"Springtime of Vatican II" Update

The Church in America is Dying

by Christopher A. Ferrara

        As what is left of the Church in France expires, the Novus Ordo establishment in America, which is likewise almost bereft of priestly vocations, is now also in a terminal condition.

        A case in point is the Diocese of Vermont, typical of nearly every American diocese today, after forty years of post-conciliar "renewal." A report in the timesargus.com online edition (January 9, 2005), predicting the future of the Catholic Church in Vermont, asks the question: "How do you staff 130 parishes with 55 priests, settle yet another round of clergy misconduct lawsuits and replace a retiring bishop?" How indeed?

        According to timesargus.com "The Roman Catholic Diocese of Vermont projects the number of priests will drop by half in 10 years, leaving about 55 clergymen to minister to more than twice as many parishes." Ands what does the Bishop of Vermont intend to do about this? According to the report, Bishop Kenneth Angell is inviting all priests, deacons and two lay representatives from each local church to suggest possible solutions at a by-invitation-only meeting…"

        The Church in Vermont is practically dead, and now Bishop Angell wants to brainstorm? A bit late, isn’t it?

        At this point, about the only thing the Bishop can do is shut down parishes, for there are no priests and no parishioners. And so, "Church leaders launched a study of the diocese's 130-parish structure last January and held a series of regional public meetings last spring, all with the hope of announcing a program of closings and reconfigurations this month."

        As the article notes, "A priest shortage is plaguing Catholic churches throughout New England, the nation and as far away as Australia, where the Archbishop of Sydney recently announced his city's parishes would have to share clergy like their rural counterparts." The same is true in Europe. Which means that after four decades of the conciliar "springtime" not only the entire Western Church, but the Church in Australia is heading toward extinction. And even in Africa, a supposedly "vibrant" Church is wracked by the scandal of priests routinely living in concubinage and a liturgy that has been thoroughly corrupted by pagan elements. [See, Fatima Perspective No. 163, "Vatican Spokesmen Says Abuse of Nuns a ‘Cultural Way of Living’"].

        When Our Lord promised that the gates of hell would not prevail against His Church, He did not promise that the Church would survive in any given place. Indeed, as St. John Bosco is reported to have seen in a vision of the Church in crisis, there will come a time when all the Catholic faithful of the world will barely be enough to fill St. Peter’s Square.

        Today, perhaps more than any other time in history, Catholics can appreciate the significance of Our Lord’s question: "But yet, when the Son of man cometh, shall he find, thinketh you, faith on earth?" No wonder Our Lady came to Fatima on an emergency mission from Heaven. The triumph of Her Immaculate Heart is the only way the deadly post-conciliar "springtime" can be reversed. That triumph will occur only when Her requests are fulfilled.