What Is Conventional Catholicism?

Quite simply, conventional Catholicism is the set of Catholic beliefs and principles that the Catholic faithful have usually practiced throughout the ages. Following the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s, a quantity of reforms swept through the Church, impacting almost everything. The mass was substantially changed (masses had been for instance usually conducted in Ecclesiastical Latin it was after Vatican II that native languages like English started to be used for the Latin rite of the Church). Numerous new prayers were added to the mass, whilst numerous old prayers were removed. All 7 of the sacraments were revised (Baptism, Confirmation, Holy Orders, Penance, etc.). The catechism was updated to be produced constant with the documents of Vatican II and a new code of canon law was issued. The modifications had been so far-reaching that even the Rosary and the rite of exorcism had been modified and changed.

Conventional Catholics, for their part, see numerous conflicts with Catholic teaching in these changes, and wary of all this novelty, decided to hold quick to the faith of their fathers. They thus reject these modifications, numerous of which are viewed as heretical. They consequently practice the Catholic faith as it was believed and practiced prior to all of these changes. This is roughly the equivalent to 1940s Catholicism, because some changes to the mass started to be introduced even prior to Vatican II.

Conventional Catholics therefore celebrate the mass in Ecclesiastical Latin, following the Roman Missal usually from some time in the 1940s (the new mass and conventional mass differ much more than just in their language). Traditional Catholic priests administer the sacraments according to their conventional type. Catechism classes are taught utilizing older catechisms, such as the Baltimore Catechism or the Catechism of the Council Trent. Other traditional Catholic practices are nonetheless followed as well, such as abstaining from meat on all Fridays (in remembrance of Christ's death) and kneeling to receive Holy Communion.

Conventional Catholicism is not limited to a group of 'change-hating' old individuals. Today, it continues to see development in its numbers with both the young and middle-aged integrated. Its converts consist mainly of Protestants and these who conclude that the changes of Vatican II are not constant with the Catholic faith.

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