Two Towers....

In John Meehan's Two Towers-the de-Christianization of America and a Plan for Renewal, (Requiem Press), he proposes that the documents from Vatican II have not yet been implemented as intended (inspired?) by the Council-especially with respect to the laity, catechesis, and the liturgy. Being concerned here with the former of the three, over the next few weeks we will occasionally excerpt from Two Towers with respect to Mr. Meehan's proposals concerning the role or actually, the vocation of the laity. Below we have the first of these excerpts.

"The Council Fathers for instance, affirmed without equivocation, qualification, or reservation the baptismal integrety and ecclesial status of every member of the People of God. In doing so, they highlighted the vocation, apostolate, and spirituality of the largest number of citzens in the Church-the laity. Indeed, this was something new!

"The reality of that 'new thing', however, has not been transmitted effectively to the lay people of the Catholic Church in America. Since the close of Vatican Council II in 1965, there have been persistant attempts to clericalize lay people by having them assume ecclesiastical functions or engage in 'ministerial' activities that are not essential to the lay state....."

Of course then, the question becomes, exactly what did Vatican Council II mean with respect to the "special vocation" of the laity? Stay tuned...or make your comments below.