FOOTNOTE ON HUSS
Matthew Spinka, in his book John Huss: A Biography observes that a great deal of the reforms of John Huss have been vindicated by Vatican II in our century. He writes: Hus’ ideas, condemned as heretical by the Council of Constance, are recognizably formative in the reforms adopted by the Vatican Council, although not consciously under name. Despite the demand that his judicial process be reopened and that he be rehabilitated, such a radical step could hardly be expected at the present time. Nevertheless, the outstanding Catholic scholar of the life and thought of Hus, the Belgian Benedictine Paul de Vooght, has recently summarized his view of the matter by writing: [and here he quotes de Vooght’s article in Nase Hlasy, “Jean Huss a l’heure de Vatican II” July 6, 1965] “To a great extent the prodound ideas of the Second Vatican Council resemble the great ideas of Hussite thought . . . Today, without reopening the trial, even without speaking…
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