Andrew Greeley and Paul Wink
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520238176
- eISBN:
- 9780520938779
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520238176.003.0008
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Revolutionary events and the collapse of institutional structures always leave chaos, confusion, and conflict in their wake. In the revolutionary years after the council, more changed than just the ...
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Revolutionary events and the collapse of institutional structures always leave chaos, confusion, and conflict in their wake. In the revolutionary years after the council, more changed than just the rules about sex. A large majority of laity and lower clergy participated and celebrated these changes. Neither historical nor theological nor personal depth was available in the immediate post-revolutionary era. The result was what theologian Robert Barron calls “beige Catholicism,” the colorless, odorless, tasteless, unimaginative, unpoetic variety of Catholicism in which he was raised. The need for order and certainty was still felt at the lower levels of the church leadership. The new authoritarians made the old monsignors look permissive. Although priests no longer controlled the lives of the laity, priests and parish staff members did still controlled access to the sacraments. In the post-revolutionary years after 1970, when the old rules were collapsing, a new set of extra canonical rules came into existence that protected clerical power and abused the rights of the laity. Paradoxically, the new freedom also meant new and more harsh rules. The rule making power of the local clergy proved remarkably durable.Less
Revolutionary events and the collapse of institutional structures always leave chaos, confusion, and conflict in their wake. In the revolutionary years after the council, more changed than just the rules about sex. A large majority of laity and lower clergy participated and celebrated these changes. Neither historical nor theological nor personal depth was available in the immediate post-revolutionary era. The result was what theologian Robert Barron calls “beige Catholicism,” the colorless, odorless, tasteless, unimaginative, unpoetic variety of Catholicism in which he was raised. The need for order and certainty was still felt at the lower levels of the church leadership. The new authoritarians made the old monsignors look permissive. Although priests no longer controlled the lives of the laity, priests and parish staff members did still controlled access to the sacraments. In the post-revolutionary years after 1970, when the old rules were collapsing, a new set of extra canonical rules came into existence that protected clerical power and abused the rights of the laity. Paradoxically, the new freedom also meant new and more harsh rules. The rule making power of the local clergy proved remarkably durable.
Andrew Greeley and Paul Wink
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520238176
- eISBN:
- 9780520938779
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520238176.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, History of Christianity
Priests were the officers in the Catholic Revolution. Their changes in attitude towards birth control, masturbation, and divorce occurred at the same time as the revolutionary effervescence which ...
More
Priests were the officers in the Catholic Revolution. Their changes in attitude towards birth control, masturbation, and divorce occurred at the same time as the revolutionary effervescence which spread among the laity. Priesthood has paid a high price for its revolutionary leadership. Priests are also responsible for the emergence of beige Catholicism and the new authoritarian pragmatism. Large proportions of priests do not accept the official teachings of the Church about moral behaviors that are considered always wrong. American priests tend to value human sexuality, lay freedom, and the dignity of women. This chapter studies the divergence in the interpretations of values between the Vatican and the American priests. The American priests saw the wineskins bursting and rushed in to save the situation by counseling the laity of the need to base decisions on their own consciences. They thus reinforced and extended the effervescence of the revolutionary movement.Less
Priests were the officers in the Catholic Revolution. Their changes in attitude towards birth control, masturbation, and divorce occurred at the same time as the revolutionary effervescence which spread among the laity. Priesthood has paid a high price for its revolutionary leadership. Priests are also responsible for the emergence of beige Catholicism and the new authoritarian pragmatism. Large proportions of priests do not accept the official teachings of the Church about moral behaviors that are considered always wrong. American priests tend to value human sexuality, lay freedom, and the dignity of women. This chapter studies the divergence in the interpretations of values between the Vatican and the American priests. The American priests saw the wineskins bursting and rushed in to save the situation by counseling the laity of the need to base decisions on their own consciences. They thus reinforced and extended the effervescence of the revolutionary movement.
