The short answer is yes - based on what I’ve studied about the Early Church Fathers and Catholic Orthodoxy. I am concerned however, about leading my children into a faith that seems not to care about how that Orthodoxy translates into practice. “Meet your obligations and live like you want” is not a creed I want in my house.
I understand your point about not judging Catholicism by Catholics, but I disagree. Certainly one should not judge Catholicism/Chrstianity or any other group by one individual, but collectively one should be able to get a grasp of what the group believes by thier actions. And I do understand Catholicism is a very large group.
I do want to appologize for the tone of my original post. I do know (via this forum) that there are very sincere Catholics out there, I was just upset and disappointed by our first foray into the local Catholic world.
Catholicism is an extremely varied religion. You’d think, if the stereotypes were correct, it’d be tried-and-true, very traditional. In many parishes it is. But in many parishes, it is not. There is a lot of leeway in how masses nowadays are celebrated, certainly more than there was, say, fifty or so years ago. Some people like this variation, some people don’t. I belong in the latter group, personally.
If you want tradition, something that’s more akin to what you think of when you think of the word “Catholic,” something closer to the stereotypical, then you should definitely look for an Extraordinary Form parish nearby. There’s certainly nothing that says that Ordinary Form parishes can’t be traditional, but in most cases, they are not. One thing I’m absolutely certain you’ll find at an EF parish is great catechesis (Catholicspeak for some sort of formal religious education). This is because these parishes have had to build up a self-sustaining system, as there are many people in both camps, both EF-goers and OF-goers, that very much dislike the idea of one another. As these exclusively-EF parishes are in the minority, they have to “fend for themselves,” in many cases, so to speak.
Now, there are certainly lots of parishes that offer both the Extraordinary and Ordinary Forms. I’ll go out on a whim and say that these parishes also probably offer great catechesis. That’s because it’s still a relatively “trendy” thing to do to offer EF masses, and these parishes are very understanding, generally, of tradition-minded Catholics. We aren’t so far gone from an era when tradition was stomped on and the Extraordinary Form mass was commonly presumed by the laity and many of the clergy alike to be “forbidden;” it never actually was, and I really don’t think it ever will be with the way things are going now. The parishes that offer both forms are following relatively new guidance from the pope, guidance that has not been instituted in all regions of our country yet.
I’d start with Wikipedia articles. They were really good, I thought, for an introduction to the Church and her history. The articles on Catholicism can occasionally be wrong, but they’re still usually very well-written and true to doctrine. The Catholic Church is a HUGE organization, consequently, it is an EXTREMELY complex organization. The Wikipedia articles can help you to begin to make sense of all of it. Sometimes you’ll probably feel quite overwhelmed. One term you’ll learn very quickly is “Vatican II.” I suggest you read up on it while you’re also engaging yourself in Church history. I don’t say this from a pro-modernism or pro-tradition standpoint. Rather, I say this because, without a doubt, Vatican II is the thing that has made the most impact on the Church in the last forty to fifty years.
My first advice to you reconciling and making sense of all this new information you’re about to absorb and be exposed to is this: accept, right now, “who” has authority in the Church. If you can accept that, then everything else will fall in to place. There is a hierarchy. The laity is at the bottom. In human form, on this planet right now, is the pope. Accept the authority of the Church and her human deacons, priests and bishops, and I will guarantee that everything will fall into place. Hey, I’ve been Catholic less than a year. I’ve been interested in Catholicism since about last September. I’ve learned a LOT in this short time. You can too. Just don’t give up. Sometimes you’ll get distracted by all this “stuff.” Just remember, though, that it’s just humans trying to do their best to respect, revere and worship God in the person of Jesus present in the Eucharist (communion).
Jeans, shorts, sandals, yes. Casual dress may be because rather than miss their Sunday obligation altogether, people come straight from whatever they were doing.