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It was like I said, priests and pastors used the term "aggiornamento" to mean whatever they wanted it to mean and introduced all kinds of craziness into the Mass.

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This is the sentiment I would agree with, and I suspect it's what Silmaril had intended -- or something along those lines.

I think a lot of modern Catholics tend to use knee-jerk phrases like "inquisition" and "fear of excommunication" to discredit authentic Church teaching (i.e. - "You can't tell people in the pews they're going to hell! That would be insensitive, and in the long term, would end up alienating so many people. We need to encourage people with love and understanding, etc. etc.") But I think we've seen the fruits of this approach -- when priests are wussy and equivocate on morality and theology and the necessity of teh Sacraments for Salvation, then people leave. Because if what you're offering isn't essential, crucial to someone's eternal soul, then what motivation is there to be at Mass? For the donuts? For teh singing? Sorry, Protestants got us beat on both counts there.

Thank you for clarifying the point you were making. I took a class in Theology called "Modern Challenges to Christianity" and in it we discussed the many problems facing the Church in this Post-Christian age. One of the lessons I learned is that Catholics who dissent from the magesterial teachings of the Church are known as "heretics." When was the last time you heard that word used in a homily or in a Bishop's encyclical?

Political Correctness is raging in the Church right now especially in my field, which is liturgy. Example...Remember that beautiful old hymn "Where Charity and Love Prevail" (aka Ubi Caritas)? It used to be printed as "...With grateful joy and holy fear, God's charity we learn; Let us with heart and mind and soul Now love Him in return." That last line has been changed to read "Now love God in return." There are feminists within the Church who are trying to say that we can't even use the personal pronouns "him," "his," or "He" to refer to God because that makes the implication that God is male in Gender. DDUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHH!!!! The whole idea of inclusive language delayed the English edition of the Catechism for almost a year and a half because it had to be re-translated to correct all the political correctness.

What did Pope Paul VI call it, "the smoke of satan?" I agree that there is this smoke within the Church but I believe that behind all the smoke and mirrors you'll find the living and true faith handed down to us from the Apostles. This will include the Second Vatican Council.

P.S. Did you know that in those documents it lists, among other things, that the Latin language should be retained in the Latin rite, there should be no women serving at the altar and communion in the hand should be preceded by another type of reverence such as a genuflection? Veils were not thrown out by these documents and neither were communion rails. The question is, How do you get people to return to the traditional ways when those ways have been slowly "vaccinated out" of existence?

I thank God for the traditional masses and the traditional priests like Msgr. Sweeny. I know of several here in Houston, too, so we must never give up hope. The smoke will clear very soon. In this, I have the strongest faith.