To oppose evil, or to remain silent?
What is God's Will for Traditional Catholics in 2011?
We have a serious Crisis in the Church today, whereby we can't just go into our local parish and trust the pastor to feed his sheep true Catholic doctrine and morality. We know how defective the Vatican II orientation and the New Mass are by their fruits, primarily. So here we are.
We have a new term, "Traditional Catholic", defined as a serious Catholic who is aware of the Crisis, and who wants to preserve his Catholic Faith, save his soul, and pass on the Catholic Faith to any children he has.
Traditional Catholics are known for being better-educated than most about the Catholic Faith. They read all sorts of Catholic literature -- theology, philosophy, apologetics, Church fathers, Church history, papal encyclicals, biographies of the Saints, spiritual authors, and many other topics.
The big question -- which of the saints' admonitions apply to us today?
Certainly most of them, as human nature doesn't change or evolve as the Modernists pretend.
However, one cannot say that all words uttered by saints of ages past apply in full force to Traditional Catholics in 2011. In short, the world is a very different place today; different than the saints could have ever imagined in their worst nightmares.
Today we have Traditional Catholics scattered all over the world. Some live near a chapel where the Tridentine Mass is offered, while others are not so lucky. Among those who have a pre-Vatican II Mass available, some are blessed with daily Mass, while others are lucky to have Mass available once a month.
Then there's the Catholic education of children. Some families have the wherewithal to home school, others do not. Some live near a Traditional Catholic school, others do not. Among those who live near a traditional Catholic school, only a portion of them send their children there.
Isolation is the norm. Friends, to say nothing of compatible spouses, are difficult to find. The World, with its false doctrines, bad habits, and legions of well-meaning but ignorant people, leaves its mark on all.
Traditional Catholic priests are in short supply. For this reason, some Catholics believe it prudent to multiply ordinations to fill the shortage. Others would rather have a fewer number of good priests. To make matters more complicated, sometimes would-be good priests are frustrated in their vocation because the sins and faults of others. Politics and fallen human nature are alive and well today, as always.
Meanwhile, the World has arranged it so that raising a Catholic family is a very difficult endeavor. It is virtually impossible for many families to survive on one income, regardless of the good will and hard work of the father. With devaluation of our currency, globalization, and other trends, it has become very difficult to raise a Catholic family.
And that's if one can manage to start a family. With all the isolation and small numbers, it is difficult for single Traditional Catholics to find a suitable spouse, one who is not only Catholic but also compatible -- personality, culture, etc.
With all these things in mind, one should consider a few things.
1. Should Traditional Catholics in one catacomb "spread word" to other Traditional Catholics if their priest has serious issues -- touching on the Faith, morality, etc.? After all, some family hundreds of miles away might risk all to move near said priest. In a perfect world, moving around would be easy, but today jobs are hard to come by, people don't have any wealth so selling a home is a bigger deal, etc.
2. Where does "giving fair warning to Catholics" end and petty disagreement begin? After all, what percentage of priests are truly saints? If a given priest is not a saint, that means he has a fault. Impatience, love of food & drink, pride, sloth, aversion to study, anger, cowardice, etc.
I would suggest that when the common good is involved, that is the time to spread the word to our brethren scattered over the four corners of the Earth.
My point in all this -- in the olden days, you had a functioning Church. If Fr. Smith was guilty of some crime, the Church (not the State) would take care of it in Ecclesiastical courts. Today, actual pedophiles are protected, moved around, and kept secret, from the very top of the Roman hierarchy on down. But Traditional Catholics don't have Ecclesiastical courts in the first place.
And the next Tridentine Mass might be 200 miles away, so changing parishes isn't an option in the meantime.
Combine that with the fact that evildoers will use evil means -- isolation, defamation, lies, violence, threats, propaganda, and all manner of cunning to defend their position, income, and standard of living.
What are we Traditional Catholics to do? We're in this together, being members of the same Mystical Body.
Extremely well put.
I am of the belief that priests are deserving of the highest respect and should always be given the benefit of the doubt; however, the saints were speaking of men who had a hierarchy to which they must answer, as you mentioned.
The respect due their office is owing to the fact that these men live their lives to save our souls, and that respect is owing even if the priest has a repugnant personality. In the SGG instance, the distinction lies (for me, anyway) in the fact that these priests made a public attempt to destroy people; they actively engaged in character assasination. The accusations themselves were not what convinced me that these individuals were mentally ill, but their reactions.
I would say they are reaping what they have sown, except what they have sown is far, far worse. They have been expelled and renounced their commitments to several organizations, and have a terrible reputation for all types of impropriety. I do not believe that I owe them any more respect than any other disgraced priest.
Topic: Traditional Catholics in 2011 - how should we oppose evil? (Read 1816 times)