Tired of hearing "We don't do that anymore"

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Margaret33 said:
Well I’m sorry, I just don’t agree with that. But then again that’s probably why I chose to speak in a Traditional forum… To me ‘Roman’, just like the Vatican, is the heart and soul of the Catholic Church. I don’t want to argue the point, you are perfectly entitled to your opinion.
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Actually, as I think about my post again, I realized that I’m confusing having “Roman Catholic” on a Latin branch church building with “Roman Catholic” referring to the entire church as a whole. In that respect, I would agree that “Roman Catholic” would be appropriate in the context of a church building, since it belongs to a specific rite. All the signs I’ve seen on the Eastern branches say “St. Elias Maronite Catholic Church” or “St. George Greek Melkite Catholic Church” and so on. So, I’ll agree with you there. However, if I were to refer to my actual religion, I would say just “Catholic”, not “Roman Catholic”.
 
Rolltide said:
Actually, as I think about my post again, I realized that I’m confusing having “Roman Catholic” on a Latin branch church building with “Roman Catholic” referring to the entire church as a whole. In that respect, I would agree that “Roman Catholic” would be appropriate in the context of a church building, since it belongs to a specific rite. All the signs I’ve seen on the Eastern branches say “St. Elias Maronite Catholic Church” or “St. George Greek Melkite Catholic Church” and so on. So, I’ll agree with you there. However, if I were to refer to my actual religion, I would say just “Catholic”, not “Roman Catholic”.
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Somewhere along the way, I believe myself and those I grew up with who were Catholic were either (subtly or literally) taught to be proud to be “Roman Catholic”. And while I stopped using the word Roman in front of Catholic to describe my faith at some point, it was only because it eventually came to be that there was no other type of Catholic but Roman, in the eyes of many outside and within the Church. But now, while I call myself “Catholic” and not “Roman Catholic” it is only because I feel like I’m in limbo. No one refers to themselves as Roman Catholic or part of the Roman Catholic Church anymore. It’s almost a dirty word. I wish I could say I felt comfortable with the simple one-word description of Catholic instead, but I can’t. It’s come to mean so many different versions or flavors, depending upon who uses it. It’s almost gotten to the point where the word has lost all meaning. You could probably ask someone “What version of Catholicism are you?” and they would actually think about and answer it, never even realizing how absurd it is that one is able to be a “version”. Forgive me for my little remonstrance here, I truly don’t mean to sound so inflexible about things… it just seems to be difficult to express myself about my faith lately without a little discontentment leaking through now & again… not directed at you in particular 🙂
 
Forgive me for my little remonstrance here, I truly don’t mean to sound so inflexible about things… it just seems to be difficult to express myself about my faith lately without a little discontentment leaking through now & again… not directed at you in particular
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New friend, after you’ve been around the forums for awhile, you will see how difficult it is for MANY of us to keep our discontent from pouring out now and again, and again, and again!
 
*5) If I refer to anything which took place prior to Vatican II with those who work in the church, I always feel a bit of disapproval for bringing it up and am quickly told “That was pre-Vatican II” and it is dismissed without discussion. And I suddenly feel as if I’ve said a dirty word or something without realizing it. I understand that things have changed, and I know we are not to question the Authority of the Pope or his Church, at no point have I intimated that I did. I guess I just have a certain sentimentality towards older customs, and am just wondering why it is so wrong to have any reverence for the past at least in the slightest way… what is it that I’m not getting?

Hi,
go to fisheaters.com and look under “Catholic” and they have a section for your answers pre Vatican II. This is an excellent website.
God bless*
 
Thanks for the post Margaret- very interesting. I would observe that generally most local churches seem to promote new “ideas” and programs that are not tradtitionally catholic- for example- centering prayer. I wouldv’e thought a program about St. Teresa on prayer would have been so much better. I have seen so many things that seem to try to draw us away from traditional Catholic teachings and traditions- it is a shame.

Why lock a Church?? I contend it may protect the material but definitely kills the spiritual. I hate to see an unlit Church- maybe because no Priests or religious are there anymore.

“We don’t have to do that anymore” is simply a move towards turning your back on God and trying to have people relax and feel good about doing wrong.
 
I have been Catholic my entire life and never heard of “the indulgences.” Could someone explain this to me?
 
Rolltide said:
Another reason for this is because the term is a bit of a misnomer, actually. Although it has been used for ages, there is not only a “Roman” (or Latin) branch of the Catholic Church, but 22 other “Eastern” Catholic Churches in communion with the pope. Some feel the term “Roman Catholic” focuses too heavily on one branch of the church, when all are equal. The word “Catholic” simply means “Universal”, so the Roman part isn’t really necessary. Nevertheless, there has been no official change regarding this.
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Then there are the Anglican Catholics, who don’t exactly look to the Pope for leadership.
 
Margaret33 said:
I understand I am posting in a forum of those who are well-versed and knowledgeable about our Catholic faith… and I have many questions. I hope you won’t think me too ignorant, but I’m very confused… So many things I have come to know and understand while growing up are either wrong or obsolete in my church. For the past few years I felt this was Catholicism as a whole and am still unsure what things are truly obsolete everywhere, and what are just according to the church I attend or whom I am speaking to. Hoping you can shed some light?
  1. Do any churches exist where you can go to confession when you need to, or are they all just one scheduled hour of the week to wait in line?
  2. Do any Catholic churches leave their doors open during non-mass times for parishioners to come in and pray privately in a pew or light a candle? Or speak to a priest without making an appointment?
  3. My church has dropped the word ‘Roman’ from all outside signs, bulletin, and any reference to ‘Catholic’ or ‘Catholic Church’. I could swear it was there just last year (please don’t think me an idiot, I’ve only been back a few years after having been away from the church for some years). Is this a decision instituted by a Pope past or present? If so, why?
  4. ‘Purgatory is no longer measured in time’ and therefore ‘Indulgences are a thing of the past and have been considered obsolete in prayer and practice’.
  5. If I refer to anything which took place prior to Vatican II with those who work in the church, I always feel a bit of disapproval for bringing it up and am quickly told “That was pre-Vatican II” and it is dismissed without discussion. And I suddenly feel as if I’ve said a dirty word or something without realizing it. I understand that things have changed, and I know we are not to question the Authority of the Pope or his Church, at no point have I intimated that I did. I guess I just have a certain sentimentality towards older customs, and am just wondering why it is so wrong to have any reverence for the past at least in the slightest way… what is it that I’m not getting?
I’m sure I have many more questions, so as not to inundate you with what you may consider stupid/obvious questions that any good Catholic should already know the answers to, I will hold them for now. I am trying to learn what I can as to all the changes which have taken place in the Catholic religion over the years that I’ve obviously missed, but there are so many sources and they frequently contradict each other…

Any suggestions for good resources which explain just what is/is not acceptable/recognized/practiced today would be greatly appreciated. Or at least information on what is practiced by some churches and not others… I have The Catechism of the Catholic Church, but some of what I’m told by those who work at the church contradicts what I read.
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Perhaps you might find it better at these parishes where they offer the 1962 Tridentine Mass:

Columbia Good Shepherd Church 1st Sunday: 3:00PM

Sullivans Island Stella Maris Church W Sunday: 5:30 PM

Taylors Prince of Peace Catholic Church W Sunday:5:30 PM
 
BobP123 said:
Then there are the Anglican Catholics, who don’t exactly look to the Pope for leadership.
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Cardinal Newman in Apologia Pro Vita Sua explains, I think, why “Anglo Catholic” is a misnomer. Not in a direct way, but by showing how “catholic” cannot describe accurately the Church of England.
 
threebells17 said:
Why lock a Church?? I contend it may protect the material but definitely kills the spiritual. I hate to see an unlit Church- maybe because no Priests or religious are there anymore.
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Unfortunately, I completely understand the move on the Church’s part to locking it’s doors… all one needs to do is see the past 20 years of sacrilegious acts towards what we hold sacred to know why… but I was asking in hopes that there were still some Church’s out there who you can enter when the need arises, despite this. I agree, I hate to see an unlit Church as well 🙂
 
servingHim said:
I have been Catholic my entire life and never heard of “the indulgences.” Could someone explain this to me?
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Any attempt at personal explanation by myself would I’m sure fall short of complete. However, there are many good sources of information on the web, here are a few from a basic/beginner’s perspective:

catholicyouth.freeservers.com/jubilee/defin_indulg.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indulgences

There are a great deal of good *Catholic sources which it would be beneficial to seek out once you have the basics understood.

Hope this helps,
Margaret
 
Margaret33 said:
  1. Do any Catholic churches leave their doors open during non-mass times for parishioners to come in and pray privately in a pew or light a candle? Or speak to a priest without making an appointment?
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My parish is open during business hours during the week. It’s nice to just be able to drop in, and it’s also nice to see how many people take advantage of the opportunity. 🙂
  1. My church has dropped the word ‘Roman’ from all outside signs, bulletin, and any reference to ‘Catholic’ or ‘Catholic Church’. I could swear it was there just last year (please don’t think me an idiot, I’ve only been back a few years after having been away from the church for some years). Is this a decision instituted by a Pope past or present? If so, why?
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Yes, I’ve seen this happen to some parishes in my city. Usually it is because of some attempt to be “more ecumenical,” as though somehow pretending we aren’t Roman Catholic will fix the problems of the past. :rolleyes:

My personal experience is that if you walk into a parish that has deleted “Roman Catholic” from its signs, you will find that the candles and the crucifix are also gone, and that you have to hunt for the Tabernacle. 😦
 
I consider my diocese and parish pretty run of the mill–if not a little on the liberal side–and I’ve never come across the problems you have mentioned. Our dicoese’s webpage says “Roman Catholic Diocese”, I have heard indulgences preached on multiple occasions (during Novus Ordo Masses), the doors are open all day until late in the evening (sadly, security is a problem in most neighborhoods nowadays); confessions are usually scheduled with the option of making an appointment, but I know of at least four parishes that have confession daily, two have it twice daily, likewise there is a Crucifix front and center in every single parish I have been in–with the exception of one which was built before Vatican II and has a huge stained glass window, so the Crucifix had to be placed on the side.
 
By the way, a lot of parishes don’t use Roman–not to appease non-Catholics–but for the opposite reason–to affirm the universality and Catholicity of the Church, to not give impression of holding to the heretical branch theory (Anglicans, Romans, and Greeks/Russian are all branches of the one Catholic Church), and to show unity with the Eastern Catholic rites 👍
 
My church is open everyday from 7AM to 7PM for prayer and lighting candles. I live in a small city. I don’t think we have had any problems with theft or desecration.
 
krazykatlady said:
My church is open everyday from 7AM to 7PM for prayer and lighting candles. I live in a small city. I don’t think we have had any problems with theft or desecration.
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Keep in mind what is true for all buildings: all it takes is one vandalism and up go the locks. No one insures unprotected property.
 
jmcrae said:
My personal experience is that if you walk into a parish that has deleted “Roman Catholic” from its signs, you will find that the candles and the crucifix are also gone, and that you have to hunt for the Tabernacle. 😦
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Strange that you should mention this… although the candles are still there, the crucifix has moved from the central rear wall to a wall slightly off to the side of the altar… (a year or so before the signs changed) :hmmm:

That has been bothering me for some time now.
 
jmcrae said:
My personal experience is that if you walk into a parish that has deleted “Roman Catholic” from its signs, you will find that the candles and the crucifix are also gone, and that you have to hunt for the Tabernacle. 😦
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We gone one more step - our parish has gradully removed the word ‘Catholic’ from everything - our bulletin, t-shirts (for various parish - oops, excuse me - “community” events), church signs, etc. We rarely call the Mass “Mass” anymore. It is always called the Liturgy. Not sure if this is okay or if there is any significance to it, but I’ve noticed it. We are also not a parish anymore - we are a ‘faith community’. The altar is always a ‘table’…I could go on, but you get the picture.
 
Elzee said:
We gone one more step - our parish has gradully removed the word ‘Catholic’ from everything - our bulletin, t-shirts (for various parish - oops, excuse me - “community” events), church signs, etc. We rarely call the Mass “Mass” anymore. It is always called the Liturgy. Not sure if this is okay or if there is any significance to it, but I’ve noticed it. We are also not a parish anymore - we are a ‘faith community’. The altar is always a ‘table’…I could go on, but you get the picture.
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This reminded me… In my church, to begin the mass, the first reader announces “Welcome to Our Catholic Family Celebration”…
 
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