"Do not be clerical!" That, or words similar, is what many young seminarians and priests often hear from our elder brothers and from many lay folks. But what does that exactly mean? It basically means that a priest should not act like a dictator and a member of a privileged class. Good words of advice. The priesthood is a call to a life of service to Jesus Christ and His people. Therefore the priest goes about his life in a prayerful manner of service and love, leading the people to knowledge of God by celebrating the sacraments with reverence and faithfully performing them in the manner in which the Church has commissioned him to do.
Here is where the new clericalism steps in. Many of my generation believe that the celebration of the Mass should adhere faithfully to the liturgical norms and not be fiddled with at all. I know as a lay man for many years that I would parish shop until I found a parish that was faithful to the Sacramentary and normal Catholic liturgical worship. Where there was obvious deviation (skipping the Gloria, excessive inclusive language, lay preaching, general absolution in place of confessions, changing the words of the Eucharistic Prayer, etc.) I would not return to that parish.
But we know many parishes and priests who do just these things. Why? Because they have the power to do so. They use their clerical office to implement changes in the Mass that are not appropriate and can lead to illicit and sometimes invalid sacraments. They have become the pope of that parish. It is what I call The New Clericalism. It is by the very power that these priests (and laity) allegedly reject that gives them the power to make any change that they believe is needed in order to make life in their parish more tolerable to the unsophisticated or ignorant faithful.
Fair warning: try accusing them of clericalism and you might be in for a real battle. But I stand by the description. It is clericalism to use your power to make changes where there is no authority to do such things.
The faithful deserve and have a right to properly celebrated sacraments. Denying them this right is an ugly sin.
Magister helps us with the “Cottier article” and Pres. Obama’s meeting with
journalists
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The gentlemanly Sandro Magister of chiesa has posted an examination of the
piece published in 30 Giorni under the name of Georges Card. Cottier,
designed t...
1 hour ago


