I can only testify to my own life, born in 1940 and not afraid to say it.  I knew the Church previously to Vatican II.   I have always loved my religion, even as a child I took it seriously.  Then when Vatican ll led me into apostasy, but unknown to me I was being led into another religion because I spiritually fell asleep.  Changes were happening all around me but I was too busy having babies one after the other in my 20's to take notice.  I sent my children to the Catholic nearby school because that is what I was raised to do.  My life however was what you would describe as a bad Catholic.  I was even beginning to doubt if there really was a God.  

I was taking my children to Hollywood to audition for T.V. Commercials, and was very materialistic.  While in Hollywood I wandered into a Catholic gift shop and purchased some little booklets from Tan Publishers.  Went home and started to read them, and started to wake up!  I began to notice although my children were attending Catholic schools, they knew nothing much about the Catholic Faith.  I began to pray for the first time in years, although I attended "Mass" every Sunday.  

To make a long story short, I now had Tan Publisher address and order more and more books, and read them all.  Searched one day for my rosary and scapular; found them in an old shoe box with other trinkets.  You see Vatican has no grace, and I was void of grace, but when I started to pray the rosary and wear the scapular grace was available to me.  

This is why you find bad Catholics within the ranks of Vatican II, no grace.  Those within Vatican II who are praying, especially the rosary still have grace depending on their disposition and how they are co-operating with grace.

Bottom line is Vatican II is NOT the Church.  

 I'm sure Myrna M remembers this.  Growing up before Vat II kids sure knew if they were doing something wrong because the minute you did it there was someone right there to tell you, parent, sibling, neighbour, mailman, breadman, milkman, teacher, stranger.  Every adult knew it was their duty to correct every child.  And it wasn't much different for adults.  If your friend didn't tell you the neighbourhood gossip eventually did.

I too believe many people now don't even know when they are doing wrong.
Which brings me to a serious question about serious sin.  

If they don't know it's wrong (knowing is one of the requirements for a mortal sin)
is it a mortal sin?  How can they be held accountable?

Some sins are obvious and we just naturally know they are wrong  BUT we are talking about Catholics here.

Eating meat on Friday
Mass on Sunday
Servile work on Sunday
Teaching their children their religion
Sins of impurity in marriage
All the sins against the 10 commandments

The church tells us that you have to know it's a sin, it has to be serious and you have to do it anyway.  
That being said are bad Catholics actually committing mortal sins?

I grew up in a large staunch Catholic neighbourhood.  Most families had  at least one nun, some 4 and a priest, and every one of those houses had a strap and 2 parents willing  to use it.

In my opinion the WORST child abuse today is not teaching children the consequences or benefits of their actions.  Today kids know the benefits too well.

Quote from: Miseremini

I grew up in a large staunch Catholic neighbourhood.  Most families had  at least one nun, some 4 and a priest, and every one of those houses had a strap and 2 parents willing  to use it.

In my opinion the WORST child abuse today is not teaching children the consequences or benefits of their actions.  Today kids know the benefits too well.

Allow me to confess what a brat I was.  On days when I found my mothers strap, I would hide it, then when she went to look for it, she couldn't find it.  

My mom and I had some really good times together, not all was as described.  

Myrna, I could have written your response word for word.
When I cleaned out my parents house after Dad died I found the strap in the shed where either my brother or I hid it.  Our  strap had leather strings on it with knots on the end,  4 or 5 had been cut off (by my brother not me).

It hangs in my kitchen and when the grandkids were young I just had to look at it.
Being the grandmother I never used it but now all of the kids want it.  Go figure.

I think children who were promptly disciplined when young are much closer and loving toward their parents and they seem to be the ones who are so loving and protective of the parents in their old age.

Malleus, after reading your post I think I now remember. (This old age is the pits)   The devil is the great deceiver but we are held responsible for not resisting him.

I should have applied the teaching of the church.  Roughly is states,

  "It is your responsibility to learn your faith"

As for children not knowing about God, scripture says  
"The sins of the fathers will be visited upon the children even unto the 4th ? generation"

In this generation of the internet and evangelists on TV (God can light the spark through anyone) I guess even the children are guilty of wilful neglect of their religion.  Ignorance is not an excuse.

But God have mercy on their parents !

I wrote the following before more replies were posted.  I decided not to post it mainly because of its length but maybe it will help.  I hope so:  

I too was born and raised before Vatican II.  Yes, we had many external helps to keep us on the right track, for which I thank God daily.  Those of my generation received a tremendous grace in this respect.

But everyone has the voice of conscience no matter when they were born.  We have a "gut feeling" that some things are just plain wrong and some are right.  Remaining in the state of grace keeps this voice of conscience strong but sinning dulls it.  The more we sin, the more accustomed we grow to ignore it.  You will find explanations of this in books on Moral Theology and books on Spiritual Theology.  These books discuss the different degrees of sins, types, etc.  It all has to do with the person's intellect and will--what they know and how willfully they commit a sin.  It gets complicated at times when it comes to mortal sins.  And I am referring to books written BEFORE Vatican II.  Some things are objectively sinful but there are factors which must be taken into consideration by a confessor in deciding just how sinful.  I am not a theologian or a priest.  I cannot explain this, but you will find explanations in these types of books.  

As for what we have easily at hand for guides, the Bible is everywhere.  St. Catherine of Siena wrote that in an ecstasy God the Father told her there is no excuse for people continuing to sin and claiming ignorance--that we have the 'worm of conscience' and the Bible to guide us.  We have been given the Ten Commandments and the teachings and example of Christ to guide us.  Even without a saint telling us this, who can argue with it?  It is true.

And yes, all this went on well before Vatican II.  It's human nature:  The result of being born in Original Sin and having to fight temptations all our lives which includes the inclination to 'not know so I won't be blamed for it' or 'Father said it's okay so it must be okay' even when your gut tells you it's wrong.  There is also the fear of losing human respect by doing things in a manner different from others.  Christ warns us again and again that following Him will not be easy.  

We all know that today more than ever we need to turn from the world and the standards of good and bad that society sets and look to what Christ's Church teaches, and often it is up to US to find that for ourselves if we have no Traditional priest nearby to ask.  

I say this from experience.  I have been misled by someone calling themselves a "priest" (I wonder now how valid his ordination was) and it took a clear sign from God that I was to have nothing more to do with him.  My gut told me to not follow his advice but I had been taught that a priest represented God and in hearing him, I heard God and knew His Will.  That was decades ago before I heard the term Novus Ordo.  

He wore a traditional Order habit, etc.  I thought he was a priest.  But the fact is, my gut--my conscience--told me what he was advising was wrong and I fought my conscience because I thought a priest would know better than I until God intervened and let me see what this 'priest' was all about which was shocking.  The advice was contrary to what other priests had told me in the past, what I had read in the lives and teachings of the saints, etc.  But at this point in time I had an important decision to make which would affect my entire life and I needed particular advice.  The advice was not regarding committing any sin per se but in how to follow God's Will as I felt drawn to do at this time in my life.  The "shocking" thing was sinful (I did not comply) and I got away from him as fast as I could and never had contact with him again.  I began to listen to my conscience again and peace was once again restored to my soul.  

Just to be sure I had done the right thing, years later I again brought up this subject with Traditional priests and they agreed I had done the right thing in what my conscience was telling me to do and the "priest" was wrong.  So God had been with me every step of the way by letting me feel uneasy about the advice, so much so that I had become physically ill and unable to hold my job because of the interior conflict over all this.  This "priest" even wanted me to promise obedience under him, which I flatly refused.  My gut was screaming "NO!!!"  I only had to listen to my gut/conscience all along and it never would have gotten this bad or gone this far, but I didn't.

In certain matters we must ask advice of a priest and if we are given the wrong advice but we believe it to be the truth--God takes all this into account according to these books.  But he also takes into account how seriously we try to find the TRUTH through spiritual reading and prayer, etc.  We have to carry our own share of the weight.  We must cooperate in our own salvation.  This is what I have learned from these books.  I prayed for help while consulting this "priest" and God showed me clearly that I should pay no attention to his advice nor have anything to do with him.

In the above-described situation, I felt I had done all the research I could possibly do and I wanted the advice of a priest on a certain matter affecting my entire life just because it was so very important and I didn't want to do the wrong thing.  Now looking back--I see that my conscience was telling me the right thing to do all along.  I felt "blind" in trying to figure out the answer to a problem, for which I sought the help of a "priest" who also was "blind."  But my conscience "saw" and would give me no rest until I listened to it.  

I don't believe God ever abandons us.  I think we just have to keep praying and begging for help from Him.  If we continue in error and do not know it, He has His reasons why He lets it be so.  We cannot begin to understand His ways but we must trust that He seeks only our salvation.  Again -- learned this from the books I mentioned above.  

Also, before Vatican II people used to practice many more devotions than they do now.  They made novenas and said invocations such as are found in the Raccolta which gained them many graces which helped them know right from wrong.  They participated in the devotions held at church but also made private devotions, spent time in mental prayer daily, etc.  On the whole, they led a more spiritual life and the Church was strong in encouraging this.  After Vatican II, all that was brushed aside and people have grown up not knowing about these marvelous means God has given us to obtain grace to know and love Him more and hence, sin less.  All these devotions are still available to anyone by means of the Internet and old books.  The saints practiced these devotions and it helped them reach sanctity.  We still have many things the pre-Vatican II Church had.  People just have to search now to find them instead of having them at their fingertips in the bookrack by the door of the church like we did.

Please forgive any redundancy.  I've edited this so much I lose track of what I've already said.  

Also, before Vatican II people used to practice many more devotions than they do now.  They made novenas and said invocations such as are found in the Raccolta which gained them many graces which helped them know right from wrong.  They participated in the devotions held at church but also made private devotions, spent time in mental prayer daily, etc.  On the whole, they led a more spiritual life and the Church was strong in encouraging this.  After Vatican II, all that was brushed aside and people have grown up not knowing about these marvelous means God has given us to obtain grace to know and love Him more and hence, sin less.  All these devotions are still available to anyone by means of the Internet and old books.  The saints practiced these devotions and it helped them reach sanctity.  We still have many things the pre-Vatican II Church had.  People just have to search now to find them instead of having them at their fingertips in the bookrack by the door of the church like we did.

People of the entire world need to know that Vatican II sins greatly by omission.  Vatican II does not instruct, many young people do not even know what the world novena means.
It is not always what the Modern Francis says, but what he doesn't say that is heretical.