A reader writes:
I am a frequent reader of your blog and I really enjoy it.
I thought you might be interested in knowing about an experience I just had at my home parish.
Our Catholic Parish and my Pastor are without a doubt a parish of good intentions, but generally not bold in proclaiming the truth. Sometimes there doesn’t seem to be a concern to check if the materials we use follow the teachings of the Church. To be fair, I think that most of the misleading materials were put in place years ago by different people.
Anyway, I just got involved in our Adult Faith Formation Committee and started reviewing the materials in different areas. I found that the materials in our “Catholics Welcome Home” were some of the worst.
People interested in considering coming back to the Church receive a book entitled, While You Were Gone: A Handbook for Returning Catholics by William J. Bausch (a retired priest) Copyright 1994, Twenty-Third Publications, Mystic, CT.
I’ve attached a number of quotes that summarize the heresy. The confusion this book must cause and the danger to lost souls is very sad.
In my parish I’ve notified the pastor of what I found and he agreed that we need to get rid of it and clean up the program.
It’s amazing how often we, the Body of Christ, get in our own way. Surely one of the greatest proofs that the Catholic Church is of Divine origin is that it continues to exist after 2000 years of the Body of Christ trying to commit suicide.
He attaches the following snippets:
In the early twentieth century, there was a so-called heresy called Modernism which was trying to come to terms with new discoveries (such as we mentioned in the first chapter) and biblical and liturgical insights. But this movement frightened Rome and so it started a reign of terror by dismissing or suppressing Catholic teachers, monitoring seminaries and newspapers, censoring books, and generally tightening control over all aspects of Catholic life… It invented the Index of Forbidden Books, scoffed at Darwin, made fun of Freud, condemned Margaret Sanger, separated from the Protestants, condoned anti-Semitism, and retreated into its own ghetto. (p. 21-22)
The third phase is the far away and silent era of the ninth and tenth centuries. This is the Mass of your parents. What happened was that a couple of harsh heresies denied the divinity of Jesus, so in reaction the church came down hard on that side. In the process, Jesus’ humanity was neglected. The simple and kindly Good Shepherd found in pictures in early baptisteries gave way to the mighty and awesome Christ looking for all the world like a Byzantine emperor or Greek god. (For a good example of this, see the mosaic of Christ above the main altar in the National Shrine in Washington, D.C. It’s not a picture to warm your heart.)
Anyway, to stress Jesus’ divinity the Nicene creed was added to the Mass as well as prayers to the Trinity. Distance and unworthiness became the norm. If formerly the Mass was a gathering of the baptized around the altar with the bishop, now it became an occasion of separation. People began to feel overawed and unworthy of such a Divine Presence. Many confessions before Mass were introduced (the Confiteor; Lord, have mercy). An altar rail now emphasized the distance. There was a preoccupation with cleanliness (all those white clothes), reverence (no talking in church, your Father’s house!), remoteness (stay behind the rail). Absolutions and washings were introduced, communion in the (dirty) hand was stopped. The bread became the small, white host (which we used to call irreverently the Necco wafer), hardly recognizable as bread. People were no longer worthy – and said so three times. (p.38)
Another insight of great practical importance is that baptism is basically the sacrament of initiation into the community, not primarily the sacrament of personal stain removal (original sin)…. Yes, there’s the taking away of original sin but that’s not the main focus. (p. 44)
We also emphasize the community ramifications of sin, for after all, sin may be secret but all sin is communal; it affects the community. The virtues or vices of the individual raise or lower the general sanctity of us all just as the honesty or theft of one student raises or lowers the trust level of the whole classroom. So we have communal confessions where the entire congregation meets with an understanding that we are mutually responsible for one another and that our moral lives impinge on each other. Thus we gather in solemn prayer, Scripture, examination of conscience, reconciliation, and thanksgiving. Sometimes there are many priests to hear individual confessions at these at these gatherings, or if there is a very large crowd and few priests, general absolution is given. (p.46-47)
Thanks for the warning. I would not technically call everything here “heretical”, (some of it is just stupid, snide, inaccurate, or full of that sort of Whig history chronological snobbery that suffuses the Woodstock Generation narrative of the Vatican II Generation as the summit of human history. The notion that, for instance, saying we are unworthy, apart from grace, to approach the sacrament is some Dark Ages act of oppression is just wrong in so many ways. For cryin’ out loud: the Kyrie is so old it’s the only part of the Mass that retains Greek! And the notion that the doctrine of the Trinity somehow removed folksy friendly Jesus from the common folk and set him in the heavens? “All those white clothes”? Has this guy never read the book of Revelation? Or the story of the Transfiguration? And the Church scoffed at Darwin? Hel-LO? Humani Generis anyone? And what’s so great about Freud? Or the racist Margaret Sanger and her eugencist Murder Incorporated outfit?
One can, and should, go on and on about the the rest of the misinformation being fed hapless returnees to the Church by this piece of We are NewChurch! agitprop. But better still, one can and should imitate my reader, alert your parish if they are using this junk, and provide your parishioners with real catechesis.
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This reminds me of an old children’s catechism book I once flipped through. The book had the 1970’s “Fake Spirit of Non-Existent Vatican III” stink all over it. For instance, it stated : “There is no way to know how the Apostles came up with the idea that, even after his death, Jesus had won over death”. Hmm, let’s see. Maybe they “came up with this idea” after they saw and touched a breathing, walking, speaking, peace-giving, meal-preparing, fish-eating guy they had seen whipped, kicked and crucified to death a few days earlier ? “You know, Jesus, you like different from the last time I saw you” “Maybe the fact that I’m not covered with 5 liters of my own blood, wrapped up in bandages and laying motionless, breathless and pulseless in my tomb, John ?” “Hmm… New haircut ?”
I hate to say it but God save us from the people who drank the kool-aid of the baby boom era. So much of their garbage has been fed and accepted by so many as true church teaching. Thank You God for saving us from ourselves. No one can truly destroy the church because we’ve survived such suicide attempts almost from the start.
So, so much of this type of garbage is out there. My parish has several of the same. We have had 4 priests in 4 years and a deacon pretty much runs things. So much of the stuff we have is either so watered down as to be ineffective (RCIA materials)or is plain wrong(an abbreviated Catechism given out like water and with imprimater). I was at the Cathedral last weekend for the first time and even my 16 yr old daughter noted several things in mass directly against canon law. If the top is not diligent, what can we expect? God said his church would always be around, he just did not say it would be in America. Heaven help us. IF you have a strong Bishop (Denver) thank the Good Lord.
I’m sorry to say that this is the kind of stuff catechists are going up against everywhere. I think the particular motivation for this watered-down catechesis is the misconception that we need to be all nice and soft and fluffy with former Catholics in order to bring them back. It’s the part of catechesis that has become more marketing than teaching. Many dioceses use similar methods for Confirmation - “we’ll confirm during senior year of high school. That way, they’ll have to be involved at least up until that point” - Nevermind the fact that the sacrament actually gives grace (“grace? We still believe in that?”) to help youth stay in the Church. Catholic schools do the same: “if you have a student of a different faith, just tell them they go to their heaven and we go to ours. We wouldn’t want to offend them.”
It’s all marketing and bad marketing at that. Marketing should sell the product, not some cheap imitation. This would be like Dr. Pepper taking out an ad trying to convince more people to drink Dr. Pepper by offering them free Mr. Pibb.
The above is part of the disaster of Vatican II.
I agree that the garbage quoted by your reader TODAY is pretty awful, but it wasn’t that way when I went to Catholic school in the fifties and sixties. I am a baby boomer who knows her faith and learned through the Baltimore Catechism, etc., so please don’t slander baby boomers just because one or two you know happen to be dummies.
These many varieties of heresies were not limited to RCIA. I had to watch what my children were taught in Catholic grade school, or the same thing happened. The vice principal of their school told them it wasn’t a sin to miss mass. Th pastor said that they didn’t use the 10 Commandments any more when teaching about confession, because “they didn’t really apply”, the Catholic High School where my daughters went stopped using the word “sin” - and every kind of social behavior was accepted and “tolerated” in the names of love, diversity and inclusion. THey would, essentially, tell the girls that
God loved them no matter what, so they didn’t have to worry - kind of like the protestant notion of “once saved, always saved.
My generation has completely removed every reason someone would want to be Catholic - taken away the “reasons to live, and the reasons to die.” WHY BOTHER - it’s all the same anyway.
Mike, I don’t think anyone here is condemning the whole baby-boom generation. That generation certainly has lots of strengths as far as faith matters go, but there were also some indidious things starting to creep into seminaries at that time, and that dovetailed with the prevailing message of the culture at the time. The result is a lot of baby boomers who know what their faith teaches but who feel that it should teach something else. (What I call “cafeteria Catholics”)
To illustrate what I mean, I want to give an example from my own life. I come from a big family in which my many siblings were born over more than 3 decades. The oldest was born before the U.S. got involved in WW2, and the youngest 2 or 3 (of which I am one) are “Gen-X’ers”. The oldest ones (“the big kids”), whose faith formation largely took place in Catholic schools before Vatican 2, all still consider themselves Catholic and can probably still quote the Baltimore Catechism to you. Despite this, most of them are pretty liberal, they don’t necessarily go to Mass (despite our parents being very devout), aren’t necessariy pro-life (even my sister who is a former nun), and only one of them is what I think is probably a sincere, devout Catholic who embraces all the teachings of the Faith. As for the younger “bunch” of us (affectionately still called “the little kids” in our family because six of us were born within 8 years), I’m the only one who would consider herself a Catholic at all, and I am very devout. We all went to Catholic schools, but by the time I “studied my faith” in my post-Vatican-II religion classes, it was mostly touchy-feely, God-loves-you-no-matter-what-you-do type stuff with no real doctrine being taught. I had never even heard of the Baltimore Catechism until about 10 years ago when I started studying my faith as an adult. I WOULD have left the church as the rest of “the little kids” had done (although I never would have become atheist as a few of them did), EXCEPT that the Holy Spirit prompted me to start studying the religion of my parents (as I saw it at the time) as much as I was studying the “brand” of Chrisitanity to which I was about to convert. The more I studied my faith, the more I realized what it was that my parents had the almost none of us kids had (although I came to it by an intellectual path, and they came to it by a “heart-path”). I was absolutely bowled over by the beauty and truth in the Church! I fell head-over-heels in love with the Catholic Church!
My point in telling you all this is to point out that, despite the fact that the baby-boomers in my family don’t accept many teachings of the church, they are still members of the Church; whereas the younger siblings who rejected certain teachings of the church LEFT the church. They are no longer in the church to teach heresy in CCD classes.
IF this trend is true overall (and I’m not claiming that it is, only raising the possibility) then perhap that’s why baby-boomers get more of the blame: Baby boomers who reject church teaching are more likely to be still in the church, and, because of their age and experience, they are more likely to positions of influence within the church. Post-baby boomers who reject some teachings of the Church, on the other hand, have most likely left the church and have absolutely no influence over what it teaches. Those of that generation that HAVEN’T left the church tend to be more true to the teachings of the church (either that or they don’t have a clue what it is that the church even teaches because they are the “collage Catholic” generation; in other words, they spent their religion classes making collages that illustrate the goodness of creation or the greatness of God’s love instead of learning the doctrines of the faith, and they haven’t studied their faith on their own as adults.)
Just my theory.
Sorry. My last post was long & rambling and addressed a post that doesnt seem to be on here anymore. So don’t bother reading it. :(
Where can one go to find out if the materials being used in one’s parish formation classes (RE, RCIA, etc) are orthodox and faithful to the Magisterium?
The bishops have a list of “approved” R.E. resources that is available (I believe) on the USCCB web site. But I wouldn’t necessarily trust it. It would be best to get a copy of the materials yourself and look them over yourself. That would be VERY time-consuming, but you would be doing your parish a huge service, whether they appreciated it or not.
Amy,
Your theory is absolutely spot on. I am a 58 year old boomer whose siblings have all left the church - so they are not responsible for the crap that has been substituted for the faith since 1965. My college friends and co-workers, on the other hand, hold positions of influence in Catholic Universities, local parishes, and the Catholic Schools of my Archdiocese. They completely fall into tIe category of “Cafeteria Catholic” - this includes the nuns and teachers at my childrens’ schools. it is absolultely heartbreaking to see. We are seeing the results of the rise of self-esteem and self-centered arrogance laughing at the teaching authority of the magisterium.
If the quotes from the booklet ” a handbook for Returning catholics ’ by the READER are correct, it clearly indicates that the author is anti catholic living as a priest but a wolf in sheep’s clothes. How is it such things go unnoticed for such a long time. May be because the practicing catholics, intellectuals in the parish are disinterested in religion. Such calumnious items should be brought to the notice of the Bishop.
Sheer historical codswallop. Propaganda ludicrously tricked out as history. He is only four centuries off on the origins of the Index of Forbidden Books, to pick just one example.
Poorly written codswallop too. “Invented the Index of Forbidden Books.” Lists are “invented”? “Harsh heresies”? “We gather in solemn prayer, Scripture…” Gather in Scripture? “Many confessions before Mass were introduced (the Confiteor; Lord, have mercy).” Two is many? And these confessions were before Mass? Why name the first in Latin and the second in English? “Another insight of great practical importance is that baptism is basically the sacrament of initiation into the community, not primarily the sacrament of personal stain removal (original sin)…. ” Great practical importance? Also, would the author refer to original sin as a “stain” in any other connection?
I’m a baby boomer too and I certainly didn’t hear any of that garbage in the fifties and sixties. If this is an example of what they are using, there’s going to be a lot of dissident Catholics returning, that is if they return.
The altars were beautiful pre Vatican-!! and so were the communion rails. People went to confession each week and we seriously took the Church’s word on banned books and movies. In fact, I remember once a year we made a pledge to avoid such things.
What should be given these Catholics is the Catechism of the Catholic Church and some tapes of Father Corapi’s lectures. They should be encouraged also to tune in to EWTN for more facts on their faith.
Too many of our priests are too wishy washy, probably not aware that the dogma of the Church never changes and the dissident theologians publishing these books. You would be wise to suggest to your pastor that each obtain a copy of the Catechism and go from there.
Rosemary, AMEN! We need to return to beauty, tradition, and a sense of the sacred (although not necessarily Latin-only Masses; Latin is good as an option, but too little people anymore know it for it to be the only option.) We need to teach kids the catechism. But we also need to teach them apologetics—the REASONS the Church teaches what it does. I think the pendulum is starting to swing back in that direction; and once the generation of priests who went through seminary in the 60s, 70s, and even 80s is retired (although many of them are good priests, of course), then things will really start looking up. Thank God for Pope Benedict! He recognizes the condition of the church and is trying to do what he can to help bring it back to the sacred again.
I went to the first class in Catechist training a couple of years ago but was so turned off by the touchy-feely, “nun in a pantsuit”, guided imagery and “I’m ok, you’re ok” teaching that it’s taken me two years to get up the courage to try again.
I know what you mean. I was trying to teach CCD in the early 70’s and it was full of this. My niece was taught by one of those nuns in CCD that had a tee shirt on saying “Just do It”. Needless to say, she is no longer a Catholic.
My daughter was taught this touchy feely stuff too, and she also has fallen away. How many souls have been lost from this junk? Some of these people, nuns, who should have known better will have to answer for a lot after they die.
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