A seismic shift has occurred around the globe and it keeps pointing back to a single pivotal event; The Second Vatican Council. Not that there was a specific item which one can place the problems of this world upon but there was an overall, general shift in attitudes and a mindset launched at that Council. That shift has now spread like a Tsunami around the world. It was akin to a single underwater, landslide event that now has all but engulfed the whole Western World.
The culture that we once knew, assimilated our lives to, and which gave us a stability of moral and ethical commonality has drowned in its wake. That shift in thought has wrought a cataclysmic demise of love of God, country, culture, tradition, marriage, family, sovereignty and our individual self-awareness; we knew who we were and we were comfortable with it. Since the Council all of that has changed. We no longer know who we are but we do know that we hate who we are.
When the Catholic Church opened its windows to the world, the Catholic Church made its worship more Protestant and the idea of ecumenism spread naturally from religions to now include, ideologies, economics, social conventions and our shared moral values. And what we see today seems to be a kind of self-loathing: a loss of faith, a loss of culture, art, music, true intellectualism and a perverse desire to embrace that which we are not. But this mindset, meant to be an ‘updating’ of the Catholic faith, did not stop at the doorstep of the Catholic Faith.
The Protestants embraced these ideas as well as did the newly formed Vatican II Catholics; albeit many of the faithful saw immediately that the Modernist spirit of the world had wrought far more destruction than a mere update. Many Catholics left their parishes for traditional one’s and families became split between liberal, left wing ideologies and the old status quo of our world preceding the Council. Views on sexuality changed. Our comfort with the things previously unthinkable was erupting like a volcano. And so much of the world rejoiced at this Catholic move to ‘reach out’ and ’embrace’ the values of the world no matter what they were. In fact the world joined them on many fronts. We collectively ended our moral stances on many issues, including abortion and euthanasia, and socialism became a mid-point to a friendly embrace with the Communists, Marxists and other condemned ideologies. Now even these are being embraced by the far left.
We have a Pope today in the Catholic Church that is a standard bearer of the New World Order brought about by these changes. So he is loved by the world of the left and despised by those of a more conservative and traditional mindset. Here are the things where he truly shows himself to be a cheerleader for that which would have made many a past saint blush. He supports the Islamic invasion of Europe, the EU, the Communist Church against his underground, persecuted Church in China. He loathes the sovereignty of nations and lobbies for open borders. He is a champion for communistic methods for the redistribution of goods and money. And, of course, he supports or reaches out to every left wing agenda that comes his way; from global warming all the way to LGBTQ and gender issues. He and the world elites are in simpatico. He works with the UN towards these goals and ignores the moral issues that are rife in their ‘sustainability’ goals.
And thus one can see the divide in the Catholic Church between the Traditionalist and the New Order Catholics is essentially the same beast that we see in politics, globalism, economics and the sexual revolution. It is essentially a divide between the core principles that developed and then galvanized the Western European Culture. It fuels the immigration issue as it does the Brexit issue and it is all but tearing this world apart. It seems as though the forces of dark and light are beginning to be felt and might soon be unleashed to do their battle in the light of day. Thank you Vatican II for launching us into a future that has shown itself to be more of a nightmare than a dream for a more united and peaceful world. Forgive them Father for they knew not, then, nor do they know not now, what they have done and what they continue to do.
All Along the Watchtower 
This is not a healthy situation: factionalism; wolves in sheep’s clothing, confusion, and apathy. A toxic stew brews in all of the churches. Isolation makes it worse: you might be one of only a few conservatives in a congregation, or you might be the only one. It is natural and easy to despair. There are a number of things we cannot do anything about, so we must focus on what we can achieve be prayer, words, money, and deeds.
I believe one of the first things one must ask is: “What is my pastor like?” We are to submit to those placed in authority over us, not to arrogate it to ourselves. Rather than make trouble, if one finds that a pastor is opposed to orthodoxy and does not respond to a brotherly confrontation, then one must move to a congregation headed by a pastor to whom one can wholeheartedly submit.
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But that has already occurred, Nick, not only in our parishes but in our schools, in politics, in Hollywood and the News Media. We have a youth developing now that is angry, lost and has no seeming leadership of how to vent their anger. They think that their teachers and their pastors are the bearers of truth and thus lash out blindly at the time valued traditions that their grandparents embraced. They hate where they came from and they hate where they are. They somehow think that if they can be free of the old yokes of social restraints and taboos then things will be better. They actually believe that Islam is a religion of peace, that socialism and redistribution is good. They want free stuff from the government without recognizing that the government doesn’t own anything except what it takes from its citizens. Not all, of course. But then even if we are almost in a 50/50 split at the moment, it won’t be long, due to our declining birth rates that we will commit hara-kiri willingly. Our future looks rather bleak if a monumental shift does not take place. But even so it will now be more difficult to return than one can imagine.
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True – the brainwashing, as I was telling NEO about in the context of Brexit, is one of the biggest problems. Getting the people away from false prophets and false teachers is difficult, as you say, because they do not recognise them as false. In seeking the Lord’s guidance in prayer, we should be asking how we can pray to combat the blindness inflicted by the god of this age upon the unbelievers and we must recognise that not everyone who comes to church is a believer.
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With many it is simply living life out of force of habit. Some don’t even concern themselves with what is going on and others are rebellious as can be. Some line up one side or the other whilst many are simply asleep at the wheel.
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Does your congregation have weekly bible studies and/or prayer meetings? I know you are friendly with Steve, but are there other like-minded people around you with whom you spend prayer time?
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Not since they removed me from doing apologetics (totally out of vogue these days) and RCIA (teaching the faith to converts) at the parish where my wife works. But all good things seem to come to an end these days.
It is rather sad though. I believe the Catholic Church had a stabilizing effect on Europe and the US especially. But the transcendent Catholic Culture has all but been destroyed as well as our moral authority which coincidentally seemed to come to point of scandal after the Council. If there is no Catholic Culture in the world we have lost a good bit of the stabilizing character that we once had in Europe and around the world. Now we support every ethnic culture around the world but loathe our own and coincidentally the Western European culture as well. It seems that somebody has decided that both should be destroyed and that we should keep dividing people on every issue under the sun. Loss of culture is for me the saddest part of these last 60 years. US culture isn’t faring much better than Europe as far as I can see.
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I am sorry to hear that you were removed; it sounds like you have been having a rough time and I am heartily sad for you if you have been mistreated in any way.
There may be a resurgence of traditional Catholicism in Europe with the nationalist movements, but it is really hard to tell through the fog of war at the moment. Europe has MEP elections this year (which the UK will not participate in if we get our Brexit). A new composition of the EU Parliament may spell change, but it’s hard to tell. The signs of conservatism in Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Italy are still not enough to give us a definite answer to our questions. The question of France is also much vexed: how long will Macron continue and will he be replaced by a real traditionalist? French traditional Catholicism still exists, but, as with any long-standing institution, you must accept it is made up of wheat and tares. Being a traditionalist does not necessarily equate to being a Christian on fire for the Lord.
I have mixed feelings about the role of Catholicism in European history. As an Englishman, I am distrustful of the civil law legacy of Roman jurisprudence, so no one can expect me to give full-throated support to everything that has been said and done.
Do you have any local friends with charismatic gifting who could pray with you about renewal in the Catholic Church? Where someone you know is honourable, trustworthy, and reliable offers his help in prayer, that can be the beginning of positive change.
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O I was not mistreated. I just can’t keep my mouth shut when I see watered down religion being taught or people who would rather make of the Faith a subjective or relative faith. So it was not the right venue for me to teach anyway. It was a progressive parish and there are no traditionalist parishes left in the midlands of SC.
I think the tensions between Protestantism and Catholicism were good for Europe as there was a good deal of scholarly debate elucidated once the hot war turned into a cold war. After all we continued as Western European stock to embrace the Judeo-Christian values that had been shared and developed for many, many centuries. But all of that has now ended and become more political with more discordant thoughts (divisions within our own denominations and faith traditions).
I am not a fan of the charismatic renewal in the Catholic Church. I saw no need for it then and no need for it now . . . and most of them are rather left leaning. I went to one meeting and heard the all the shrieking and babbling in tongues and the inane and rather strange and banal translations being articulated. I left. It seemed like a cult.
What I and many people in my area of the US need are more Traditional priests and parishes. Right now my area has not a single one.
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I have seen the gifts both abused and used properly, so I have a more positive view of the movement, though I agree that in Catholicism it morphed into something liberal in a lot of cases. I was going to recommend a book to you I read a few years back on the subject that I think you would find helpful. Unfortunately, I lent it to a friend and church and she is not sure what she has done with it, which means I don’t have the author and title to hand. It was written by a Reformed Christian (possibly Presbyterian), and it presented openness to the Spirit in a context that was straight-laced by worldly standards. I think you would find the book wholesome and something that could fit in with a traditionalist approach – not in the liturgy, of course, but in fellowship meetings. Canon Andrew White’s ministry in Iraq has shown the potential for unity between High Church and Low Church, with charismatic practices. I heard him preach once, when I was at university.
Our church is trying to rededicate itself to prayer at the moment, which I believe to be a move from God upon us. Our pastor is preaching one of CH Spurgeon’s sermons on prayer, which, owing to its length, he is breaking over a few services and adapting in places. I attended a prayer meeting on Monday which I found to be edifying and promising. There is still the issue of committing, but if we commit, I believe the Lord will honour us and help us to find a way forward.
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Well we have a rich tradition in prayer already and I would say that it developed from the earlier traditions of what we now call charismatic. The whole body of mystical and contemplative prayer is far more intense and well developed that I see nothing higher as an earthly calling but it is not for everybody either. Even the Rosary and other devotions are like gates into this garden of the Sublime. I think that is why I say I neither see a need for it in the Catholic Church of Tradition nor do I see a need for it in the Novus Ordo parishes . . . though they are not likely to be attracted to mental prayer. So that is why, most likely, that the charismatic renewal movement began by some really dubious bishops like Suenens. But I appreciate the thought, Nick. It just doesn’t measure up to the developed prayer of folks like St. John of the Cross or Teresa of Avila.
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https://www.amazon.co.uk/Surprised-Voice-Jack-Deere-1998-10-01/dp/B01FGOG5YY/ref=sr_1_28?ie=UTF8&qid=1547915657&sr=8-28&keywords=voice+of+god
I believe this is the book in question. Well worth reading for personal edification and as the basis for quiet, conservative, pious homegroup gatherings.
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In the Catholic Tradition I am more inclined for things like Litanies and other devotional gatherings like Stations of the Cross, the Rosary or the Divine Mercy Chaplet etc. All else seems to pale in comparison for gatherings outside of the Liturgy itself.
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Fair enough. My concern is less with the format than the fact that people gather together in one mind like the early Church in Acts. I fear what a lot of us are experiencing is either the problem of factionalism or the problem of enthusiasm. I am fortunate that my church is not divided by faction: it is an orthodox, safe environment. But I think, if the English Church is to persevere in its spiritual war for the restoration of our nation, home prayer groups must multiply and grow in their fervour and discussion of the issues. I believe that something similar is necessary regarding the cleansing and renewal of Catholicism: Catholic homegroups praying for orthodoxy and purging of false shepherds – corporate prayer is valuable and I believe supplementing the corporate prayers of the Sunday service is potentially beneficial, especially as a way of promoting Christian brotherhood.
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I guess the internet has a large role in this right now as it does in conservative politics. That is where you read the most edifying things being written today.
Sadly, the movement towards dreams, visions and voices is a rather dangerous environment to find oneself in. They are the easiest charisms for an evil spirit to duplicate. Are you familiar with Helen Shucman and her automatic writing of another Gospel: A Course in Miracles? It was a product of automatic writing and many a Catholic was taken in by her since she was, ahem, Catholic. Another example was the writing of Maria Valtorta, The Poem of the Man-God. I knew Catholics that thought these were great as they thought Teilhard de Chardin was authentic Catholicism as well. Satan can make prayer life tough. I’ll take the advice that comes from St. Ignatius of Loyola’s, The Spiritual Exercises to mind long before I let myself get distracted by things which might lead me astray.
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I’ll take the advice that comes from St. Ignatius of Loyola’s, The Spiritual Exercises
The ends justify the means. Uh Oh protestants….look out .
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Vatican II was itself a product of a time of ferment whose roots and origins preceded it. Nonetheless one can see an hermeneutic of continuity (to coin a phrase) in the Conciliar documents which lie there as seeds waiting for their time. The gates of hell cannot prevail against the Church and if she endures a century or two of turmoil, well, it won’t be the first time. I am convinced that the more we turn to Mary, and the more we lovingly persuade others to do the same, then the sooner the Spirit will raise up the new St Francis’ and St Catherine’s who will clean house and bring the Church on earth back to its purpose and mission.
It may be, though, that Europe and America are played out as leaders of the world and of the faith but we should not worry if God chooses Africa and Asia as the places to unleash the charisms that will save the Church.
Btw the post ‘Deus Vult’ on my *other* blog might interest you https://thoughtfullycatholic.wordpress.com/tag/deus-vult/
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Yes, all the bits and pieces had been gathered together for VII. From the Reformation and enlightenment, the French Revolution and the rise of freemasonry to the infiltration into the priesthood of masons and Communists and a raft of theologians participating who had be censored previously. But at least we had kept a lid on it until VII and were trying to deal with it internally. It had not infected the laity very much. Now it has infected the whole world it seems.
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Interesting post and so was this one I read this A.M. – https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2019/01/17/does-the-west-face-an-almost-certain-doom/
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One of the great troubles of “freedom of speech” and a mostly literate society is that when the average Joe stands up and says something it gets dismissed. Take for example Paine’s Common Sense, how many blogs and columns have been written which a far more critical and it’s simply to no avail.
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“I am convinced that the more we turn to Mary, and the more we lovingly persuade others to do the same, then the sooner the Spirit will raise up ”
but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.
28 And when they heard these sayings, they were full of wrath, and cried out, saying, Great is Diana of the Ephesians.
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