There is nothing wrong with saying that something is not a good idea. That doesn’t make one a traditionalist. I believe that term should never have been adopted by Catholics. It’s almost a carryover from politics, conservatives vs liberals. It creates a two party system within what is only one Church.
That being said, one may make legitimate statements and respectuflly present them. Then you sit back and obey.
Remember Catherine of Sienna? Didn’t she tell the Pope that it was not a good idea for him to remain at Avignon and advised him to return to Rome? However, she did not insult his office or his choice. She made her argument.
Remember Francis of Assisi? Didn’t he present Honorious and Innocent III with a petition for a more ascetical form of religious life? At first they approved it and then they asked him to rewrite his rule and make some allowances that Francis didn’t like. He made his case and then obeyed.
In modern times the Latin American Church tried to impress Paul VI and John Paul II with the appropriateness of liberation theology. Paul allowed Juan Luis Segundo to write his Liberation Theology. Eventually, John Paul II said it sounded too much like Marxism and told Segundo to stop. The Latin American bishops withrew their support of Liberation Theology. Some didn’t like the discipline that John Paul imposed, but they obeyed.
There are always going to be points where one side or another is going to say, “This is not a good idea.” The dialogue begins and a conclusion is reached.
The Sacred Congregation for Religious Life has been engaged in dialogue with Pontifical religious communities over issues such as governance, habits, ministry, fidelity to the charism of their founders for 40 years. The dialogue continues. In many cases conclusions and agreements have been reached and in others there are still issues on the table.
Recently the Franciscans rewrote their Constitution to reflect the rule that St. Francis had given them. They took out the old discipline that only those Franciscans who are priests could be superiors. They also asked Rome to allow them to go back to the original title Brother for all Franciscans, instead of Father for those friars who are priests. They did this because Francis was not a priest and he did not want any of his Brothers to be called Father, even those who were priests. He was the only one who could be called Father, because he was the founder. In fact his full title is Holy Father St. Francis. Many people in Franciscan parishes thought this was a bad idea, because they had gotten used to the term the Franciscan Fathers or the Franciscan Monks, when in fact they were neither an order of priests nor an order of monks. They are an order of Brothers. The Sacred Congregation saw that this was in keeping with Francis’ desires and approved the change. They were authorized to use either the English term Franciscan Brothers or the Latin term Franciscan Friars. There are people who do not like this change in discipline and externals. But no one is pointing the finger at the Pope, the Franciscans or the Sacred Congregation on Religious Life and calling them heretics for wanting to return to the original wishes of St. Francis.
You may disagree with communion in the hand without fear of being out of compliance with the Church. I have had a hard time getting used to female altar servers. But neither is essential to the faith of the Church. Therefore, I do not panic that the Church is going to fall apart for it. I recognize that it’s me who has the problem, not the Church. I bite the bullet. On the other hand, I like the changes that were allowed to the Franciscans, because it is consistent with the will of their founder.
Even Paul told Peter that it was not a good idea to exclude the Gentiles. Eventually, Peter got it. The Church doesn’t always have good ideas, just truth. It has a history of very bad ideas, but a consistent history of truth when it comes to dogma. Even in morals, the Church has revised some of its ideas. Look at what is needed for a valid marriage. There have been changes in that area as we learn more about human behaviour and human development. But the essential doctrine on marriage has been kept intact, only the requirements for getting married have been changed.
To close I’ll share one of the more humorous bad ideas in the area of morals. This is actually true. When the Europeans first introduced coffee from the Americas to Europe, the Pope said that it was so delicious that it was sensual. For a while he held that it was too sensual to be good for the soul. I can’t remember who it was, but it was one of the popes during the conquest of Latin America. Imagine banning coffee on moral grounds (pun intended). That would have been a very bad idea. LOL
I’m not sure if this makes sense. I hope it does.
JR
PS. As a Catholic I find it more appropriate to say I like this tradition and I like this change. Because I do like some traditions and I also like some of the changes. As far as I’m concerned, I’m a Catholic, not a member of a political party. Tradtion with an upper case T is another story. That’s part of revelation.