Boomers, Bishops, and Breakdowns...
...why the Millennials and Gen-Z can't have nice things.
This is going to be an entirely opinion-based piece of writing, it is not something backed up by statistics, so if you only enjoy my facts and statistics based writing, this is one you should skip.
There is a pattern in society, one which is recognizable if you look hard enough. A generational pattern or divide in culture, society and various other things. The baby-boomer generation (born between 1946 and 1964) has largely lost what it means to be Catholic (barring the obvious exceptions). They reject tradition, but hold firm to their own “tradition” of “revival”, “revolution”, and “relativism”. They won’t let the younger generations experience the two thousand year tradition of the church because they decry anything that sways from the culture of the 1970’s as inherently bad, or backwards in thinking.
The Traditional Latin Mass has now been suppressed by three generations of Catholics, the Silent Generation (born between 1928 and 1946) who were largely the force of will that led to the Novus Ordo, the Baby Boomers who accepted and hold firm to this culture, and Gen X (born between 1965 and 1980) who were largely indifferent towards religion and therefore did nothing to oppose the previous generation’s changes to the Mass and the Church.
Millennials grew up in an era where the generation directly above them, Gen-X, largely ignored their faith, with parents who largely attended the Novus Ordo Mass, not out of fidelity to Christ, but out of an obligatory habit from their formational years. Now that the Millenial generation has grown up, and in a lot of cases found their faith in the tradition of the church, in spite of the generation that raised them (largely the Baby Boomers and Gen X), and the younger generation, Gen Z, following in their footsteps in an even more radically traditional fashion, the Baby Boomers are waking up to see their churches resembling what they looked like growing up and they largely hate it.
Try to introduce chanting, or Latin, and witness every person over the age of 60 lose their minds. Have the Priest face the altar (ad orientem) to showcase the most important part of the Mass, the Holy Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and watch every white haired attendee walk out. God forbid a young traditional priest introduce a kneeler for communion and have a Baby Boomer aged Bishop try to shut the parish down or give the Priest consequences.
IT’S TIME TO WAKE UP!
Young people are largely coming back to the church IN SPITE of what the older generations have done. While the older generations are trying to put the Church back into the 1970’s, young people largely want what their ancestors had for the almost 2000 years prior to the Vatican II era. We cannot live in a snapshot of the 1970s forever in the Catholic Church.
The youth are showing up to Mass, and they want their tradition back.
Sincerely,
Your Brother in Spirit, Frater Spiritus
Follow me on Twitter / X: @FraterSpiritus
Maybe this is not your "fact and statistics based writing", but it is excellent "entirely opinion-based writing" by any measure.
Most boomers do not understand that reinventing the liturgy every 10 yrs while implementing banal music does not work. They do not understand that Kumbaya, Rainbow Masses, Seamless Garment, and false prophets have brought us emptiness. They do not see that their heroes, Cupich, McElroy, Weisenberger, Gregory, Tobin et al., have little to no vocations.
Meanwhile, Our Lady of the Grainbelt is churning out vocations in podunksville dioceses. From Texas to "Da Falls" there are strong pockets of faith. "Yaderhey now, I reckon."
Christ Jesus in the Mass is not here to out-entertain the world.
Millennials and younger are worn out with broken families, banal music, no depth, and no Kerygma. They can order anything they want online, and view anything online. BUT, that does not satisfy. They want the truth. "Yes, Father, let's paint some saints on the walls of the church."
I have never had a complaint about a communion rail from ANYONE under the age of 40. without a word of encouragement, girls show up in chapel veils. They want something viable, serious, hopeful and lifegiving through the mystery. I am glad that I am here to ride this wave of young faithful who want more.