[sinkspur]

How is the Church going to force anybody to read the Fathers? The truth is, nobody read the Fathers but seminarians and students of theology and some Catholics and non-Catholics with lots of time on their hands.

True, people read more in the past, but that's a function of societal trends, not anything the Church has caused.

[latae sententiae]

True, people read more in the past, but that's a function of societal trends, not anything the Church has caused.

The Church & society were not designed to operate independently of each other. Bringing them into harmony would instantly solve all the problems of both. Problem is, the modern program of ecumenism seeks to keep them spinning far apart from each other, at all costs.

[Arguss]

"How is the Church going to force anybody to read the Fathers? The truth is, nobody read the Fathers but seminarians and students of theology"

Then how is anybody to know what the Church really is? Those seminarians might do the reading, but there is somebody right there to make sure they don't get the "wrong" idea.

No, I don't expect every college student to immerse himself in the subject. I think the Holy Ghost will lead those whom he wants, on the path he wants.

I think it would be nice though if others with just a curiousity could get a traditional feel of the Church through their own efforts, because they will not find the Church through the regular channels.

[Romulus]

that's a function of societal trends, not anything the Church has caused.

That's just not so. I spent 14 years in Catholic schools and colleges, and was never once introduced to the Fathers. Until well into adulthood I never heard so much as the names of Basil or Athanasius or Chrysostom. I could not have told you a thing about Jerome. When I visited Canterbury (aged 21), I was astonished and confused to hear that "Augustine" had been bishop there. Whatever patristic knowledge I've acquired is late, incomplete, self-taught, and has been gained in spite of the gross negligence of those charged with giving me a Catholic education. I defy you to claim matters are any different today.

[AlguyA]

"The truth is, nobody read the Fathers but seminarians and students of theology and some Catholics and non-Catholics with lots of time on their hands."

My son, a senior in high school, is just now finishing The Glories of Mary, by St. Alphonsus Ligouri, sink. He's in a study group with about two dozen of the finest Catholic young men and women you would ever care to meet and they gather every week to read and discuss the best our 2000 year old Tradition has to offer.

They are the future of the Church. They'll be the movers-and-shakers in the years to come and there are many more like them out there.

Be afraid, sink, be very afraid. -)