About Stand Up 4 Vatican 2

Stand up for Vatican II came about as a result of a number of people becoming increasingly aware that certain actions being taken by the Vatican appear to be taking the Church back to the way it was prior to the Council. A few examples of our concern are:

• Encouraged by the Vatican, and increasingly evident in many parishes in the UK the celebration of Mass in Latin under the old Tridentine Rite, in some cases this happens not as an occasional event catering for a select group of people but as the main Sunday Mass in a parish.
• Ecumenical relationships which had improved between the Catholic Church and the other churches during and after the Council are now being called in to question by many and instead of seeking greater dialogue, barriers are being placed in the way of working together.
• Greater lay involvement in all aspects of Church life, a key recommendation of the Council, are still not encouraged in many areas of Church life and in particular the role of women in the life of the Church has not been developed.
•  The Council encouraged more openness and discussion in the Church with important decisions being made by the Holy Father in consultation with the bishops, yet it is clear that this sense of collegiality has now been discarded.  
• It is not unreasonable to assert that many of the decrees emanating from the Vatican in recent times have sought to put a brake on the developments that grew out of the discussions at the Council.

All of the above and many more examples led to a growing concern that the teaching and spirit of the Second Vatican Council was being reinterpreted and a return to the past, to a Church, which were it to come about, would be unrecognisable by a majority of Catholics today.

Those of us who are concerned felt that it was time to stand up for all the good things that happened in our Church as a result of the Second Vatican Council and Stand Up was developed.

We trust that a majority of Catholics in England and Wales will feel the way we do and join us in Standing up for Vatican II. We trust they will look at this website and sign the petition asking our bishops to join with us in standing up for Vatican II.