Catholic Traditions affected by Politcs in various countries

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Cenowski

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Im am a completly new member to this forum so i do not know if any of my questions or discussion topic was covered yet or not…

I wondering as to what extent Catholic traditions have been affected by Politics in certain countries over time… This comes as a question in my mind since my first visit to a Catholic Church in England, where for me after attending Polish Catholic Churches some thing in the English one just seemed turned upside down almost…

I found it odd that church memebers and not the Preisthood can give the wafer, there is lack of a traditions cross on the wall behind alter area and all desingns and odd shapes… Also i see females doing the traditional alter jobs… and it seems you dont have to go to confession to receive holy communion…

When and how did such changes like this occur? And is it uniform throughtout Britain and Ireland?
 
The Church requires, in Church Law, that you must go to Reconcilliation (Confession) and receive the Blessed Sacrament, at least once each year, during Easter time.

There is absolutely NO requirement that you must go to confession each and every time that you receive the Eucharist. So long as you are not in a state of Mortal Sin, there is also no actual need to go to confession. If you are in a state of Mortal Sin, then you would be committing another Mortal Sin if you were to go to communion without confession.

There must be a cross somewhere close to the Alter. It does NOT however have to be “traditional” (whatever that means).

Men and women MAY function as Eucharistic Ministers, Lectors, etc., if there are not enough men to fill the need. In the British and American Church, often there are not enough men that volunteer to fill those roles.

These changes came about as a result of Vatican II. Prior to that time, only an ordained person could touch a consecrated host (a Deacon, Priest or Bishop). Many people went to confession every week. Lots of little boys thought that they were in a state of “mortal sin” because they had a “wet dream”. Ignorance was rampant, and lots of local traditions were treated as if they were church law.

I could never understand back then why “born Catholics” knew so little about their own Church. Why the vast majority never learned any Latin (the Mass was primarily in Latin back then). Why a lot of Priests and Nuns were also pretty ignorant about the true teachings of the church. Even though I miss the “old church”, Vatican II was a vast improvement for the majority of people.

Now, if we can just get rid of the aura of “perfection and royalty” concerning Priests and Bishops, and treat them like the human beings they really are!
 
Cenowski said:
I wondering as to what extent Catholic traditions have been affected by Politics in certain countries over time… This comes as a question in my mind since my first visit to a Catholic Church in England, where for me after attending Polish Catholic Churches some thing in the English one just seemed turned upside down almost…
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I didn’t see too much difference between the Polish and non-Polish communities when I lived in London prior to Vatican II. I do see a lot of differences now though in the different communities in the states.
 
Church tradition has always been affected by the norms of society, which can be political in nature. Check this post right here to see why Roman Catholics genuflect and why Eastern Catholics don’t. Its purely political in nature from the beginning and a reflection of the culture of the people of Rome at the conception of the practice.

The Church ultimately sets the norms, but it allows for local practices because people should be able to praise and worship God in something thats meaningful to them. Certain actions may not have meaning to someone from Asia as it is to someone from Europe.
 
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