Should the Church return to the old rite - part 2

[Emeraldlady]

Should the Church return to the old rite?

But sadness at seeing something change is not a reason not to do it. Look at all the oldies going to daily Mass now. They got over it and continued to go with the flow of the pilgrim Church.

The desire to avoid making people sad or upset is absolutely a reason not to do it. Why would you do something that would upset people and split them into divisions or even do something necessary in a way that would heighten that effect, if you didn’t have an extremely compelling reason to do it?

Upheaval has been part of the life of the Church. Vatican II made a plan for going forward that was inevitable and looking back through the history of the Church, change was par for the course. The move from Avignon to Rome was a doozy.

I don’t know, but I think “they’ll get over it” is a callous attitude. Even the removal of objectively hideous things has to be done with some sensitivity to those who are fond of them, don’t you think?

I doubt that that was the sentiment during the time but I’m saying that people did get over it and moved forward with the Church.

I’ve seen a pastor making some beautiful changes, and he still had people who actively resisted them because he wasn’t sensitive to how he went about doing it. Parishioners were mad at other parishioners and split into factions, and some people even left after decades of being active there. It was a mess, honestly. It is too bad, too, because with more patience I think most of the parish would have been content to accept most of the changes and might have even embraced many of them.

Remember there is two sides to the story. My uncle went through the Seminary prior and during to Vatican II and was ordained just after it finished. It was a time of upheaval and change throughout. There is a lot of criticism of the so called modern innovators of reform but one of the biggest problems was the force of the spirit of resistance that was being stoked by Cardinal Ottaviano and a small group within the Council. They had no desire to collaborate on reforms. They just didn’t want reform at all.

As always there will always be 2 equally culpable sides to a fracas.

 

[MagdalenaRita]

I doubt that that was the sentiment during the time but I’m saying that people did get over it and moved forward with the Church.

So, not to join in with getting this all started again, since I think so much has already been said but I will add two little anecdotal stories.

I as a nurse took care of an elderly Catholic woman back in the 1990s as she was dying. When I learned that she was Catholic I asked her if I could call a priest. She started crying and said no the Church she knew and grew up learning about was gone and do not mention it again.

I also took care recently of a married woman who while in coversation said she grew up in a strong Catholic family and she and several of her sisters had been nuns up until Vatican II. They left because of the changes.

There are more stories I can tell but bottom line is, people; do not always get over things and people do not get over it but still obey and pray. The oh well, they will get over it is not really very charitable.

Otherwise, now I think I will stop joining this conversation. I prefer to know and believe that the Catholic church has always been led by the Holy Spirit. As I said there have been good and bad times while all the humans in the Church have been sinners but the teachings of the Church are the same now as they were.

The Holy Spirit sent us St John Paul II as reassurance of the good work of Vatican II. It is more sad that even that saintly Pope couldn’t bring her home.

Remember at that time, Popes did not speak as much as they do today. There wasn’t any internet to read and look things up. Not as much television and news as we have today. No EWTN. She would have only had limited access to things Pope John Paul II would be saying. There weren’t even that many books or even access to the ones that were out there. She could only go by what she saw happening in her Church

God bless

 

[Emeraldlady]

I as a nurse took care of an elderly Catholic woman back in the 1990s on her death bed. When I learned that she was Catholic I asked her if I could call a priest. She started crying and said no the Church she knew and grew up learning about was gone and do not mention it again.

The Holy Spirit sent us St John Paul II as reassurance of the good work of Vatican II. It is more sad that even that saintly Pope couldn’t bring her home.