Of course, such hurried indifference was seen within the Council from start to finish.

The primary order of business was to set the sequence of schemas to be discussed. Complementary to this business was the matter of choosing bishops and periti to sit on commissions for the drafting of schemas. Though the proposed schemas had already been drafted, the liberal element was able to persuade John XXIII to abandon them since they did not have the support of the majority of the Council. John XXIII overturned Council regulations (which stated that the majority must be at least two-thirds -- which it was not -- for proposed schemas to be abandoned). Lefebvre, who helped draft the initial set of schemas, illustrates the haphazard manner in which the Council was begun:

I was nominated a member of the Central Preparatory Commission by the pope and I took an assiduous and enthusiastic part...
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