Rev. Fr. Ralph Wiltgen S.V.D. - The Inside Story of Vatican II: A Firsthand Account of the Councils Inner Workings

Nihil Obstat:	Gall Higgins, O.F.M. Cap. Censor Librorum
Imprimatur:		Terence J. Cooke, D.D., V.G. New York, N.Y. December 15, 1966

The Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur are official declarations that a book or pamphlet is free of doctrinal or moral error. No implication is contained therein that those who have granted the Nihil Obstat and Imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions or statements expressed.

Copyright 1967 by Rev. Ralph M. Wiltgen, S.V.D. Edition with new Preface copyright 1978 by Rev. Ralph M. Wiltgen, S.V.D.

This book was first published in 1967 by Hawthorne Books in New York, New York, under the title The Rhine Flows Into the Tiber: A History of Vatican II . The Authors Preface was added in a 1978 edition by Augustine Publishing Company in Devon, England. The 1978 edition was reprinted in 1985 by TAN Books. This new TAN revised edition has been re-typeset with minor updates and corrections and a new Publishers Note.

Publishers Note by Robert M. Gallagher copyright 2014 by TAN Books.

All rights reserved. With the exception of short excerpts used in articles and critical reviews, no part of this work may be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in any form whatsoever, printed or electronic, without the prior written permissionof the publisher.

Cover design by Caroline Kiser

Cover image: Old Key iStockphoto.com/earnang

ISBN: 978-1-61890-640-3

Cataloging-in-Publication data on file with the Library of Congress

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

TAN Books
Charlotte, North Carolina
www.TANBooks.com
2014

DEDICATION

In gratitude

to

Michael and Martha Wiltgen of Chicago

my father and mother

It is clear that the history of this Council will have to be written according to the best approved norms laid down for historians by the ancient writers. The first of these is: Do not dare to say anything false, and at the same time do not dare to keep back the truth. Let there be nothing in what you write that arouses suspicions of favoritism or animosity (Cicero, Or. 11, 15).

Pope Paul VI
January 31, 1966

The time is right for The Inside Story of Vatican II , a new edition of the book formerly titled The Rhine Flows into the Tiber , by Rev. Ralph M. Wiltgen. Although some who wish to discredit the Council have pointed to its words in support of what they believe went wrong with Vatican II, the author had no such intention. Much like the Council itself, this book has been misinterpreted far too often. It is time to set the record straight.

The Inside Story of Vatican II is Catholic at its core, and it should be reclaimed as such. The author, Rev. Ralph M. Wiltgen, was a supporter of Vatican II and of the Holy Fathers seated in Rome in his lifetime. The imprimatur was given to the book by none other than Cardinal Terence J. Cooke, known for his enthusiastic support of the Council.

Wiltgens eyewitness account does provide details of the strategies, plots, divisions, rumors, secret conversations, and dramas that occurred among the Council Fathers. Nevertheless, Wiltgen believed that his book demonstrates how the Holy Spirit mysteriously worked within the Council to bring about what God desired from His Church.

This valuable inside look at the Council is solidly journalistic. Praised for its frankness and objectivity, The Inside Story of Vatican II offers an intriguing account of what happened during the Council, with minimal interpretation by the author. It is a resource like no other, allowing the reader to feel like an eyewitness himself.

We hope our readers will use this new edition to deepen their understanding of the Church and her history. As the beauty of the Council is regaining notice, and as old misunderstandings are overcome, much of the folly we have endured is fading away, and the dissenters are being exposed for their lack of faith. We trust you will discover for yourself the inside story of Vatican II, and the working of the Holy Spirit within it.

One overlooked victory of the Council was the official recognition that Mary is the Mother of the Church, Mater Ecclesiae . In becoming the Mother of the Head, she became the Mother of the whole Body of Christ. Our prayer is that the Mother of the Church will lead all souls, especially those who have fallen away, back into the true fold of her Divine Son.

The Publisher

Reviewers have summarized The Rhine Flows into the Tiber as follows: It tells the story of Vatican II from beginning to end, reducing four years of conciliar debate to a few hundred pages and correlating it to outside meetings and actions it describes how each of the 16 conciliar documents was painstakingly hammered out it leaves the reader with an overwhelming impression of the tangible operation of the Holy Spirit in the Council and it brings to light how the Councils activity, contrary to what other books have said, was guided constantly by groups rather than by individuals.

This last point explains why my book repeatedly has been cited publicly by those who charge that the Councils 16 documents have been vitiated, even invalidated, by pressure groups. Apparently not everyone is aware that the formation of thought groups in Vatican II was as natural a process as it is in any other legislative assembly. With 2,150 Council Fathers from all parts of the world in attendance, it was inconceivable that all should propose identical amendments for every item on the agenda. It was likewise inconceivable that each of the 2,150 Council Fathers would propose amendments completely different from everybody elses.

The natural outcome was the formation of thought groups, and even the smallest of these had an impact on the formulation of texts about which it showed particular concern. These groups gave life and fire to the Council, and one wonders whether anything could have been accomplished at all without them. They were like so many separate committees busily engaged in formulating and amending Council texts in a way which they judged best for the overall interests of the Church. And because one group did not always accept the ideas of the other, conflict arose. Except for a few instances of papal intervention, however, harmony was eventually restored through the use of normal legislative processes.

The largest and most influential group of all was made up of Council Fathers and periti (or experts) from countries along the Rhine riverGermany, Austria, Switzerland, France, the Netherlandsand from nearby Belgium. Because this group exerted a predominant influence over the Second Vatican Council, I have titled my book The Rhine Flows into the Tiber . The Tiber stands for the Vatican Council, which was held in St. Peters Basilica in the immediate vicinity of the Tiber. This title was suggested by correspondent George Weller after my manuscript had been completed. He took the idea from Juvenal ( A . D . 60140), a Roman poet who said that the Orontes river of Syria had flowed into the Tiber (cf. Satire III, lines 58ff.). By this Juvenal meant that Greek influence from Antiochthe Orontes flowed through Antiochwas having an impact on Rome.