As dyspepsic says, it is the disgruntled Catholics on both side of the fence they have created, whether it is on the Pre-Vatican II side or the Post-Vatican II side, who are breaking the Church apart. I think it is Ironic that we Catholics who have “all” the answers may be the cause of our own destruction.:banghead:
Not quite. The division is a result of confusion.
It wasn’t only laity losing the faith. Some in the Hierarchy were losing it as well. When catholics are taught something century after century, and then we hear someone in the Curia telling us the opposite today, it is confusing.
“There is no salvation outside the Church.” Period. Any catholic would know that, and if anyone said anything to the contrary, they were, and are, wrong. But nowadays, a catholic may not agree. Either they simply were never taught the truth, or have heard otherwise from a member of the Clergy. We are confused. There are now two schools of thought on the matter.
In the past, some altar boys became priests. they were exposed to the doings of priests. How they prepared for Mass and so forth. They were interacting with the priests, and had the opportuinity to ask priests questions. And by serving Mass, they were given an opportunity to gain a solid understanding of the Mass. This led to vocations in some cases.
How many of our parishes today, have no altar boys, only altar girls ? Think about it. When a young boy is old enough to start realizing he’s attending a Holy Mass, and understanding a little bit about what’s going on, the thought of being an altar boy may never cross his mind. Why ? Because all he has ever seen at Mass is altar girls. He believes serving Mass is what girls do, not boys !
What about nuns ? If we have nuns who don’t wear habits sitting in the pews, they look like ordinary women. Nothing stands out about them. Even if they are grouped together in a choir, they still look like a bunch of women. How would a ten year old catholic girl describe a nun today ? A woman who promises she won’t marry and works for the Church ? There is nothing there to make a young girl curious. No wonder we have so few nuns.
My point is, all this adaptation, or whatever one wants to call it, doesn’t encourage vocations. It’s had plenty of time, and it has failed.
The loosening of the reigns so to speak, is also a problem. Priests have far to much wiggle room in regards to the NO Mass. Thus abuses creep in. Guidelines for fasting and abstinence have been relaxed, yet there are those today that say the Church is "too strict ".
Chastity is the Contrary Virtue to defeat Lust, one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Yet we have NFP. Chastity is shoved aside. We’ve found a loophole in order to satisfy Lust. It may not be the intent of the Church to offer a loophole, but it is a revolutionary change in Church teaching that presents the temptation and potential for abuse.
There is a very good reason past popes have warned against the evils of modernism and revolutionary changes. Just look at the titles and topics of the threads in this forum. It’s not hard to figure out what is tearing the Church apart.
Traditional Catholicism has nothing to do with this mess. And the catholics who are preserving it and defending it are not the ones who are confused. The ones confused are the ones buying into heresy either through the loss of the faith, or ignorance due to what they are taught in their parishes.
One of those heresys is false ecumenism.
Peace
