Catholic seminarians and university students since Vatican II: (Last paragraphs of each USCCB article):
“The ancient tradition that the author was the disciple and apostle of Jesus named Matthew (see Mt 10:3) is UNTENABLE . . . The UNKNOWN author, whom we shall continue to call Matthew for the sake of convenience . . . “ (Caps added),
Introduction – THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MARK
“Petrine influence should not, however, be exaggerated.”
Introduction – THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE
The USCCB text includes, “Because of its dependence on the Gospel of Mark . . .” It would seem that the USCCB would apply the above critique of Mark to Luke as well.
Introduction – THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JOHN
“Although tradition identified this person as John, the son of Zebedee, most modern scholars find that the evidence does not support this.”
It has been said that some seminarians who maintained their belief in Gospel authenticity “kept their heads down” and were ordained. But doubt, induced by the Markan Priority Two Source theory, may well have played some part in post-Vatican II homilies expressing doubt that Jesus miraculously fed the 5,000, walked on water, etc., and in the reluctance of many of the ordained and consecrated to preach the Gospel in all its fullness.
The implications of this accommodation to The Decree on Ecumenism in Catholic academia are profound. If the theory were true, here are a few:
- Christ may have lived, but It is doubtful that his miracles, passion, death and resurrection ever happened.
- It is doubtful that Jesus established the Papacy. The Church may have been leaderless since its founding.
- All ordinations and consecrations of clergy are of doubtful validity.
- Hosts believed consecrated at Mass since the time of Christ may have been nothing more than bread.
- All Papal encyclicals, Canon Law, etc., may be no more authoritative than any of the other writings of the leadership of the tens of thousands of other entities carrying the Christian banner.
Pope Benedict XVI tried to reconcile pre- and post-Vatican II views of Gospel origin. But he described the effect that the historical critical view of the Gospels has had on friendship with Jesus:
- As historical-critical scholarship advanced…[After the 1950s] the figure [Gestalt] of Jesus became increasingly obscured and blurred… Intimate friendship with Jesus… is in danger of clutching at thin air.” (Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict XVI, 2007, xi, xii; Doubleday).(Italics and underline added).
Here is an excerpt from an email I received from a Catholic priest who was a seminarian in the 1970s:
“Dear Jerome,
“I was taught the [Markan Priority Two Source Hypothesis*] Historical-Critical Method in the seminary in the 1970’s . . . [by] Fr. Raymond Brown. [H]e saw toward the end of his life how this method could destroy the Catholic Faith in people rather than build it up. I saw seminarians lose their faith in my class when exposed to the unbridled use of this method. Many were converted by this method to heterodox teachings or beliefs. Others lost their faith and left the Seminary.
“The [Markan Priority TSH] HCM calls into question not only the infancy narratives but also the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the Virgin Conception and birth, not to mention miracles of Christ and his physical death and Resurrection. It really opens old heresies already resolved by the Church.”
* This Markan Priority hypothesis or theory, one of many historical-critical theories, was promoted by Rev. R. E. Brown and is the subject of many of his books.
Today, six decades after it was introduced in most Catholic seminaries, the effectiveness of this “blurred” teaching to seminarians, many now priests and bishops, becomes evident when they are asked; “Who wrote the first Gospel?” Most will answer, “Mark.”
A close look at particular aspects of the Markan Priority
Two Source theory of Gospel origin further reveals its weaknesses:
After more than 200 years of diligent searching by biblical exegetes of every stripe, “Q,” (a supposed list of sayings of Jesus), the second source, without which the theory collapses, has never been found. Any such find would have to be labeled Q1. Since exegetes don’t agree on what constitutes Q, we would have to further await the finding of Q2, Q3, etc,.
As an Historical Critical theory, this Two Source theory has the weakness of ignoring the evidence for Gospel authenticity provided by Early Church Fathers. St. Irenaeus — who was taught by St. Polycarp who was martyred for refusing to revile Christ and who had been taught by St. John the apostle — made it quite clear that Matthew the apostle did write the first Gospel; and that Mark wrote what Peter preached:
“Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect, while Peter and Paul were preaching at Rome and laying the foundations of the Church. After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, did also hand down to us in writing what had been preached by Peter. Luke also, the companion of Paul recorded in a book the Gospel preached by him. Afterwards, John, the disciple of the Lord, who also had leaned upon His breast, did himself publish a Gospel during his residence at Ephesus in Asia.” (Against Heresies, III, 1, 1).
With Nero’s agents certainly listening in Rome and Antioch for any hint of sedition, Peter would not have invited his listeners to a “Kingdom to which I hold the keys.” Though Jesus did give Primacy to Peter near Caesarea Philippi (Mt 16:15-30), it is unlikely he would have preached that way. Therefore, we should not expect to see the words of primacy in the Gospel according to Mark (8:27-30).
The New Advent website includes the writings of 65 different Church Fathers, some of whom learned the faith from apostles; many became martyrs for the faith. I posed this question to the Grok “X” AI app:
“Please access the newadvent.org website / Fathers of the Church. From that source, how many citations of the word “Matthew” referring to the apostle, or “the Gospel according to Matthew” are there?”
The AI Response: “Matthew” appears extremely frequently across these texts in multiple senses:
• As a scriptural citation (e.g., Matthew 5:3) “as Matthew says,” or chapter/verse references when the Fathers quote or allude to the Gospel)
• As a reference to the apostle/evangelist himself (e.g., discussions of authorship, his call as a tax collector, his place among the Twelve, or traditions about his later ministry/martyrdom).
• In titles or explicit phrases such as “the Gospel according to Matthew,” “Matthew’s Gospel,” “the Gospel of Matthew,” etc.
I would expect that the “extreme frequency” answer would be the AI response to inquiries about “Mark,” “Luke” and “John.” as well.
- Among the most compelling affirmations of the authenticity of all four canonical Gospels and Jesus actually giving Primacy to Peter (Mt 16:15-20) is this quotation of Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 150 – 211/216) by Eusebius of Caesarea:
“John, last of all, seeing that the plain facts had been clearly set forth in the Gospels, and being urged by his acquaintances, composed a spiritual Gospel under the divine inspiration of the Spirit."
If Mt 16:15-20 — Jesus explicitly giving Primacy to Peter, which John also heard Jesus say — was not true, John would have been outraged at Matthew’s lie, falsely subordinating himself and all other apostles to Peter and his successors. The Gospel according to Matthew would never have been given canonical approval as it was by the Church with the other three in the late fourth century and later at the Council of Trent.
If Ecumenism was ultimately intended as a gracious effort to help other Christian leaders realize that Jesus founded only one Catholic, Petrine, apostolic Church to which all are called, its limited success, if any, in that endeavor was soon evident.
Far more evident was the precipitous decline in Catholic faith and practice that can be traced back to the post-Vatican II dominance given in the majority of Catholic seminaries and universities to a theory that casts doubt on the rootedness in Christ of all four canonical Gospels.
It would seem that for the salvation of souls, the Church would quickly revert to pre-Vatican II education for seminarians and pre-Vatican II catechesis for other Catholics. Instead, however, after several popes failed to address the problem, Pope Francis inaugurated the “Synodal church” October 26, 2024. Soon after Pope Leo XIV attained the papacy on May 8, 2025 the Vatican issued “Pathways for the Implementation Phase of the Synod;” a plan for full implementation of the Synodal church by October, 2028. Given some of the elements of the Synodal church noted below, it will not find support in the four canonical Gospels.
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A brief overview in the form of milestones through the Christian millennia will be helpful, I believe, in understanding the challenges the Church is facing today. In writing this article I’ve drawn from some of my earlier articles on this subject on my website, 7stepcatholic.com.
ca. 30 — Jesus founds his Church (singular) on Peter the “rock” and promises him the Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. (Mt 16:15-20).
ca. 33 — The risen Christ commissioned the apostles to, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you, and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” Mt 28:19-20; words that clearly do not support ecumenical dialogue or the nascent Synodal church.
ca. 190 — Clement of Alexandria (A.D. 150 – 211/216):
“John, last of all, seeing that the plain facts had been clearly set forth in the Gospels, and being urged by his acquaintances, composed a spiritual Gospel under the divine inspiration of the Spirit.” (Quoted by Eusebeus of Caesarea; Eccles. Hist. 6.14.5-7). (Underline added).
1517 — Luther denies that the Pope has the Keys (Thesis 26).
1545 – 63 — The General Council of Trent confirmed a canonical list, including the four Gospels, already locally approved by the Council of Florence in 1442 and which had existed in the earliest canonical lists from the Synod of Carthage in 397, Synod of Hippo in 393 and the Synod of Rome in 382.
1796— Protestant theologian Gottlob Christian Storr proposes the Historical-Critical Markan Priority Two-Source theory of Gospel origin — that the Gospel according to Mark was written before that of Matthew, and Matthew — not the apostle — probably used Mark as a source, as well as another source called “Q,” a supposed list of sayings of Jesus that has never been found.
1893 — Pope Leo XIII issues Encyclical condemning any theory which ignores the evidence of the ancient historians and relies on internal analysis alone; in effect, condemning Markan Priority.1907 — Pope Pius X establishes the Pontifical Biblical Commission; it initially gave sound doctrinal guidance to Catholic educational establishments.
1910 — Pope Pius X institutes The Oath Against Modernism — which, in effect, required the continued instruction of the Matthean Priority (apostle Matthew wrote first) instruction and forbid the teaching of Markan Priority — to be taken by all clergy, pastors, confessors, preachers, religious superiors and professors in philosophical-theological seminaries, resulting in the “Golden Age” of Catholicism, from about 1910 until about 1960.
1912 — The Pontifical Biblical Commission decides that Catholic institutions had to hold that the order of writing of the Gospels was Matthew-Mark-Luke-John, i.e., rejecting Markan Priority.
1962 —1965 The Second Vatican Council is held. The Vatican II Document Dei Verbum (Chapter 5, 19) notes the “Three Stages of Gospel Development,” which has cast doubt on the authenticity of the Gospels of Matthew and John for countless seminarians, in particular since 1965, when it appeared in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Par. 126, 3:
"The sacred authors, in writing the four Gospels, selected certain of the many elements which have been handed on, either orally or already in written form . . .”
This contradicts early Church bishop St. Irenaeus, who stated unequivocally what the Church firmly held until Vatican II (and affirmed explicitly in Dei Verbum, Chapter 5, 18); that all four Gospels originated with the four Evangelists. As apostle-eyewitnesses to the ministry and miracles of Jesus, Matthew and John would have had no need for “handed on” documents.
1964 — Decree on Ecumenism: The Vatican II Decree on Ecumenism notes that, “Christ summons the Church to CONTINUAL REFORMATION as she sojourns here on earth.” (II, 6). (Caps added). (Quoted in part above)
1967 — Pope Paul VI rescinds the Oath against Modernism, which would have negated Ecumenism (and the Synodal church).
1971 — Pope Paul VI renders the Pontifical Biblical Commission ineffectual.
1972 — Pope Paul VI wrote:
- “The smoke of Satan has entered the Church of God. There is doubt, uncertainty, problems, unrest, dissatisfaction, confrontation.”
2015 — Pope Francis embraces “sustainability” — an important part of the globalist U.N. Earth Charter which includes “family planning;” largely abortion — with this paradoxical statement: “Let ours be a time remembered for the awakening of a new reverence for life, the firm resolve to achieve sustainability . . .” (Laudato Si, par. 207, May 24, 2015).
2019 — “A group of nineteen Catholics, including some prominent academics, publish an open letter to the bishops of the world accusing Pope Francis of heresy.” (Catholic News Agency, 5/1/19). Credible or not, this letter reflects the growing concern of the faithful regarding Church leadership.
2023 — Cardinal Raymond Burke expresses concern regarding a “revolution”:
“Synodality and its adjective, synodal, have become slogans behind which a revolution is at work to change radically the Church’s self-understanding . . .” (From the Foreword of, The Synodal Process is a Pandora’s Box, TFP, 8/22/2023).
2024 — With the storm clouds of Schism darkening, The Vatican study document, “The Bishop of Rome” suggests that Pope Francis may have been planning to exercise not the Petrine Primacy given by Jesus, but a “synodal exercise of primacy”:
“A first general agreement is the mutual interdependency of primacy and synodality at each level of the Church, and the consequent requirement for a synodal exercise of primacy, (The Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, Study document, from par. 171).
2024 — Pope Francis inaugurates the Synodal Church October 26, 2024 when he promulgatesthe 54-page, “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission — Final Document.” Several elements of this document, however, contradict Catholic Doctrine. For example:
FD 16. “It has pleased God, however, to sanctify and save men and women not individually and without regard for what binds them together, but to set them up as a people who would acknowledge Him in truth and serve Him in holiness” (LG 9). (Italic emphasis added).
- [Will we no longer be judged individually as ultimately deserving Heaven or Hell as Jesus promised in Mt 25:31-46?]
FD 85. calls for: “adequate biblical exegesis . . . while avoiding fundamentalist interpretations.” (Italic emphasis added).
- [Such as avoiding these words of Jesus, “This is my Body . . .” “This is the Chalice of my Blood . . .” “Thou art Peter . . .”?]
FD 106. “It may be appropriate to provide for the participation of delegates from other Churches and Christian Communions, as happened during this Synodal Assembly, or representatives of the religions present in a territory.”
- [Non-Catholics and non-Christians of any and all religions may take part in Synodal discussions.]
FD 120. “The exchange of gifts and search for the common good within large transnational and intercultural geographical areas such as the Amazon, the Congo River basin, and the Mediterranean Sea is emerging as an example of newness and hope. This exchange includes a commitment to social issues of great global relevance.”
- [Will more Pachamama-like “gifts” (Idols) be brought into the Vatican for apparent worship?]
2025 — Pope Leo addressed a gathering of schismatic Christians, pagans and Jews in the Apostolic Palace as follows:
"I intend to continue Pope Francis's commitment to promoting the synodal character of the Catholic Church and developing new, concrete forms of ever-more-intense synodality in the ecumenical field."
2025 — The Vatican-based General Secretary of the Synod released “Pathways for the Implementation Phase of the Synod,” 2025-2028, For the synodal Church,” in effect, three annual meetings in Rome at which bishops worldwide will report their progress in fully implementing the new Synodal church by October, 2028.
2025 — “Being a synodal Church means recognizing that truth is not possessed, but sought together, allowing ourselves to be guided by a restless heart in love with Love” (Pope Leo XIV; Posted by the General Secretary of the Synod, October 26, 2025). (Italic and underline emphasis added).
2026 — EWTN - Edwin Pentin - January 10, 2026:
“Cardinal Joseph Zen Ze-kiun delivered a forceful critique of synodality at the extraordinary consistory of cardinals this week, decrying the process as an ‘ironclad manipulation’ that was an ‘insult to the dignity of the bishops.’”
2026 — On May 5, 2026, the following report was posted on the Synod.va website: Theological criteria and Synodal methodologies for shared discernment of emerging doctrinal, pastoral and ethical issues. Study group 9. The committee acknowledged its lack of authorization to write as it did. However, this Synodal report encourages a “pastoral” approach to homosexual attraction, a “paradigm shift,” citing the cases of two different individuals who struggled with same-sex attraction. The committee added:
“What is at stake, as is clearly understood, is the overcoming of the theoretical model” [The “overcoming” of the Old and New Testaments; neither of which is theoretical] . . .” III, 2, 3.
2026 — Cardinal Burke: “This whole business of Synodality has to be stopped.” Stated in an interview with Edmund Pentin, National Catholic Register, July 15, 2026.
N.B. — Christ said: “I am with you always, to the close of the age” . . .” By this does Christ mean the close of the Catholic Age? And if so (dare we ask!) in the mind of Christ does the formal inauguration of this new “Synodal church” by a successor of Peter — one incompatible with the one Church Christ founded, and yet carried forward even more emphatically by still another successor of Peter — mean that the Catholic Age closed October 26, 2024?
Given the turmoil in the Church today, the dawn of the third millennium, could Jesus be calling us to read the signs of our times?
Marian apparitions have been replete with end time warnings.
Sister Faustina Kowalska completed her diary in 1938. Among her notes are these:
“You will prepare the world for My final coming.” Diary, 429
“I am prolonging the time of mercy for the sake of sinners. But woe to them if they do not recognize this time of My visitation . . .” Diary, 1160
Is the day of Judgment soon upon us? In any case we would do well to heed the words of Father Chris Alar of the Marian Fathers at the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy:
“The most important thing is to remain in a state of grace."