Traditionalists weigh in.Joel Schorn's analysis of traditionalist Catholicism in the October Glad You Asked certainly fits the template of obscuring the facts with half-truths. The term traditionalist applies to a wide spectrum of Catholics who share two things in common: We like to see our bishops and priests follow the teachings of our pope, and we long for a return to reverence at holy Mass. To suggest that traditionalists reject Vatican II Noun 1. Vatican II - the Vatican Council in 1962-1965 that abandoned the universal Latin liturgy and acknowledged ecumenism and made other reforms Second Vatican Council Vatican Council - each of two councils of the Roman Catholic Church and its reforms is nonsense because Vatican II was not a reform council. It changed no dogmas and affirmed every tradition of the Catholic Church, including the Tridentine Latin Mass The term Latin Mass refers to the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Mass celebrated in Latin. Specifically, the term is frequently used to denote the Tridentine Mass: that is, the Roman-Rite liturgy of the Mass celebrated in accordance with the successive editions of the Roman . Schorn and like-minded liberals cannot show us one Vatican II document that called for the elimination of the Latin Mass, because none exists. Furthermore, the fastest-growing religious order in the church, the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter The Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter (In Latin: Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Petri - FSSP) is a group of Traditionalist Catholic priests and seminarians in good standing with the Holy See. , is exclusively devoted to the Latin Mass and is in full communion Full communion is a term used in Christian ecclesiology to describe relations between two distinct Christian communities or Churches that, while maintaining some separateness of identity, recognise each other as sharing the same communion and the same essential doctrines. with the church. And don't forget that our pope has granted an indult in·dult n. Roman Catholic Church A faculty granted by the pope to deviate from the common law of the Church. [Middle English, from Medieval Latin indultum, from Late Latin, for the Latin Mass that he has asked our bishops to apply generously. Actually, Schorn is right to say that Gibson and traditionalists are outside the mainstream of Catholicism, since the mainstream of American bishops are entrenched en·trench also in·trench v. en·trenched, en·trench·ing, en·trench·es v.tr. 1. To provide with a trench, especially for the purpose of fortifying or defending. 2. in dissent. Many traditionalists accept the Novus Ordo [Vatican II's reform of the Mass], as long as it is done reverently rev·er·ent adj. Marked by, feeling, or expressing reverence. [Middle English, from Old French, from Latin rever and according to the guidelines from Rome--a rarity in most parishes today. As a child of the '60s, I watched the reverence of Mass turn to a folksy folk·sy adj. folk·si·er, folk·si·est Informal 1. Simple and unpretentious in behavior. 2. Characterized by informality and affability: a friendly, folksy town. 3. circus and could never understand why. To watch the eternal sacrifice being tampered with in order to conform to the modern world was like watching the cast of the Lawrence Welk Show trying to be hip. It was just plain boring and still is. When the graying hippies who have lied to us about Vatican II finally pass on, the silliness of dissent will pass with them. Robert Kumpel Valdosta, Georgia I am not comfortable with the straight-jacketed definition of "traditionalist Catholicism." It makes it seem like Catholics belong to either a north of a south pole--the stiff-backed ones stuck in the past who have no regard for anything or anyone after Vatican II, and the nice relaxed ones who are with the times and got the right message. Schorn hints that orthodoxy and fundamentalism are somehow tied up with the "worldwide trend." Is he tying them up with Muslim fundamentalism and the Taliban? That really goes over the edge. Cynthia Gonzalez Fresh Meadows N.Y. |
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