The Crisis of Faith Will Continue Until the Root Cause Is Addressed. By Father Bruno-Philip Penguine

No one yet seems to bother to do a forensic investigation within the Church, to identify the reasons for the present corruption.

It all goes back to the influence of Vatican II. It was announced by John XXIII as a "pastoral" Council, with the indication that there would be no NEW doctrine or proclamation of "dogma" as in previous ecumenical Councils but would bring the Church up-to-date (“aggiornamento”) with the "modern" world.

As a consequence, “ecumenism" took on a new meaning; there was enthusiastic proclaiming of a "NEW PENTECOST." There was introduction of a NEW LITURGY (Novus Ordo); a NEW understanding of the Church itself etc.

In common understanding when one takes something new, e.g, a car, clothes, job, the old is discarded.

Fundamentally this is what has happened. The only thing that was retained was the absolute authority and the requirement of obedience.

I was privileged to grow up before Vatican II. I entered the seminary in the late 60s, yet the changes were only beginning in those first years. In fact, everything remained in Latin for the first two years.

Thereafter I commenced Theology, but in the second year the Jesuits were replaced by secular priests, mainly unqualified or at least not the high standard of the then Jesuit Professors. By the final year it was just about as chaotic as this last week in American politics.

Which brings to mind the fact that the ethos of the seminary changed from being spiritual formation, forming an intimate and knowledgeable relationship with Jesus through prayer and self-discipline, to a free and easy and politicised pursuit of theological enquiry.

Some of my peers battled and resisted the pressures of conformity to the NEW-ness; many gave up and left.

Most importantly at this period, positions of responsibility within the dioceses were filled by people who embraced and promoted, sometimes fanatically, this NEW-ness.

Parishioners and students and older priests who resisted were marginalised. Terms of office (tenure of a Parish Priest) were limited, committees for every conceivable thing were instituted. Parish councils (a Protestant tradition) were instituted. Laity were given roles for which they had no knowledge or experience etc.

The most influential area of this NEW-ness was the destruction of the Catholic School system. Top of the list was the "reform" of Catechesis. Catechisms were abolished, guidelines were introduced.

These were fuzzy attempts at creating a touchy feely kind of religion where everyone would be happy and those horrid pre Vat II times where everyone lived in fear would be abolished.

One would not teach the TEN COMMANDMENTS. These were deemed to be negative for children. Instead Ten Ideals would be taught (although teaching itself was not PC, teachers would now be “facilitators”!). Children would be allowed to experience what in fact were merely aspirations.

Is it any wonder that the schools no longer produced informed Catholics, their raison d'être? When God’s Commandments are jettisoned, so is the sense of sin, and the absolute horror of falling into sin.

Don't forget that at the same time there was the phenomenon of Woodstock and the sexual revolution. This was hailed as the freeing up of society and spread like wild fire. So, the Church was opening its windows to the firestorm of sexual liberation and now we can see the result.

The crisis of faith and morals was inevitable and it will continue until the root cause is identified and addressed.