The following comes from an August 10 The Motherlands blog post by Denise Renner:
We recently took a family vacation to a small Midwest town with only one Catholic church. We would be there for two weekends, so we knew we would be hearing Mass—and that non-Catholic family might be coming with us.
That first Sunday morning we pulled into a packed parking lot. There was a statue of the Blessed Virgin on the pathway to the church and a sign pointing to the Adoration Chapel. Entering the church, the sanctuary was filled with stained glass windows depicting saints, and there was a large crucifix above the altar. There were also statues flanked by candles, holy water fonts, well-worn kneelers in the pews—in short, all the Catholic stuff. And the church building itself wasn’t half bad to look at, either.
But things took a decided turn as soon as the liturgy began.
The music was trite at best, with a random flutist piping up occasionally from the balcony. I found myself distracted by the Eucharistic minister wearing a strapless sundress, and the deacon who popped the consecrated Host into his mouth and chomped on it like a tortilla chip while he shared a chuckle with the priest. There was a lot of clapping, hands in the air, and a mass exodus following communion. Our Protestant guest described it well: “That was…noisy.”
Indeed it was. And nothing like our parish back home, which family has also visited.
One parish feels like church camp for ten-year-olds, complete with guitars, clapping, and catchy pop songs. Another is imbued with solemnity, silence, and a line out the door for confession.
It’s hard to reconcile as a Catholic, and even more challenging to explain to a Protestant.
Put simply, it’s frustrating. It’s always nice to have some idea what you’re in for. You return to a restaurant because the food is great. You are loyal to a brand because of the quality of their products. You pull out your great-grandmother’s apple pie recipe every Thanksgiving because it’s familiar, fantastic, and reminds you of holidays growing up. There are no surprises: there is comfort in a lack of surprise, in tradition.
Like that passed-down family recipe, I find myself craving some continuity between parishes. Because while parishes might look different, and Mass might be said in a different language, the solemnity and reverence for the divine should remain. Instead one is left with the odd feeling that maybe he or she has entered the wrong building. It did say “Catholic” on the sign outside, right?
Because if it is a Catholic church, then there is the sacrifice of the Mass: and there is the Real Presence. The Curé of Ars said, “All the good works in the world are not equal to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass because they are the works of men; but the Mass is the work of God. Martyrdom is nothing in comparison for it is but the sacrifice of man to God; but the Mass is the sacrifice of God for man.”
If we believe this awesome reality, there should be a corresponding gravitas to the Mass—any Mass, no matter where we are. We should not be forced to explain striking dissimilarities between parishes that are different in every respect—indeed, in their degree of respect. Because the noise, the immodesty, the smartphones, the banter at the altar, are all a diversion and distraction from the glory due to God. And they proclaim loud and clear that we don’t actually believe in the Real Presence.
As Pope Benedict XVI wrote, “In a world where there is so much noise, so much bewilderment, there is a need for silent adoration of Jesus concealed in the Host. Be assiduous in the prayer of adoration and teach it to the faithful. It is a source of comfort and light, particularly to those who are suffering.”
And which of us is not suffering in the midst of noise, in need of comfort and light?
in many cases the local parish cooperated with the extinction of tradition. the great levelling has taken effect everywhere. the use of missalettes helped to enforce the policy norms and leave little option for ‘the old hymns/. diocesan workshops helped to let parish leadership know that an older generations’music had to be replaced to make room for the new. churches that had their glorious art and statues removed were left with minimalist ‘space’. wealthy churches could then buy the warehoused glories at great cost to renew with the ‘classic’ look.
Well, isn’t this the truth. Having traveled through the mid-west, what you would think to be the nation’s heartland, deep in spirituality, deep in tradition, in many places, it is a vast waste–in many places, not all—of strapless dame-ministers and tired, cashed-it-in pastors, set within an exhaustingly personalized and verbally overwhelming liturgy. And the noise and lack of focus—it speaks volumes.
Reminds me of the saying: “The Novus Ordo is like a fingerprint… no two are alike.”
The “fruits of Vatican II”.
Sounds like California.
I have experienced Masses celebrated on the hood of a jeep with the sound of artillery in the background that were said with more solemnity and reverence than many that I have heard here at home. Why? First, because it was not the Novus “ordinary” and second, it was celebrated by a priest and men who were acutely aware of the immediacy of death or wounds and the necessity of humility and the nearness of judgement. I sometimes miss that feeling.
A poignant point, hosemonkey, and there is no doubt you are right that the Mass you participated in was as real as it gets.
I have witnessed a novus ordo mass by a deaf priest in San Francisco and simultaneously signed by him, amidst a congregation of mostly deaf Catholics. It is equally poignant when that priest, speaking in sign vernacular, points to the wounds and proclaims, “this is my body”. There were no dry eyes in my group of friends that day.
This story is also an analogy for what is going on in these “independent” chapels of former SSPX clergy and in the SSPX itself. These places all have the trappings, the outward signs of “catholicism”—the Latin, the chants, the kneelers, the works.
But go deeper, and deep within there is fear, there is hate (for the legitimate clergy of the CHurch, for bishops, the Holy Father, etc), there is anti-semitism, intolerance, heresy (as far as denigrating the Ordinary Form and Vatican II). So yeah, they all look good on the outside, but inside there is lack of love, but only hate and fear!
Wrong-jon-silver is in for a reckoning: The SSPX were right all along:
“SSPX Could Be Reconciled with Rome Without Accepting All of V2”, lifesitenews.com:
‘August 10, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) — The Vatican has offered the Society of St. Pius X (SSPX) a personal prelature and confirmed that certain documents from the Second Vatican Council are not doctrinal in nature, according to Italian archbishop [Guido Pozzo] tasked with overseeing the canonically irregular group’s return to full Communion with Rome.
“The Second Vatican Council’s documents themselves indicate that only the Council’s teachings explicitly related to faith and morals are binding to Catholics, Pozzo explained. ‘It was already clear at the time of the…
” clear at the time of the Council” that different Council documents carried different dogmatic weights, Pozzo said.
“The General Secretary of the Council, Cardinal Pericle Felici, declared on November 16, 1964: ‘This holy synod defines only that as being binding for the Church what it declares explicitly to be such with regard to Faith and Morals.’ Only those texts assessed by the Council Fathers as being binding are to be accepted as such.”
Pozzo said Nostra Aetate is not dogmatic and therefore no Catholic is bound to accept it as such.
[Abp Guido Pozzo:] “Nostra Aetate does not have any dogmatic authority, and thus one cannot demand from anyone to recognize this declaration as being dogmatic,” Pozzo said.
“This declaration can only be understood in the light of tradition and of the continuous Magisterium. For example, there exists today, unfortunately, the view — contrary to the Catholic Faith — that there is a salvific path independent of Christ and His Church.”
Nostra Aetate—among other V2 documents—not doctrinal. What will jon the pious do, having demanded “all the documents of V2 must be accepted.”
We are all waiting for jon the pious’…
Wrong article, Campion, as usual. I responded to that already the first time you posted this. Look for it.
All the documents of Vatican II must be accepted, with two important qualifications:
1) No document may be interpreted to have a meaning that contradicts the Church’s Tradition.
2) Documents must be understood and weighted according to their classification: constitution, decree, declaration. Declarations are of relatively low authority.
To say that some VII documents are not doctrinal in nature should not be controversial, but they are all products of the Magisterium and must all be accepted as Magisterial acts while interpreting them in a manner consonant with Tradition.
Ahh now Sawyer gets to promulgate his own Canon Law regarding acceptance of Church teaching. Interesting.
Why don’t you just say that all the documents of Vatican II must be accepted, and that any interpretations of Vatican II that contradict prior teachings of the Church are invalid interpretations, just as every Church document must be read. In other words, through a hermeneutic of continuity, which has been Benedict’s point all along.
The real question, YFC, is why doesn’t the Vatican make that “official” mandate with regard to interpretation. Could be it is for fear of schism threatened by the Left, a fear planted by +Marx prior to the second “Synod on the Family” with regard to Germany’s response should anything less than ambiguity be the fruit of the great coming together.
YFC, your post means exactly the same thing as mine. The explanation I gave is hardly my own; those principles have been espoused by many others, such as Cardinal Ratzinger, as you pointed out.
You got it wrong again, Jon. Clap hands, everybody happy, because they don’t know any better. Vatican II was the beginning, and this rot and confusion is the result. “Legitimate” clergy, Bishops, the Holy Father have all been infected with the”Spirit of VII”. That is the fact, Some younger clergy and even a few Bishops have escaped the virus, but not many. True Catholic teaching and a return to the True Liturgy, that will save the Church, not hybrid Protestantism.
Sorry,Jon, you were right in a couple areas. Yes, I hate what the ignorant liberals have done to my Church. I am intolerant of the destruction caused by the internal enemies of the Church. And I am sick of the heresies accepted by this “modern” Church. So yes Jon, you are right. But Jon, even a busted watch is right twice a day.
Hosemonkey, you have never EVER shown that there are heresies accepted “by this ‘modern’ Church”. Not now, not ever.
“Extra Ecclesiam, Nulla Salus” , never abrogated, still in effect, quietly ignored. The list could go on.” Modernism, The synthesis of all heresies”, condemned by Pope St. Plus X. Wake up, smell the coffee. Liberal leftist radicals are destroying the Church.
Extra eclesiam nulla salus is still in effect. We understand it differently than might have been understood a century ago, but it is still in effect.
The fallacy in your point is presuming that no is being formed as saint among those who go to the Ordinary Form, even with the liturgical abuses you decry. WRONG! There are MANY people, young and old, who are being schooled in holiness—and all they ever knew is the Mass of Paul VI. These holy folks are in the US, in Africa, in Europe, in the Americas, in Asia—EVERYWHERE. If you believe that holiness is only possible if we go to the TLM, then YOU’RE WRONG.
Guess what, those who go to the OF, DO NOT have the vice, the evil, of castigating, anonymously, cowardly, their priests, their bishops, the Pope. So, inspite of the litugical “abuses” you decry, saints are still being made. SUCH IS GOD’S OMNIPOTENCE! You have lost…
faith and love. You have made the rubrics of the TLM, liturgical Latin, chants, and other trappings of “catholicism” YOUR “GOD”, your idol. Shameful.
Why not just CAPITALIZE everything to help you hysterically try to make your specious point? Just like the New Church, all EMOTION, no reasoning.
No Jon, saints are being made in spite of this Church. Those whose virtues are worthy of sainthood are in touch with True Catholic teaching and True Tradition, not the worldly pablum purveyed by this worldly, bunch of wannabe social workers. That is what this Church is creating, not lovers of Jesus in a Christ-centered Mass, but lovers of self in ecclesiastical, man-centered performance. If the Mass of Paul VI was the norm, perhaps, but that Mass is heard by no one. Just as a previous poster said, “thee NO Mass is like a fingerprint, no two are alike.”
Of course, “jon,” this is the argument of the Zombie-Liberal Novus Ordinarians — if you do not love our mish-mash service (change is found in every parish), and are dedicated to the Mass of All Time, then, well, gosh, gee-wiz, you are an idolater. Nope, the TLM reflects centuries of Catholic perfection, the Mass of the Saints; while the N.O. reflects the Prostestantization of the Catholic rite, You scream “shame” like the Soviets used to do against those “convicted” at their bogus show trials. Hopefully, Francis cannot defeat the mission of the SSPX, once and if it is “reconciled.”
Apparently, CAMPION, you have never read not even a SINGLE POST of Linda Maria !!!! It would be BABYISH of you to think it is JUST JON who uses capitalization TO EXCESS!!!!
The random insults “Zombie-Liberal Novus Ordinarians” is really quite insulting “Saint” Christopher. Please take your garbage out to the curb and leave it there.
Perhaps like you, YFC, Campion chooses to make his observations where he wills. But one cannot deny that jon’s tut tutting and desperate cleaving to the Magisterium of “Mother Maybe” or “Simon Says Now” is predictable as it is off the deep end.
And nobody is saying that some are’t formed well in spite of the NO fiasco. But we should’t operate by way of attempting normalize exceptions.
That being said, God can work where He wills, so should we advocate a rite of Atheism wherein folks can be sanctified by way of Black Mass?
Seriously.
Should we, jon, implement an “official” pathway within the Church where we advocate following the whole path of Blessed Bartolo Longo who made it out of Satanism and being a Satanic High Priest?
I mean, Longo made it, so who knows?
Ann Malley – it is incredible that you try to speak for others. In a way that you pretend to know what is in their heart and mind. Such arrogance, I mean, Seriously.
And you go on to denigrate the Church when you write things like ” the Magisterium of “Mother Maybe” or “Simon Says Now” is predictable as it is off the deep end”.
Seriously? You call yourself Catholic when you denigrate the Magisterium the way you do?
Ladies and gentlemen: especially those who may be visiting this esteemed blog for the first time. The posts you read above from “supposed” Catholics who denigrate the Ordinary Form, the Second Vatican Council, and bishops and the Holy Father do not constitute the majority opinion of Catholics worldwide.
Most Catholics revere the clergy, aware that they are human subject to errors and temptations (and even more so as the Devil is keen to bring them down which some of these folks are wont to forget thereby losing their compassion for the clergy). And most Catholics may not like the casualness of in your typical parish Mass (as do I), but we don’t go to a blog denigrating the sacrament thereby committing heresy (rather, most of…
us even-keeled Catholics take the goodness in it, and so perhaps are more in peace than some of the characters here). So folks, take the comments you see above with a pinch of salt.
No denigration in speaking the full truth, jon, to include the reality that VII – embraced for what it is – presents nothing new that is binding on Catholics. Simple.
The Ordinary Form is similarly being critiqued for what it is – a form of mass. Not the Blessed Sacrament itself. That said, the form has demonstrated that it is not as strong in defending against potential abuses as it could be…. as it “should” be.
There is nothing hateful or anti-Catholic in saying as much, jon. And pretending that adult Catholics are unable to distinguish between truth and feared denigration is to deprive Catholics of their God given intellect. That and the means by which to judge the fruits as Our Lord has commanded.
So, please, do be…
…even-keeled instead of being inclined to conflate honest discussion with hate. FYI: The rite of mass is NOT the Sacrament. The rite of Mass is a means and, if that means proves problematic, must by virtue of the dignity required to honor the Sacrament, be reassessed.
jon the-ever-so-pious self-commends that he is an “even-keeled Catholic” (elsewhere he has commended himself as “the only true-blue Catholic”). Amazing.
Well, Justin K., if you stop your dissenting and castigating of the Magisterium, as well as the OF of the Mass, then yeah, you may join the ranks of true-blue traditional Catholics, for it is NOT traditional to be castigating in such a cowardly and scandalous way the anointed clergy of the Church.
Actually, there is also the dogmatic declaration of Vatican II, “Nostra Attire”, which requires all eucharistic “ministeresses” (ministerixes, in Latin) to assist at the Novus Ordo Mass wearing the required garb of a strapless sundress, with a required low-cut front, or the ad libitum option of at least a skirt sufficiently mini- that the annoyingly skimpy hemline will show your desire to save the whales.
The attire so prescribed in “Nostra Attire” is why the ministerixes are called “extraordinary”. Quite.
Thank you, Steve, for reminding us all of the inculturating doctrine of Nostra Attire.
Is it binding?
Well, put on a spandex mini and you tell me!!! But then sanctity is about making sacrifices and the penance involved in those six inch heels, not to mention the intrusive demand for manicurist visits that disrupt requisite gym time, is not to be scoffed at!
Thank you again, brother!
Irony drips from your post Steve, but truth is also painfully obvious as well. These are part of the “trappings” of NO Catholicism very similar to the “trappings” of Traditional Catholicm as pointed out by Jon the Pious, idolatrous things such as Latin, chanting and the TLM. His total contempt for the Mass of the ages and for those who love this Mass betrays his fear and lack of cogent thinking.
Right. The error here of course is that I do attend the TLM on a regular basis, and love it, as I love the OF as well. So my point remains that there are folks here for whom the mere trappings, the mere outward displays of religiosity specifically those seen in the EF have become the “idol” of these folks who denigrate the OF for its lack of these “externals.” St. Timothy wrote well of these folks: “Having an appearance indeed of godliness, but denying the power thereof. Now these avoid” (2Tim3:5).
Ah, here you are wrong SPhoenix, for I too attend the TLM. Check my post below!
I have read jon’s protestations that he attends the TLM, but they sound empty, because he has shown an overwhelming hostile animus to the traditional Church. You cant serve two masters, said a Wise Teacher.
He may have gone once or twice in the last couple years so he could condescendingly gather information to use against the TLM. But the rest is disinformation.
You just reminded me of the female usher I saw a few months ago in a mini skirt. She was at least middle aged, so I thought at first that she must have on shorts, which are bad enough at a Mass, but by golly, gee whizz it was a mini. and at a church known for its orthodoxy. I thought, “Oh, no, there goes this isle of sanity.”
Has it ever occurred to some Catholics that the priests of the Old and New Testaments were commanded by God to wear longer vestments as they go up to the altar to avoid any immodesty and undue distractions, and that we should all wear reasonably modest clothing, too, at any Mass. I cannot find it now, but it does tell the priests in the Old Testament to fully cover themselves when they go up to the altar and not…
Actually, the woman was wearing more of a micro mini.
Here are the instructions about modesty in vestments, Exodus 28: 40 – 43. Catholic priests do not have to follow them exactly, of course, but they do have to follow the general principal.
Sometimes you get lucky. This May I happened upon a gem in downtown Nashville, just across the street from the TN state capital. The Mass at St. Mary of the Seven Sorrows was celebrated ad Orientem, music from the choir loft, and communion was received while kneeling at the altar rail. It was a beautifully reverential Mass in a church that was once converted into a military hospital during the Civil War. Such a joy to find this church, check it out if you are in Nashville!
“But things took a decided turn as soon as the liturgy began.”
Been there done that…
And, the most terrifying item to read in the weekly bulletin is when the priest that is listed for the Mass is “VP”. Visiting Priest.
The Vatican II declaration “Nostra Attire”, which is why there are so many dame-ministeresses in mini-dresses and low-cut fronts (all to praise God, you see; let the people acclaim again, “Glory!: Te Deum, Laudamus”) may yet precipitate a confrontation—not from the hateful trad-oriented males among us— but I cannot promise to much longer restrain Mrs. Phoenix at the next perky-sundress-tightly-clad truly extraordinary-ministerix encounter.
Like, you know, man, Saul later Paul, going postal (Acts 9:1, “Saul, as yet breathing out murderous threatenings…”). Things happen. Real fast.
And all we wanted to do was save a polar bear by going to Novus Ordo Mass…
It is important to note, and I say this as one who also attends the Extraordinary Form, that amazingly among my crowd there is none of this attitude that the “new Mass” is a fiasco, deplorable, evil (all SSPX language here folks). We love the sacraments of the Church, especially the Mass, whether the OF or the EF. So, this attitude of contempt for the OF and Vatican II could only come from an acquired source, which I daresay is your beloved SSPX and the “independent” chapels it has spawned. They have the strongest motivation to throw shade at the legitimate clergy and at Vat2. Before they are admitted back into the fold of the Church, it is my hope that they are made to renounce their hatred and anti-semitism, for there is NO…
ROOM FOR THAT in the Church. NONE!
All we wanted to do was save a polar bear by attending the N.O. Mass.
Jon, I’m glad to hear that. Because from this website, I’m scared to go to an EF mass, just because I might encounter types that exhibit themselves here.
YFC, most people don’t pay attention to who else is at an EF Mass. The people there are focused on prayer, not on the other people. There is some chit-chat after Mass, but not much. EF communities are not excessively gregarious, like some OF parishes try to be. People are friendly but generally leave others be.
Go there by yourself, and hardly anyone will notice you; you will blend in.
Go there with an agenda, such as by dressing flamboyantly or holding hands with a man, and you will certainly incur cold stares with good reason because you will be attending not to experience the EF but for a pernicious reason.
“I’m scared to go to an EF mass, just because I might encounter types that exhibit ..”
There, there, now: it’s all right, calm your fears.
The dogmatic declaration of Vatican II “Nostra Attire” encourages one to exhibit. And obviously since one lacks a sense of humor (unless it is lampooning traditional Church) that is what you may be choosing to exhibit instead.
“… So, this attitude of contempt for the OF and Vatican II could only come from an acquired source, which I daresay is your beloved SSPX and the “independent” chapels it has spawned.”
You dare say it, jon, because it is the last bastion perhaps of those clambering to blame anything but the demonstrably rotten fruits of pretending that that which isn’t binding is or that that which has proved faulty isn’t.
The only spawning going on here is the spawning of novelty premised on false obedience. But there’s nothing scary about it. Our Lord predicted as much. So no fear, YFC. You certainly do not demonstrate timidity here on CCD. Quite the contrary.
Of course the Second Vatican Council is binding, which proves why your beloved SSPX has no legal status in the Church. Just for the record, AMalley and her ilk still cannot refute the fact that the solid prelates of the Church—Burke, Sarah (who wrote beautifully and tenderly about the years of the Council in his book), Schneider, Muller, Morlino, Sample, Cordileone, Conely—ALL SUPPORT VATICAN II! They are stupefied by that fact!
But back to their beloved SSPX: they continue to create scandal in the Church, with Williamson ordaining more bishops in direct disobedience of the Church! Scandalous. Most sad is that they take with them unsuspecting Catholics who love the TLM. And THAT IS WHY I am so glad that Benedict freed…
the TLM from the clutches of these anti-semitic SSPXers and made it available for all priests to learn and offer.
Red-herring smear by red-herring jon against the SSPX (“anti-Semitism”). Why? Because now the SSPX has been vindicated: not all the documents of V2 are doctrinally binding. Abp. Pozzo:
“The secretary [Card Pericle Felici]for the Unity of Christians said on 18 November 1964 in the Council Hall about Nostra Aetate: “As to the character of the declaration, the secretariat does not want to write a dogmatic declaration on non-Christian religions, but, rather, practical and pastoral norms.” Nostrae Aetate does not have any dogmatic authority, and thus one cannot demand from anyone to recognize this declaration as being dogmatic.”
https://www.onepeterfive.com/abp-pozzo-on-sspx-disputed-vatican-ii-documents-are-non-doctrinal/
Of course, the novelties that were limited to pastoral language, are not binding (as the council was declared at its onset and at its end to bind nothing new).
This is why your beloved fixation is to blame a particular group for pointing out that truth. Why? Maybe because you are devoted to novelty and the fallacy that the Magisterium as some free-flowing entity that only needs a basis in being given authority, not one that is required to maintain its integrity with regard to the truth of said authority.
So speak on of “clutches” “anti-Semitism” etc. And BXVI demonstrated clearly that the TLM was never abrogated. That’s freeing the minds of the faithful from the falsehood perpetuated by bishops who misused authority to rob the…
… flock of the TLM…. and solid “Catholic” teaching.
That said, the scandal is you pretending that Williamson didn’t get booted out of the Society. The scandal is cleaving to the facade with an impression of truth on it while rejecting the truth itself. No stupefaction at all. That, Sir, Ma’am, whoever you are is just another one of your projections. Relax. the truth will set you free. Not doubling down on error for ego sake.
It’s okay to correct mistakes, jon, even big ones. You don’t have to rail against reality for anyone. Seriously.
Masonic infiltration of the Church.
https://www.realnews247.com/altar_comparison_pictorial.htm
Ralph: so correct. re. this pictorial comparison of the New Church altars with Masonic Lodge and Temple altars previously; the eerie change from traditional altars to slabs of alien sacrifice is undeniable. But I thought the photo display would include the Mahony’s LA Cathedral (and it has to be seen in person, as I have, to get the full effect):
https://www.olacathedral.org/cathedral/giving/gfx/images/altarimage.jpg
Also:
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/Content/Site140/Articles/11_01_2011/976deaconsjpg_00000000595.jpg
But my all time favorite, again from OLA, LA:
https://www.catholictradition.org/Eucharist/v2-pagans.jpg
One word: eerie.
That’s right, “eerie,” as in demonic. Paul Fisher, in “Behind the Lodge Door” (1988), defined Freemasonry as “an occult religion of Kabbalistic Gnosticism.” Freemasonry is foundational to modern theological and political liberalism, and, according to historian Michael Davies (RIP), a later exposed Freemason was the principle author of the NO. Liberal Catholics who think they’re so enlightened have generally never read a single sentence on the topic, yet their ideology is an artifice of Satan.
Before the Council, everyone knew, that you could walk into a Catholic church anywhere in the world– and it would be pretty much the same, as your hometown church! You must be properly dressed (women and girls must wear modest dresses, and cover their heads) and behave very reverently! You cross yourself with holy water, see the Blessed Sacrament in the Tabernacle, located in the middle of the High Altar, and genuflect– and you can make a Visit to the Blessed Sacrament, light a candle and say a prayer, say your Rosary (etc.) — and Holy Mass, Confession, and all of the other Sacraments– will be EXACTLY THE SAME AS YOUR HOMETOWN CHURCH!! ALL OVER THE WORLD!!
Ralph: I need to add to your Masonic altar/lodge v. New Church “church”, the “Holy Spirit Newman Center” in Berkeley, CA, one of the most literally ungodly “spaces” ever constructed: two shots, outside and inside:
https://i1.wp.com/www.dailycal.org/assets/uploads/2014/03/newmanhall.jpg
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-VG21s-lBE30/TX_-OHjJi_I/AAAAAAAAAZE/9Y7V5c12EbE/s1600/DSC01812.JPG
The altar looks like it was hit with two 75mm cannon shots through giant swiss cheese chunk, and the crucifix is of a dead man staring lifelessly straight ahead. Or as Dante said, “Abandon hope, all ye who enter within.”
A friend of mine, who had haplessly ventured in, called it “Planet-of-the-Apes Catholic Church.”
Different church, different religion.
By the way, Bp. Barber had to remove two egregiously out-of-line priests from this parish a while back. All consistent.