Giving Priests the Benefit of the Doubt

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Tis_Bearself

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It seems like many threads in the Liturgy and Sacraments section are about, “My priest did this at Mass or with respect to something connected with Mass. Was it wrong?” I even started such a thread myself once.

Just wondering how many people here generally give priests the benefit of the doubt with their Mass choices? I myself might get perturbed if I showed up and saw a chorus line dancing in the sanctuary, or a Protestant minister being invited to give the Sunday homily, or half the Consecration prayers left out, something radical like that. But generally I don’t get excited if the priest wants to do an extra prayer or include the school children in part of the Mass. If a priest’s Masses really annoyed me, I probably just wouldn’t go to them any more and would attend another parish or another Mass typically said by a different priest.

Not structuring this as a poll, just interested to hear other people’s thoughts.

Edited to add, I realize also that sometimes the threads are started because someone genuinely wants to know the correct rule or practice, which is why I started the one I did, and some other people have posted that they are new Catholics and not familiar with some practice, etc so I’m not trying to condemn everybody who’s ever asked a question about their priest’s practices.
 
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I generally try to, yeah, unless it’s something truly bizarre (which I’ve never seen.) I don’t think sitting in the pew playing “gotcha!” is the best way to approach Mass.
 
I think this will vary depending on geography. I’ve seen places where I wouldnt ever question a liturgical anomaly. And now I live in a place where there is plenty of evidence to suggest the priests are either ignorant of the liturgy or feel it is theirs to change how they wish.
 
My view is that unless something is being done that is blatantly an abuse then the priest should be given the benefit of the doubt. It’s not hard to talk to the priest after Mass or fix an appointment to talk to him about any concerns. If not satisfied after talking to the priest then the bishop can be contacted but provided with evidence to back any claim made.
 
I have heard that if you take a concern to the bishop’s office, the first response you will get is, “Have you talked to your pastor?” If the answer is “no” then you will be sent away with instructions to “talk to your pastor”.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
I have heard that if you take a concern to the bishop’s office, the first response you will get is, “Have you talked to your pastor?” If the answer is “no” then you will be sent away with instructions to “talk to your pastor”.
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I agree with that. First port of call must always be the priest as he deserves the chance to explain.
 
For the most part, I give the benefit of any doubt to the priest. Here, on this forum, and in life, I have encountered people who get outraged about some difference in the liturgy than what they are uses to seeing. Many of these, even I know are perfectly legitimate. There are probable many other valid alternatives that I don’t know.

It’s probably faulty thinking, bit when I hear the complaints over something that is really not significant, I think of Matthew 6 and the real meaning of avoiding vain repetition.
 
I think I’m pretty easy going with my priests. I trust them. I’ve never seen them do anything odd.

There is one priest in residence at my parish who has a tendency to add in phrases and interjections here or there throughout all the prayers of the mass. Honestly, his masses are pretty “chatty”. All the essential elements are there, so it’s not a huge deal. But, I do avoid masses that he says because it’s not my preference.
 
I am very happy with every mass I have been to. The words of consecration have been said. Do I have preferences? Of course. Do I wish the priest would carefully follow each rubric? Definitely but Christ was truly present in the Eucharist and I am there for him not the priest
 
Mi_Rose said:
Do I wish the priest would carefully follow each rubric? Definitely but Christ was truly present in the Eucharist and I am there for him not the priest
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This is where I am. Probably the Only thing that would cause me to consider reporting a priest would be if he messed with the words of consecration. For any other quirks or innovations, I can just find another mass that fits my more orthodox preferences. It’s not my job to be the liturgy police.
 
I myself, do not attend Mass with a liturgical scorecard, matching every word and gesture to the rubrics, and at the end report any discrepancies to the Bishop. Rather, I come to worship God and give thanks for the Eucharist, and to revel in the True Presence.
 
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Interesting response, around here we are blessed to have very good priests, and parishes with lots of confession times, adoration, etc. So I always give a priest the benefit of the doubt.
But, I am old enough to remember when liturgical “anomalies” happened all the time, it drove me crazy. I never gave them the benefit of the doubt. At some point I realized I was only hurting myself by being so upset about it all the time. But perhaps I was more able to let it go for the simple reason that things got so much better.

I have long said, I lived through women giving homilies, liturgical dancing, pastors trying to force everyone to stand during the consecration, pastors removing beautiful art and altars from churches, dramatic perfeormances of the gospel, no adoration/benediction, etc once before. I will do everything possible to not do so again. If the craziness of the 70s and 80s returns, I will move if at all possible. Even to another country.
 
Tis_Bearself said:
I myself might get perturbed if I showed up and saw a chorus line dancing in the sanctuary, or a Protestant minister being invited to give the Sunday homily, or half the Consecration prayers left out, something radical like that. But generally I don’t get excited if the priest wants to do an extra prayer or include the school children in part of the Mass. If a priest’s Masses really annoyed me, I probably just wouldn’t go to them any more and would attend another parish or another Mass typically said by a different priest.
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We seem to have the same attitude. Technically, they may be against the rubrics but I don’t see them as a major issue, and if it gets people to go to Mass or helps them keep focused I would see them as good.
 
My parish has a wonderful pastor and I 100% trust his judgement and his knowledge of the Liturgy. If I were in a circumstance where something that seemed irregular happened, I would just ask him, so I could be better informed.

Not putting words in your mouth Bear, but I think there are a lot of folks who like to play “gotcha” by talking about things they noticed in the Liturgy and pointing them out as being mistakes or wrong. A lot of it comes across as an odd kind of hubris, that they picked up on something a priest did wrong. They’re looking for liturgical abuse in a haystack. It makes me sad for our clergy when I see threads like that.
 
Yeah, in some cases it looks like they’re trying to find nits to pick about either the parish or about the church in general.

The worst ones are when the person finds some alleged minor nit in a Mass and then makes a speech about how this is why the Church is going to pot, numbers declining, lack of reverence, etc.
 
If anyone sees a priest not observing the proper form of the mass, they should contact their local Archdiocese or Bishop or Archbishop. Whatever they saw should be politely and accurately presented.
 
As a child growing up Catholic, I was pretty oblivious to rubrics and the like. In college, as I began to take my faith more seriously, a bit of that “siege mentality” crept in where I was immediately suspicious of anything that fluctuated from what was happening in my own Catholic bubble of trust.

As I learned more and more, though, I came to realize that many of the things I was suspicious of were actually legitimate options in the liturgy. I was wrong so many times that I started to realize that I needed to just give the benefit of the doubt first. That approach has worked much better and has been far less stressful.
 
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