The Catholic Church 1950 – 1980

THE CHANGES OF VATICAN II

THE TRIDENTINE CHURCH

• Between the Council of Trent in the 16th century and the 20th century, very few changes took place within the Catholic Church

• This Church was identified so closely with the Council of Trent that it was called

THE TRIDENTINE CHURCH1950 – 1965

• Said in Latin

• The priest faced away from the people towards the altar that was set against the back wall

• He was assisted by Altar Boys who had learned all the Mass responses in Latin

THE MASS

Churches tended to be more ornate, with many more statues and paintings than most modern churches

have

• The Mass tended to be more ritualized

• Always said in Latin

• Even the Gospel was read first in Latin, then read again in English

• There were few responses that the congregation said; most were said in Latin by the Altar Boys

• Even the music was mostly performed by the choir! No Protestant hymns allowed!

• Most Catholics did not receive communion at every Mass; some still received only once a year – their “Easter duty”

• You knelt at the altar rail to receive and received on the tongue only

• Lay people never received the wine

• There were no lay distributors – only priests and deacons

RECEIVING COMMUNION

• Anyone who planned to receive communion was required to fast from midnight on (this changed to three hours in the 1950s.) Fasting included abstaining from beverages, including water!

• There were no Saturday evening Masses – even weddings usually took place in the morning

WOMEN WERE REQUIRED TO WEAR A HEAD COVERING IN CHURCH – A HAT OR A VEIL

If you forgot your veil, a hankie or a tissue would do!

THE SACRAMENT OF CONFESSION

• The Council of Trent had mandated that private confession to a priest must take place for Mortal Sins and should take place for venial sins (although it was never required)

• What constituted a Mortal Sin was much more specifically defined and included such things as missing Mass on Sunday or eating meat on Friday

• Any Catholic who planned on receiving communion on Sunday would go to Confession on Saturday

• Confession always took place within the Confessional – there was no face-to-face confession

“Bless me Father, for I have sinned”

• Most men entered the seminary in high school; nearly all dioceses had both a high school seminary and a Minor Seminary

• Seminarians often dressed similar to priests – but without the Roman Collar. In some seminaries, graduate students even wore the collar!

THE PRIESTHOOD

Seminarians in the 1950s

• Priests dressed traditionally – this priest is wearing a cassock (or soutane.)

• One would never see a priest in public without a cassock or a shirt with the Roman Collar.

• Roman collars were not plastic – they were heavily starched linen or cotton which needed to be washed and ironed after every wearing

• In the American Catholic Church, the years 1945 to 1965 was a time of growth and prosperity

• Nearly every parish had at least two priests; most urban parishes had more

• Priests did most of the work in the parish – besides saying daily Mass and hearing daily confessions, they taught in the schools, visited the sick and homebound, counseled, led youth groups, and took care of the daily workings of the parish (financial and physical.)

• Most priests made it a point to visit their parishioners on a regular basis!

The ideal Catholic priest was played in the movies by Bing Crosby in “Going My Way” and “The Bells of St. Mary’s”

• Religious Orders for women were very traditional

• Most women entered at the age of 18

• Active Orders (like the Sisters of Charity, the Sisters of the Precious Blood or the School Sisters of Notre Dame) were involved primarily in traditional work: teaching and nursing

• All Sisters lived in convents; most parishes had a convent

• Sisters wore traditional habits – often derived from the clothing women wore in the late Middle Ages

SISTERS AND NUNS

• Nuns taking their final vows

• In some Orders, sisters wore a wedding dress to do this – symbolic of becoming “Brides of Christ”

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS

• In the mid-1800s, the bishops of the U.S. mandated that all parishes have an elementary school (grades 1 through 8)

• Religious Orders of sisters staffed most of the schools

• There were very few lay teachers before the mid-20th century

• Catholic High Schools were generally staffed by Religious Sisters, Brothers and diocesan priests. They also had few lay teachers.

• About 60% of American Catholic children attended a Catholic grade school

The rare classroom with a lay teacher in the early 1960s

Even in Catholic colleges a large percentage of the faculty were priests and sisters

Sr. McShane

VATICAN II1962 – 1965

THE POPES OF VATICAN II

Pope Paul VI (1963 – 1978) Pope John XXIII (1958 – 1963)

THE GOALS OF VATICAN II:• Renewal and modernization of the Sacraments, especially the Liturgy/Mass

• Modernization of Church institutions and practices

• Openness to the modern world – especially in areas of science and technology

• Updating of Catholic educational institutions, especially universities and seminaries

• Allowing for modernization of religious orders, so long as they did not move away from the charism of their founders

• Looking at the Church’s relationship to the world around it, especially with members of other religions

Pope John XXIII said it was time for the Church to open the windows and let the Holy Spirit blow through!

ANSWER IN ESSAY FORMAT:• What were the major changes made by Vatican II?

• To what extent do you believe these changes were positive? Negative? Why? (Feel free to talk to older relatives who remember the Church before the Council.)

This should be a one to two page essay. Please type.