Posted on 08/19/2022 2:14:56 PM PDT by MurphsLaw
During the 19th century, Catholics found themselves settled and growing in numbers in the United States, a great Protestant country that was relatively tolerant and hospitable toward Catholics.
This, even though the American people generally felt that the Roman religion adhered to by these Catholics was a false and corrupt version of Christianity.
The leaders of the Catholic Church in America – its bishops, priests, and religious sisters – were well aware of the great danger that Catholics,
an island surrounded by a vast sea of Protestantism, might fall away from the true faith and either:
(a) embrace the Protestant heresy; or
(b) become mere infidels, having no religious belief at all.
And so the leaders of the Church, aided and abetted by myriads of devoted laypersons,
developed a vast network of religious institutions designed to keep Catholics and their children and grandchildren within the faith.
The most important of these institutions were dioceses, parishes, schools, colleges, seminaries, and hospitals.
But they also included Catholic newspapers, magazines, and book publishers; the Knights of Columbus and the CYO; and dozens of other things.
Above all, they included strong barriers to intermarriage between Catholics and outsiders. Catholics built a quasi-ghetto for themselves, a kind of imperium in imperio.
And for a long time it worked.
Although there were defections from the faith, they were relatively few and far between,
especially when we consider the many opportunities available in a country that was growing steadily more tolerant of Catholics and their religion.
All this collapsed beginning in the 1960s. The walls of the “ghetto” fell down like the walls of Jericho,
cracked and undermined by the loudly blaring trumpets of post-modernity.
This was partly due to Vatican II; it was much more due to “the spirit of Vatican II.”
Most of all, however, it was due to the fact that Catholics were entering fully into the mainstream of American life at precisely the moment –
the fatal moment – when the United States was ceasing to be a Protestant country and was becoming instead a country dominated by the culture of secular humanism.
In the first half of the 20th century the traditional Protestant mind of America had been replaced by a liberal Protestant mind, and,
in the second half, the liberal Protestant mind was being replaced by an agnostic mind.
As long as the walls of the ghetto were standing, Catholics were not strongly tempted to abandon Catholic convictions and embrace Protestant convictions.
For instance, no matter how poor an opinion Protestants had of the Catholic “worship” of the Virgin Mary, Catholics kept up their Marian devotions.
If anything, they intensified these devotions, as if to say, “Take that, you Mary-phobic Protestants!”
Another instance: the practice of divorce and remarriage. Although this had always been approved of (at least in certain circumstances) among Protestants,
and although it was becoming more and more common in America, and although Hollywood celebrities often carried it to ridiculous extremes,
Catholics generally speaking continued to adhere to the old teaching that marriage is indissoluble.
As long as the walls of the ghetto remained standing, the Catholic bishops of America could say to the outside world,
“You Protestants can do whatever you like, but you won’t draw our Catholic men and women into the error of your ways.
Our bet is that they will remain steadfastly Catholic, a bet we feel confident that we’ll win.”
Once the ghetto walls collapsed in the ‘60s and ‘70s, however, all bets were off.
Catholics, above all Catholics of the younger generations, began swimming with the current of popular opinion.
But this time the current was not a Protestant current; the demand was no longer that we stop “worshipping” the Virgin
or that we remarry after our first marriage falls apart. No, the current was now a highly secularized current,
even an anti-Christian current, and it demanded:
· that we fornicate, preferably with multiple partners;
· that we have abortions, or at least express our support for those who do;
· that we give in to our homosexual temptations (if we happen to have any) and, after we have done so, boast of being “true” to ourselves;
· that we deplore or ridicule those who decline to swim with the current;
· that we not waste our valuable time attending Mass on a weekly basis; and that, if we do choose to waste our time in that manner,
we at least reject the old superstition that Jesus Christ is really and truly present in the Eucharist.
In America, I cannot help but conclude, the Catholic religion without the protection of ghetto walls is a thing that won’t work.
It’s a lost cause, a religion that will slowly but surely fade away.
What then? Am I suggesting that we rebuild the old ghetto? No, that’s impossible. It’s gone forever.
The clock of history never runs backwards.
History suggests that the Catholic religion can flourish in two circumstances only:
(a) When it is the virtually universal religion of a society –
as it was for many centuries in Spain, Portugal, Italy, and certain other places; and
(b) When it is a ghetto religion surrounded and more or less persecuted by hostile forces –
as it was under British rule in Ireland, or Communist rule in Poland, or pagan rule in ancient Rome.
American Catholics must face unpleasant facts: that we are surrounded by enemies of our religion; that these are not moderate enemies,
like the old Protestants. No, they are red-hot enemies, atheistic or quasi-atheistic in mind and morals; that they dominate, or are rapidly coming to dominate,
the command posts of American culture – colleges and universities, public schools, the entertainment industry,
the journalistic mass media, and the Democratic Party.
If we’d like our religion to survive in the America, we have no choice, I submit, but to create a new ghetto,
however difficult that may be to imagine at present. I don’t mean the Protestantism-resistant ghetto of old.
I mean the creation of a new kind of ghetto, an atheism-resistant ghetto.
It’s better than Nigerian Catholicism.
*ping of interest*
“Ghetto” is an ugly term with negative connotations. I would liken American Catholicism to a parallel society, built to give sanctuary from a fallen world.
Unfortunately, too many of the clergy were co-opted by Satan, including our current usurper Pope, and the rot from within has laid low a once great bastion of Christianity to the detriment of all.
The article is not without merit. I hasten to add the one most significant turning point in the 20th century. That is the election of a Roman Catholic president. Like him or hate him,this one fact set the whole world on it’s ear. Life,as we Americans knew it was never the same. I was in St. James Catholic school and in the 7th grade. I’ve never been so proud of being a Catholic. I was raised in a wasp (white anglo saxon protestant) small town and looked down upon by most folks. It never bothered me.
There is no such thing as an atheism-redistant ghetto.
I vote for option A. Let’s take over the joint.
It didn’t help that the Church virtually shut down for months for a “pandemic.” Their actions suggested that the Sunday obligation to attend Mass was more of a suggestion. As a result, my young grandchildren rarely go to Mass even 2 years later.
I expected the Church to stand tall during such a trying time, but they caved under govt. pressure and media onslaught, just like every other institution. TBH, I’m still angry and disappointed about that.
Oh Yeah?
What about Nigerian Protestantism? (Is that even a thing?)
I am in this ghetto. It is called TLM. In my area of Driftless Wisconsin (southwest corner), straddling the dioceses of LaCrosse & Madison, I have the choice of about 10 TLM within 30 minutes to an hour. All under the diocesan bishops. The parishoners have big families, take the faith seriously. It is like going back to the 1950s.
Outside of this ghetto is the Novus Ordo. It exists side by side in the parishes, but in a different realm. Parishoners are in a mixed bag of cultural observance mostly, and a more distant connection to the sacraments and moral teachings.
I don’t speak of the TLM group with pride, but simply as a descriptive. The faith will be carried on to the next generation. The NO is for the most part not passing it on.
JFK was listed as a Catholic. I am not certain that JFK cared about any religion other than his own willingness to cheat on his wife and send Marilyn Monroe to the morgue.
The first Catholic to be a serious candidate for President was Al Smith in 1928. When JFK ran in 1960, he spoke to a bunch of Protestant ministers and basically convinced them that his religion would not have any impact on how he acted as President (although Billy Graham continued to be terrified by the thought of a Catholic President). In 1964, Barry Goldwater’s running mate was a Catholic and that received very little attention.
“(although Billy Graham continued to be terrified by the thought of a Catholic President)”
Thankfully, Billy Graham became less like Ian Paisley in that regard as he grew older.
And a 12 year old girl in Catholic school in 1962 would have known that...how? We see the warts of people more clearly as time passes and tongues wag. His moral shortcomings were unknown while he lived and I’m not convinced they should be 60 years later. Even Walter Cronkite and his media buddies (who all knew) made the decision not to humiliate either Jackie or his children by printing it. It’s a mute point. He was a Roman Catholic who became a president of the United States regardless of his sins.
Do you think Jorge Bergoglio has contributed to the "mess" or is he trying his best to get us out of it, Murph?
Remember, Bergoglio's god is a god of surprises and:
Unfortunately, too many of the clergy were co-opted by Satan, including our current usurper Pope, and the rot from within has laid low a once great bastion of Christianity to the detriment of all.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
The Satan Council (Vatican, 1962-1965) was convened by Modernists for the express purpose of destroying all facets of traditional pre-Conciliar Catholicism. As the Kenneth Jones’ Index of Catholicism’s Decline made clear over 20 years ago the Satan Council had already been by that time extraordinarily successful.
https://www.olrl.org/misc/jones_stats.shtml
Satan’s Pope is now attempting to finalize the destruction triggered by that Council which is why he has decreed the complete termination of the Tridentine Latin Mass and the traditional administration of the Holy Sacraments.
I am in this ghetto. It is called TLM. In my area of Driftless Wisconsin (southwest corner), straddling the dioceses of LaCrosse & Madison, I have the choice of about 10 TLM within 30 minutes to an hour. All under the diocesan bishops. The parishoners have big families, take the faith seriously. It is like going back to the 1950s.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Bishops worldwide have been directed to terminate the celebration of Holy Mass in the Tridentine “Extraordinary Form” so I’d be curious to know how it is that the bishops in your part of the world have not done so as directed by the Pope who is currently soiling the Chair of Peter.
and send Marilyn Monroe to the morgue.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>..
Huh? JFK sent MM to the morgue? Never heard that one before. National Enquirer?
The election of JFK is the one we didn’t survive, he unionized federal employees, emptied the mental hospitals, and created the homeless masses, and what killed us was the fulfillment of his immigration goals, the 1965 Immigration Act to import Latin American and Mexican Catholic voters, 3rd world people, and create chain migration.
You are correct, but the timetable does not seem set yet. I have been hearing May 2023 worldwide. I spend part of the year in Hawaii where Bishop Silva allows TLM at two parishes. The bishops in Wisconsin, Hying and Callahan, are not insensitive to the fervor and just requests of ghetto dwellers. Who knows how this will unravel, and if in fact it will?
The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass was bequeathed to us by Christ Himself, and it would be hubris in the extreme to be certain as to its disposition in the future, regardless of the desires of a man who sits on the chair of Peter but who hates the Magisterium.
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