From the heavy handed and completely unnecessary suppression of the TLM to demanding that the Syro-Malabar Rite celebrate their Liturgy of the Eucharist ad orientem, liturgical chaos and resentment has festered to new heights never seen even in the 1970’s!
Now the Archdiocese of Kerela refuses to implement ad orientem for their Eastern Rite Liturgy of the Eucharist risking going into schism with the Vatican. You can read the Curx story HERE.
It harkens back to the First Sunday of Advent, 1969 when Pope Paul VI suppressed the Ancient Liturgy of the Church (with minor exceptions) and demanded the entire Latin Rite embrace his newly created Modern Vernacular Mass and did so in a pre-Vatican II authoritarian way.
While most Catholics who were hurt and made angry by the authoritarian way the new Mass was imposed, the Vatican went ahead despite the damage to these Catholics’ Faith they caused, so much so a many Catholics disengaged from the Church altogether and thus did their children and grandchildren.
Most of those liturgical dissenters are dead now, but their non-practicing progeny are still out there. After all, today in the USA, if a diocese gets 20% of their Catholics to Mass, that is considered a success. Prior to the Council nearly 90% of Catholics attended the Mass that the Vatican today denigrates.
Under Pope Benedict and his most Catholic and liberal policies, His Holiness knew the wisdom of allowing the two forms of the Mass to co-exist and to allow the Modern Mass to be celebrated in Latin or at least partially and he encouraged ad orientem for it as well as kneeling for Holy Communion. He did not impose any of this on bishops other than to insist that it be allowed where those who wanted it sought to have it.
The Vatican would do well to learn again how Pope Benedict created liturgical peace as it concerns the chaos the Vatican has caused in India. Propose but do not demand that the Liturgy of the Eucharist be celebrated ad orientem. But allow the Liturgy of the Eucharist to be celebrated toward the people where this is important for clergy and laity. The Vatican should correct its virulent clericalism for the Vatican is the cause of all this disunity.
In so many areas, the Vatican regime seems more concerned about their rights and that they be obeyed in this, that or the other even in areas where litigimate diversity can coexist. From Cardinal Roche to Cardinal Fernandez, we see clericalism at work and enabled by the present pope. Clericalism is always associated with authoritarianism which has found new life in the Vatican these past 13 years.
We should all pray that the Vatican regime of today appreciate that people need to have faith in God and live the Faith and Morals of the Church. The TLM, facing ad orientem or the nave help different Catholics in different ways to be people of faith. Why is the Vatican being so rigid and authoritarian in things that can allow for legitimate diversity? Is it a mental illness linked to a rigid authoritarian personality which in church-speak is called clericalism?
2 comments:
I look at it as a person who started having nagging doubts about self and beliefs, and fixated upon them until until they believed in nothing but positive vibes...
then tried changing up the daily routine and fashions, but found that not helping at all...
then retreated into a moment of sanity and found some peace in the old life...
but the old doubts came roaring back saying to just trash it all and start over, there really nothing but positive vibes, and then went on a rampage smashing everything related to old life, especially the beautiful...
and a very strange way of putting out positive vibes...
meanwhile, everyone else edges cautiously, or runs, away...as that person yells, "come to me and I'll fix your problems!", since like most do-gooders and psychology majors, it is far easier to fix others than fix own self.
The current Pope and his enablers are ideologues. This type is never wrong and therefore never compromises. My prayer is that this pontificate will end soon and the next successor of St. Peter will put an end to the nonsense dreamed up by the current one. Sadly, we are beyond expecting unity or continuity with the Church through time (and the Church in Heaven). The best we can hope/pray for now is that we do no devolve into the circus that is politics in this country - where "on day 1" the president issues executive orders to undo what his predecessor did.
A calm and deliberate approach, grounded in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition; conducted by men who see themselves as servants to and guardians of the deposit of faith is the remedy.
Post a Comment