A series of posts is developing over there at his blog, The Cafeteria is Closed, as Gerald Augustinus digs into Church history as seen through the eyes of a few leading magazines here, and abroad. Something tells me he is just warming up.
Many of us feel as if our Catholic faith, including our liturgy, has been hi-jacked - all "in the name of Vatican 2". Vatican 2 was not the problem. Rather, it was a perversion of Vatican 2 - a concerted effort to use V-II as a means to do everything and anything.
As the younger generation develops a desire to follow the Catholic faith, not challenge it, they are discovering - sometimes with shock and anger - what some almost got away with. But Jesus promised his Church would always prevail. He never said it would prevail in a day, and in this case, it has taken 40 years to start seeing the turn.
This generation is benefiting from Veritatis Splendor, and the tide is indeed changing. Some may not see the light at the end of the tunnel, but if you spend any time in Catholic blogs, you will soon find that the vast majority of them are run by younger and middle-aged folks who yearn for ordinary Catholicism - the one handed down to us, not the one nearly dismantled with dissent. Perhaps as we move forward, I will explore Veritatis Splendor with you in this blog so that you may see just how far some had strayed before Pope John Paul II halted them with this encyclical. I should probably clarify that JPII did not halt them, but he gave to us this gift so that we could recognize the errors and heresies being taught in moral theology - something that is ongoing in a good many Catholic universities today.
Thanks to some vocal priests like Fr. John Corapi, consistent theologians like Fr. John A. Hardon, the solid view of converts and biblical scholars like Dr. Scott Hahn, the fervor of younger priests like Fr. Donald Calloway who aren't buying the namby-pamby, and the courage of nameless priests in parishes and religious orders throughout the world who have not yielded to what wolves in sheeps clothing have been ramming down our throats. And, it continues to be done all through a mainstream media that seeks out a dissenting view at every turn and event, cloaked in "catholicism". Thank God for EWTN, Ave Maria Radio, and Relevant Radio, among others who are working very hard in the name of truth!
As Fr. Donald Calloway boldy proclaimed in one of his video talks, "Priests in cassocks - they're coming to a parish near you!"
The first links below take you to some good lead-ins to Gerald's posts, and it would serve you well to read through the comments, especially at Bettnet.com where Domenico Bettinelli Jr., Editor of Catholic World Report, offers his reaction, and "Diogenes" at Off the Record on CWNews.com. We can only hope Mr. Bettinelli will explore some of this in that periodical.
I'll Bettinelli lead you into Gerald's first post: The Bad Old Days - The Church in 1968
Commentary by Diogenes on Gerald's first post.
Augustinus "Bad Old Days" Post collections:
Post 1 - 1968 Time Magazine
Post 2 - 1972 Time Magazine
Post 2 - Catholic Church in Netherlands in the 1960's