In My Opinion... 7 Points On the Crisis in the Church

Several times on the blog I have tried to convey the fact that I know myself to be a sinner, but I begin this post by yet again affirming my sinfulness before God and man lest I appear self-righteous.

It would be imprudent to list my sins in public, but let me say that while I have not committed the sins the world sees as the worst (adultery, abuse, murder, misappropriation of funds) I do seem to have fallen prey to many of the sins brought to me in Confession: sloth, the callous tongue, the over-indulgence in alcohol, the failure to challenge those I know personally who are in irregular unions or who are using contraception, involved with crime, violence or substance abuse. So I can genuinely echo what was said by St Paul: “The good that I would like to do, I don’t do -and the things I would rather not do, I find myself doing”. There is a concept in Social Work today of ‘good-enough parenting’, but I hesitate to apply even ‘good-enough’ to myself as a spiritual Father. To that extent I echo the words of psalm 37: “My wounds [sins] are foul and festering; the result of my own folly...” but I rejoice in Psalm 64: “Too heavy for us our offences, O Lord, but You wipe them away.” All in all, this post comes from a sinner seeking holiness. My self-image and my image of the folk I base on psalm 102: “Bless the Lord, my soul, and never forget all His blessings. It is He Who forgives all your sins: who heals all your diseases” which I couple with Matthew 9v12. "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but the sick”.

All that said, many who know me often mistake my conviction in preaching what the Church teaches and my insistence on celebrating (I hope) good liturgies (saying the black and doing the red) as self-assurance or even arrogance. Well...No. I have confidence in the rightfulness of what Sacred Tradition teaches and I am convinced of the need for a liturgy that focuses on God -but that is it.

What then, am I giving my opinion about? About the Crisis in the Church and its resolution: I am praying our prelates will acknowledge (though I suspect deep down many are actually aware of it) that something is dreadfully wrong in the Church; I am praying many will swim against the current episcopal tide and come to recognise the following.

1. That Vatican II needs to be clarified.

It has been said that "the key to understanding Vatican II is best expressed in two phrases that characterized it, namely, the Church is semper reformanda (“always in need of reform”) and the Church is Populi Dei (People of God)"; that these phrases “reflect a new self-understanding of church” (see here), de-emphasizing the institutional model of church in favour of a less doctrinaire, more pastoral, more ecumenical and more democratic model. Well, if the Church is the people of God and always in need of reform, this is not new: Confession has been in place since Apostolic times for the reforming of the people of God (i.e., anyone who is baptised). This in no way ousts the Institutional model, which is of Divine Will. This quote is but one example of how Vatican II has been misunderstood. Without doubt, many grave distortions have crept into the Church since Vatican II, being due to the ambiguous texts of the Council -and these ambiguities have been admitted (see Cardinal Kasper’s admission in ‘L'Osservatore Romano, April 12, 2013) -which suggests direct manipulation of the Council by men. Indeed, on the strength of Vatican II, distortions have entered into the liturgy; into ecumenism (e.g., the idea that we are all the same and can be saved in any religion); into what is meant by the sensus fidelium; into collegiality and into the role played by the laity.

2. That the Liturgy needs to be taken in hand.

*The call for ‘active participation’ has been portrayed as ‘activity’ when in fact it primarily means full, conscious (internal) contemplation of the Mystery in which we participate. Dancing, mimes, dramas, gathering children around the altar etc, are not authentic participation but illicit additions to the Rite of Mass.

*The versus populum orientation is neither in Vatican II nor in the Missal Pope Paul authorised as giving concrete form to the reform asked for by the Council: there is NO DIRECTIVE that priests are to face the people at Mass, though it is given as a possible option (Prot. No. 2036/00/L regarding GIRM #299). THE DIRECTIVE OF THE MISSAL is to face the altar (see GIRM 157 & 158 and rubrics 132,133).

*Communion in the hand was introduced illegally in Holland from where it spread to Belgium, France and Germany, and was allowed by Paul VI only where it had already begun by 1969. Again, there is no directive from Rome stating that this is to be the norm; the directive is still, officially, to receive on the tongue (Memoriale Domini, 1969, CDW).

*There is no directive to remove altar rails.

*There is no requirement to have the whole Mass offered in the vernacular. There is however, from Vatican II, a directive that the people should be able to say or sing their parts of the Mass in Latin (Sacrosanctum Concilium 36,54; GIRM #41) and that Gregorian Chant is the primary music of the Mass (see Sacrosanctum Concilium #116).

*Use of hymns is supposed to be a last resort for music at Mass, since the Church wants us to sing the Mass texts themselves (cf. Notitiae 5 [1969] p. 406; and USCCB BCL Newsletter, August-September, 1993).

3. That the catechism needs to be put back into schools.

*The criticism that this was ‘parrot-fashion learning’ is an error; children taught the catechism by good teachers did not simply learn the catechism as they learned the Arithmetic Tables, they learned it with fuller explanations. Yes they learned in the question and answer format and so remember them to this day because its repetition usefully sticks in the mind, but they may not necessarily remember the fuller explanations they were given too, just as they may not necessarily remember other lessons they were given as children at school which were not parrot-fashion learning.

*‘Parrot-fashion’ learning usefully provides children with answers on The Faith when it is questioned, just as parrot-fashion tables gives them a useful tool for shopping; a cf. Catechesi Tradendae (1979) #55: “A certain memorization of the words of Jesus, of important Bible passages, of the Ten Commandments, of the formulas of profession of the faith, of the liturgical texts, of the essential prayers, of key doctrinal ideas, etc., far from being opposed to the dignity of young Christians, or constituting an obstacle to personal dialogue with the Lord, is a real need, as the synod fathers forcefully recalled. We must be realists. The blossoms, if we may call them that, of faith and piety do not grow in the desert places of a memory-less catechesis. What is essential is that the texts that are memorized must at the same time be taken in and gradually understood in depth, in order to become a source of Christian life on the personal level and the community level” (emphasis added).

4. That the authentic Lay Apostolate needs to be rediscovered.

*Vatican II never once spoke of lay ministry; you will not find those words anywhere in Vatican II; it always spoke of Lay Mission, and clarified this by encouraging the laity to be active in bringing The Faith to bear in their work and social lives. Lay ministry is not a development of Vatican II, but a distortion of Lay Mission, which is much missing in today’s world.

*The co-workers of the Order of Bishops, with whom the Bishops share a common call and a common ontology, are the priests. The role of the laity is to evangelise the world, not to replace the Presbyterate.

5. That the ‘New Pastoral Care’ orientation  needs attention

The ‘new pastoral care’ (as evidenced by the call even from prelates to admit civilly re-married divorcees, cohabitees and those in same-sex unions to Holy Communion) is dangerous to the salvation of the souls of those in such situations –and to the souls of the clerics who promote their admission to Eucharistic Communion.

*The ‘new pastoral care’ springs from emotionalism and an erroneous understanding of justice. Emotionalism doesn't want to see people in pain (which is laudable) but it seeks to alleviate the pain by hiding the truth of the situation in which they are living. It is the giving of false hope for the Gospel Truths are unalterable, and changing Church discipline to accommodate error is to accommodate the destruction of souls brought by the father of lies. 

*In regard to such souls and justice, it is said that those excluded from Holy Communion are being oppressed by the Church. Not true: their souls are oppressed by their situation but they do not know it. Excluding them from Holy Communion is like the responsible bar-tender refusing to pour another drink for the man who is dangerously intoxicated. I sum up all this ‘new pastoral care’ by saying that “pastoral care has degenerated from pastoral sensitivity (wherein the Truth is explained to souls with tender care and compassion) into pastoral sentimentality (wherein Truth is ignored simply to make the person feel at ease)”.

*Social Justice (the corporal works of mercy) has become the only kind of pastoral work in which many seek to engage, with the spiritual works of mercy neglected in the performance of those corporal works.

6. Get Collegiality into perspective.

Collegiality is not, and this is by Divine Will, joint government of the Church by Pope and Bishops. There is to be a common solicitude for all the Churches (expressed via advice and support? –such as in a sharing of priests, of resources, of good practice points etc, and common statements reiterating official Church teaching) but not shared Governance since this intrinsically impacts upon and reduces the governance exercised by a Bishop in his own Diocese, for which he alone is accountable to the Divine.

7.Get 'sensus fidelium' right.

This cannot be made to refer to the majority opinion of those now living; it encompasses the Church throughout her history. While many today might favour divorce and remarriage, contraception, homosexual pairings et al , this is not true of the Christians of the last 2000 years. Those favouring these new positions today are inconsistent with the authentic senus fidelium, and with Divine Deposit in both Scripture and Tradition.
There is much to be done. It is down to the Bishops to lead us, led by Rome. Oremus.