In the context of preparations for the National Eucharistic legislature in Indianapolis on July 17-21 in American media, both ecclesiastical and secular, there are voices about “the return of the Church [in the United States] to Catholic tradition and rightfulness”. Tim Sullivan wrote about the “return” of many American parishes, universities and monasteries in this direction in an 8-page article in the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) of May 6.
According to him, fresh generations of priests and seminarians play a major function here. "The priests who have created or professed alleged liberal theology, so visible in the 1960s and 1970s, are now leaving the church scene. This is evidenced by a survey conducted in 2023 among 3,500 priests by the Catholic University of America," says the material.
The author cites the message of a young priest ordained this year from the Midwest (who wanted to stay anonymous in order to avoid unrest in the parish to which he was sent, and wants to gradually introduce various changes in it). According to him, “currently there are almost no “liberals” in American seminars, and present specified people would not feel well.”
One example of a community that has become more "orthodox" is the parish of St. Maria Goretti, Madison, the capital of the state of Wisconsin. Although this city is considered to be “liberal”, in the Sunday Mass there are traditionally professors and lecturers from the close state university. This parish has undergone a marked transformation over the last half century. 50-60 years ago, the fight against poverty, social justice and openness to the LGBT acceptance were highlighted, and any elements of Catholic teaching, e.g. on contraceptives, were seen as "forgotten dogmas".
The changes began with the arrival in Madison in 2003 of a fresh bishop – Robert C. Morlino (1946-2018), who enrolled in the memory of the dioceses, among others, as a critic of the then sung anthem "All [i.e. gays] are invited". His successor (since April 25, 2019) Donald J. Hying likewise undertook a fight against “modernism, which invariably confuses the Church.” In 2021, Fr Scott Emerson, a close associate of Bishop Morlino, became a parish priest at St. Maria Goretti. During the Mass, he began utilizing incense again, any Latin songs returned, and in sermons, the fresh parish priest called for “the protection of our Catholic values from atheistic journalists, politicians and fallen Catholics.” He besides encouraged frequent confessions.
These changes, of course, did not appeal to everyone. any believers went to another more liberal parishes. But on the another hand, there are more and more young people on Fridays at 6:30 in the morning.
And it is they, paradoxically, who search to return to the church tradition. An example is the Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. Sullivan describes the university’s specificity: “There is nothing different about it at first glance. For example, the cafeteria looks more than average. But let's look deeper. In lectures, students learn, among others, about teaching Catholic contraceptives, pornography and premarital sex. No 1 is amazed by the many entries on the “letter of prayer vigil” at 3 a.m. Students, many of whom come from conservative Catholic families, search here a certain and clear ecclesiastical teaching in relation to matters that are crucial in life: what is good and bad in it. This is what John Welte, who studies economics and philosophy, believes. The teaching of St. Thomas of Aquinas returns that “God can be found in truth, goodness and beauty” – the author reports.
In turn, a 22-year-old biology student, Madeline Hays, admitted that “she takes the teaching of the Church seriously from premarital sex to confession.” He besides considers the anticipation of joining the order. "The church would not be itself if it changed the rules that (previously) it had established and defined," the student stressed.
"Is Benedictine College any symbolic window open to the future of the Church, where most Catholics live far from the rightfulness, supporting the usage of contraceptives and even abortion? Unfortunately, specified Catholics are surviving more and more outside the Church. (...). Changes towards conservative Catholicism are not yet a national trend, as most are “liberal” or “half way”. Nevertheless, 1 cannot neglect to announcement the return of the American Church to tradition and orthodoxy," writes Tim Sullivan.
Source: KAI
Pache
