The Associated Press recently published a story about shifts in the U.S. Catholic Church by Tim Sullivan. Sara Perla responds, from a Catholic perspective:
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"When I asked an older priest friend once why cassocks seem to get such a strong reaction from his cohort, he said, “Because there is trauma related to that clothing.” Men who were formed under rigid, harsh or cruel seminary instructors — who wore cassocks — are naturally going to have a reaction when they see younger priests wearing them. The younger priests themselves presumably have no such associations and simply see them as traditional clerical garb. They assume that people who react against the outfit are simply “libs.” Perhaps if there were more openness and sharing among the generations, some of these tensions would be resolved."
I thought this made a good point. What we really need is more communication and sharing of life experience.
"Rigid, harsh or cruel" are words that could describe many aspects of the pre VII church. Anyone who attended a Catholic elementary school can probable relate a traumatic experience with a sister in a habit. And, of course, predatory priests were protected. So changes in the life of the church as lived were needed.
But it got kind of crazy. I remember the first guitar masses with base and sometimes drum. And even as I welcome the vernacular for public worship, I appreciate Latin for my own personal prayer.
So what is a Conservative Catholic?
1. Conservative Catholics preserve the priority of God’s revelation and its expression by the Church in her doctrine.
2. Conservative Catholics uphold the unbroken nature of tradition and seek to hand it on to the next generation.
3. Conservative Catholics exercise caution in the face of proposed changes in the Church and society.
4. Conservative Catholics value the beautiful diversity within the Church of various cultures, intellectual traditions and liturgical rites.
5. Conservative Catholics pay attention to how sin corrupts us within the Church and work for continual spiritual and moral renewal.
6. Conservative Catholics promote beautiful art, architecture and music in the Church and seek to restore the Church’s tradition of teaching the liberal arts.
7. Conservative Catholics uphold the primary rights and duties of parents and seek to form strong communities in the parish, confraternities and other Catholic organizations to live out the faith in daily life.
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