
Remembering simpler times. Were they really better?
by Doug Lawrence
Responding to a recent comment about the teachings of the pre-Vatican II Catholic Church, I wrote:
I lived during the era of the pre-Vatican II Church, so I’m an eye-witness.
Way back then, 75% of Catholics attended Mass every Sunday. Urban renewal projects had yet to break up and disperse faithful Catholic communities. Contraception and abortion were not yet central issues of the day. The clarity of Catholic teaching was superb.
The quality of Catholic schools was excellent and the tuition was easily affordable, even for families with many children. Catholic churches were beautiful. Men and women religious were numerous, orthodox, and wholly dedicated to their work.
The liturgy was traditional, Latin, and quite adequate. The seminaries had yet to be liberalized and feminized, so there was an abundance of good priests available to serve the needs of most parishes.
In those days, the Catholic Church was respected, all around the world. We had a strong Pope in the Vatican, no nonsense bishops running most of the dioceses, and Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen proclaiming Catholic truth to the masses every week, on network TV.
Of course, there were a few “bad apples” and scandals, even then. But the pre-Vatican II church knew how to properly handle them.
Then there was Vatican II … somebody put the radicals in charge … the church tore itself apart, lost its focus, along with much of its good sense, and with a few exceptions, things have been going downhill ever since.
Were things really that good, back then? Comments, anyone?
Thanks to Cathy for the original comment!
January 6, 2013
Categories: Books & Publications, Events, history, Human Rights, Inspirational, Politics, Religious Ed, Scandals, Videos, Photos, Audio . Tags: Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, Catholic-Church, latin, mass, priests, reader comment, Religious, schools, Vatican II . Author: Doug Lawrence . Comments: 2 Comments
My response to a reader comment shocked me.
Remembering simpler times. Were they really better?
by Doug Lawrence
Responding to a recent comment about the teachings of the pre-Vatican II Catholic Church, I wrote:
I lived during the era of the pre-Vatican II Church, so I’m an eye-witness.
Way back then, 75% of Catholics attended Mass every Sunday. Urban renewal projects had yet to break up and disperse faithful Catholic communities. Contraception and abortion were not yet central issues of the day. The clarity of Catholic teaching was superb.
The quality of Catholic schools was excellent and the tuition was easily affordable, even for families with many children. Catholic churches were beautiful. Men and women religious were numerous, orthodox, and wholly dedicated to their work.
The liturgy was traditional, Latin, and quite adequate. The seminaries had yet to be liberalized and feminized, so there was an abundance of good priests available to serve the needs of most parishes.
In those days, the Catholic Church was respected, all around the world. We had a strong Pope in the Vatican, no nonsense bishops running most of the dioceses, and Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen proclaiming Catholic truth to the masses every week, on network TV.
Of course, there were a few “bad apples” and scandals, even then. But the pre-Vatican II church knew how to properly handle them.
Then there was Vatican II … somebody put the radicals in charge … the church tore itself apart, lost its focus, along with much of its good sense, and with a few exceptions, things have been going downhill ever since.
Were things really that good, back then? Comments, anyone?
Thanks to Cathy for the original comment!
January 6, 2013
Categories: Books & Publications, Events, history, Human Rights, Inspirational, Politics, Religious Ed, Scandals, Videos, Photos, Audio . Tags: Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, Catholic-Church, latin, mass, priests, reader comment, Religious, schools, Vatican II . Author: Doug Lawrence . Comments: 2 Comments