SSPX not likely to 'come home'

[ConstantineTG]

This is an awefully broad brush stroke from a fellow Filipino.

Don’t you agree with me? I mean, there are still many devout people. A country of 100 million people, if 30 percent are Church going Catholics, that is almost the population of Canada (we are about 34 million here I believe). And if of that 30 million actively participating Catholics only 10 percent are devout, that is 3 million which is more than the population of the entire Metro Vancouver.

I mean, I can go on with both criticism and praise of Catholics in the Philippines. And it can be applied to Catholics everywhere. But let us be honest here. I’ve spent my time as nominal Catholic, even borderline agnostic. I’ve sat and stood on the outsides of the churches where many are there for the sake of being there. Yes, many stand outside because the huge churches are full and there is no more room inside. But many also choose to stay outside because they are just getting their Sunday attendance checked more than anything.

I’m not denying that there are devout people. When Masses start at 5am on Sundays and you have a full church, you know these people are devout.

Is that because they’ve assimilated themselves (by marrying the natives, etc.) too much into the national culture?

But whatever, the habit of not going to church is a tough thing to break. I think it’s far better to go even for the wrong reasons. Otherwise the children and their children will never be exposed to worship of God at all.

You mean the Spanish assimilated into the Philippine culture by marrying the natives? The Spanish social structure during the colonial period is both racist and elitist. It is highly unlikely that a Spaniard will marry a local as it will lower the class of their children. That doesn’t meant they don’t get into illicit relationships with the locals and have children with them anyway. But they probably won’t marry the girl or even acknowledge the children. But they forced the religion on the people for centuries and it became intertwined with the local culture. It became a way of life.

 

[choliks]

Don’t you agree with me? I mean, there are still many devout people. A country of 100 million people, if 30 percent are Church going Catholics, that is almost the population of Canada (we are about 34 million here I believe). And if of that 30 million actively participating Catholics only 10 percent are devout, that is 3 million which is more than the population of the entire Metro Vancouver.

I mean, I can go on with both criticism and praise of Catholics in the Philippines. And it can be applied to Catholics everywhere. But let us be honest here. I’ve spent my time as nominal Catholic, even borderline agnostic. I’ve sat and stood on the outsides of the churches where many are there for the sake of being there. Yes, many stand outside because the huge churches are full and there is no more room inside. But many also choose to stay outside because they are just getting their Sunday attendance checked more than anything.

I’m not denying that there are devout people. When Masses start at 5am on Sundays and you have a full church, you know these people are devout.

I guess what I mean is we won’t know for sure who is devout and who is not. Unless you’ve developed a pair of lenses that can discern the depth of a person’s faith just by looking through them.

I’ve seen people inside the church who keep on glancing at their watches and tapping their feet as if it would make time any faster. They look like they were just forced to go to Mass. But I don’t think I can say that that person was not devout. It’s not my place.

If indeed the location of an individual in the church grounds is an indication of faith, then let’s look at the proportion of people inside against those outside.

Maybe you were the nominal-borderline-agnostic-catholic who stayed outside the church during Mass. It doesn’t mean a great number of them is like you.

 

[RichardR369]

As a convert, I lean more towards SSPX as they are upholding what the Catholic Church has done for several centuries and now ‘socialists’ condemn them for not changing. I’ve tried to stand up for Catholic doctrine regarding a particular lifestyle and got ‘corrected’ for it in the novus ordo church so it’s no wonder people are leaving the novus ordo churches.