Traditionalists and Ecumenism

From Gregg the Obscure who maintains Vita Brevis:

“I suppose it would be good to expand a bit on yesterday’s long post about traditionalists and ecumenism. I’m frankly baffled why it is that ecumenism tends to be such a big issue with so many traditionalists.”

Since you ask, I will put my oar in here. I consider myself a traditionalist, even if not a few other traditionalists don’t. My best guess is that it has its origins in the way changes in the Church were explained in the 60’s and 70’s. I am antique enough to remember this stuff. Almost everything – good, bad, and indifferent – was explained, at least on the popular level, as good for ecumenism. This will make the Church more open to the world. Non-Catholics will now understand and love us. The only worry will be where we will ever find the money to build all the new Churches that the avalanche of converts will require.

That didn’t happen and a lot of very ugly things did happen on almost every level in the Church. Devotions were discarded, the liturgy was made unrecognizable, beloved churches were denuded of their ornaments, and a carload other things all suitable for disorienting one’s religious life happened.

Short and dirty syllogism: Traditionalists don’t like the changes in the Liturgy. Changes in the Liturgy are explained as being necessary for ecumenical reasons. Ergo, traditionalists don’t like ecumenism.

There are other articulated reasons for disliking ecumenism – Gregg mentions Mortalium Animos for one. But I think the articulated reasons came after the initial dislike. And I don’t say the reasons are wrong either. Ecumenism seems to me to have been wrong-headed in many ways. I think some of that appears to be changing. A prime example is Touchstone, a.k.a. The Fellowship of St. James. “Ecumenism for those who don’t approve of ecumenism” as they sometimes call themselves. There is no “let’s pretend” ecumenism there. Real disagreements are explored and explained not wall-papered over.

What to do about traditionalist anti-ecumenism? Dunno. Too complex for me. A good start, though, might be to recognize that in many cases the traditionalist complaints are well-founded. If the powers that be dispense with the more egregious events that cause scandal, the useful and productive ones would be more readily accepted.

Or so it seems to me.