In an interview granted to an Italian newspaper following his recent retirement as prefect of the Vatican Apostolic Archives, Bishop Sergio Pagano offered a dim assessment of the life of the Church following the Second Vatican Council (1962-65).
“Sadly, after the Second Vatican Council there was a general disarray: too many expectations,” he said. “Disorder was created in discipline, in seminaries and in pontifical universities. In doctrine there was an ever deeper crisis.”
“And in this climate of uncertainty, a glaring confusion prevailed,” he continued. “I see the disorientation of the faithful and a certain decadence of theological thought. Pastoral care itself is reduced to charity for charity’s sake, without a vertical inspiration, of faith.”
Bishop Pagano also insisted on the importance of historical candor.
“I have been reprimanded by some Catholic scholars for having said too much, for not having had any scruples in publishing sensitive documents,” he said. “But these are criticisms that I have always ignored.”
“I consider them the reflection of those who believe that the vices and defects of men of the Church should be kept silent,” he added. “Sins ought not to be committed, but once verified and documented, they must be made public, contextualizing them in history.”