In the 1980’s when I attended Catholic conventions, usually a keynote speaker at a banquet dinner would remind us Catholics in the most humorous way about the way we were as Catholics. Everyone would be laughing so hard, there would be tears in our eyes. There was a common Catholic culture.
The trip down memory lane was nostalgic because the shared memories fondly remembered were common to everyone who knew the pre-Vatican II Church.
For those adult Catholics born in the mid to late ‘80’s to early 90’s, could such a keynote speaker do the same walk down memory lane and have the same fond, nostalgic laughter with tears like my generation of Catholics have/had?
My generation of Catholics can laugh at the humor of “Nunsence” because we all remember our Catholic schools with fully habited and plenty of nuns and what we experienced from them, the good, the bad, and the ugly.
We can remember fondly with a common memory that transcended parishes and dioceses what growing up Catholic was like at home and in our parishes and warmly remember it.
Is there anything similar for Catholics born in the period I suggest? Are there shared Catholic experiences from their past which brings tears of laughter? Do they share a common Catholic culture?
8 comments:
They share a common knowledge of having parents that use birth control to prevent unwanted siblings and endless news stories of abuse and financial settlements.
Kavanaugh sometimes brings tears of laughter...until you remember that he is a Priest.
Yes. "Remember when the clergy child molestation crisis began? We thought it might end some day. Hilarious!" Or, "remember that time when we thought Pope Benedict was turning the Church back to faith and morals, but he quit so a hippie could take over? Hilarious!"
Gene, BINGO!
I have wonderful memories of the pre-Vatican II Church, none of post-Vatican II Church, until the revival of the Latin Liturgy
I grew up with a split existence: I lived in the preconciliar Church until the 5th grade and from that point on, it was postconciliarism on steroids, shoved down my throat.
Most of the "humor" my friends the same age share is pretty negative. For example, we've joked about nuns ditching their habits, which made them look terrible. Or when I see a terrible-looking piece of modern architecture, I've said, "That's so ugly it could pass for a new Catholic Church." We also have a number of snarky observations about the needless use of Extraordinary Ministers or how we don't need Deacons to visit us on our deathbeds, since they cannot grant us absolution or apostolic blessings. We also make a lot of jokes about monsignors who rule in absentia, with their secretaries in effect running the parish.
In short--there is not much funny about the postconciliar Church, because it has been a long, slow and sad march.
Come to think of it, it IS hilarious that I thought as much Rood!
Liturgical Dancers! Cha-cha-cha.
I grew up in the 70s and 80s and was exposed to the old-style Catholic Culture via my Grandmother. The suburban Catholic Cultural experience that I would return to after visiting her and her church was dissimilar and, mostly, non-existent. So, I would say that shared experiences were, unfortunately, very limited.
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