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Post by cato on Mar 25, 2021 16:18:53 GMT
We have previously discussed The Benedict Option here. There is a very good series of talks on You Tube by an Irish priest Fr Brendan Kilcoyne on how do Irish Catholics face the collapse of Irish Catholicism and traditional society.
Kilcoynes thesis is that we are in deep trouble but we need to look at truly radical,as in going back to our roots , ways of being catholic Christians today.
He is deeply erudite, passionate and witty. I have listened to 3 of his lectures which are thought provoking and also down to earth. He s also a thinking conservative catholic priest. A rare bird.
I have been enjoying his offerings. Look up the Brendan Option. I won't get into what the option is yet. I would be interested in what others think.
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Post by Tomas on Mar 25, 2021 16:23:14 GMT
Glad to hear of these genuine voices stepping forward. Will check later! Promising view.
An American friend reminded me yesterday how there are good people still, in the US, and everything is never as bad as it shows by the media. I believe she is right. We get misled all the time by the corrupt censors serving lies. Even when spiced up with signs or big business vaccines it's simply loathsome diet.
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Post by assisi on Apr 1, 2021 17:09:32 GMT
We have previously discussed The Benedict Option here. There is a very good series of talks on You Tube by an Irish priest Fr Brendan Kilcoyne on how do Irish Catholics face the collapse of Irish Catholicism and traditional society. Kilcoynes thesis is that we are in deep trouble but we need to look at truly radical,as in going back to our roots , ways of being catholic Christians today. He is deeply erudite, passionate and witty. I have listened to 3 of his lectures which are thought provoking and also down to earth. He s also a thinking conservative catholic priest. A rare bird. I have been enjoying his offerings. Look up the Brendan Option. I won't get into what the option is yet. I would be interested in what others think. I am on the 3rd podcast. He is very good. He mentioned recovering from a stroke some years ago, but his ability to think thankfully hasn't been affected. He has a storyteller's approach which is entertaining and he has points to make, which he does. We are in 'liquid modernity' where the 'solids' of God, family and community have been broken down by the onslaught of secular society. A few snippets: Cardinal O'Fee, some time ago, when asked why the Irish had stayed such faithful Catholics replied that it was due to our island remoteness. And Vincent Twomey, when asked why the Irish were so spiritual answered that we weren't any more spiritual than anyone else! Nice in a way to see things not being sugar coated, so that we start to evangelise by facing the world and ourselves truthfully. |
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Post by cato on Apr 2, 2021 20:29:20 GMT
A few snippets: Cardinal O'Fee, some time ago, when asked why the Irish had stayed such faithful Catholics replied that it was due to our island remoteness.
I was struck by that reference too Assisi and went back to it. The exact quote was " Remote, insular and poor". O Fiach was a very learned patriotic Irish cleric so his take is striking especially as it was made in the 1980s just after the papal visit of John Paul ll.
Fr Brendan also quotes Mgr Corish of Maynooth who said around the same time "I tremble for Ireland when I think of Quebec ". He was referring to the collapse of the once monolithic French Canadian Catholic church in Quebec. This happened suddenly in the absence of the scandal culture that hit Ireland in the 1990s. Catholic Holland also collapsed like a house of cards almost overnight despite having a reputation of staunch well organised committed Catholics , lay and clerical.
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Post by assisi on Apr 3, 2021 20:13:49 GMT
A few snippets: Cardinal O'Fee, some time ago, when asked why the Irish had stayed such faithful Catholics replied that it was due to our island remoteness. I was struck by that reference too Assisi and went back to it. The exact quote was " Remote, insular and poor". O Fiach was a very learned patriotic Irish cleric so his take is striking especially as it was made in the 1980s just after the papal visit of John Paul ll. Fr Brendan also quotes Mgr Corish of Maynooth who said around the same time "I tremble for Ireland when I think of Quebec ". He was referring to the collapse of the once monolithic French Canadian Catholic church in Quebec. This happened suddenly in the absence of the scandal culture that hit Ireland in the 1990s. Catholic Holland also collapsed like a house of cards almost overnight despite having a reputation of staunch well organised committed Catholics , lay and clerical. Yes, I am convinced that Ireland would still have fallen even if there had been no scandals. The scandals were an accelerant, and dare I say it, a symptom of the main culprit, which seems to be the decadent individualistic lifestyles that have been the norm for the last 60 years and reflective of a trend that may have started as far back as the reformation. It hasn't been a full frontal aggressive assault by Communists, Islamists, Atheists or Nazis attacking us, clearly visible with their banners et al. Instead we have been seduced by pleasure, leisure and novelty and the idea that we, as individuals, are on some sort of quest for personal fulfilment without recourse to any external supernatural power that makes any darn demands on our pleasure seeking (apart perhaps from some woolly universal 'force' that indulges our desires). Generally speaking we have become self indulgent and proud. I'll definitely be listening to more of the Brendan Option podcasts to see in what direction he goes. Good stuff. |
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Post by cato on Oct 27, 2021 11:31:42 GMT
Good video from Fr Brendan recently on encouraging non believing catholics to formally leave if they honestly do not believe . He also discusses honest faith struggles and doubts in a genuinely pastoral manner.
Part of the problem the church faces in Ireland is the issue of the sacraments being used as social rites of passage by swathes of nominal catholics - baptisms , weddings, first(and last) communion masses, funerals etc.
I wonder should we have explicitly secular naming , funeral and coming of age rituals to mark these events ? They ll never be traditionally rooted however but I think it might be preferable to the present farce.
Catholic education is another millstone where Bishops claim catholic schools are still widely popular. What they omit is that people want lite Catholicism taught in them and that catholic schools fail to transmit the faith or even an acceptable level of knowledge about historical Christianity. I am not expecting schools to be the main tools in passing on the faith but nowadays they actually seem to be producing anti catholic pagans in many cases.
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Post by Stephen on Oct 28, 2021 8:00:37 GMT
Good video from Fr Brendan recently on encouraging non believing catholics to formally leave if they honestly do not believe . He also discusses honest faith struggles and doubts in a genuinely pastoral manner. Part of the problem the church faces in Ireland is the issue of the sacraments being used as social rites of passage by swathes of nominal catholics - baptisms , weddings, first(and last) communion masses, funerals etc. I wonder should we have explicitly secular naming , funeral and coming of age rituals to mark these events ? They ll never be traditionally rooted however but I think it might be preferable to the present farce. Catholic education is another millstone where Bishops claim catholic schools are still widely popular. What they omit is that people want lite Catholicism taught in them and that catholic schools fail to transmit the faith or even an acceptable level of knowledge about historical Christianity. I am not expecting schools to be the main tools in passing on the faith but nowadays they actually seem to be producing anti catholic pagans in many cases. "nowadays they actually seem to be producing anti catholic pagans in many cases." 100% agree, hence the reason why practicing Catholics are starting to home educate there children. |
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