Because of Vatican II....Or Because of the Times

Elena at My Domestic Church said "In my life personally, I think the implementation of Vatican II, in the name of the elusive "spirit of Vatican II" robbed me of what it meant to truly be Catholic in how I lived my life, and learned my lessons, how I prayed, and how it was to actually LIVE A CATHOLIC LIFESTYLE. " I ask whether that happened because of Vatican II or just following it.

As a Church we do not exist outside the society in which we live--and challenging authority is what was happening in our society in the late 1960's and early 1970's. People were asking "why?" to many rules and schools were moving from rote memorization in many subjects to more of an inquiry-based approach (often to the detriment of the subject being taught, whether history, science or religion) The John Jay Report indicates that most of the priests involved in the scandals we are dealing with today were formed in pre-Vatican II seminaries--but most of the abuse was committed in the years closely following Vatican II--the years when "the establishment" was being challenged by young people on every front. I wonder if they were formed for an era that no longer existed and didn't have the background skills to deal with the era in which they lived, coupled with the temptations they faced.

It was also the time when many of our parents left the urban ethnic parishes in which they and their families grew up and moved to new suburban parishes which were hastily (and cheaply) constructed--parishes which never became the community centers those old city parishes did. Even in small towns, people moved further out of town or to new towns when the economies in the old towns faltered. I think that as social ties to the parish weakened, it was easier for those who did not want to attend mass to skip, since there was less (or even no) social pressure to go.

The great unknown is what our parishes and church would be like today if there had been no Vatican II. It is possible that we would still be attending Latin masses--but it is also possible that the vernacular could have been instituted without Vatican II--just as it is possible that what masses were said were said in Latin, but over the years fewer and fewer people chose to attend them. While it is possible that we would have rectories full of priests and convents full of sisters in every parish, it is also possible that the lower numbers of priests and religious have as much to do with increased opportunities for women, the decrease in stigma attached to living alone and increased resistance in society to commitment and responsibility. While it is possible that Catholics would shun birth control as a horrible sin, it is more likely that they would have done what they did--caved in to the economic pressure to have small families by using convenient methods (especially since the Vatican II document relating to family life doesn't endorse birth control). While it is possible that we would have learned religion from the Baltimore Catechism rather than those empty Sadlier books, memorization was "out" as an educational method at that time so its entirely possible that the BC would have been too--even without Vatican II.

And then there is my daughter

My oldest daughter also needs a new school next year. I have several choices: the neighborhood middle school that her elementary feeds, our neighborhood middle school, a magnet middle school, or a Catholic school. Her first preference is the school her school feeds, but that just isn't practical as they do not offer afterschool care and since we are not in the district, she would have no way home. I haven't heard much good about our neighborhood middle school and she doesn't know any of the kids there, so that choice was never seriously considered. Right now my choice is our district's magnet middle school. I'm not sure how competitive that's going to be, or how she'll rank if it is very competitive (she had the best test scores in her grade last year, but they were not in the high 90th percentile). I like the idea of a school that will challenge her academically--something I'm not convinced most of the Catholic schools would do as they seem aimed at the child in the middle rather than the exceptionally bright ones or the ones with learning problems. I like the fact that she will be going to school with kids from different races and cultures. I like the tuition (or more precisely the lack thereof). I think being with high-achieving students will encourage her to excel. Hopefully she'll be admitted.

Picking Schools

One job I have next month is picking schools for my two older children. Each has to go to a new school next year, and picking that school is up to me (with some input from them). My thirteen year old is in eighth grade in a small Catholic school across town from where we live, but close to my office. He is bright, but mildly autistic with attention, fine motor and social issues. The school has been a gift of God for him, with good teachers who have given him the attention he needs, and kids who have been as nice to him as can be expected of kids that age. While my gut feeling is to look for a small school, the Catholic and public schools generally aren't. While we were in Atlanta after Katrina, he attended a public middle school that had about 200 kids in a grade, and he managed, so I'm not quite as hooked on a small school as I was before that. The easiest place to send him would be our local public high school, but it is one of the biggest in the area and the kids there seem kind of rough. From a convenience standpoint, two Catholic schools stand out. Rummel is the local boy's high school which is a few blocks away from my office. It has a good reputation academically but the worst teasing my son has ever endured happened at their camp--and the staff did little to stop it. Holy Rosary is a new school, started this year for kids with "learning differences". I'm concerned about academics there, since my son is on grade level, but I think socially it would be a good fit--if they would take him--the affiliated elementary wouldn't, and I know they have expelled at least one autistic boy. The tuition is about twice what other high schools charge--and for my son, I'm just not convinced it would be worth it. His elementary counselor called someone with the archdiocese who recommends Holy Rosary as a first choice, DeLaSalle as a second choice and Rummel third. DeLaSalle interests me, but it is a long way away. It is good to have choices, but hard to make good ones for a child who doesn't fit in any pre-cut package.

Katrina Pictures

I grew up on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, in Long Beach. My parents' house is three blocks from the beach. It was a nice day today and they no longer have National Guard troops blocking access to the area south of the tracks, so we ventured away from the homestead for the first time since the storm and took a look around. My parents' church, St. Thomas was still standing, sort of--the beams were there, and part of the roof, but not much else--but there were meeting chairs there, so I wonder if mass has been held there. The parish is temporarily based in the old skating rink in town. These are some pictures from my old neighborhood. Basically the first block from the beach suffered total devastation. The second block had houses off their foundations, walls crushed by water etc., but the houses were still recognizable. The houses on the third block got water in them.