Well the CDC really messed things up when it first said the the vaccinated no longer needed to mask and be socially distant, then reversed itself and said that the Delta surge required everyone to mask and socially distant. Politicians and pundits are all over the place on these issues. Only bishops can set policy for their own dioceses; they are making all sorts of choices most often in the form of advice. That leaves it up to pastors who are also making all sorts of decisions. So naturally the laity are making all sorts of decisions for themselves. A lot of those decisions are to return to livestream Mass.
I am glad I never went back. What does community mean when you cannot trust your fellow parishioners to get vaccinated, or wear masks or be socially distant? What does pastoring mean if you cannot trust your bishop and your pastor to be very clear to everyone in the parish that they need to be vaccinated, mask and be socially distant?
Many people but not all were coming back after our first year of Covid. I think that parishes are going to have far fewer in the pews after the second year of Covid.
It was not supposed to be this way. Back in more optimistic days in May, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised that America’s fully vaccinated could strip off their masks and cease social distancing in most settings. (Unvaccinated people, per C.D.C. guidance, had to remain masked indoors and still do.) Dioceses around the country rushed to re-establish the old rite—that is, the pre-2020 liturgy that did not include choirless, mask-wearing, socially distanced celebrations.
But the Delta variant soon made a mockery of the nation’s progress against Covid-19. By July 27, with case numbers rising dramatically—primarily among unvaccinated people in an emerging Delta belt from Arizona to Florida—the C.D.C. revised its guidance, and indoor mask-wearing for even fully vaccinated people in high-risk counties was back. But by that mid-summer revision, many dioceses had ended Mass dispensations and many thousands of Catholics had returned to church without masks. Can they be persuaded now to restore those pandemic precautions?
But at some parishes a battle line has been drawn between parishioners willing to mask up again and those who perceive masks as unnecessary, ineffective or, at worst, a violation of their freedom.
“Last week there were no masked parishioners in church save for the clergy distributing Communion,” Theresa Maccarone of Rochester, N.Y., said, responding to America on Twitter. “I’ve decided to view Sunday Mass from home again since I don’t trust that all unmasked Catholics are fully vaccinated.
“I’m hoping our new bishop will allow outdoor liturgies,” she added. “We had masking early on with no problems,” Dean Astumian of Orono, Me., wrote on Twitter, “but as soon as the C.D.C. made its fateful pronouncement, people abandoned masking, and I haven’t returned to in-person Mass.”
“What I’ve noticed from talking with parishioners is that the ones who wish for masks to be mandated during Mass are no longer attending our parish but would rather watch online. The anti-mask/anti-vax group continue to flood the pews and that is who the pastor is preaching to and taking advice from.
“It’s hard to watch. I’ve been working and serving the church for over 20 years and even the [Pennsylvania] grand jury report [on sexual abuse] didn’t create this much animosity toward each other and clergy.”
Comments about the issue at America’s U.S. Catholic Politics group on Facebook suggest that the decision to mask or not to mask remains unsettled across the country, with some parishes restoring mask guidelines—many never dropped them in the first place—and others forging ahead with liturgies without masks.
Christine Antis writes that her Arizona parish “has weighed heavily on no masks required ever, no reservations, and no guidance on which rows to use for social distancing.” “Our Pittsburgh diocese has officially reinstated the requirement to attend Mass in person,” Terry Klein reports on Facebook. “The mask mandate and distancing requirements have also been dropped. I have attended Mass virtually during the entire epidemic. I’m still afraid to gather inside in a packed church, which ours typically is. So, what is a senior citizen to do?”
The mask divide has led some to take up parish shopping. At her local parish in Albemarle, N.C., Elizabeth Davis Snow writes: “Those who chose to wear masks had to do the best they could with social distancing. People were actually teased for wearing a mask, so I started attending Mass at another parish where [temperature] screening was done, masks were required and you made reservations for your family in order to promote social distancing.
“At the moment I have returned to online Mass on my own accord as the Delta variant has surged,” adds Ms. Snow, a doctor of nursing practice in life outside her parish. “I believe it is my responsibility to look out for my own health. The area I reside only has a 33 percent full vaccination rate.”
Pastors attempting to keep the peace over a public health issue that has become deeply politicized may want to create as many options as possible. “My parish has both indoor (mask required) and outdoor mass (mask not required),” writes Wayne Mortensen from Oakland, Calif. “I attend outdoor and choose to wear a mask, even though I am fully vaccinated, because of my age and the number of people attending.”
“The fact that politicians and TV news anchors are affecting America’s health is insane and needs to be halted,” Mr. Mortensen says. “No one’s freedom is being affected. We live in societies which have rules to enable people to live together in peace. Vaccines are a part of life in modern communities. Grown ups accept responsibility for self and others.”
The American Catholic Church is as polarized as America itself. And, as is the case with the nation, it is political. I see no hope that the GOP will return to its senses and again be a legitimate political party. I have only a faint home that America will reject what the HOP has become, in 2022 and 2024.
ReplyDeleteI seriously doubt that the American Catholic Church will ever come back together. It is currently two churches in both the religious and secular political realms - one progressive and one regressive. The only unanswered question at this point is how it will end up - an official schism? Or simply a “smaller”, if not actually “purer” church after the remaining progressives either leave or die ( most progressives still in the pews are Vatican II generation) and the younger adults continue to abandon the church as soon as they can’ with the exception of the tiny group of neo- trads.
GOP. Sigh
ReplyDeleteAnne, LOL. I was thinking you made up a new acronym for the Republicans. Maybe "hare-brained odd party".
DeleteI think Cardinal Cupich has done a pretty good job navigating the changing situation on the ground, as well as the shifting recommendations and mandates coming from various governing body.
ReplyDeleteCrucially, he didn't reinstate the Sunday mass obligation earlier this summer, before the Delta variant surge. At least the archdiocese isn't imposing any spiritual burdens on those who aren't comfortable coming to mass.
Within the last week or so, Cook County (one of two counties within the archdiocese's borders) reinstated an indoor mask mandate. So the archdiocese issued a new policy *requiring* masks for parishes in Cook County, and *strongly recommending* them for parishes in Lake County. Then, within the last few days, Governor Pritzker issued a statewide mask mandate. So now the archdiocese will require masks throughout its facilities in both counties.
In all this, the archdiocese is seeking to collaborate with public health authorities. I wouldn't characterize any of its mask and social distance policies, throughout the pandemic, as irresponsible. It is trying to follow the science and keep everyone healthy. Perhaps its easier around here inasmuch as there isn't a vocal minority, much less majority, that is objecting strenuously to the restrictions. Different cultural norms prevail in different parts of the country. I guess the Chicago area is relatively oriented toward social solidarity.
I'm not quite as pessimistic as Jack or Anne. Our parish has some masked, and some not. I don't see anyone being disrespected for wearing a mask. I think people assume health reasons. I have been going without since I was fully vaxxed, but have to rethink that now. I am scheduled for arthroscopic knee surgery Sept. 2, and don't want that to get cancelled. I will wear a KN95 mask and maybe attend the early morning silent Mass that is more sparsely attended. So far our community isn't high numbers of cases, even if our governor isn't making good decisions.
ReplyDeleteAbout the polarization in the church, my sister and were talking about Lutherans and their divisions. We know quite a few of them. There are LCMS, ELCA, and Wisconsin Synod. The Wisconsin group are the most conservative, followed by the Missouri Synod (LCMS), and the ELCA, who really couldn't really be called liberal, but are more so than the other two. We don't care what group the people we know are in. Maybe eventually we'll have to view other Catholics that way, and not worry about which "synod" they're in.
ReplyDeleteWe were talking to one of our insurance agents who is in the Lincoln Diocese (equivalent of Wisconsin synod for conservativism). They are a homeschooling family of five, with another on the way, and go to the EF Latin Mass. Certainly not the way I would want to live, but he straightened out our insurance problem. I decided I don't care where they fall on the polar spectrum. They seem like good people, so whatever. As long as I can be the kind of Catholic I want to he.
Breaking into different “synods” - de facto, if not de jure - might sort of work, except when different synods (or parishes in the synods);are all under the same Bishop.
DeleteOur oldest grandson goes to a ELCA parish school. It is very progressive. For example, one of the room parents in his kindergarten was a very nice dad - great with working with the kids on their craft projects. He stays home with his son while his husband works. Both warm and charming men, legally married - adoring dads of a very nice little boy. They also have a nanny who helps at school. Not a situation that you would find in conservative church schools like most Catholic schools.
( Jim, one of the dads is a composer of musical scores in Hollywood, including some big movie hits. Can’t reveal his name though - contemporary, not my mother’s era. The children of a big name popular singer also go to the school. But not in my grandson’s class.)
Anne, ooh, inquiring minds would like to know the composer's name :-). Those guys are the Bachs and Haydns of our generation - churning out vast volumes of music, all of it amazingly high quality.
DeleteThe problem which I see in this report is more chaos rather than schism.
ReplyDeleteWithin Catholicism in order to have schism, you have to have a validly ordained bishop who is out of communion with Rome. Priests do not count because they cannot ordain other priests. Bishops also do not count unless they are acknowledged to have valid apostolic succession by Rome.
There are all sorts of bishops floating around that claim apostolic succession, however few of them are recognized by Rome. There are many more errant priests than bishops but everyone knows that they cannot hand on their priesthood.
While any bishop can start a schism by consecrating another bishop without Rome's approval, that only rarely happens. Any group of liberal bishops(e.g. a group or retired bishops) who wanted to have a married priesthood could begin a schism.
None have chosen to do that. Why? The historic evidence is that it does not work. The Old Catholics are a group of schismatics that did not accept Vatican I on papal infallibility. Their bishops had valid orders. However they have never attracted many members.
The Old Catholics have recognized Anglican orders as valid and have participated in consecration of Anglican bishops (which complicates the issue of the validity of Anglican orders). They have accepted married priests, and more recently women priests. (This has now complicated the issue of the validity of their own orders, e.g. Rome would not recognized even a male bishop consecrated by only women bishops).
Most ordained Catholic women today claim apostolic descent from a bishop but that has never been acknowledged by Rome since Rome's position is that any such ordinations were not simply illicit but also invalid.
So it is really difficult to get a schism going within Catholicism. Most people who try it end up outside of Catholicism, i.e. neither the official church nor many Catholics recognize the "schism" as Catholic.
While we do not have much potential for schism within Catholicism, there is certainly a variety of spiritualities within Catholicism which are legitimate and healthy.
ReplyDeleteSome of these spiritualities at the parish level are official, i.e. we have parishes run by Jesuits, Benedictines, Franciscans, etc. Other are informal with some parishes being more traditionally oriented, e.g. more rosary and devotions, and others more progressive, e.g. more social justice oriented.
Many of the parishes in my area have all of these in the same parish. The flavor of the parish is given more by how predominant some activities are. In many cases the pastor seems to favor some groups more but tolerates others. Again I don't see much of a potential for people really sorting themselves into separate parishes even though some may leave a parish to join another that they like more.
The chaos that I see in this report and in my experience is related to the management of the pandemic.
ReplyDeleteIn the first year of the pandemic pastors merely followed the directives of civil authorities as interpreted by the bishops of Ohio. So we had little music, livestreamed Masses, and masking and social distancing.
The effect that had on me was to withdraw from parish life even from livestreamed Masses and to seek out livestreamed Mass that did have a choir and music. The parish Masses became very clerical. The only thing that counted was the priest.
I quickly realized that musical worship was more important than were priests. I am quite happy celebrating Lauds and Vespers each day with livestreamed Mass on the Lord's Day and not receiving communion in more than a year. Actually my life is not very different from the lives of many monks in the early church who often went for weeks, months, or years without the Eucharist.
Since like early religious communities (monks in their deserts, women in their homes) my life is organized more about household worship, the relevance of parish life has become questionable, especially so since it may not be safe to go to the parish.
I see few attempts of parish leadership to strongly urge and promote vaccination, or promote safe groups of vaccinated person, and healthy life styles. To me they are saying its all up to the individual, hence the chaos.
Personally I don't want to associate with unvaccinated persons and people who are not living healthy lifestyles. Yesterday my cousin from Pennsylvania called about her and another cousin visiting me. My first question was "are you vaccinated?" Fortunately they are. They are coming to shop at an Amish flee market nearby. We agreed they would come here first then go to the flee market. Generally they seem to be staying within the extended family network, and I encourage them in the coming week to limit their engagements.
When they come we will be socializing outside. Earlier in the week we had a home visit from a nurse employed by Betty's insurance company. Our first question was whether or not she was vaccinated. Again fortunately she was, and we do not have to ask for the company to send us a vaccinated person. We conducted the hour long visit out in the driveway with masks and social distance. We will do the same for my relatives.
Gosh there was a time when we abstained from meat on Friday, and regulated our food consumption during Lent. We just need a lot of similar discipline during the pandemic. Somehow the ability to be disciplined has been thrown away and replaced by a sovereign personal right to do whatever one wants. And even worse, a social norm that does not allow us to challenge other people's rights.
That is the chaos that I see. Unfortunately it means that Betty and I have to set our own rules to manage the chaos, and be pretty aggressive in communicating them to everyone else.
Jack, perhaps you are so focused on legalisms, the trees, that you don’t yet see the forest - the unofficial schisms increasingly apparent in the pews. The legalisms are intrinsic to the clericalism that is slowly driving millions away from the RCC. No power to the people? So they walk. Or they find parishes and pastors that reflect their views, slowly building separate versions of the RCC in America, as the Lutherans have done officially.
DeleteHow long can this go on before any semblance of “unity”:in the “catholic means universal” church is impossible to discern? The schism is slow, driven from below, not from above - not from the hierarchy, who perceive themselves as clerical royalty. They remain true to the fraternity.
There is chaos, yes. But the divisions within the RC church, especially in the US, go far beyond disagreements about masks. Katherine provided a pretty good description of how schism is currently operating in the Catholic Church.
I agree about the chaos. I'd be fine with the different "flavors" of Catholicism, if we could keep from dragging politics into it. But of course we can't, or don't. That's where it gets ugly. I feel that Jack is right though, about our collective allergy to any kind of discipline. But maybe the silver lining is that it is keeping us from de jure schism; people can't get their act together enough to accomplish that.
DeleteBut maybe the silver lining is that it is keeping us from de jure schism; people can't get their act together enough to accomplish that.
DeleteLol! Very true, Katherine
Anne, my model or church reform and renewal is sociological not legal.
ReplyDeleteThe description of the Lutherans is classical Protestant reform by the creation of new sects. Those are mostly grass roots movements although, as with the classical case of Martin Luther, they are often led by clergy who are not denominational leaders rather than by laity.
Catholicism also reforms itself not only by top down councils but even more by grass roots movements that have usually taken the form we now know as religious orders. These were always led by laity. Even when male religious orders became heavy clerical, their founders were typically laity although Francis became a deacon and Ignatius became a priest after they had had their fundamental insights and formed religious groups.
Monastics reformed the early church by either going to the desert (mostly men) or living in household communities (mostly women). They minimized their involvement with bishops and priests. The saying among the desert solitaries was that “both bishops and women should be avoided.” Monasteries discouraged priests from joining.
As Western Europe collapsed rural monasteries modeled on the great Roman estates preserved the economy, civilization and Catholicism. As the cities were rebuilt in the Middle Ages, mendicant orders like the Franciscans replaced the now wealthy abbeys as the centers of reform. Finally the great educational and missionary orders like the Jesuits responded to the reformation and colonialization.
The key to Catholic reform is not only grassroots reform by laity but also peripheral rather than central reform. Most of these movements occurred elsewhere than at the centers of Catholicism.
Most Catholics who are dissatisfied with the Church have a great variety of Protestant denominations and even local independent congregations to chose from. Why go to the trouble to form another church?
We do have the phenomena of Catholic women who want to be ordained. They mostly join established Protestant churches to pursue ministry. Some however have gotten themselves ordained in “Catholic” groups that claim valid orders. These groups exist to mostly credential people including now graduate education. Not much evidence of laity.
One such woman, a friend of mine, lives here in Lake County. She even bought an old Byzantine church. She has had a hard time being successful even though she ministers in the same town she served as a Catholic pastoral associate. During the pandemic most of her growth has been online across the country and the world. Maybe priests like prophets are not honored in their home town.
Catholicism had great problems before the pandemic. I do not see much evidence that it has used the pandemic to serve people better. However some parishes have done a good job with online Masses so much that they have congregations far beyond their boundaries. Some are even experiencing inquires from people relocating to their area. Some parishes may take upon themselves a hybrid existence with both local and virtual congregations. Whether they will be one model or several different models, who knows? Of course if you are online, your bishop or his delegate, and many spies will be watching. Very easy to send a link rather than a letter to the bishop who can then judge for himself. I suspect a lot of bishops may not be happy about this development. They usually want problems to go away.
"Some are even experiencing inquiries from people relocating to their area." Not always a good thing. Just ask the town of St. Mary's, Kansas. There has been an influx of people who are members of the St. Pius X Society to the extent that they dominate the town: https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/01/retreat-christian-soldiers/603043/
DeleteSchism, anyone/
DeleteI have solved that problem easily. I don't attend anymore.
ReplyDeleteBishop Bambera of the Scranton Diocese has requested that even the vaccinated wear masks in church, though still voluntary. Today, at mass, around 95% were wearing masks. Nice to see so many of my fellow parishioners have their heads screwed on.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteAnd good to hear that you are safely back from your journeys.
DeleteThanks, Jack. Never saw a grizzly bear but the mountain sheep were amazing. Saw my first tidal bore in the bay. Lots of hiking and good food. Highlights were:
DeleteHelping a park ranger unpinch her chainsaw.
Helping a guy change his flat truck tire.
Bucking up a crying fisherman whose wife called from home to say she was leaving him.
It was almost like we were in the right place at the right time. Feels good to help people. Like your job, I guess.
Sounds like a good trip, Stanley! As you say, good to be in the right place at the right time.
DeleteIt WAS a good trip, Katherine. Got a few nice days but the rain was part of the adventure. The long days made me feel like I was on another planet. It is a Trump state but I didn't see any overt displays.
DeleteThings are still in flux, and I think it is disorienting people. Things we all learned as true over the last year, aren't as true anymore. Infections no longer are waning- they're waxing again. We're no longer relaxing restrictions- we're reimposing them. Kids seemed mostly immune- that's no longer the case. Vaccine effectiveness apparently is diminishing, and we'll need boosters. None of this seems to be fully absorbed by the national consciousness yet. If there is to be such a thing as a new normal, we may not see its silhouette yet.
ReplyDeleteWe're in another wave, for sure. People need to be patient with some re-imposed restrictions. We know how to do it, right? Masking and distancing and being careful about crowds are cheap and easy. Trouble is people aren't practicing patience, which is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. Civil and religious leaders could help by setting a path. However in our state they seem to be overly fearful about riling up the irrational among us. Not without reason. In the news lately was an instance in which someone stood up during Mass at one of the larger churches in Omaha and yelled at the priest because the parish had re-instituted mandatory masks.
DeleteThey are saying we may need a booster. And some world health authorities are saying that we need to get vaccinations to the more undeveloped, poorer countries first before we even think about boosters. However I don't know that those two things need to be mutually exclusive. I kind of wonder what is the point of boosters unless they update them to include protection against the variants.
It is interesting that the delta variant is showing some differences from the original virus. One of the symptoms is a runny nose, which wasn't the case with the previous versions. And loss of taste and smell isn't as common as it was before. Maybe it is morphing into more of a cold-like virus. Trouble is some people are still getting pretty sick. But that could be how it eventually evolves into a highly contagious nuisance rather than a catastrophe.
There is now a mask policy at work in effect for two weeks. People are griping but they are doing it. Employers have more leverage than churches, apparently.
DeleteI haven't heard any serious gripes from people at our parish about remasking (have heard a bit of whining - in fact, have contributed to it :-))
DeleteBut our mass counts have been leveling off and diminishing again, it seems. People are simply opting out if they don't feel safe (or, perhaps, comfortable being masked all the time).