A Recent Question

We recently received the following query regarding our prior post on Cardinal Ottaviani:

«The Curia would eventually develop allies as the other Council Fathers began to note the Rhine group's concerted actions. This would eventually lead to the formation of the "International Group of Fathers," composed mostly of bishops from Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Latin America.»

Can you elaborate some more on this?

Basically, the coordinated activity of the Rhine bishops to re-direct the conciliar proceedings was either unnoticed or insufficient to raise any real concerns. In other words, nobody really did anything about it. We have the benefit now of knowing about all the meetings and strategery that culminated in Cardinal Leinart's first session demands that all the commissions be scrapped and that the preparatory efforts be restarted essentially at ground zero.

As it progressed and the Rhine alliance was exposed, a separate block (that had really already begun to emerge) organized to back the efforts of guys like Cardinal Ottaviani. They became known as the Coetus Internationalis Patrum (the International Group of Fathers). While they served to blunt many of the Rhine initiatives, they were late to the game and pretty much played from behind the whole time.

Hope that helps.