This was a time of great tumult in the Church. Vatican-2 ran from 1962-1965, and was badly misunderstood due to a lot of misinformation (some of it deliberate). Catholics were told (and believed) that it was now OK to use birth control, that premarital sex was not such a big deal, drugs were fine as long as we didn’t do anything harmful to others, and lots of other bunk. In many instances, this misinformation was deliberate, to try to compel the Church to accept these ideas because they were so widely believed, and opposing them would be considered unpopular (which is exactly how that went down, but the Church would never allow Her doctrine to be dictated by lies told to the Faithful).
There were lots of
actual changes, many of which were unpopular. Mass in the vernacular is the biggest. New architechural giudelines caused many Parishes to be gutted of many beautiful statues, paintings, windows, etc, and artistically magnificent churches were transformed overnight to resemble sparse protestant worship halls. Altar rails were removed, and people began to receive Communion while standing. The “final Gospel” was removed from the end of the Mass (the first few verses of the Gospel of John).
This era saw the establishment of a charismatic movement within Catholicism - the first (and only) time a movement of protestant origin was accepted by large numbers of the Faithful. The modern “folk Mass” came out of this hippie-dominated crowd. And other “folksey” practices originated during this time, such as hand-holding or the congregation assuming the priestly orans posture (arms extended upwards, palms open and facing outward).
Sadly (and mysteriously), these decades also saw some 95% of known cases of priest child abuse. Nobody is really sure why. We’ve heard a lot about these cases because they have finally come to light, but the majority of these crimes occurred during this time, and largely ceased without being widely discovered. Nobody is really sure why the began in such a widespread manner, and ceased without being “shut down.”
This was also an age of extreme liturgical abuse by priests. They would allow (or encourage) practices that were absolutely forbidden (such as allowing laypeople to preach Sunday homilies). I’ve read accounts of a “clown Mass” (the priest and servers in clown costumes) and a “gun Mass” (a rifle was placed in a stand on the altar as an anti-war protest, and remained there throughout the Mass). Some priests encouraged the congregation to pray along with him during parts of the consecration that are reserved to the priest alone (I personally saw this done in multiple parishes). And a hundred other absurd accounts. There are still vestiges of this. My brother (
Fr. Eric Filmer) sometimes serves at other Parishes, and the sacristan or somebody will try to tell him “how we do Mass here,” and which prayers have been reworded (usually to make them gender-neutral or incisive). And he always answers, “that might be how
y’all say Mass, but
this is how Father Eric says Mass,” and he taps the Missal.
And there was (and still is) a definite reduction in teaching and emphasis on the Communion of Saints, and the Blessed Mother in particular. I cannot recall the last time I have heard a homily that mentioned this. I rarely see people praying the Rosary before Mass - once a common practice. All forms of private devotion have been de-emphasized. Except the Divine Mercy. Which is, of course, not related to the Communion of Saints.
