What Went Wrong In Boston?

An excerpt from an excerpt.

The Faithful Departed
The Collapse of Boston's Catholic Culture
by Philip F. Lawler
The following is the introductory chapter of Phil Lawler's book, which will be formally released next month-- February 2008-- by Encounter books. It is available now for pre-release orders on Amazon.com.

Among those Catholics, about 80% attended Mass every week, and heard the doctrine of the Church proclaimed in sermons regularly.

Many attended parochial schools, where their attitudes toward the world were shaped by the Sisters of St. Joseph and other religious orders.

When the Holy Name Society organized a parade, 10,000 men marched through the streets of downtown Boston.

A growing number attended Catholic colleges; Boston College and Holy Cross were attracting some of the brightest young men from the families of Irish and Italian immigrants.

Lay Catholics joined the Knights of Columbus, the Women's Sodality and the Altar Guild. They met their future spouses at CYO dances and Newman Club social hours. They identified themselves readily as Catholics, and on religious matters they identified Cardinal O'Connell as their leader. .......

Yet again, the most conspicuous examples of this attitude have been shown in Massachusetts.

In the 1950s, an Archbishop of Boston discouraged a priest from his energetic public preaching of a defined Catholic dogma, because some people found that dogma offensive.

A decade later the same archbishop— now a cardinal— announced that Catholic legislators should feel free to vote in favor of legislation that violated the precepts of the Church. In 1974 his successor encouraged Catholic parents not to send their children to parochial schools.

And in 1993 yet another Boston archbishop instructed the faithful that they should not pray outside abortion clinics.

In each of these remarkable cases, the Archbishop of Boston obviously thought that he was serving the cause of community peace. But just as obviously, he was yielding ground, and encouraging the Catholic faithful to yield as well.

Link to the Spirit Daily piece (here)

Photo credit of St. Mary Star of the Sea School, one of Boston areas old Catholic Schools. (here)

Boston College history page (here)