I really think this is a disgrace. Florida also drops holy days that occur on Mondays or Saturdays, and has run Ascension Thursday into the preceding Sunday.
This is a real abuse and I hope BXVI puts a stop to it. It's a local option, and isn't done in most countries.
If the Church wants to be respected, it should keep its holidays and insist that it be allowed to celebrate them. Muslims are always getting special prayer rooms and special treatment in public places, and Catholics used to get things such as (don't laugh - it's important) suspension of alternate-side-of-the-street parking in the entire city on holy days of obligation. If we are going to adapt ourselves to the public calendar, we shouldn't be surprised to find ourselves completely disappearing as a public presence.
I'm old enough to remember when it was necessary for the local police to assign a cop to direct traffic after each Mass on Sundays. And, yes, I do recall the suspension of alternate side of the street parking on Holy Days.
The tendency is to point the finger at VCII, holding it responsible for ALL the ills when, it is has already been established, that the "I'm Okay, You're Okay" generation surfaced at precisely the same time that VCII ended. The feminists (I was never a member of their group) rose up demanding equal treatment. This was followed by the homosexuals who wanted the same.
A dear friend, native-born Italian, witnessing this upsurge in movements at the time, cautioned that this had occured before. He then pointed to the collapse of ancient civilizations such as Greece and Rome, citing the same circumstances as precursors to what we would witness in our lifetime. I think I laughed when he made this statement. I'm not laughing now.
It is so easy to fault VCII for these disappointments but if any of you have read through ALL the documents from VCII, there is NO indication in any of them that these changes should take place. On the contrary, Latin is touted as the preferred liturgical language and Gregorian Chant for sacred music. It's an easy trap in which to fall, and Satan cleverly guides us there. I have every confidence that B-16 will lead the charge to restore reverence to the NO liturgy and enforce the elimination of abuses. He certainly read enough letters from catholics when he served as Defender of the Faith, to recognize just how out of control these abuses became.
In the meantime, the onus is upon us to ask our Lord for His guidance. He tells us as much .... "ask and you shall receive". I asked and He led me to my current parish. And when I arrived, He let me know in no uncertain terms, that this is where He wanted me to be.