Why did Vatican II happen?

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If you read the whole preface in context, he said the liturgy (not the TLM) was like a fresco that had been whitewashed and the changes removed the whitewash revealing the bright colors underneath. In other words, the changes to the liturgy aided in giving greater understandin to the populous. Then, he went on to use the analgy of weather to illustrate the danger to the litury, that is, experimentation and changes can also damage the meaning of liturgy. Finally, he states that it can not be recovered (roll back the changes) yet care must be taken not to damage the liturgy and its meaning, even in a good-faith effort to make it more relatable.
At what point does the Liturgy become damaged and what construes experimentation?
 
At what point does the Liturgy become damaged and what construes experimentation?
That would be a matter of opinion. We have one diocese where a priest was removed. I think dialoguing with the congregation and explaining everything in your own words by ad-libbing the Eucharistic Prayers is an extreme most agree is damagin.
 
That would be a matter of opinion. We have one diocese where a priest was removed. I think dialoguing with the congregation and explaining everything in your own words by ad-libbing the Eucharistic Prayers is an extreme most agree is damagin.
I am in a situation of two Parishes being clustered and a new Mass schedule that alternates between both. One Parish kneels during consecration and one stands throughout. So when the two mingled for one Mass, some knelt and some stood. Matter of opinion. 🤷
 
Hmm. I wonder how many parishes would choose to have a rigid, hierarchial, pharisical, solemn, accretion-filled sung Tridentine mass on a Sunday morning in place of their current one, if all the Catholics in the parish were made to go to both, in alternating 3 monthly stretches and then voted?

A lot of the things defended in this forum aren’t actually touted as best-practice by the hierarchy. They’re just allowed. The combination of loosely-worded Vatican II documents plus the New Mass plus the Hippy 60’s set off a bomb in the Church and we’re still clearing up the debris.

Slowly but surely, the wayward sheep are being herded back to Fidelity. If you want want to see where liberalism can go, look at what’s happening to the Anglican church. It all seems very reasonable to insiders. To people on the outside, who know Tradition, it’s lunacy. But some in our Church still dearly want it.
 
This Council has been greatly misunderstood compounded by, well, as we see explained here. Change within the church which occured much to swiftly without proper teaching. This doesn’t equate to wrong with V-II, it only indicates the inability to clearly understand what Pope Paul VI was stating and impliment that swiftly and correctly.

Bl John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI agree with and defend V-II.

Nevertheless, The idea that we must go back is incorrect, with an appeal to a period long past. We need to understand where we are and move foward. This is what Pope Paul did and this is what eventually the church will do again and is doing. V-II is not over and we are just now gaining our footing on clearer understanding. It been a mere 40-years, and the genius behind the Council is just starting to be recognized.

What occured also during the 60-70 period in society is not a result of V-II. Nor can be it be stated with any accuracy that had V-II not occured the Church would have faired better in this period. Thats an assumption which cannot be proven. The 50-60 period in western society bought much change, this was in the making with much contrary thinking to Christianity which we see traces of as far back as the 20-30’s, contraceptives, and so forth as we moved through the century.
We are going back. We are going back to Orthodoxy. There is no need for a “clearer understanding of Vatican II.” Pope John XXIII was very clear as to why the Council was called. What people still fail to see was the group of dissidents inside the Church who were either allied to or unknowingly aiding those who would start what was to come: The Rejection Of All Authority Revolution of 1968. What needs to be known by all Catholics, and I lived through this, was we were too trusting and too naive in 1968. And we welcomed the stranger as we were taught.

Read this and learn from it, please.

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704586504574654282563939764.html

There is no “forward” to move toward. There is only solid Orthodox teaching, living out our lives daily as Catholics, not just on Sundays and Holy Days of Obligation, and the New Evangelization as spoken of here:

ncregister.com/daily-news/pope-benedict-personal-holiness-is-key-to-new-evangelization/

Yes, as in the past, we’re all sinners, but if we don’t begin a process of removing the beam or plank from our own eyes, how will we become more Christ-like? The world today, desperately needs good role models, including our fellow Catholics who have forgotten or abandoned what they were taught or who were brought up believing in a distorted view of what being a Catholic meant. That means, for many of us, turning away from those things, especially in the media, that are thoroughly immoral and anti-Catholic. We should understand what is going on but there are a lot of things we should not participate in, like watching the latest movie about a happy couple who are not married, move in together, have sex and the relationship continues or ends.

Like I said, good role models. We need to look beyond what the world is giving us and to those things that strengthen, inspire, and elevate us, spiritually, intellectually and culturally.

Peace,
Ed
 
We need to get away from a mindset that has one think there is a “going back”. This assumes that there was change. This is exactly the mindset that Pope Benedict says we are to avoid. To begin at that point should be an indicator that one is looking at it wrong. We have a Faith that is handed down. It doesn’t change. To speak in terms of “going back” assumes a hermeneutic of rupture that Pope Benedict has been attempting to expel from modern Catholic thought.
For me, going back means: no more priest facing the people at Mass, encouraging the Latin Mass and a greater reverence for the Mass. I was there in 1962 and I was surrounded by good role models, Catholic and secular. The culture around me was in line with Christian beliefs and respected them. Today, the media and culture is so depraved and anti-Christian and filled with so many anti-role models that a 10 year old Catholic growing up today had better not be allowed to read, watch, or listen to a lot of what our so-called culture has to offer.

No. There was no change because of Vatican II but the idea that there was is brought up here on a regular basis. The fact today is that the Catholic who wants to live out his faith cannot - cannot - participate in the culture as it exists now. Absolutely not. What we have is abnormal and the average character on TV is profoundly dysfunctional, immoral and blatantly anti-Christian.

To any Moms and Dads reading this, explain why the culture is bad for them as they grow up, and in a way that is appropriate to their age and mental and emotional development. No, I don’t want to be a boy again, but there is a lot of media from the 1950s and early 1960s that is appropriate, and parents need to spend more times with their kids and encourage them to be involved in physical activity, or simple board games or give them old cartoons and old Disney movies (pre-1965) to watch.

What was called a “guest in our home” during that time period has become dirty, filthy and immoral, for the most part.

Peace,
Ed
 
We are going back. We are going back to Orthodoxy. There is no need for a “clearer understanding of Vatican II.”

Peace,
Ed
You wish for the impossible.

The clearer understanding of Church teaching is the only way for responsible Catholics to move, -in any era-, from the garden to the present day. Why would you not want clearer understanding of V2? I really don’t get that. This is one of the thrusts of V2, for the laity to get off the spiritual couch and immerse themselves in Church teaching.

All Catholics should read the documents and attempt to understand them fully.
 
Huge 👍
There is no going back, by definition. This does not negate traditions and definitely does not negate Tradition. But the search for a certain time and culture and a set of feelings associated with it will be frustrating, as it cannot be done. The world changes period. The Church responds to changes. I accept that the the Holy Spirit guides the Church in a positive and holy way,
-always-, not just in the years prior to 1962.

We must remember that the kingdom of God is an eternal kiingdom. It is not 40 years long. It takes centuries for the Church to chew on scripture and revelation and give it full interpretation and implementation. 40 years is the blink of an eye! Although in these days of instant communication we act as though 40 years is an eternity. While you may be upset at the errors that people make, or the coarseness of culture that surfaces in the Church pews, as Catholics we are called to believe that God is guiding us through the Catholic Church and all of it’s teaching. The changes that have come about, even those you consider erromeous, WILL work for God’s greater glory, in a way that none of us can clearly see.
No, the world does not change, only people make changes and in subtle or obvious ways, impose them on people. There were dissidents inside the Church. Please read the following:

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704586504574654282563939764.html

Peace,
Ed
 
Wider use is not a return. It is an pastoral accommodation to the minority.
What I think is irrelevant. That is why I quoted. As far as what constitutes banal music, I will only say that the opposite of banal is fresh, original and innovative.

I think the word is often used as a synonym for “bad” meaning, “something I do not like.”
Banal, in this case, means less reverent. I heard a priest on Catholic Radio say that the Church will be returning to more reverent music because we are at Mass to worship and participate in the Divine Mystery and to elevate our minds toward it by using music that can do so.

Fresh, original and innovative? No, I don’t think so. I definitely mean that the Church is not looking for the next trend in music, even if it is labeled as “useful” by some.

Peace,
Ed
 
For me, going back means: no more priest facing the people at Mass, encouraging the Latin Mass and a greater reverence for the Mass. I was there in 1962 and I was surrounded by good role models, Catholic and secular. The culture around me was in line with Christian beliefs and respected them. Today, the media and culture is so depraved and anti-Christian and filled with so many anti-role models that a 10 year old Catholic growing up today had better not be allowed to read, watch, or listen to a lot of what our so-called culture has to offer.

No. There was no change because of Vatican II but the idea that there was is brought up here on a regular basis. The fact today is that the Catholic who wants to live out his faith cannot - cannot - participate in the culture as it exists now. Absolutely not. What we have is abnormal and the average character on TV is profoundly dysfunctional, immoral and blatantly anti-Christian.

To any Moms and Dads reading this, explain why the culture is bad for them as they grow up, and in a way that is appropriate to their age and mental and emotional development. No, I don’t want to be a boy again, but there is a lot of media from the 1950s and early 1960s that is appropriate, and parents need to spend more times with their kids and encourage them to be involved in physical activity, or simple board games or give them old cartoons and old Disney movies (pre-1965) to watch.

What was called a “guest in our home” during that time period has become dirty, filthy and immoral, for the most part.

Peace,
Ed
You’re confusing culture with Church teaching. While they relate to one another,they are not the same thing. You cannot blame the cultural irreverence you see in the Church pews on Church teaching…you can hold bishops, priests, and laity accountable, but not Church teaching. You are blaming the Holy Spirit for your problems!! This issue does not belong on V2’s doorstep.

And insisting on certain forms at Mass, is definitely NOT going to solve our problems in the culture. In fact rigid insistence on form will simply drive people away. People instinctively know, as they rightly should, that form alone is not the substance of faith.
 
For me, going back means: no more priest facing the people at Mass, encouraging the Latin Mass and a greater reverence for the Mass. I was there in 1962 and I was surrounded by good role models, Catholic and secular. The culture around me was in line with Christian beliefs and respected them. Today, the media and culture is so depraved and anti-Christian and filled with so many anti-role models that a 10 year old Catholic growing up today had better not be allowed to read, watch, or listen to a lot of what our so-called culture has to offer.

No. There was no change because of Vatican II but the idea that there was is brought up here on a regular basis. The fact today is that the Catholic who wants to live out his faith cannot - cannot - participate in the culture as it exists now. Absolutely not. What we have is abnormal and the average character on TV is profoundly dysfunctional, immoral and blatantly anti-Christian.

To any Moms and Dads reading this, explain why the culture is bad for them as they grow up, and in a way that is appropriate to their age and mental and emotional development. No, I don’t want to be a boy again, but there is a lot of media from the 1950s and early 1960s that is appropriate, and parents need to spend more times with their kids and encourage them to be involved in physical activity, or simple board games or give them old cartoons and old Disney movies (pre-1965) to watch.

What was called a “guest in our home” during that time period has become dirty, filthy and immoral, for the most part.

Peace,
Ed
In regard to the Liturgy, I agree with you 100%. But I would rather view it, not as going back, but proceeding forward without the novelties. That were never intended in the first place.
 
If you read the whole preface in context, he said the liturgy (not the TLM) was like a fresco that had been whitewashed and the changes removed the whitewash revealing the bright colors underneath. In other words, the changes to the liturgy aided in giving greater understandin to the populous. Then, he went on to use the analgy of weather to illustrate the danger to the litury, that is, experimentation and changes can also damage the meaning of liturgy. Finally, he states that it can not be recovered (roll back the changes) yet care must be taken not to damage the liturgy and its meaning, even in a good-faith effort to make it more relatable.
“more relatable”?

"In his outstanding book, “Spirit of the Liturgy,” Cardinal Ratzinger wrote of the ancient and venerable practice of offering the Holy Sacrifice ad orientem, in which both priest and people face east:

“It has been the practice in the entire Church, East and West from time immemorial. Contrary to a prevailing misconception, there is no evidence for celebration of Mass versus populum in the first nineteen centuries of the Church’s history, with rare exceptions.”

“Despite all the variations in practice that have taken place far into the second millennium, one thing has remained clear for the whole of Christendom: praying toward the east is a tradition that goes back to the beginning. Moreover, it is a fundamental expression of the Christian synthesis of cosmos and history, of being rooted in the once-for-all events of salvation history while going out to meet the Lord who is to come again.”

And please read the following:

vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/letters/2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_let_20070707_lettera-vescovi_en.html

Peace,
Ed
 
No, the world does not change, only people make changes and in subtle or obvious ways, impose them on people. There were dissidents inside the Church. Please read the following:

online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704586504574654282563939764.html

Peace,
Ed
The world does not change? You have lost me there. If by the world you mean core Church teaching I’m with you. If you are saying that cultures and philosophies don’t change, that is not true.

Not debating there are dissidents. Always there are dissidents. Who are the dissidents of today and what are their viewpoints?
 
You’re confusing culture with Church teaching. While they relate to one another,they are not the same thing. You cannot blame the cultural irreverence you see in the Church pews on Church teaching…you can hold bishops, priests, and laity accountable, but not Church teaching. You are blaming the Holy Spirit for your problems!! This issue does not belong on V2’s doorstep.

And insisting on certain forms at Mass, is definitely NOT going to solve our problems in the culture. In fact rigid insistence on form will simply drive people away. People instinctively know, as they rightly should, that form alone is not the substance of faith.
The Orthodox and Eastern Catholics would disagree. They have not changed their form of worship to appease modern trends.
 
Banal, in this case, means less reverent…
Fresh, original and innovative? No, I don’t think so. I definitely mean that the Church is not looking for the next trend in music, even if it is labeled as “useful” by some.
That is why I am always confused by the word “banal”. Its meaning does not pertain to reverence.
merriam-webster.com/medical/banal
of a common or ordinary kind
merriam-webster.com/dictionary/banal
**
lacking originality, freshness, or novelty

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/banal
**
**
devoid of freshness or originality; hackneyed; trite: a banal and sophomoric treatment of courage on the frontier.
#mid1{border-top:solid 1px #E4E4E4;border-bottom:solid 1px #E4E4E4;padding-bottom:8px;padding-top:8px;}****
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/banal
**
**
so lacking in originality as to be obvious and boring:

For synonyms:
thesaurus.com/browse/banal

Note how many of the antonyms are exactle the type of music that is most criticized in Mass as being banal. I mean when a word is used in such a nuanced fashion as to be taken as the opposite of what it really means, I think people are quoting more than thinking.
 
You wish for the impossible.

The clearer understanding of Church teaching is the only way for responsible Catholics to move, -in any era-, from the garden to the present day. Why would you not want clearer understanding of V2? I really don’t get that. This is one of the thrusts of V2, for the laity to get off the spiritual couch and immerse themselves in Church teaching.

All Catholics should read the documents and attempt to understand them fully.
Then you’ve missed the comments posted regularly here that say “the documents are too confusing,” which implies “so let’s throw up our hands and not even try to understand,”

vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/letters/2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_let_20070707_lettera-vescovi_en.html

All Catholics have to do is pick up their Bibles and their Catechisms and some of the many fine Catholic Books today, learn it and actually live out their faith daily.

Pope John XXIII was very clear about the purpose of the Second Vatican Vatican Council, and there are resources for those who want to be educated as to the documents:

harvestingthefruit.com/

My complaint is this: There are way too many posts here that encourage people that everything that happened during the 1960s, inside and outside the Church, can and should be blamed on Vatican II. Read the documents? Why bother? It’s obvious that Vatican II did it. Whatever “it” might be. Isn’t it obvious that it ruined everything?

I hope that clarifies my position.

Peace,
Ed
 
That is why I am always confused by the word “banal”. Its meaning does not pertain to reverence.
merriam-webster.com/medical/banal

merriam-webster.com/dictionary/banal

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/banal

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/banal

For synonyms:
thesaurus.com/browse/banal

Note how many of the antonyms are exactle the type of music that is most criticized in Mass as being banal. I mean when a word is used in such a nuanced fashion as to be taken as the opposite of what it really means, I think people are quoting more than thinking.
I believe the Holy Father meant banal as in no sense of the sacred.

“An authentic updating of sacred music can take place only in the lineage of the great tradition of the past, of Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony.” [Speaking in the Sistine Chapel following a tribute concert to Dominico Bartolucci, June 24, 2006.]
 
I believe the Holy Father meant banal as in no sense of the sacred.

“An authentic updating of sacred music can take place only in the lineage of the great tradition of the past, of Gregorian chant and sacred polyphony.” [Speaking in the Sistine Chapel following a tribute concert to Dominico Bartolucci, June 24, 2006.]
That is my understanding as well. Thanks for the quote.

Peace,
Ed
 
That was over 50 years ago Id think the shock would wear out by now.
I think it started in 1962.

The aim was to let some fresh air into the Church’ and to promote within her an aggiornamento “to bring it up to date”.
The Church is eternal and never needs to be brought “up to date”

The World should conform to the Church, not the other way around.
 
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