Warning: this is a depressing subject which contains actual accounts of acedia.

First, the background.  Damian Thompson at the Telegraph blogs on the ad limina visit of the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales to Pope Benedict XVI in Rome at the end of January.  This is an ecclesiastical conference, but one at which the Pope will be able to comment on the Catholic Church in England and Wales and ask relevant questions of the bishops.  This will be their first with the current Pope. 

Damian says:

Here’s one area – literally – that the Vatican might want to take a closer look at: the Archdiocese of Liverpool and neighbouring dioceses. Not only are many parishes in the north-west in a miserable state of decline; parish priests are also resisting the liturgical reforms that Pope Benedict XVI is introducing …

I’m not pretending that there’s a huge demand for traditional Catholic worship in Liverpool. How could there be, when local Tabletistas [postmodern Catholics who read The Tablet] have had a grip on education up there for more than 30 years? Actually, there’s not much a demand for any sort of Catholicism, except in isolated pockets. You couldn’t say that of Birmingham, for example, or most of the south. 

The bishops have a particular reluctance — nay, active resistance — to adopting the liturgical texts from the new Roman Rite Missal, which many Catholics look forward to using as the English translation is much closer to the original Latin. 

Damian continues:

Here’s a fairly typical cry of pain from an orthodox northern Catholic, left on a blog post the other day:

We have three dioceses whose boundaries all meet with the River Ribble, a once solid bastion of orthodox Catholicism … The old Catholics have all died or are infirm. They have been replaced by their children who have lost the ‘faith’ and see attending Mass as a social gathering.

The parish I attended this morning is a great example, once a proud Catholic stronghold, mothered many priests and missionaries over the years. But now the parish is made up of a few Tabletistas or the really-not-bothereds. They are just not interested in liturgy. All the ladies gather round the altar to be Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion (there is no need – there are no more than 150 in the congregation and there are four EMHC plus the priest). Two of them had a chat during the Ecce Agnus …  One of the petition signers [against the new translation of the Mass] is a Religious from the same parish. They wreak havoc wherever they go.

I honestly despair …

Readers had a lot to say, much of which shared the dissatisfaction of the commenter above.  Here is a selection, but do read it in full.  If the situations described don’t scream ‘acedia’, I’m not sure what does.  I mention this so that, if you are in a similar situation, you know you’re not alone, no matter where you live. Please try not to fall into real despair.  It’s a sin. Instead, receive Communion regularly, keep up with your devotions at home and read the Bible.  Remember that many people in the early Church and since have been afflicted with ‘itching ears’, attaching themselves to liturgies and teachings that make them feel good because they are so undemanding.   

onthesideoftheangels on Jan 18th, 2010 at 3:34 pm: For decades our kids have been abandoned ; treated with contempt and social engineering ideologies ; told their religion wasn’t true apart from ‘let’s be nice’ – so they abandoned it … If you’re not going to supply them with anything to believe in – how do you expect them to believe in anything?

Mundabor on Jan 18th, 2010 at 4:46 pm: At least one, possibly two generations of Catholics have been, well, screwed. We must live with it. The day I die I wouldn’t want to be one of the bishops responsible.

onthesideoftheangels on Jan 18th, 2010 at 4:56 pm: The emphasis is on penitence because the Mass is a return to the sacrifice on Calvary – deicide – the greatest evil committed by us for the greatest Good by He who is Goodness itself – redemption from our sin – our sin and its forgiveness is the very crux of the Mass. Just because acknowledging sin and truly repenting of that sin is completely out of fashion in today’s world of psychological complexes, socio-cultural and peer pressures and indoctrination via meme and media paradigms – the sin still exists and we are called to repent from that sin.

Unum Sanctam on Jan 18th, 2010 at 5:12 pm: Over-emphasis on penitence? Coming from the people that refuse to call Confession (reconciliation) by its rightful name and that any mention that we should be sorry for our sins, any type of “mea culpa” is too much.

Use of language that people will not understand? Lets burn every book by William Shakespeare by all means. They may have a point some parts of Mass may be difficult to understand, if the Church ONLY had men that had consecrated their lives in service to her in order to teach and preach to faithful on all those things that are DIFFICULT TO UNDERSTAND. Oh wait isn’t that what Priest and Bishops are suppose to DO.

Out of Touch? You are right we must celebrate all things that are in touch like, gay marriage, abortion, contraception, relativism? Yeah the Church forever out of touch, Thanks be to God.

Gregory Murphy on Jan 18th, 2010 at 5:21 pm: … one by one, the orthodox younger priests that I refer to – all of whom are cannily keeping their powder dry (those who know them know of them) – will have to be placed in parishes of their own sooner rather than later and then this Archdiocese will start to wear a very different complexion.

In fact there may be a few surprises here and there, for I’ve just heard tell that a parish priest in this Archdiocese (who I would have had booked as a card carrying progressive) has suddenly – without any parish consultation whatsoever – re-introduced the Prayer to St Michael at the end of Ordinary Form Sunday Mass.

What’s more he’s saying it ad orientem.

dilly on Jan 18th, 2010 at 6:51 pm: … I have sixteen first cousins (maternal side) from Liverpool – ranging from 67 to 43. All went to Catholic school, and with at least one parent who practised their faith. All except one (who went to the JWs) married in a Catholic Church and baptised their children (one after an earbashing from my mother). Then nada – zilch. Complete and utter indifference from both generations (with the third on the way). Only one cousin practises – and she was brought up in Leeds.

All lovely generous people – what a waste.

terry on Jan 18th, 2010 at 10:11 pm: … Nick “harmless and normal” Clegg’s comments on gay education is met with stunned silence on the part of our Bishops, and David Cameron’s proposed recognition of the importance of marriage to a stable society is met with an embarrassed silence on the part of the Hierarchy ( and not only the Bishops, I have yet to hear a single priest expressing any form of support).

Of course, those of us of a conservative (and Conservative) frame of mind should not have expected anything else. It has been so for many years, so we should not be surprised. We have always been suspect in the eyes of the Church Establishment in England.

Stauffenberg on Jan 18th, 2010 at 10:14 pm: Hexham and Newcastle has been a shambles for decades … The stuff on the diocesan website would be funny if it wasn’t so serious. The last “yoof” jamboree included a Wicker-Manesque procession of swaying vestal virgins … And this report from the diocesen education bods almost had me reaching for the scotch and revolver – “actualising the laity”, “receptive ecumenism”, ““Ask not what your ecumenical others need to learn or receive from your tradition – but what your own tradition needs to learn and can learn with integrity from your ecumenical others.” – and these people are in charge!!

There’s loads more.  I’m sure it’s the same in many Western countries.  Praying regularly, holding clergy to account wherever we can and staying faithful — all with a sense of hope — are what we can do to combat acedia.