Does anyone here notice that the Canadian bishops just don’t seem to care that much about what the Pope has to say (on birth control, for example). Also, do you find that Canadian churches are almost always liturgically liberal introducing little innovations that are not really ‘Catholic at heart’? I have been finding this lately at my Church and others. No Church I ever go to uses any Latin, incense, has adoration, venerates saints, includes Mary in the mass at appropriate times etc- it really bugs me. My Bishop is Anthony Tonnos of the Diocese of Hamilton and I just find he doesn;t do or enforce these things- anyone else have similar findings?
Part of the reason for the dismal state of affairs in Canada has to do with the Canadian bishops rejecting the GIRM, (apparently due to the cultural differences between the English and French bishops as well as differences between the very liberal bishops and the more traditional ones). Our bishops refused to abide by the GIRM; and the CCCB submitted a list of requested indults for liturgical approval. Some of the requests were for inclusive language (no surprise there), and others were for additional Eucharistic prayers. The end result is that we must follow what each Diocesan bishop lays down in matters of the Liturgy, while this matter churns perpetually in Rome.
Another problem is the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops betrayed the teachings of the Church on artificial contraception by refusing to accept the 1969 encyclical of Pope Paul VI,
Humanae Vitae, which is widely considered the greatest charter of life and love over any other document in human history.
The document,
Tragedy at Winnipeg, tells the story of dissent, and how a well-informed and well-formed conscience was considered by the CCCB to override the traditional teachings of the Church on artificial contraception.
Just because many Catholics may find it either extremely difficult or even impossible to follow all of the teachings of the encyclical, the CCCB does not want them to be considered excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church. So they devised a statement to deal with the difficulties that contraception provided to the Catholic faithful.
The problematic text of paragraph 26 of the Winnipeg Statement reads:
"Counsellors may meet others who, accepting the teaching of the Holy Father, find that because of particular circumstances they are involved in what seems to them a clear conflict of duties, e.g., the reconciling of conjugal love and responsible parenthood with the education of children already born or with the health of the
mother. In accord with the accepted principles of moral theology, if these persons have tried sincerely, but without success to pursue a line of conduct in keeping with the given directives, they may be safely assured that, whoever chooses that course which seems right to him does so in good conscience.”
So even though Canadians accept the teachings of the Holy Father, we are told by our bishops that in some circumstances, (with the aid of a well-formed conscience of course) we need not observe these teachings. In short, we are told that we can balance the right of a future child’s life with proper education and lifestyle for those children already born.
The Church issued us a divine teaching on natural law with Humanae Vitae. It is deplorable that our bishops distorted divine moral theology, and still, forty years later, have not corrected their errors.
With perseverance, the parish itself will be that club. Have you gotten involved in your parish? I totally agree that some altar servers don’t know what they’re doing; have you considered serving at the altar? Is there a youth group at your parish? Bible study?