I’ve just noticed a certain - how shall I say? - curiosity of character among the ‘traditionalist’ Roman Catholics I have met.
Their proclivity for pretty and colourful vestments (including lace), neat processions, professional, polyphonic music, subtlety, ornate gestures of the hands, adherence to such practices as ‘reception on the tongue’ (and accompanying abhorrence of those who do not observe the practice), the love of Italianate architecture and the Latin tongue, and reverence for celibacy… it sort of bleeds into the affected way in which some of them behave outside of church too (scurrilous gossip, a curious obsession with the sexual habits of others, and what have you).
The character traits these men exhibit are actually in many ways similar to the Spanish and Italians. I just wonder if this is seeping into American conservative society as well.