While this is true to a large extent, I will point out that many years ago, my Grandma went in a panic to Father Bernard because my cousin was Living! With! A! Man! Before! Marriage! and Father Bernard, who had seen some shit, said, “Well, that’s probably a good idea.”
What the beardie-weirdie trad-cath converts don't seem to understand is that the backbone of American parishes is LITTLE OLD LADIES. Who, however much they might not buck church tradition, are not as conservative as their priests.
But Father Bernard (of Mt. Angel, yes, the Benedictine monk one) was special, and if all Catholic priests were like him, Martin Luther would have had a lot less to nail on doors. Still, the point is well-made.
The priest who did counselling before my first marriage explicitly said he didn't know what he could advise us, what with being celibate etc. Eventually he left the priesthood, got married, and was tending horses last I heard. /1
May 9, 2025 22:41He also got a "Keep your mouth shut and stay out of the media" order from the Bishop when the Philippines was sponsoring the Pacific National Exhibition during the Marcos era.
