Posted on 03/09/2005 9:20:15 PM PST by Cato1
The Catholic Church's great divide
By STEVEN GREENHUT Senior editorial writer and columnist, The Orange County Register sgreenhut@ocregister.com
Even readers without a trace of interest in Roman Catholic liturgical and theological debates might want to follow an ongoing controversy in the Diocese of Orange surrounding the future of the Tridentine Mass. The issues at the center of this debate are issues that shed light on the ongoing sex-abuse scandal, the roots of which still confuse some observers today.
To traditional Roman Catholics, there are few things more pious than this mass, which is an old-style Latin Mass known for its deep meaning and great beauty. This is the real deal, complete with vestments, incense and Gregorian Chant. It's more pious than the modern mass and the polar opposite of - this really happened in Orange County - a mass given by a dancing priest wearing a black leotard.
Now that a veteran priest at a traditional Huntington Beach parish has retired, the diocese is stamping out the Tridentine Mass at that location, forcing devotees to drive to the overcrowded Mission San Juan Capistrano, where it is still officially sanctioned.
Basically, the forces of liberalism that are crushing traditional Roman Catholic piety are the same forces that unleashed the sex-abuse scandal within the church. As long as the leadership rejects traditional ideals of holiness and piety, nothing will be done to assure that holy men, and not those with lax sexual attitudes, dominate the priesthood.
Locally, Fr. Daniel Johnson, the kindly, traditionalist priest who led St. Mary's by the Sea for 25 years, has retired. His retirement, and the retirement of the Tridentine Mass with him, is heartbreaking news to St. Mary's parishioners.
It's a mean-spirited act for the bishop to deny the parishioners the mass they love so much. The diocese says permission for the mass was granted for the priest only, and it retires with him. But the diocese could, if it wanted to, pass the permission on to someone else.
This is standard fare, however, in the bitter war that is waged behind the scenes within the church. In reality, there are two churches co-existing uncomfortably together. There's the traditional Catholic Church, with its unwavering support for church traditions and theology.
That's the world of Fr. Johnson and St. Mary's by the Sea.
Then there's the "progressive" church, with its emphasis on "social justice," and its desire to make church teachings fit with modern sensibilities. I call it the Kumbaya Church.
That's the world of the diocese leadership.
Since Vatican II, the church council that adopted reforms, the left has been ascendant. Social and theological liberals have used the "spirit" of Vatican II to advance their agenda, and have succeeded, despite the traditional emphasis in far-away Rome.
As Catholic author Michael Rose argued in his blockbuster book, "Goodbye Good Men," the liberals gained control of many seminaries and kept tradition-minded men out of the priesthood. That's the root of the sexual-abuse scandal: The success of the left in driving out "good men" and replacing them with priests with different standards.
The proof is in the pudding. The more liberal the diocese, the fewer the men interested in priestly vocations. Only in the most traditional dioceses are there large number of people pursuing the priesthood. At St. Mary's by the Sea, Fr. Johnson took over a congregation of 400 people 25 years ago, and it is now 1,500 families strong.
Is the growth because the church has the traditional liturgy and doesn't soft-sell its principles?
"Of course," Fr. Johnson told me.
Yet, as Fr. Johnson said, "the diocese reaches out to everyone but we are barely tolerated [by the diocese]."
"The old mass, in particular, emphasizes the real presentation at Calvary," he said. "The pope said we have to get back to the idea of sacrifice rather than a fraternal banquet."
One never hears diocese officials talk that way. They use the language of political correctness and ecumenism. I recall the photograph I was sent by one local Catholic of Bishop Tod Brown yanking (he says gently pulling) a middle-aged woman up by her arm, as the woman tried to receive communion from him while she was kneeling. The bishop has a firm policy against kneeling before communion.
Last summer, the bishop insisted that two priests credibly accused of downloading child pornography on their computer were not in violation of the diocese's zero-tolerance policy on sexual abuse. That's why the person who sent me the photograph penciled in a caption: "Bishop Brown: light-handed on child porn - but heavy-handed on kneeling for communion!!"
That's a strange disconnect: apparent laxity toward misbehavior, yet intolerance toward attempts at holiness. It's typical. When Mel Gibson's "The Passion" was released, traditional Catholics were ecstatic. But the Diocese of Orange spokesman called the movie tedious and offered this snide review in the newspaper: "If you are of the bent that feels that graphic suffering makes you feel the terrible sinner that you are and Jesus is saving you, then this is going to be a very big plus in your favor when you see the movie."
Now the diocese is taking away the Tridentine Mass at St. Mary's. In a letter to a parishioner, the diocese said the parishioners should accept the decision with an obedient heart. But given the Vatican has said dioceses should be generous in allowing such masses, a reasonable question is raised about who is not being obedient.
"Bishop Tod Brown has sent out a survey asking O.C. Catholics for suggestions ... to help him accomplish Thesis No. 4 of his 'Covenant With the Faithful,' the pledge to 'work collaboratively with all members of the diocese,'" said St. Mary's parishioner Teri Carpentier. "If Bishop Brown sincerely cares about his people, why will he not listen to the hundreds of parishioners at St. Mary's by the Sea and hundreds of other faithful Catholics who signed a petition to retain the Tridentine Mass at St. Mary's. ... What is the harm that is done in retaining it?"
Such is the divide within the Roman Catholic Church. Unfortunately, the church leadership lacks the courage and wisdom to bridge it.
ping
Very interesting. Was a young priest untrained to say the Tridentine replacing him? In Tampa we are having a big problems finding someone who can help with an Indult.
Here in New Orleans things are much better. Because the pastor of my indult parish is also a professor at the Archdiocesan seminary, we have a large number of seminarians getting regular exposure to the "Vetus Ordo". I have been blessed with the call to assist in this formation, and have good hopes that many of these young men will discover a love of the Latin liturgy that will remain with them for life.
Why are you surprised? It's all "part of the agenda".
The bit about the Bishop "yanking the woman up by the arm" who was trying to receive communion from him while kneeling says it all.
With Bishops like this, good Catholics need to rise up and become "refusniks".......refuse to support him financially, and walk out of his masses. If we had done this years ago, they would not have gotten as far with their autodetruct agenda as they have.
Why? Because - at its heart - their agenda hinges upon the sheep-like compliance of the faithful. They count on it - and have gotten it for 40 years. Those who would not comly have gone away.........which is exactly what the Bishops want. They do not want you to stay and fight.......much less to think!
What we need is a voice that is louder than theirs. I'm thinking as someone else (I forgot who) pointed out on another thread...Mel Gibson doing some sort of movie that will expose this crap and maybe cause a huge stir among the silent faithful. Maybe.
Here is what's really going on in the conflict within the Church. Modernists ignore the dogmas of the Catholic faith--and take real issue with them. This is why they push the Novus Ordo and despise the Tridentine Mass which emphasizes the dogmas of Transubstantiation and Propitiatory sacrifice. They have suppressed the Marian dogmas and feel no qualms about questioning the Gospel miracles or even the Resurrection of Jesus. Some even question the Incarnation and the divinity of Christ.
But there is no wish by modernists to oppose any of these dogmas openly and directly. To do so would not only lead to a mass exodus from the Church, but it would weaken the dogmatic underpinnings of their own clerical authority. In addition such an honest and open approach would destroy the only distinction left between Catholics and Protestants--which is the rigid hierarchical structure of the Catholic Church and the intense adherence of faithful Catholics to the pope who is at the apex of the hierarchic pyramid.
Rather than pursue a doctrinal confrontation, therefore, Modernists choose to create facts on the ground by subterfuge and deception. They have successfully destroyed traditional catechesis, substituting social programs instead; they have substituted a protestantizing liturgy for the ancient Mass and have made it the primary vehicle for spreading the new theology; they have changed the office of the priesthood by emphasizing the priesthood of all the baptized; and they have aggressively pursued an exaggerated ecumenicism which is indifferentist and syncretist in nature, pushing for a "civilization of love" in lieu of a union based on commonly held beliefs.
Sooner or later the New Theology must fail. Why? Because it cannot keep the faithful in line once the dogmatic underpinnings of tradition have been eliminated. With tradition goes also any impetus by the faithful to obey the hierarchy. If Catholics no longer must believe in the Real Presence, then sure as God made green apples they likewise will feel no obligation to obey their bishops or pope. Doing away with the one while trying to keep their own authority intact would be like the bishops' trying to square a circle--it can't be done.
BTTT
Basically, the forces of liberalism that are crushing traditional Roman Catholic piety are the same forces that unleashed the sex-abuse scandal within the church. As long as the leadership rejects traditional ideals of holiness and piety, nothing will be done to assure that holy men, and not those with lax sexual attitudes, dominate the priesthood.
I'm saving this post in a Word.doc because it rings so true. Thanks.
I agree, but they can really still drag the process out, can't they? In other words, who knows how long the timeline will be, and if it's too long the faithful become stupefied and befogged to the point of inaction, and that's taking into consideration that the faithful are cognizant of what it really means to be Catholic and want to abide by that, which is not a given.
What they have to do, which is tricky, is perpetually spin what are obvious contradictions of previously taught truths into 'we didn't fullly understand before', 'sorry we told you it was a sin...', 'let's move on.'
Thus far, they've been successful with that strategy.
Not as successful as you might think. The most obedient members of the Church are also those who are most conservative. They can be pushed only so far. They are gradually figuring things out. When the shepherd becomes the wolf, the sheep must do what they can to protect the flock. Obedience in such an event is no longer obligatory.
Saved.
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