There are probably many people who still believe that technological progress is always for our good, but they are a dying breed. More and more these days people are beginning to see the serious problems that exist in modern technology. I have even read a few stories about high level executives and various employees of major "tech" companies (Facebook, Microsoft, etc.) quitting their jobs once they realized the serious problems inherent in encouraging a societal addiction to technology. Some even came out and said that they forbid their children from owning a cell phone or surfing the internet.
I have been thinking for quite a while now that the "progress" of technology was going to come back around and bite us. Certainly there are some technological advances that we should give genuine and sincere thanks to God for. Many (definitely not all) advances in medical technology have enabled people to live longer and healthier lives. Some of the advances in communications are of great benefit -- no one should complain at being able to have a cell phone with them when they are out on the road and need to call 911 to report a bad car accident.
Although there are still many who are virtually worshipping technology as though it were our savior, the tide is beginning to turn. This is a good thing, and is helpful for us to get the pendulum to swing back so that we can gain a proper perspective on things. Interestingly, there are places in the documents of Vatican II that the council fathers expressed an almost idealistic perspective on "the progress of humanity" in the technological realm and other areas. Generally speaking, we would have to "read between the lines" in order to find even a hint that the "progress" might lead to problems (Humanae Vitae does not count as a document of Vatican II, but it does stand out as a wonderful example of a balanced perspective on medical "progress").
It has been mentioned in more than one place that some of the motivations for the calling of the second Vatican council is a bit suspect. No, I am not a "conspiracy theorist" (though there are a number of Catholic websites that fall into this category), but there were so many clergymen whose faith was compromised already by the late 50's and early 60's, and these very same men had a strong influence on the direction of Vatican II, that it is hard to believe that the "aggiornamento" was purely in accord with Catholic dogma.
Society was progressing, technology was progressing, so the Church should progress as well; that was the perspective of many back then. The question, of course, is progress toward what (you can progress toward a cliff)? It is often said that we just have not had enough time to get all the kinks worked out of what was intended by the second Vatican council, and once we do then everything will be fine. The problem with this is that some of the statements are so vague in the actual documents that is hard to determine just what they mean, and it causes vast disagreements (apparently Edward Schillebeeckx even said that this was intentional!). Although I completely agree with Benedict XVI that we should only interpret Vatican II with a hermeneutic of "continuity", others disagree because they see the aggiornamento differently (and the language of the documents allows this).
Therefore, let me say this: Vatican II happened and we cannot change the past. We are supposed to interpret it in complete continuity with official Catholic dogma. Yet, we can also say that there was a degree of naïveté going on and that some of the "allowances" that occurred afterward have led to various and sundry problems for the Church. Was it a good idea to call the council? I am not about to go there; I do not (and cannot possibly) have enough information to answer that. Yet, I can say that we are going to be dealing with the "ripples in the water" that occurred as a result of the council (and especially those who wanted to use it to corrupt the Church). Is it really "here to stay" (as Pope Francis apparently said a while back)? I will say this much; I know God will use everything for our good if we love Him, so let us seek to be "wise as serpents and innocent as doves" and do our utmost to glorify God in all things.
