“The Church became institutionalised” is clumsy wording. It is people that had become institutionalised and that became evident with the changing state of the world after WWII. But the world was changing so very quickly. There was need for urgent renewal. The drift had begun well before the Council began.
The fact is that there was urgency for a revival of faith and a sense of being committed and battle ready in ourselves for what was coming.
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I can’t speak for your country, or even mine, but, you see, my generation in my geographical region of the US was taught well and we were definitely taught to do battle and to protect the Church from usurpers. And guess who the usurpers were! We’d been warned from 1st grade up that the Church would be attacked.
The Vatican II aftereffects certainly felt like an attack. We were taught to be obedient, so most quietly acquiesced. Our monsignor was almost as much in the dark as we were; “Our Sunday Visitor” was our main source of information. Secular newspapers and TV news told us repeatedly that Protestants were sitting in on committee meetings. WHAT? WHY? We worried about that, and our worst fears were realized. Head coverings were the first casualty, followed by an education director, recently out of college, who was foisted upon us by the bishop. The third time Marilou told me not to teach something to the First Communion Class that was straight out of the Baltimore Catechism, I contacted each parent, then left.
Some of the other changes? In a nutshell, Protestantizing about every facet of our Church life: catechism classes became pablum; Latin was ditched and the New Mass, as people called it, had wording changed that tore our hearts; statues disappeared; communion railings disappeared; the stations of the cross disappeared; beautiful altars and domed ceilings that were works of art were destroyed in lieu of concrete and plain paint, and a warehouse look; magnificent organs were replaced by off-key guitars and Peter, Paul, & Mary wannabes; our beautiful, beloved music that floated out from behind us and made it easy for us to join in singing was replaced by campfire songs at the little sideshow up near the altar.
Many side altars, kneeling benches, and confessionals disappeared. So did confession times, and instead of up to three hours, now there often is only 15 min allotted per week (!) and in some parishes, one must call and make an appointment. Well steeped in the every-kid-gets-a-trophy and you’re-ok-I’m-ok, about everybody except we who were shell-shocked traipsed up front to receive Communion in the hand every Sunday because others would wonder why they weren’t receiving. Before Vatican II, nobody paid attention, believing that we all are responsible for our souls, which means abstaining from Communion when necessary. Latin Masses were history, no longer available.
You mentioned a drift. That drift came from seminaries, academics focused upon making a name for themselves, and some of the bishops. It did not start in the pews.
