Kneeling and other personal preferences

By Antigone ( articles ) | Apr 28, 2003

This month's Chronicles magazine has a review of Ratzinger's book, God and the World, by Thomas E. Woods, Jr. I suspect that some loyal Novos Ordo Catholics will be a little mad at Woods. He does not fail to call Ratzinger on some of his more dismissive comments on communion in the hand, kneeling for communion, and indulgences, comments that disturbed this reader as well, lacking as they were in that internal consistency that breeds trustworthiness.

But why not keep even the Panzerkardinal on his toes? Not a few consciences should sting at following lucid, utterly trenchant remark from the review:

The resistance it [the liturgical left] encountered, such as it was, was largely of the Ratzinger variety: Since the change in question did not touch directly on doctrine, it was acceptable. The problem, of course, is that the sum of such changes not only disoriented the Catholic faithful... but tended materially to undermine the faithful's adherence to doctines to which they were and are absolutely bound.