u/Money-Mud-1357

"The wisdom of the law of the Church consists in having always maintained, without ever separating them, the moral and the legal order as distinct. The law does not claim to substitute itself for God’s judgment on souls, but it does not for that reason renounce judging objectively those acts that affect ecclesial communion. It is in this distinction that the principle facta sunt potentiora verbis finds its deepest meaning: deeds prevail over words in the ascertainment of the objective reality of an action. Otherwise, legal judgment is transformed into a judgment of conscience, the law of the Church vanishes, and the very visibility of the Mystical Body of Christ risks evaporating altogether."

This is an interesting piece, but I am not so sure I agree with all the author's conclusions. I do believe that the decline of the Church was already happening prior to Vatican II, and was very much due to the change in the wider culture, or perhaps the failure of Cultural Catholicism, which was not exactly a healthy anyway, and was long overdue for correction. Ireland may have been largely Catholic for longer than other countries, but the abuse crisis tore the Church apart there, and many people became anti-Catholic, not just non-Catholic. Demographics also plays a big role, and the whole landscape will likely shift again as the older generation passes on. Also people are immigrating and relocating with far more easily than before.

I think that in many ways the author's idea of forming 'Little Christendoms' is exactly what the Trad experiment is trying to do, and the results are certainly not all positive. In the SSPX particularly, and I am sure in other similar communities, the belief was that education is of foundational importance, because children formed as Catholics are far more likely to stay Catholic. My thought is at what point does education cross into indoctrination, and the so called 'bindingness' of these communities cross into control? Perhaps the sense of community and shared purpose is a lot of what attracts people to these movements in the first place, or is it a shared nostalgia for the past?

We recently attended a gathering and found out that it was largely made up of Christians from a nearby newly established Christian Church. These people were friendly and welcoming in a way that I have not experienced at our local Catholic Parish. They are mostly young people and young families who get together regularly for Bible studies as well as Social events and worship. I wonder what it is about these types of groups that make them more attractive than the Catholic Women's League, or the Knights of Columbus? Age, purpose, intent? It must be possible to form vibrant new Catholic Communities as well, and I don't think geographic proximity is the only answer.

I still wonder where the 600,000 SSPX followers number came from. Maybe that many sympathizers, but if there are actually 600,000 that attend Mass at their chapels it would mean each priest has to minister to around 1,000 faithful, which is impossible.