Posted on 06/14/2002 8:24:23 AM PDT by Romulus
Yesterday's thread on the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Summer Plenary Session. turned up a lot of Catholic FReepers suggesting that it's time for the faithful laity to get more visible and active in pressing for a restoration of right order in the Church. To that end, I've decided to develop and maintain a list of Catholic FReepers, sorted by state, as a resource for future activism. Some of us will wish to collaborate on future projects; others may simply find the list handy for purposes of fellowship. If you want to be on this list, please post your state (or overseas country) on this thread. I'll collate whatever comes in, and Askel5 will post the results on the ConSpiratio web site.
In posting your FR handle and location, you're not volunteering for anything except the chance of being contacted in the future. Whatever activism you then undertake is entirely up to you. For the record, I have no specific plan for this list, nor am I aware of anyone else's. It seems like something that needs to be done, however, and I'll wager the very existence of a good list will generate fruitful ideas.
If you prefer not to post your location, please bump the thread anyway. Thanks!
bumping!!!
I notice some folks indicating their diocese. Would it be beneficial to ask people to generally provide that information?
I live in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, but am registered across the county line in a parish in the Archdiocese of Washington.
sitetest
Couldn't hurt. I'll find a way to incorporate as much information as people choose to provide.
Colleen
Diocese of St. Petersburg, located on the magnificent Suncoast.
Anglican Use bump.
Yours in Christian Fraternity,
Albany, NY - ultra liberal diocese, home of the "wreckovator" Fr. Dr. Richard Vosko.
As a point of future discussion, I realized last night that much of what we are witnessing in the catholic church today, results from changes made post Vatican II. To cite some examples:
before Vatican II, a catholic could attend & participate at mass anywhere in the world. Catholic churches were fairly consistent in their design and easily recognizable by the crucifix over the altar and tabernacle on the altar.
Today, even within the same diocese, there are radical changes.
Some churches retain pews and kneelers while others have reordered the worship space with kneelerless (sp?)chairs.
Many churches have replaced the crucifix with a simple wooden cross.
The tabernacle which holds the living Presence of Christ, has been relocated (abandoned) to side chapels and even out of the church entirely.
Eucharistic ministers dispensing communion don't bother me per se, but some of them are so heavily perfumed that it permeates the host they are dispensing. (Have they even washed their hands prior to mass?)
Girls now serve at the altar.
Having recently attended a tridentine mass, it reminded me of what I did not like in pre Vatican II. The new mass enjoins the congregation in the celebration but, for the life of me, I CANNOT abide the concept of people standing or is it sitting, during the consecration. Fortunately, my church is still equipped with kneelers.
Perhaps what is truly missing is a sense of continuity from parish to parish. The bishops, it would seem, have far too much say in how their diocese will "look". Just tossing this out for reflection and thought.
If there's an Anglican Use Catholic parish in your area, please pay them a visit. I'm sure you'll like what you see.
Yours in Christian Fraternity,
Fortunately, I have never been to a Catholic Church that did not have a crucifix.
At my parish, the younger priest (we have two) is responsible for the Catechism, and he brought the 3rd and 4th graders into the church and asked how one knows if it is a Catholic Church. When one kid said, "There's a cross", Father corrected him and said, yes, but it's a special cross. All Catholic Churches everywhere in the world have a crucifix. He went through everything ... the tabernacle, the Stations of the Cross, the relics under the altar, etc.
I would hope that the laity would complain if a cross replaced the crucifix. In my view, the church would no longer be Catholic.
Not quite all - St. Luke's in McLean, VA has what our priest called a 'resurrectifix' - the cross is on one side, then a fully-clothed risen Christ, holding out His arms in blessing, is about 15 feet away on the wall. I was in a wedding there a couple of years ago. The holy water font is a mulit-level fountain in the vestibule, that looks like it should have goldfish and pennies. The tabernacle is in a side chapel somewhere (I asked).
I realize the substance of the Church is not the forms, but it was so irreverent.
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