George Weigel recently spoke at Saint Louis Abbey. A friend there told me he (Weigel) made a number of less-than-complimentary comments about the Traditional Latin Mass. He calls it "counter-reformation Catholicism" and he clearly thinks it's not the answer for today. He instead calls for "Evangelical Catholicism" that is a synthesis of JPII's vision. Interestingly enough, he said counter-reformation Catholicism was good for its time in answering the problems of growing secularism (in France most especially) and Protestantism. When my friend asked him, "Aren't those the very problems we face today? So why not embrace 'counter-reformation Catholicism' in the 21st century, since you admit it was good at addressing these precise issues?" Weigel was flustered, saying something along the lines of "Maniples and Question and Answer Catechism aren't the answer..." or something to that effect.
He clearly has something against the Latin Mass, which is sad. He's built his whole thesis around the idea that Traditional Latin Mass has no lasting, viable future. Statistics pointing to the growth of the Latin Mass prove him wrong. He's a good man, but misses the mark on this point.
Agreed, there's other points I've disagreed with him on before, like a Catholic defense of Capitalism(as philosophy) contra Pope Benedict some years ago.
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George Weigel recently spoke at Saint Louis Abbey. A friend there told me he (Weigel) made a number of less-than-complimentary comments about the Traditional Latin Mass. He calls it "counter-reformation Catholicism" and he clearly thinks it's not the answer for today. He instead calls for "Evangelical Catholicism" that is a synthesis of JPII's vision. Interestingly enough, he said counter-reformation Catholicism was good for its time in answering the problems of growing secularism (in France most especially) and Protestantism. When my friend asked him, "Aren't those the very problems we face today? So why not embrace 'counter-reformation Catholicism' in the 21st century, since you admit it was good at addressing these precise issues?" Weigel was flustered, saying something along the lines of "Maniples and Question and Answer Catechism aren't the answer..." or something to that effect.
He clearly has something against the Latin Mass, which is sad. He's built his whole thesis around the idea that Traditional Latin Mass has no lasting, viable future. Statistics pointing to the growth of the Latin Mass prove him wrong. He's a good man, but misses the mark on this point.
Agreed, there's other points I've disagreed with him on before, like a Catholic defense of Capitalism(as philosophy) contra Pope Benedict some years ago.
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