Coetus Internationalis Patrum

During the first session of the council, they acted informally as an unnamed "study group" of individual Council fathers of traditionalist orientation.{{Citation | last = Roy | first = Philippe | date = 2012 | title = Le Coetus Internationalis Patrum au concile Vatican II: genèse d'une dissidence ? | journal = Histoire@Politique. Politique, Culture, Société | issue = 18 | place = Paris | language = fr | pages = 5 [46] | issn = 1954-3670 | url = http://www.cairn.info/load_pdf.php?ID_ARTICLE=HP_018_0042 }} Between the first and second sessions of the council, Archbishops Marcel Lefebvre (Superior CSSp) and Geraldo de Proença Sigaud (Diamantina, Brazil) and Bishop José Maurício da Rocha (Bragance, Brazil){{Failed verification | date=January 2016 | reason=de Rocha not in Roy (2012)}} decided to organize a more formal group of like-minded bishops.{{Citation | last = Roy | first = Philippe | date = 2012 | title = Le Coetus Internationalis Patrum au concile Vatican II: genèse d'une dissidence ? | journal = Histoire@Politique. Politique, Culture, Société | issue = 18 | place = Paris | language = fr | pages = 5–6 [46–47] | issn = 1954-3670 | url = http://www.cairn.info/load_pdf.php?ID_ARTICLE=HP_018_0042 }} The group soon established a steering committee, of archbishops Lefebvre and Proença Sigaud, bishops Luigi Maria Carli (Segni), Antônio de Castro Mayer (Campos, Brazil). and the Abbot of Solesmes, Jean Prou OSB.{{Citation | last = Roy-Lysencourt | first = Philippe | title = Les Membres du Coetus Internationalis Patrum au Concile Vatican II: Inventaire des Interventions et Souscriptions des Adherents et Sympathisants, Liste des Signataires d'occasion et des Théologiens | place = Leuven | publisher = Maurits Sabbe Library, Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies, KU Leuven / Peeters | series = Instrumenta Theologica | volume = 37 | year = 2014 | pages = 483–4 | language = fr | isbn = 9789042930872}} After the second session of the council, the group came formally into existence, issuing a circular letter, signed by archbishops Lefebvre, Proença Sigaud, Cabana (Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada), Silva Santiago (Concepción, Chile (emeritus)), Lacchio (Changsha, China) and Cordeiro (Karachi, Pakistan), which announced a group of Council fathers attached to the traditions of the Church.{{Citation | last = Roy | first = Philippe | date = 2012 | title = Le Coetus Internationalis Patrum au concile Vatican II: genèse d'une dissidence ? | journal = Histoire@Politique. Politique, Culture, Société | issue = 18 | place = Paris | language = fr | pages = 9 [50] | issn = 1954-3670 | url = http://www.cairn.info/load_pdf.php?ID_ARTICLE=HP_018_0042 }}

Sources close to the organization report it had 250 members[http://www.catholicapologetics.info/apologetics/defense/lefebvre.htm A Biography of Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre], by Father Ramón Anglés out of the approximately 2,400 bishops attending the Council at any given time.{{Citation | last = O'Malley | first = John W., S. J. | date = 2008 | title = What Happened at Vatican II | edition = Kindle | publisher = Harvard University Press | location = Cambridge | at = [https://archive.org/details/whathappenedatva00omal/page/ location 455] | isbn = 978-0-674-03169-2 | url = https://archive.org/details/whathappenedatva00omal/page/ }} Other studies describe it either as having 16 "core members"{{Citation | last = Wilde | first = Melissa J. | date = 2007 | title = Vatican II: A Sociological Analysis of Religious Change | publisher = Princeton University Press | location = Princeton, NJ | isbn = 978-0-691-11829-1 | url = https://books.google.com/books?isbn=0691118299 }} or as having 5 members in the steering committee, 55 general members, and 9 supporting cardinals. In addition to the Council fathers, there were also theologians who formed a minor group that helped formulate the group's responses on issues being discussed in the council.{{Citation | last = Roy | first = Philippe | date = 2012 | title = Le Coetus Internationalis Patrum au concile Vatican II: genèse d'une dissidence ? | journal = Histoire@Politique. Politique, Culture, Société | issue = 18 | place = Paris | language = fr | pages = 7–8 [48–49] | issn = 1954-3670 | url = http://www.cairn.info/load_pdf.php?ID_ARTICLE=HP_018_0042 }} On specific topics they were able to gather additional adherents among the Council fathers; they obtained 435 signatures on a petition calling for an explicit condemnation of communism.{{Citation | last = Wilde | first = Melissa J. | year = 2004 | title = How Culture Mattered at Vatican II: Collegiality Trumps Authority in the Council's Social Movement Organizations | journal = American Sociological Review | volume = 69 | issue = 4 | page = 589 | url = https://sociology.sas.upenn.edu/sites/sociology.sas.upenn.edu/files/Wilde%20How%20Culture%20Mattered%20at%20VII.pdf | doi = 10.1177/000312240406900406 | s2cid = 144049244 | access-date = 2015-06-11 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100622130300/https://sociology.sas.upenn.edu/sites/sociology.sas.upenn.edu/files/Wilde%20How%20Culture%20Mattered%20at%20VII.pdf | archive-date = 2010-06-22 | url-status = dead }}

As a member of the Preparatory Commission for the Second Vatican Council, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre had taken part in the discussions about the draft documents submitted to the bishops for consideration at the council. His concerns with these proposals led to the formation of the study group to deal with a number of issues at the council. A primary element of their agenda was opposition to the principle of episcopal collegiality, which they feared could undermine papal primacy{{Citation | last = Wrighton | first = Basil | year = 1984 | title = Collegiality: error of Vatican II (2) | publisher = Society of Saint Pius X (District of the USA) | url = http://www.sspx.org/en/collegiality-error-vatican-ii-2 }} and the rights of individual bishops.{{Citation | last = Wilde | first = Melissa J. | year = 2004 | title = How Culture Mattered at Vatican II: Collegiality Trumps Authority in the Council's Social Movement Organizations | journal = American Sociological Review | volume = 69 | issue = 4 | pages = 582–583 | url = https://sociology.sas.upenn.edu/sites/sociology.sas.upenn.edu/files/Wilde%20How%20Culture%20Mattered%20at%20VII.pdf | doi = 10.1177/000312240406900406 | s2cid = 144049244 | access-date = 2015-06-11 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100622130300/https://sociology.sas.upenn.edu/sites/sociology.sas.upenn.edu/files/Wilde%20How%20Culture%20Mattered%20at%20VII.pdf | archive-date = 2010-06-22 | url-status = dead }} They thought there should be a specific condemnation of communism and that there should be a separate Council document on the subject of the Blessed Virgin Mary, not merely a chapter in Lumen gentium.{{Citation | last = Wilde | first = Melissa J. | year = 2004 | title = How Culture Mattered at Vatican II: Collegiality Trumps Authority in the Council's Social Movement Organizations | journal = American Sociological Review | volume = 69 | issue = 4 | pages = 594–596 | url = https://sociology.sas.upenn.edu/sites/sociology.sas.upenn.edu/files/Wilde%20How%20Culture%20Mattered%20at%20VII.pdf | doi = 10.1177/000312240406900406 | s2cid = 144049244 | access-date = 2015-06-11 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100622130300/https://sociology.sas.upenn.edu/sites/sociology.sas.upenn.edu/files/Wilde%20How%20Culture%20Mattered%20at%20VII.pdf | archive-date = 2010-06-22 | url-status = dead }}

Continuing complaints from the group about the presence of Protestant observers led Pope Paul VI, who was "concerned not to alienate the traditionalists", to ask Cardinal Augustin Bea "if perhaps the presence of the 'separated brethren' and their 'mentality' were 'excessively dominating the council, thus diminishing its psychological freedom.' (He) emphasized that protecting 'the coherence of the teaching of the Catholic Church' was more important than pleasing the observers.'" After thus consulting Cardinal Bea, the Pope decided not to disinvite the observers.[http://nationalcatholicreporter.org/word/word0131.htm Priest who was present at the start reviews bold ecumenical vision of Vatican II], John L Allen Jr, January 31, 2003, Word from Rome, National Catholic Reporter

Their influence on the outcome of the council was decidedly mixed. Their opposition to the principle of episcopal collegiality, and specifically to the granting of greater authority to conferences of bishops, made it difficult for them to work effectively with the national and regional bishops' conferences.{{Citation | last = Wilde | first = Melissa J. | year = 2004 | title = How Culture Mattered at Vatican II: Collegiality Trumps Authority in the Council's Social Movement Organizations | journal = American Sociological Review | volume = 69 | issue = 4 | pages = 577, 590–591 | url = https://sociology.sas.upenn.edu/sites/sociology.sas.upenn.edu/files/Wilde%20How%20Culture%20Mattered%20at%20VII.pdf | doi = 10.1177/000312240406900406 | s2cid = 144049244 | access-date = 2015-06-11 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100622130300/https://sociology.sas.upenn.edu/sites/sociology.sas.upenn.edu/files/Wilde%20How%20Culture%20Mattered%20at%20VII.pdf | archive-date = 2010-06-22 | url-status = dead }} Some have seen the Group's opposition to collegial decision-making also had an effect on their reluctance to achieve consensus by developing compromise positions.{{Citation | last = Wilde | first = Melissa J. | year = 2004 | title = How Culture Mattered at Vatican II: Collegiality Trumps Authority in the Council's Social Movement Organizations | journal = American Sociological Review | volume = 69 | issue = 4 | page = 599 | url = https://sociology.sas.upenn.edu/sites/sociology.sas.upenn.edu/files/Wilde%20How%20Culture%20Mattered%20at%20VII.pdf | doi = 10.1177/000312240406900406 | s2cid = 144049244 | access-date = 2015-06-11 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100622130300/https://sociology.sas.upenn.edu/sites/sociology.sas.upenn.edu/files/Wilde%20How%20Culture%20Mattered%20at%20VII.pdf | archive-date = 2010-06-22 | url-status = dead }}

They did, however, have more success using other channels. The Group had many contacts in the Papal Curia who shared their traditionalist point of view, and in the early years of the Council they were effective in using these back channels to make their opinions known at the highest levels.{{Citation | last = Roy | first = Philippe | date = 2012 | title = Le Coetus Internationalis Patrum au concile Vatican II: genèse d'une dissidence ? | journal = Histoire@Politique. Politique, Culture, Société | issue = 18 | place = Paris | language = fr | pages = 8 [49] | issn = 1954-3670 | url = http://www.cairn.info/load_pdf.php?ID_ARTICLE=HP_018_0042 }} In the later years of the council, they produced an almost uninterrupted flood of modi (amendments) to the proposals before the council.{{Citation | last = Roy | first = Philippe | date = 2012 | title = Le Coetus Internationalis Patrum au concile Vatican II: genèse d'une dissidence ? | journal = Histoire@Politique. Politique, Culture, Société | issue = 18 | place = Paris | language = fr | pages = 8 [49] | issn = 1954-3670 | url = http://www.cairn.info/load_pdf.php?ID_ARTICLE=HP_018_0042 | quote = un flot presqu'ininterrompu de modi }} These moves were not always successful; between the third and fourth sessions the group was repudiated by Cardinal Cicognani, the Vatican Secretary of State, for their divisive influence on the assembly.{{Citation | last = Roy | first = Philippe | date = 2012 | title = Le Coetus Internationalis Patrum au concile Vatican II: genèse d'une dissidence ? | journal = Histoire@Politique. Politique, Culture, Société | issue = 18 | place = Paris | language = fr | pages = 12 [53] | issn = 1954-3670 | url = http://www.cairn.info/load_pdf.php?ID_ARTICLE=HP_018_0042 }}

On specific issues, they failed to defeat the constitution on the liturgy, which introduced the vernacular and gave greater authority to episcopal conferences, or the decree on ecumenism, which some say undermined the traditional belief that the Catholic Church was the unique path to salvation.{{Citation | last = Roy | first = Philippe | date = 2012 | title = Le Coetus Internationalis Patrum au concile Vatican II: genèse d'une dissidence ? | journal = Histoire@Politique. Politique, Culture, Société | issue = 18 | place = Paris | language = fr | pages = 14–15 [55–56] | issn = 1954-3670 | url = http://www.cairn.info/load_pdf.php?ID_ARTICLE=HP_018_0042 }} Their petition insisting on a condemnation of communism in the constitution on the Church in the Modern World was only slightly more successful; it led to the insertion of a footnote which referred to an earlier papal condemnation of communism, without mentioning the word.{{Citation | last = O'Malley | first = John W., S. J. | date = 2008 | title = What Happened at Vatican II | edition = Kindle | publisher = Harvard University Press | location = Cambridge | at = [https://archive.org/details/whathappenedatva00omal/page/ location 5209-5210] | isbn = 978-0-674-03169-2 | url = https://archive.org/details/whathappenedatva00omal/page/ }} Perhaps their greatest success involved a last minute papal intervention, where Pope Paul VI insisted on the insertion of an explanatory note into the document on the Church, which significantly weakened the force of its claims for collegiality.{{Citation | last = Roy | first = Philippe | date = 2012 | title = Le Coetus Internationalis Patrum au concile Vatican II: genèse d'une dissidence ? | journal = Histoire@Politique. Politique, Culture, Société | issue = 18 | place = Paris | language = fr | pages = 15 [56] | issn = 1954-3670 | url = http://www.cairn.info/load_pdf.php?ID_ARTICLE=HP_018_0042 }}

In October 2019, shortly before the opening of the Synod of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon region, an anonymous group of bishops and Catholic laypeople calling itself the Coetus Internationalis Patrum Working Group released a text, claiming that four theses drawn from the Synod's Instrumentum Laboris or Working Document were unacceptable as they contradicted points of Catholic doctrine.{{ Cite web | last = Pentin | first = Edward | date = 1 October 2019 | title = Group Releases Propositions Challenging 'Unacceptable' Elements of Synod Working Doc | newspaper = National Catholic Register | url = https://www.ncregister.com/blog/edward-pentin/group-releases-four-propositions-challenging-unacceptable-elements-of-synod | access-date = 5 October 2019 }}

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• {{Citation | last = Coppe Caldeira | first = Rodrigo | title = Os baluartes da tradição: o conservadorismo católico brasileiro no Concílio Vaticano II | place = Curitiba | publisher = CRV | year = 2011 | language = pt | type = PhD thesis }}
• Cowan, Benjamin A. (2021) Moral majorities across the Americas: Brazil, the United States, and the creation of the religious right. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press
• {{Citation | last = Roy-Lysencourt | first = Philippe | title = Le Coetus internationalis Patrum, un groupe d'opposants au sein du Concile Vatican II | place = Quebec / Lyon | publisher = Université Laval / Université Jean-Moulin-Lyon 3 | year = 2011 | language = fr | type = PhD thesis }}
• {{Citation | last = Roy-Lysencourt | first = Philippe | title = Les membres du Coetus Internationalis Patrum au concile Vatican II. Inventaire des interventions et souscriptions des adhérents et sympathisants. Liste des signataires d'occasion et des théologiens | place = Leuven | publisher = Peeters / Maurits Sabbe Library / Faculty of Theology and Religious Studies | year = 2014 | language = fr }}
• {{Citation | last = Roy-Lysencourt | first = Philippe | title = Les vota préconciliaires des dirigeants du Coetus Internationalis Patrum | place = Strasbourg | publisher = Institut d'Étude du Christianisme | year = 2015 | language = fr | isbn = 979-10-94867-00-6}}
• {{Citation | last = Roy-Lysencourt | first = Philippe | title = Histoire du Coetus Internationalis Patrum au concile Vatican II | journal = Laval Théologique et Philosophique | volume = 69 | issue = 2 | pages = 261–279 | date = 2013 | language = fr | url = http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1022495ar | doi = 10.7202/1022495ar | doi-access = }}

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