Yesterday, my nephew got married. It was a traditional service in a beautiful old Roman Catholic church in Portugal, as his bride is Portuguese. The service was largely conducted in Portuguese, although some elements were in English. The service was held as part of a mass. It really took me back to my youth. When I was small, all masses were held in Latin, so I understood nothing. It was rather similar. I got to thinking just how much has changed in the Catholic Church. For me, it is unrecognisable. The Church I attend in London is the Sacred Heart in Mill Hill. Itw as knocked down and completely rebuilt in 1996. The new church is modern, more comfortable and far more practical. The old Church had far more atmosphere and felt, to me, far more like a church.
It is not just the building that is different. Priests used to be known by their surname, so the parish priests were Fr Dowley, Fr Corkery, etc. Now they are Fr Eugene and Fr Chinedu. The Priests in Mill Hill were also always Irish. These days, they tend to be from Africa. Fr Eugene Curran, who recently left was most likely the last Irish parish priest in Mill Hill for a very long time.
Another difference is that when I was young, alter servers were boys. Now girls are allowed. In fact it seems that there are far more girls serving than boys. The Church has not moved to female priests yet, unlike the Church of England. Personally, I'd like to see this silly rule changed. I think it might solve a lot of the problems the church is facing. I am not a theologian, but I like to think I have common sense.
Another difference is the hyms sung. I used to love the old Victorian hymns, that the congregation would belt out, accompanied by a grand organ. Sadly the organ went with the old church, and it is rare to hear the 'old classic' hymns.
The question I was pondering during the service was whether I prefer what the Church has morphed into? The honest answer is that I am not entirely sure. I much prefer a sung mass in Latin with incense, it is beautiful. I don't feel that the lack of understanding of what is happening affects my closeness to the Almighty. In fact I think it enhances it. I also preferred the formality of priests using surnames, it seemed more repsectful. Then again, it is nice to not freeze in mass. It is odd that the church has modernised in all the wrong ways to me. I'd rather that they sorted out the child abuse, etc rather than get us to call priests their first name. I have no problem with female or married priests. The world didn't end when they brought in female alter servers. I happen to believe we all have a little bit of God in us, so we should not discriminate.
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