State of the Church #30

State of the Church 

[00:00:00] CA: Welcome. Welcome one and all. Welcome to the Catholic experience coming at you live streamed on my locals community. Thank you for your membership. Localers today. I’m talking about what ails the modern church. Oh boy. That’s a long list. I’m going to be basing it on an essay written by a Jesuit who was pointing out what ails the modern Jesuit order.

[00:00:35] There are about three pillars, three of the main things he talks about in there, that I’m going to apply to the church because I think they’re absolutely applicable. With all due respect to the church, obviously. Is Saturday, May 25th in the year of our Lord. 2015. 2015, boy, oh boy, 2024 , and I say thank you Catholic Church.

[00:00:59] Thank you for everybody for joining me. Those of you catching me on my podcast catalog, made that music out. Thank you very much, those of you catching me on my podcast catalog. Thank you and welcome your interest in what I do. Is very much appreciated. Now, let me explain the deal here. So I am live. I think I’m live streaming this to locals.

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[00:03:01] But you would help me considerably if you consider a paid membership. It’s just five dollars a month the coffee you bought today Costs less than that. I would really really be grateful to you. Okay, let’s get on with this. So i’m not going to take too long on this but Who knows because everything first of all, this was an article that I found on a catholic news agency And if you’re getting the video i’m going to show you the article You As well, so that you’ll be able to read it, as I read and respond and react to it.

[00:03:37] What was interesting about this article was, to me, it was so applicable to the entire church. Everything that priest pointed out, the priest who wrote the, not the article, but the priest who wrote the essay which the article is talking about. Everything the priest pointed out, a Jesuit priest, Was so applicable.

[00:03:56] First of all, totally necessary that somebody points this out. Totally necessary that somebody points this out. And I think it doesn’t only apply to the Jesuits. He points out some things that I think ail the entire church. So we’re going to talk about that. First, I gotta say, if you’re not following me on, on Twitter or Facebook I have blown up on Facebook a little bit.

[00:04:21] I think I said this in a past episode. I don’t know what I’ve done, but I’ve blown up on, on Facebook. If you’re not following me on socials, [00:04:30] please consider it, at ForTheQueenBVM on X and at CatholicAdventurer on Facebook. And of course, This is the catholicexperience. locals. com. If you want to follow me there, I really, really hope you do.

[00:04:46] Catholicexperience. locals. com. Okay, let’s get rocking and rolling. As I said, I found this on Catholic News Agency and it was very revealing. I initially didn’t expect to do a podcast on it and then I decided I should. Because this really is the kind of thing that I don’t like to talk about it, but it has to be talked about.

[00:05:12] And so I enjoy having a platform where I can talk about it. There is a lot that ails the modern church. There really is a lot that ails the modern church. Now, the church is in good hands. I’ve said this in, I just recently did a members only podcast episode talking about the Pope’s no, the Pope saying no, a flat no to female ordination.

[00:05:36] That is available for free and paid members. And in there, I made this point that I’ll make now to you. The Church is in the hands of the Holy Spirit and the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Church is the Bride of Christ. It’s His Bride. Do you think you can do it better than they can? Neither do I. So the Church is in good hands.

[00:05:56] You have to believe that because it’s true. The Church is [00:06:00] fine. The Church is perfectly fine. So why am I saying, why am I talking about what ails the Church? If the Church is fine, then nothing ails the Church, right? You would think so. But there are some problems with the, the, I would say, the lowercase c church.

[00:06:19] The people in the church, the human institution of the church, the hierarchy, in many ways, its governance, especially at the local level. So there are things that ail the church only at the human level. The divine organism is perfectly fine. Perfectly fine. So have faith in that and don’t worry We’re going to talk about though the things that ail the human institution of the church The first thing I want to point out before we get to the article Is something very important to point out?

[00:06:54] Well, if you’re watching the video, i’m, sorry, you keep watching you keep seeing me adjusting my microphone I can’t get it to quite the perfect position, but there I think i’ve got it now. Okay I’ve been talking a lot about customs and culture and Catholic identity lately and I, and that will continue.

[00:07:10] That’s going to continue because it’s very, very important. In fact, I may be devoting an entirely new podcast to that. Something that will be something that, something other than the Catholic experience. I haven’t decided how I’m going to package that yet but I’m going to be talking about that a lot, a lot going forward.

[00:07:28] One of the reasons why so [00:07:30] much ails the modern church. is because we have disrupted, or usurped, or upended Catholic identity and culture. We have removed the pillars. We have removed the guidelines, or the guiding lines. We’ve removed these things, and so people have become lost, sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose.

[00:07:54] Absolutely sometimes it’s on purpose. And I think we need to restore that. You know, the Jews, the ancient Jews, and even the modern Jews, have a lot of rules. Sometimes it’s a little bit crazy, all the rules that they have. But, and even they will tell you that. But, and sometimes all of those rules make it hard to be Jewish.

[00:08:15] But, here’s what the Jews have going for them. They never forget that they are Jewish. Unless they choose to. Not every Jew Is a good Jew. Not every Jew is a practicing Jew. Not every Jew is following the rules perfectly. Sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose, as they say. But they never forget that they’re Jewish.

[00:08:39] Obviously, partly that’s because to be Jewish is It is ethnic. But it is also very, very cultural. Very cultural, right? Where does that culture come from? Listen to past, the past couple of episodes in my podcast catalog. Where does culture come from? Well, let me back up. Where does identity come [00:09:00] from?

[00:09:00] Identity comes from culture. Culture, habits, traditions, right? So, they have a, a, a, a well, a very well defined and deeply defined culture, which, which deeply, I will say, sculpts their Jewish identity. Like a sculpture. It sculpts their Jewish identity. And the grooves and curves and angles and corners in that sculpture are very, very, very well defined, well crafted, very detailed.

[00:09:39] Doesn’t happen overnight. It happens over, really over a lifetime or over generations. So it’s hard to forget that you’re Jewish. When you have such a deeply rooted Jewish identity, informed by Jewish culture, habits, traditions, and so on. In the Catholic Church, in the Catholic culture, the human culture of the Catholic Church, the faithful, or the life, the Catholic lifestyle, we have lost a lot of traditions, customs, disciplines.

[00:10:13] We’ve lost a lot of that. Thank you. People are going to say Vatican II, Vatican II, Vatican II, it’s the Vatican II’s fault. Well, it’s not entirely Vatican II’s fault, but I would say Vatican II triggered it. I will say that. I think I can say that fairly and safely. Vatican II may have [00:10:30] triggered it. But a lot of, here’s why I think, here’s why I say Vatican II may have triggered it.

[00:10:35] Because a lot of our customs and traditions that existed before Vatican II still exist. But many of them Many of them are no longer required. For instance, meatless Fridays. Certain certain liturgies in the Roman calendar, or certain masses in the Roman calendar, certain feast days, the way certain feast days are done, are no longer required, but they still exist.

[00:10:59] For instance, two of the parishes I have access to, in one of them, it’s always a Novus Ordo Mass, but with, with the way they do the calendar and, and certain things, you would think it’s pre Vatican too. Thank you. Because all of the old school masses are in there And then in another the other of the two parishes that I have access to not so much.

[00:11:22] It’s a good parish It’s a solid parish, but not so much. It’s pretty much a basic novice not novice or a basic pre I’m, sorry post vatican ii parish You see But they’re both good parishes and it’s both the same catholic church But one It institutes a lot of the traditional things of the Catholic Church, things which faded away rather abruptly after Vatican II.

[00:11:48] They still exist, but they’re no longer required or compelled or encouraged, whatever, right? But a lot of what ails the church, going back to my original point, a lot of what ails the church, is so, [00:12:00] largely, not entirely, but largely, Because we have lost Catholic culture, because we have liquidated Catholic traditions, not, not capital T tradition, lowercase t traditions, little traditions, little customs, like, going back to that example, meatless Fridays certain prayer regimens.

[00:12:23] Things like that. I mean, how many Catholic, ordinary, average Catholic families, for instance, say grace before meals? You don’t have to say grace before meals. You ought to, but you don’t have to. It’s not canon. So how many people do it? Very few. I know a couple of good Catholic families. I think only one of them says grace before meals.

[00:12:46] very much. So, so we’ve lost things like that. We’ve lost the understanding of the importance of things like that. Because, it’s not because of Vatican II, but we see it manifested mostly post Vatican II. People have lost the sense of seriousness pertaining to God, faith, and their religion. People have lost the sense of seriousness.

[00:13:11] I blame the church for that. It’s not only the church. The people parti participate in it. Sometimes the people or individual persons or groups of persons are responsible for it, but really the church has to, has to be the first to toe the line and to correct courses that are incorrect [00:13:30] or or wrong.

[00:13:30] Correct. The church has to cor, the church has to correct the course of others if they’re wrong. And frankly, if the church, listen, if the church does not take, if a parish does not take the sanctuary seriously. Neither will the parishioners. If the church staff, or the pastoral staff, you know, the pastor himself and the associates, if the people are seeing parish staff and faculty just meandering around the sanctuary, because they’re setting up plants and flowers, nobody bows, people are talking in their talking voice, ha, ha, ha, ha, yeah, I think the bishop went to that mass.

[00:14:14] Ha, ha, ha. I don’t know, I’m making that up. But, if they’re not treating the sanctuary like it’s a holy place, the people won’t either. And then they won’t treat the church like it’s a holy place, which you’re seeing now. Right, gabbing, gabbing, gabbing before mass. Chewing gum, chewing gum, or eating, or bringing lattes.

[00:14:36] Bringing lattes to mass with them. Okay. Okay. Well, that’s a person’s choice to do that, and they are wrong. But it’s the person responsible for doing that. But, I, this is my personal belief. I believe that, I believe the church at the local level is largely, largely to blame for that. Because, before, I’m talking about my [00:15:00] perspective, my experience.

[00:15:01] Before I saw people not taking it seriously, I observed the church not taking it seriously. Well, I, I, let me back up what I’m saying. I, I, actually I do think it was more often it’s the people who aren’t taking it seriously and then the church follows. But I have seen in many ways the church not take it seriously and then the people follow.

[00:15:19] For instance, Holy Communion. I first saw the church at the local level not take that seriously enough. And so now the people don’t either. Communion in the hand, for instance. I don’t think communion in the hand is wrong. The church doesn’t say that it’s wrong. Don’t tell me about indult, indult, indult.

[00:15:38] Please, for God’s sake. I don’t want to hear it. I’ve been hearing that same nonsense for 20, 30 years. Yes, I know it’s an indult. I know that communion on the tongue is ordinary and normal in the church. I realize this, but the reason why there are indults in some countries, which is a special permission to receive communion in the hand, the reason why that exists is because the church says that is not wrong.

[00:16:00] And if the church says it’s not wrong, you cannot say it’s wrong. My friends, don’t be holier than the church. It’s mad tacky. Don’t try to be holier than the church. You will lose. So just don’t try. So I’m not saying communion of the hand is wrong, but I do believe it has a tendency to degrade a person’s perception of the greatness, glory, and tremendous holiness of that moment and of the [00:16:30] Eucharistic Lord.

[00:16:32] My kids do not receive communion in the hand because they know I will chop off their hands if I ever see that. I receive communion on the tongue kneeling down. And I have seen people receive communion in the hand very, very reverently. You would think they were saints. Very, very reverently. I have seen that.

[00:16:48] But that’s exceptional, right? So I’m not saying communion in the hand is wrong, but I’m saying it’s an example where not only do we allow communion in the hand, okay, church says it’s alright, fine. But There is a way to reverently receive communion in the hand, and, and the church at the local level does not at all encourage more reverent reception of the Eucharist.

[00:17:11] In, in the hand. Many, many, many religious instruction programs when they’re teaching their first communicants, when they’re rehearsing the, the, the, the mass, the first commun mass, they don’t even teach them to receive in the tongue. They teach them only to receive in the hand. And wouldn’t you know, most of those kids do it wrong anyway.

[00:17:31] Hey, if the church doesn’t take it seriously, why the hell should the people? Starts at the top. Alright, anyway, getting way off course here. Let’s get into the article, shall we? Okay, so this is from Catholic News Agency. Prominent Jesuit. The Society of Jesus is in profound decline. Written by Walter Sanchez Silva.

[00:17:54] Father Julio Fernandez Te Te I don’t know how to pronounce that name. I think it’s Techeira. A [00:18:00] Jesuit priest and rector of the Catholic University of Uruguay has written a widely circulated critical essay about the Society of Jesus warning that the order founded by St. Ignatius is in, quote, deep decline.

[00:18:15] He’s not just talking about a decline in numbers, although he does touch on that. But he’s not, he’s not only talking about that. He’s talking about a decline of its state and status, a decline of its quality, I guess you could say. The essay by the 57 year old priest is titled, Ad usum nostrum, for our use.

[00:18:33] This is actually the third document he’s done of this. He did two others across the past couple of years. This one, Was published in April. The first thing he points out is the recent sex abuse scandals. Now, I’m going to touch on these pillars. I’m not going to spend equal time on them. Because some, to me, are more important than others, okay?

[00:18:57] The society is experiencing This is the quote from the article. The society is experiencing very worrying situations that seem not to have been addressed in the congregation of procurators and that do not appear clearly and are not taken up in the Dei Statu Report. In the report, and I’m going to leave a link to this in these episodes, the description by the way, to give examples in December of 2022, we learned about what an Italian Jesuit called the Rupnik Tsunami.

[00:19:26] Fernandez noted, Marco Rupnik is a priest who was [00:19:30] expelled from the Society of Jesus in 2023, accused since 2018 of having committed serious sexual, sexual, spiritual, and psychological abuses against at least 20 women in the Loyola community that he co founded in Slovenia. That whole drama is just, still continues to, continues to be unbelievable to me.

[00:19:52] Why is he still being referred to as a Jesuit And a Vatican consultant. Why? What is that? And now he’s incarnate father up. Nick is incarnated in another diocese somewhere in Eastern Europe. Why would an, why would any bishop accept this priest? I did an episode on that. I don’t remember where. I dunno if, remember, I don’t remember if it was a special episode on YouTube or if it was in my podcast catalog or what?

[00:20:24] Covering the, covering that. That exact situation is is being reincarnated in another diocese Let me move on by the way, if you’re catching this on locals, I just remembered I have a half hour limit to my live stream on locals I will continue to do the show I’m continuing to record it I’ll have a full video Available to upload Someday, when my, when my upload limit is increased, but If you catch this live on Locals, the feed may cut off at some point, but just tomorrow or the next day, go to my podcast [00:21:00] catalog or wait for the announcement on Locals, and you’ll see the full episode available for you there.

[00:21:06] Okay, so, he was incardinated in another diocese, I really don’t know why, I don’t know What does it take for a bishop to say, Hmm, I don’t want him here. 20, 20 alleged victims is not enough. And then the types of offenses, which I’m not going to get into, but that’s really not enough. You needed more than that.

[00:21:30] To have a clue. Okay. State of the mountain church. That’s my point. Let’s get back to the article. Fernandez then referred to the scandal of sexual abuse against minors committed by some Jesuits in Bolivia and the alleged cover up by several provincials who were accused by the prosecutor’s office of that country.

[00:21:52] We have had to find out about everything through the press and we have not received a single statement or a letter from the General Curia explaining what happened or to ask for prayers for the province of Bolivia. Let me break away from the article and talk about this. There’s a reason why I wanted to include that.

[00:22:12] There’s declining numbers in the pews, declining numbers in Catholic schools, declining numbers in seminaries. Yes, yes, yes. Oh, you know what it is? It’s COVID. No, it’s not. You know what it is? It’s the pre sex candle. No, it’s not. That’s an excuse. That’s an excuse. And anyone Listen, some people [00:22:30] just strongly suspect that, and that’s fine.

[00:22:32] Mm hmm. But also people in the church will say it’s COVID. COVID did, COVID had a negative impact, yes. And they will also say the sex abuse crisis. And I think many people, not all, many people in the church who say that know that it’s bullshit. They know it. I don’t think the sex scandal has as much to do with declining numbers as people, as people like to believe.

[00:22:57] I really don’t. I think the sex scandal just gave people an excuse. They just gave people an excuse to paganize, and they were probably already paganized. They were probably already living pagan lives. They had long left the church. They had long abandoned Catholic principles. They had long abandoned Catholic moral teaching and social teaching, teaching.

[00:23:19] Hadn’t opened a Bible since First Communion. If, right? And I think the sex scandal just gave them a reason to, the sex scandal just gave them a reason to confirm their choice. You To abandon the church, to leave the church. I really do believe that. There are some, I’m sure there are some, who left the church and stayed left because of the sex crisis.

[00:23:49] I’m sure. But I’m, I’m very confident they are in the minority. The sex crisis does say something about the modern state of the church. What I’m [00:24:00] offering here is not intended to counter what he’s saying. Thank you. It’s something additional to what he’s saying, which is this. The sex crisis is an excuse.

[00:24:13] The sex crisis is an excuse. The real problem, where it pertains to the sex crisis, is that the sex crisis in the church is evidence That priests are not taking this seriously. Not all priests. I mean, I mean, the, the, the, the guilty priests are not taking this seriously. It’s not taken seriously, in my opinion, at the seminary level.

[00:24:38] I mean, we hear some stories, I’ve, I’ve heard many stories of guilty priests who really, they should have been figured out in the seminary. Because of the nature of their offense, sometimes because, you know, their brother priests who are with them in the seminary says, yeah, there was, there was something weird about him even in the seminary.

[00:24:57] And then he goes on to outline the weirdness. And when you look at the, for instance, he was always in his room gaming. You’re in the seminary, you’re always in the room gaming and things like this. There were, were red flags for a lot of these priests, even in the seminary. They should have been figured out then.

[00:25:13] So it’s evidence that. The priests, the guilty and, and, and, and the innocent are not taking this seriously enough. It’s evidence that the bishops don’t take it seriously enough. So the real problem, as I see it, isn’t the scandal itself, although obviously that’s a [00:25:30] problem. But the real problem, as I see it, is that we are not taking this thing we call Catholic seriously enough.

[00:25:36] And that is one piece of evidence to that point. Of course, mercy, mercy, mercy. I’m not refuting any of that. Mercy, patience, mercy. I’m not refuting any of that. But some things, with some things, we’re taking mercy too far. That’s my point. Let’s get back to the article. But yeah, that whole it’s the sex crisis, it’s the sex crisis thing.

[00:25:58] No, I’m not, I’m not having it. I’m just not having it. Maybe 20 years ago, Yeah, maybe. What was that, 2002, 2003, when this first broke? Okay, maybe. But in 2024, no. In my opinion, by my estimation, that has been nothing more than an excuse, and a lame one, a lame excuse, for at least 15 years. Sorry, not having it.

[00:26:25] Not having it. We need to, I’m sorry, let me, oh, last point on this. We really need to cut the crap. Stop the nonsense and acknowledge this, okay? Oh, it’s the sex crisis, it’s the sex crisis. Well, here’s the thing. It’s not the sex crisis. See, the sex crisis is something the church can’t do very much about. You can protect kids, you can, you know, discipline priests and all of that.

[00:26:49] Put proper pillars in place and all of that. Yes, yes. But you can’t do anything about the broken human condition. That’s something you can do nothing about. At least [00:27:00] not in the immediate short term. That’s something you can do nothing about. So when we say, well, it’s the sex crisis, it’s the sex crisis, but I can’t do anything about the broken human condition, well, that leaves you off the hook, doesn’t it?

[00:27:13] Can’t do anything about that. All we can do is try and protect kids, you know, background checks and all this. But beyond that, it’s a broken human condition. I can’t do anything about that. Well, that leaves you off the hook, I guess. But really, that’s not the problem. The crisis is not the problem. The crisis is the culture in the church.

[00:27:29] The crisis of the problem is because of the root. And the root is a problem of the culture in the church, in the ecclesial church. And that’s something you can do something about. By you I mean like the church. Capital C Church. Not you. Probably 99. 9 percent of you watching or listening to this are lay people.

[00:27:47] Obviously I’m not talking about you. You’re not in the ecclesial church. But you get what I’m saying. Okay. Back to it. It’s the And there Listen. And I don’t want to I don’t want it to look like I’m saying, you know, the scandal is not an issue at all. I’m not saying that. What I’m saying is, it’s an issue that’s, that’s misapplied to the wrong problem.

[00:28:10] It’s an excuse. Of course, it’s a, it’s a real problem, but it’s an excuse. It’s an excuse applied to a different sort of problem. All right. Oh, I’m getting really heated here. A shrinking society, I’m not going to spend hardly any time on this, basically numbers are dwindling. Very few people are joining the Jesuits.

[00:28:28] A lot of people are leaving. [00:28:30] Okay, recently a friend told me 72 novices entered his province, the article says, or the priest says. 72 entered the province in the last 10 years, in the same period, 71 left. So, those numbers equal out, right? And another example he gives is 314 novices entered the society. I think he meant globally in 2023, 314 entered 319 died.

[00:28:57] So they’re dwindling numbers, right? The priest also noted that there are currently almost 14, 000 Jesuits and lamented that in a few years the society will have disappeared from several European countries and will become insignificant in others in, in Europe in Europe, America, and Oceania. The only growth is in Africa.

[00:29:17] Not a surprise. The only growth of anything is in Africa. The rest of the church ought to take the hint. The only growth is in Africa. In 2013, there were more than 17, 000 Jesuits. Which means that in just over 10 years, the Society of Jesus has decreased by more than 3, 000 members. Now, this is something, this is a trend that we are seeing every place else, right?

[00:29:45] We’re seeing religious orders shrinking and going away. Ordinarily, that trend is ordinarily, there are exceptions, but ordinarily, it’s the more liberal, more progressive orders. That are dwindling and [00:30:00] dying. And it’s usually the more conservative orders that are growing and are strong. So we are seeing that throughout the church.

[00:30:10] Again, take the hint. Look at the orders that are shrinking. Try to imagine why that must be happening. Look to the patterns. And try to imagine why are these orders shrinking? What do they all have in common? Okay, so the Jesuit order is shrinking. Enough said about that. This is the one I really wanted to hit hard.

[00:30:31] This next point. Jesuits currently more akin to a progressive NGO. According to Fernandez, the vision of the general report on the Society of Jesus, quote, could perfectly be the view of the world of a secular think tank with ties to a left wing political party or progressive NGO. NGOs are non governmental organizations, for those who don’t know.

[00:30:56] One does not, this continues the quote, One does not find, One does not find in that evaluation any of the supernatural or transcendent outlook that would be expected from a religious, apostolic, and priestly order. Let me touch on that. One does not find in the evaluation any of the supernatural or transcendent outlook.

[00:31:17] Let me tell you a quick story. I’m not going to give much detail. I once had to, I was once at the website for a diocese’s [00:31:30] vocations I guess, department, their vocations director’s website, their vocations website. And in this about section, it goes on talking about, you know, we form men to be good citizens, and this and that, and virtue, and that and this.

[00:31:48] There was not one word about Jesus Christ, my friends, not a single mention, not one, zero, exactly zero, the words Jesus Christ appear there, zero. And this was, I mean it wasn’t super long, but it was like four paragraphs, not one. Mention of Jesus Christ. Not one man. Not once was the word holy or holiness mentioned.

[00:32:15] Not once they did have virtue in there When you looked at this It looked like they were recruiting men I mean frankly i’ll be very honest. It looked like they were recruiting men for a for a freemasonry lodge Forming men to be good citizens And crap like that. I’m not saying it was freemasonic I’m, just saying if you looked at it It looks like, it didn’t even look like a conservative social club.

[00:32:44] It looked like it could have been any social club. There was nothing very conservative in its language or very, you know, you don’t look at the language and see conservative politics, or politically conservative, or socially conservative, or theologically orthodox [00:33:00] or heterodox, completely, completely stale.

[00:33:03] And as I said, not one mention of Jesus Christ. I wrote a letter. To the vocations department, and to the Chancery. Analyzing and breaking down everything that was wrong. And some of what I said to you, is what I said to them. Are you recruiting Freemasons? Cause that’s what you’re gonna get. Not one mention of Jesus Christ?

[00:33:28] How many times did you include the word priest? Zero?

[00:33:31] Wouldn’t you know, a couple months later they changed it? It’s still, it’s still stupid, but It’s, it’s a lot better. It is a lot better. A couple months later, I went back and looked and they had changed it. They had actually put in some of my suggestions, which is unbelievable. And this is, this goes to the point of Catholic culture.

[00:33:49] Okay. As I said in that, that episode on culture, a few episodes ago, if you don’t know, Two episodes you’ll want to listen to are the trouble with tradition and the importance of tradition, I think. Two episodes there where I talk about tradition and culture. In those episodes, I talk about how in the absence of one culture, a counterculture arises.

[00:34:11] In this case, in the absence of a Catholic culture, a counterculture begins to manifest. What does that look like? A secular culture? Maybe. Free Masonic? Maybe. Satanic? Maybe. Protestant? Maybe. It could be anything. Could be absolutely anything. But something fills the void when culture is not present. And then that [00:34:30] counterculture is what forms and shapes your identity.

[00:34:34] Catholic culture is highly diluted today. And that’s everyone’s fault. Individuals, parish communities, parishes and pastors, chanceries. That is everybody’s fault. I’m not saying a single person or agency is at fault. Catholic culture has become very loose and watery, very diluted. So a counterculture springs up.

[00:35:01] Now, when Catholics speak, when Catholics speak, whether they are in clerics or in t shirt and jeans, when Catholics speak, they sound like secular moralists. They sound like secular moralists. When they’re not sounding like secular moralists, they’re sounding like secular spiritualists. Very little of what Many Catholics say, when they speak, very little of it sounds like Catholicism.

[00:35:35] Sometimes it barely sounds like Christianity. Now, when people look to the actual secular moralists in the secular world, the secular spiritualists in the secular world, politicians, whatever, feel good books, you know, self help books, stuff like this. Now, when they look to these people, the moralists And the spiritualists they’re [00:36:00] getting a stronger message there than they are getting inside the church They’re getting a stronger message from let’s say a politician Love everybody love equals love love love love and so on They’re getting a stronger message from a secular spiritualist You know, you have to be one with your energy and try to take in the energy of others You know people are energy even though the the land you’re standing on there’s an energy there Try to understand that energy and just be in the moment.

[00:36:29] It sounds so stupid, and yet, it sounds better than what we get from much of the local Catholic Church. When was the last time you were taught about meditation? So what people get from secular moralists and secular spiritualists sounds great, even though it’s tremendously stupid. But you know why it sounds great?

[00:36:49] Because the counterculture has taken root in the absence of a true and genuine Catholic culture. So if people have to decide between the secular moralists, who know nothing but say everything, and the Catholic Church, which knows everything but says nothing, who do you think they’re going to choose? You don’t have to take my word for it.

[00:37:11] Look at the pews. Look at the schools. Look at the seminaries. You be the judge. Moving on. You know what’s funny? Those of you who are watching the video, you’re now seeing how annoyed I get. You’re seeing it on my face, right? How annoyed I get when I talk about certain things. Because these things mean a lot to me.

[00:37:29] Alright. [00:37:30] I hope it’s not disturbing to you. Alright, let’s get on with it. I’m all over the place here. According to Fernandez, the vision of the general report On the side of Jesus could be perfectly the view of a secular think tank or a progressive NGO. One does not find in that evaluation any of the supernatural or transcendent outlook that would be expected, EXPECTED, for Pete’s sake, from a religious apostolic and priestly order.

[00:37:59] There are many signs in the current life of Jesuit ministries in the documents that are published. And the guidelines that are given that give the impression that we are in an NGO and not in a religious order. As Fernandez sees it, the Society of Jesus is, quote, in deep decline. It does not, it does, it’s in deep decline, it does not know it, or it doesn’t want to know it.

[00:38:24] Which is the same damn thing. I inserted the word damn in there. It wants to believe. That this is the situation of all other realities. Exactly! It wants to believe that this is the situation of Of all the other realities of the church that surround it. And that therefore, it is what it should be. This is what we should expect because this is the same reality as we’re seeing everywhere else.

[00:38:50] It’s just, it just is what it is. That’s really what they’re saying. It just is what it is. Nonsense. I’ll give you an example of the, it is what it [00:39:00] is thing. And then I’m going to bring this episode to a close, but I have a lot more to say, say about this, particularly about spirituality. If you want to hear what I have to say about this, sign up on locals, catholicexperience.

[00:39:15] locals. com cause this will be the topic of my after show, I guess, cause this is running too long. So I’ll do an after show on this. It’ll be basically like an extended episode, I guess you could say, talking about this, but from the perspective of spirituality. Okay. Now, if you just give me a second, I forgot the point I was about to make.

[00:39:33] Let me go back to the article in deep. Oh, so let me give you an example of it is what it is. Yeah. You know, schools are emptying and closing and parishes are closing, emerging, and you haven’t got a damn soul in the seminary, but you know what it is? Demographic shift. It’s demographic shift. Catholics are leaving, non Catholics are coming in.

[00:39:57] It’s a demographic shift. I’m gonna try and say this calmly. If it’s a demographic shift, where are those Catholics going? Because there’s no explosion of Catholics in neighboring dioceses.

[00:40:08] For instance, if someone leaves the diocese of, I don’t know, Wheeling, West Virginia, right? Mass exodus of Catholics from Wheeling, West Virginia. Well, you would expect that wherever they go, there’s going to be an increase. But nowhere are we seeing this. Now, it could be that all of these Catholics are going all over the place, [00:40:30] right?

[00:40:30] So there’s only a trickle of an increase in this diocese and that diocese and these other, you know, four dioceses. And they all came from the Diocese of Wheeling, West Virginia. That’s possible. It is possible. I don’t think it’s likely. So I don’t buy the demographic, the demographic shift nonsense.

[00:40:51] Numbers are declining, and this priest mentions a little bit of this too, a little bit of what I’m about to say, but I will say it at greater length in the after show. Numbers are declining because the church no longer appears relevant. And it is not because of the sex crisis, so take that out of my face.

[00:41:10] It is not because of the sex crisis. The church appears irrelevant, unnecessary, and not credible, not because of the sex crisis, but because of its conduct. Conduct proceeding from its identity and identity suffering in the absence of culture. That, that is why numbers are declining. Because people think they can get the same moral message from Hillary Clinton as they would get from the Catholic Church, but at least Hillary Clinton doesn’t give them rules to live by.

[00:41:47] I don’t mean specifically Hillary Clinton. You get the point. Secular moralists and, and, and the like. They can get the same spirituality from Buddhist X or Buddhist Y [00:42:00] or Buddhist Z. They can get the same spirituality without all of what they perceive to be headaches. They can get all of the spirituality without the shame of saying, yes, I’m Catholic.

[00:42:13] I know priests are pedophiles. I know it’s horrible, nonsense, nonsense.

[00:42:20] If you are in the ecclesial church, you’re a priest or ha ha ha, a bishop, bishops are not listening to this, but some priests may. I realize I’m not an oracle. I’m not a prophet. I’m not perfect. I’m not infallible. But please take what I’m telling you, what I’m sharing, as coming from a very experienced perspective.

[00:42:42] Very experienced, very informed, still not perfect. But at least take it into consideration. Numbers are declining because people do not find the church credible, necessary, important, or relevant. Thank you It has little or nothing to do with the sex crisis. I understand that’s a contributor. I don’t deny that.

[00:43:10] It has little to nothing to do with COVID 19, the lockdowns. I understand that also contributes, not denying that. But what we’re seeing today, we have been seeing since before the sex crisis, and we have been seeing before the lockdowns. And I’m sorry. I am [00:43:30] so sorry. I refuse to accept that stupid excuse.

[00:43:35] It’s the lockdowns. No, it is not. You know what’s on lockdown? You know what? I’m going to tell you what’s on lockdown. And I’m going to tell you firmly, with all due respect. You know what’s on lockdown? Your mouths are on lockdown. Still. It’s like perpetual lockdown. Your mouths are on lockdown. Because if you are preaching a watered down gospel, a distorted gospel, if you are afraid, I understand it’s hard to preach.

[00:44:01] 30 years in this game. I understand it’s hard to preach. It’s even harder when you’re a a priest because if I go to a parish and and speak, I’m in, I drop truth bombs and I’m out Right , it almost gives you a certain freedom. Not that I abuse it, but it almost gives you a certain freedom. I’ll never see these people again, but I have also done talks at the parish level.

[00:44:25] This is plural. Where I’ve had to see these people again. So I understand it’s hard to preach. But I gotta tell you, you are the voice of the church for most of these people. You are the voice of the church. And if what they’re getting from, from the pulpit is a lack of I’m not saying it has to be fire and brimstone.

[00:44:44] What I’m saying is, if, if it is a lack of clarity, if it is a watered down truth, so watered down that any other truth could be a superior truth as far as the parishioners are concerned, then If your mouth is on lockdown, and [00:45:00] you are the voice of the Catholic Church and the Catholic faith, people will continue to not take the church seriously.

[00:45:05] And those are people who are in the pews. How much further detached from clarity are people who aren’t coming to church? How much further detached from clarity are they? They’re not even in the pews at all. Even for the, you know, one Sunday a week.

[00:45:23] Anyway. I’m going to talk a lot more about this, but I really have to bring this Show to a close. This is so the stream. Yeah, the street, the live stream, the live video stream to locals was in fact cut off after 30 minutes, but I just kept going. But I’m still recording the video locally. So when in, in a few days, my upload limit to locals resets, maybe I’ll I’ll upload this video so that people can see the video in its entirety.

[00:45:50] If you’re catching this on my podcast catalog, you’re only getting audio, but Hey, that ain’t so bad. But if you would like to check out the after show I’m not sure if I’m going to make that available to free members. I’m not sure. Definitely paid members get the after show. Not sure if I’m going to make it available to free members.

[00:46:06] I might, or I might make, maybe I’ll make it available to free members for like a limited time. Maybe I’ll do that. So for this after show, I will make it available to free members for a limited time, say like a week. And then, you know, it’ll be available only for paid members. So if you’d like to get the after show, if you’d like to get other benefits and things, I’m trying to build a community here.

[00:46:28] I want to do Q and A’s [00:46:30] and interact live interactions, stuff like that. As memberships grow. But for now, at least you’re getting content that you’ll only get on locals, catholic experience. locals. com. You can become a free member. And that helps me a lot. It helps me a lot more if you become a paid member, but if all you do is join up to become a free member, you’re still helping me and you still get some extra content.

[00:46:52] In particular, I’m going to make this after show available for a limited time, a few days or a week, maybe for a limited time. I’ll make this after show available to free and paid members. It’s very easy to do you’re going to see in the description somewhere. I have join me on locals I have a link there to join me on locals Very easy to do and most of you are probably listening to this on a on a a smartphone Just go to your app store google or apple go to your app store.

[00:47:18] Look for locals download the locals app which is It’s not perfect, but I gotta say it. I was actually surprised how good the locals app is I was actually very surprised. It’s it’s pretty good You and they just recently updated it with some nice new features and, and cleaned it up a little bit. So go to the app store, download the Locals app, sign up for a free account on Locals and join my community, catholicexperience.

[00:47:43] locals. com. It’s really that easy. So please check it out, catholicexperience. locals. com. I will be doing the after show because I have a lot more to talk about on this subject. And that’ll be made available. It’s usually only for subscribers for paid members at 5 a month. [00:48:00] 5 a month is all it is. Usually it’s only for paid members.

[00:48:03] This one I’ll make available for a limited time for paid and free members. CatholicExperience. Locals. com Go get the locals out, man. Follow me on this truth train. This has been an episode of the Catholic Experience that’s so hot! Too hot to handle. Put your phone down, boy! Put your phone down! You can’t touch that phone!

[00:48:25] This episode’s too hot! I’ve been your host, the Catholic Adventurer. Follow me on Facebook at for the sorry. Follow me on Twitter at for the Queen BBM. Follow me on Facebook at Catholic adventurer Shining out of here. God bless you. God be with you all. Bye. Bye