For quite a while now I have referred to the Church of Vatican II as NOChurch. This is obviously a moniker derived from my usual reference of it as "Novus Ordo church", as opposed to the real Catholic Church which is obscured by this pseudo-church of Vatican II.
Little did I know that NOChurch was actually going to give up even the pretence of Catholicism and forbid Mass attendance, and even celebration, altogether. The occasion of this prohibition was the now-pervasive Covid-19 Chinese coronavirus, which has spread like wildfire in Italy and has by now shut down much of the country. The frightening thing about it, however, is that NOChurch shut down Masses in Italy even before the government required it. Even confession has been cancelled in many places.
Presumably they wanted to show that they cared more than anybody else, but at least part of it probably has to do with the fact that they don't see the Mass as something all that important. To many of the hierarchy in the Vatican it's just a pasttime, something pious or pious-seeming people get up to on Sundays, as opposed to hiking or canoeing. That might explain also why they don't see it as such a big thing inviting non-Catholics and public heretics to the 'banquet', as they call it, because if it's just a gathering then there is no reason why protestants or other non-Catholics (heretics included) should be denined the chance of a communal gathering hightlighted by a communal stroll to the front of the church.
What is has allowed everyone to do is conclude this very thing. One need not even be a traditionalist to see that the NOChurch hierarchy doesn't believe much in the 'mumbo jumbo' as they would probably call it.
Let us recall that - if my information is accurate - they cancelled Mass while there was still no general prohibition against frequenting public spaces! My understanding is that restaurants and pubs were still open, as was public transportation. I would assume that these have now been shut down but at the time that NOChurch decreed this they were still available. In other words, if they actually believed that the Chinese coronavirus was dangerous, it was apparently not dangerous enough to keep one from work, but dangerous enough to keep us from the Mass.
Worse was to follow still as Bergoglio then ordered all churches in Rome closed. This seems to have backfired and he seemed to pin the blame on his vicar-general, but we can assume that Bergoglio was definitely in on it if not the chief instigator of the decision. It would seem typical of the man to shun responsibility when put to task.
Outside Italy things were not much better as even though churches were not closed everywhere, many bishops took the opportunity to ram hand Communion down our throats, or hands, as the case may be, proving yet again that these people never waste a chance to desacralise. This was certainly the case in Germany, and before that the Diocese of Hong Kong and Singapore had done the very same thing. In fact, Sweden is one of few places where the Church has had a measured response, and for that the bishop and his vicar-general and the Church hierarchy in general is to be commended. The Church in Poland also deserves praise for not losing sight of priorities.
It is certainly easy to understand why the Church would want her flock to be physically safe, but given that we must put God first and that our souls are eternal, it seems very telling that the hierarchy chose to prioritise the physical well-being of the few who frequent Mass over their spiritual well-being, by denying them the very tools they need to reach eternity at the very time of the year when the Sacraments and sacramentals are likely to bear most fruit - the Lenten season. We must conclude that we are dealing with a largely unbelieving hiearchy. It has been reported that in times past the Church urged the faithful to participate in public processions and acts of atonement at times of plagues and epidemics, and yet today we are left with a hierarchy which in places has attempted to deprive us of even personal use of our sacred spaces. Others have remarked that Bergoglio and his henchmen, in shutting down the celebration of the Mass, managed to achieve what emperors and communists never managed to do.
Another consideration is worth pondering: If the faithful can go without Mass for a month, and manage to occupy themselves with other pursuits, what is to bring them back to Church after that month? I mean, we have already established that the Church and God definitely take a backseat at the very least to the professional life. Perhaps resting out on Sundays so as to be fit and ready for Monday work is a better pursuit of one's time then.
In any case, God does bring good out of evil, and in the response to the Chinese coronavirus scare, He has afforded a good opportunity to those resistant to facing reality to see just how far from Catholicism NOChurch has fallen.
NOChurch at this moment in time literally entails "no church" and that is not even an exaggeration. It matters not that the abscence of Novus Ordo masses probably ought to be cause for celebration. I might disdain the Novus Ordo Mass, but the hierarchy insist it is a valid, licit and dignified Mass. I am willing to grant that it is valid but definitely not licit or dignified, and their treatment of it and the Sacraments in general says much more than their protestations to the contrary.
