{"id":4661,"date":"2010-10-12T16:17:39","date_gmt":"2010-10-12T21:17:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/?p=4661"},"modified":"2016-11-10T21:03:06","modified_gmt":"2016-11-11T03:03:06","slug":"some-musing-on-our-divisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/praytellblog.com\/index.php\/2010\/10\/12\/some-musing-on-our-divisions\/","title":{"rendered":"Some musing on our divisions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Did you know there are polarizations in the Catholic Church today? I try to be optimistic, and my Christian faith requires me to be hopeful. But I see troubling signs that the divisions are deepening.<\/p>\n

First, on the \u2018liberal\u2019 side. (No, I don\u2019t like labels like \u2018liberal\u2019 and \u2018conservative\u2019 either, but sometimes you have to use them to make a point.) A friend, devoutly and actively Catholic, married (I hereby\u00a0admit I had sort of hoped he\u2019d join the monastery), stops me after Morning Prayer. The anti-gay marriage DVD<\/a> from the archbishop arrived in the mail and it bothered him and his wife. He\u2019s concerned about the rightward lurch of our seminaries. When they have children\u2026 I think I know where this is going, and I cut in, \u201cYou\u2019re not sure you\u2019d even want your son to go to seminary?\u201d “No,\u00a0it\u2019s deeper. We don\u2019t know if we even want to bring children into this Church.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

An hour later I mention this to the dean of our School of Theology. He tells me about a board member, lifelong Catholic, St. John\u2019s alum, big supporter at many levels of our School of Theology\u00b7Seminary. This man said to his son, \u201cWe\u2019re thrilled to have a grandchild. And there will be a Catholic baptism soon, right?\u201d This from the son: \u201cI don\u2019t know, Dad \u2013 if a store had a sign saying \u2018We don\u2019t hire gays and women,\u2019 would you shop there?\u201d<\/p>\n

Next, on the \u2018conservative\u2019 side. I go to my office and start up the computer for another day of monitoring Pray Tell<\/em>. There are, as usual, more comments from the \u2018conservative\u2019 side, some of them quite strong. Strong defenses of Pope Benedict\u2019s new banner<\/a> (or logo or stemma or whatever you call it) replacing the mitre with the no-longer-used papal tiara. Strong defenses also of his liturgical agenda, of the universal permission for the pre-Vatican II Mass, of the \u201chermeneutic of continuity.\u201d Comments such as these are a window into an entire Catholic culture which, however small, seems to be planting ever deeper roots and growing in influence today. It is now acceptable to be skeptical of the Second Vatican Council and the reformed liturgy. This from highly engaged Catholics, many of them rather young.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t see either group of people going away any time soon. But maybe the first group will increasingly walk away from the Catholic Church. If so, I hope the second group doesn’t welcome that too much.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to think that Pray Tell<\/em> is a sign of hope. Where else do people with such divergent, passionately held opinions actually talking to each other on a daily basis?<\/p>\n

Keep the opinions coming, everybody, and let\u2019s all keep praying for the virtue of hope.<\/p>\n

awr<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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