Heavenly Hootenanny How folk music -- and the counterculture -- entered the Catholic Church

The Boston Globe ^ | October 5, 2003 | Mark Oppenheimer

[american colleen]

THE SECOND VATICAN COUNCIL of 1962 -- 65 transformed Roman Catholicism. The church redefined itself as "the People of God" and began allowing priests to speak the Mass in their own languages. With such reforms, it eroded traditional walls between the hierarchy and the laity, with results that have been debated to this day.

[american colleen]

Thought this was an interesting article in the Boston Globe.

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[american colleen]

Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Many historians have focused ad nauseam on the most extreme religious movements of the 1960s, dissecting these small groups but ignoring larger trends. Oppenheimer, a staff writer for the Christian Century, asks a more provocative question of the 20th century's most radical decade: how did the 1960s influence ordinary people in mainstream religious traditions? As he shows in this competent, accessible study, people in "mainline" religions were deeply and irrevocably changed by the revolutions of the 1960s. (Oppenheimer uses the moniker "the 1960s" to denote a period that includes much of the 1970s, and he is sensitive to the transformations within this brief but tumultuous historical era: 1969, he reminds us at one point, was very different than 1974.) A rather bland opening chapter traces the bloodless revolution that led to the Unitarians' creating an Office of Gay Concerns in the early 1970s, while a second, more compelling, chapter discusses the stunning changes in Roman Catholic worship that resulted from the concurrent forces of Vatican II reforms and the rise of American folk music. Oppenheimer then traces the growth of Jewish havurot-small, communal gatherings of mostly young and urban Jews-and makes a compelling case that these Jews were deeply influenced by observing the Black Panthers, whose example prompted them to self-identify as a proud ethnic minority group. The author next examines the Episcopalians' battles over women's ordination in the 1970s and the responses of progressive Southern Baptists to the Vietnam War. American religion, Oppenheimer persuasively shows, is surprisingly flexible, incorporating dissent and welcoming new ideas.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Publishers Weekly
[A] competent, accessible study.

Book Description
What happened to American religion during the cultural revolution of the 1960s and early 1970s? The era has long been associated with the ascendancy of Eastern religions and fringe cults. But in this provocative book, Mark Oppenheimer demonstrates that contrary to conventional wisdom, most Americans did not turn on, tune in, and drop out of mainstream religious groups during the Age of Aquarius. Instead, many Americans brought the counterculture with them to their churches and temples, changing the face of American religion. Introducing us to America's first gay ministers and first female priests, to hippie Jews and folk-singing Catholics, Oppenheimer demonstrates that this was an era of extraordinary religious vitality. Drawing on a rich range of archival material as well as interviews with many of the protagonists, Knocking on Heaven's Door offers a wry and iconoclastic reappraisal of the ways in which the upheavals of the sixties changed America's relationship with God.

From the Back Cover
"Knocking on Heaven's Door provides a valuable historical service in 'de-exoticizing' the 1960s. Mark Oppenheimer argues, provocatively and persuasively, that the most dramatic and lasting impact of the era is to be found in the changes it brought, not to the margins, but to the mainstream of American culture."-Maurice Isserman, Hamilton College

About the Author
Mark Oppenheimer is a freelance writer. He is a staff writer for the Christian Century and has written for many publications, including Harper's, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Boston Globe, the Yale Review, the Hartford Courant, Playboy, and Slate. He has taught at Wesleyan and Stanford universities.

[Hermann the Cherusker]

"Pardon me, but is this a Catholic church?"

Apparently, if the question had to be asked ...

Guitars do go back a ways in the Catholic Church. "Stille Nacht" - "Silent Night" was first sung in a Catholic Church in Austria to the strumming of a guitar. Of course, it wasn't part of Mass, it was before it.

http://silentnight.web.za/history/

"180 years ago the carol "Stille Nacht! Heilige Nacht" was heard for the first time in a village church in Oberndorf, Austria. The congregation at that Midnight Mass in St. Nicholas Church listened as the voices of the assistant pastor, Fr. Joseph Mohr, and the choir director, Franz Xaver Gruber, rang through the church to the accompaniment of Fr. Mohr's guitar. On each of the six verses, the choir repeated the last two lines in four-part harmony."

[Aliska]

The old lady scowled. She looked at the proffered hand as if it were diseased. `I don't believe in that [expletive]

Is this an example of the "spirit of" pre-Vatican II?

[american colleen]

Gotta run, but this article struck hard with me because this weekend Mass had a guitar accompanied Peter, Paul and Mary dirge "The Wedding Song" -- whenever two or more of you are gathered in his name, there is love, there is love...

I'm still trying to get over it. ;-)

[Loyalist]

The old lady scowled. She looked at the proffered hand as if it were diseased. `I don't believe in that [expletive]

However indelicately expressed, she demonstrated that she had a far superior understanding of the nature and direction of true Catholic worship than exists among most Catholic theologians.

[american colleen]

Is this an example of the "spirit of" pre-Vatican II?

Probably not because I, as a "post Vatican II" Catholic think the same thing although I (mostly) keep it to myself. I sometimes pretend I have a cold and cough a lot so no one in their right mind would want to shake my hand. It's one of my many problems/sins.

I've been working on this problem/sin since I was 13 or 14 but I can't seem to overcome it.

[Aquinasfan]

"the flashy organ playing in French churches or thunderous hymns in the churches of Bavaria (not to mention the orchestras for High Mass) were unmistakable signs of decadence."

Uh, no. It was the "Kumbaya" crap.

[Aquinasfan]

Finally, Roman Catholic folk songs encourage a noncreedal universalism. Their religion is not about doctrine or catechism but about the generalized spirit.

Does the author see this as a problem? Sheesh. If I wanted noncreedal universalism I'd be hanging out at the Unitarian Universalist Society.

[Snuffington]

I don't have a theological problem with folk music in the Mass (depending on which folk music of course). But I frequently do have a different sort of spiritual problem with it.

Folk music is generally infused with the popular themes of the present. The Mass is focused on the eternal and permanent. While I have no doubt master musicians can weave those disparate themes into stunning and meaningful alignment, in everyday practice this simply comes across as disjointed and unfocused. That's why I find folk music normally distracting in the Mass.

[Thorondir]

Just think about how ugly it is to hold a hand-clappin' toe-tappin' hootenanny in front of the Cross while our Lord is hanging for our sins. Only His enemies would do that. Only his enemies do it at the holy Mass today. They either hate Him or they are ignorant of what the Mass is.

[HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity]

Some of the tasteless kitsch that has been tolerated on consecrated ground is shameful. I wish they would add seminar courses on Sacred Art, Music, Style, and Taste in Western Culture to priestly formation. I have heard fellow Catholics tell me they have a friend or spouse they would love to convert BUT that they would be embarrassed to take them to Mass at their parish. Why and how does this happen?

[TheCrusader]

"Guitars do go back a ways in the Catholic Church. "Stille Nacht" - "Silent Night" was first sung in a Catholic Church in Austria to the strumming of a guitar. Of course, it wasn't part of Mass, it was before it."

The difference between crooning the tranquilizing melody of the Nativity with background accompaniment of classical guitar, and strumming the more ostentatious folk guitar strings in the manner of Peter, Paul and Mary while banging the drums on the altar is noteworthy here.

The angelic song 'Silent Night', a soft carol composed by the priest JOSEPH MOHR to immortalize the Nativity, is lullaby-soft, reverently smooth, and soothingly slow. Crooning this Christian lullaby with classical guitar accompaniment, (an instrument rivaling the harp in the hands of a master), is not the same as the ostentatious folk rock balads with banging drums. Not even close enough to deserve honest comparison. Even a shephard named Hermann can understand the difference between the heavenly 'Silent Night' and the Balad of Bennie Hinn.

COME ON, LET ME HEAR YOU LIBERALS, SOMEBODY SAY AMEN

[dangus]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGGHHH!!!
Catholic worship is not about hateful rejection! Even if her belief about the kiss of peace were 100% true, she missed far more basic points, and contradicted herself.

Simply refusing the handshake would be one thing, but to quarel and cuss in the middle of mass?! Truly vile, disgusting behavior, which should be immediately condemned!

[Maximilian]

I have heard fellow Catholics tell me they have a friend or spouse they would love to convert BUT that they would be embarrassed to take them to Mass at their parish.

This is my exact situation with my sister-in-law. She is very open and receptive to the Catholic faith, but I know that the fastest and most thorough way to douse all interest would be to have her attend her local New Mass parish. She's too smart not to see through the obvious discrepancy between the traditional Catholic faith and what's being foisted upon people these days. She's also has too much taste to put up with the hideous aesthetic quality of the New Mass church, especially the kind of music described in this article. As much as it breaks my heart, I find that playing wait-and-see is the only alternative until some future time when she has an opportunity to observe true Catholicism in action.

On the other hand, nostalgia bump for "Take Our Bread" which is featured prominently in the article. I remember learning this in grade school, and I could probably still sing it. As I recall, the refrain wasn't so bad, but the verses were particularly tuneless.

[Maximilian]

Simply refusing the handshake would be one thing, but to quarel and cuss in the middle of mass?! Truly vile, disgusting behavior, which should be immediately condemned!

Two separate points: 1. This story is certainly apocryphal. I'd like to see some names and dates for the obscenity in church by a nice old lady praying the rosary. It's clearly a manufactured story to support the author's point.

2. If you go to the New Mass, then you do have to show some charity to your neighbors. Rather than even a silent refusal, I always made some effort to appear friendly during the sign of peace so that others don't get the idea that I'm rejecting them personally. One will not win converts to the traditional Catholic faith through uncharitable acts. If you object to the sign of peace, go to the Latin Mass, don't take it out on your neighbors in the pew.

On the other hand, I don't hold hands at the Our Father. But the difference is that the handshake at the sign of peace is a legitimate part of the New Mass, whereas the hand-holding at the Our Father has always been contrary to the rubrics -- especially when everyone leaves their place in order to cross aisles.

[Hermann the Cherusker]

However, lovely as the song was, and despite it beign done out of Mass, it is still part of the heritage of Josephinism, which included deformations of the Liturgy.

[siunevada]

Once Vatican II gave priests the latitude to permit changes in the liturgy

I've only read a few of the sixteen documents of Vatican II and I have yet to see this in print.

Last week we sang Panis Angelicus for the second time in as many months. That's after not hearing it for years. Sadly, we have neglected the Universal Language for so long that I have to read the translation beforehand to remind myself of what the words mean.

When the choir director makes a good choice of music I make it a point to thank them after Mass and tell them how beautiful it was. No mention of the more banal tunes they usually choose.