[wmfights]

Interesting read. Thanks.

[GrumpyTroll]

Trent was not a dramatic "turning point in Catholic history". It was a reaffirmation of Catholic doctrine in opposition to the Reformation's affirmation of Protestant heresy.

The "greater openness" is not an achievement of Vatican II but one of its bad fruit: it has given way to false oecumenism and to abusive inculturation.

[livius]

Actually, Trent did have a significant impact on the Church in Latin America, and Greely's theory that it was all just a hunky dory ball of syncretist superstition approved by Rome is ridiculous. The Inquisition was sent to Latin America to root out just such things, and while relatively few common people were punished - the Indians were considered too poorly instructed to be wilfully heretical - many of the Spanish and criollo clergy were punished and even put to death for doctrinal and moral infractions.

However, the Church in the US may become a little more pre-VatII, thanks to Latin Americans, who never gave up the processions, devotions and other things that the Irish and German Catholics here dutifully abandoned when told to do so by their bishops (or maybe by the "Spirit of Vatican II"). Spain also never abandoned them, and the Spanish build their huge Nativity Scenes, have their Holy Week processions and Corpus Processions, and now finally even the bishops are back on board with encouraging this.

As for superstition, that is not to be encouraged in any group. One of the problems with the Church in Latin America is that the politicization of the Church and its decision that its real mission was left-wing politics and not religion left vast numbers of already undereducated believers without any religious instruction or guidance at all. This resulted in some of them going off to Protestant groups, while others busied themselves in the "mystical" world of santería and other Latin American syncretist superstition cults.

Priests here are going to have to do a lot of work to correct that. At the same time, perhaps if the Church in the US goes back to the visible, dramatic expressions of the Faith that are popular in Latin countries (including Spain, which is not ignorant and is the source of some of the most profound but scholarly mysticism in the Church), more Catholics of any background will be attracted back to the True Faith and once again learn the riches and depth of it.

[Macoraba]

VIVA CRISTO REY

[Kolokotronis]

Sounds like the Roman Church is heading full bore to an Orthodox phronema! :) The description of the Mexican Church could be a description of Greek Orthodoxy in many ways.

[r9etb]

I recently attended a Spanish-language Catholic Mass, and if that's what "Hispanicizing" the Catholic Church is all about, more power to them. The place was packed ... standing room only ... with young families, including their kids, and the folks were serious about their religion.

What more can you ask? (Well, the music was wretched ... you could ask for better music, I guess.)

[GinaLolaB]

A 'Hispanicized' Catholic Church?

I just hope it stops being a 'GAY'icized Catholic Church.

[Clemenza]

It was the "Oi-Rish" Church with their pedantic Jansenistic Priests that drove my ancestors to form their own parishes when they got here. It is the Oi-Rish Church that has produced all of these Nancy-boys standing at the pulpit.

[sandhills]

Test Greeley's theory a little. Ask the Mexicans that you know which of the Basilicas of Our Lady of Guadalupe (which stand side by side) they prefer. Over 80% will say, "the old one." The new one has Vatican II written all over it. Sorry Andy. Also, who is Trent? I'd like to meet him. Sounds like my kind of guy.