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The Impact That The Catholic Renewal Had

By Claudette Lambert


Catholic renewal is a movement that started in the Roman Catholic Church in the 20th century. In its initial days, the movement was widely criticized and even today there are people who believe that the movement brought more harm than good. But on the other hand, some agree with the ideas of the movement and believe that it brought about a positive change.

These reforms highlighted many areas in which the church was lacking and people felt that with time the church should also progress. One of the areas which were highlighted was translation of the Bible. Originally the Bible was in Latin. Those who do not know Latin found it difficult to understand the texts and portions.

The problem was ensuring that those who read the texts and have firm faith, but who are not familiar with the Latin language would face problems in understanding. Even though one may be taught the meaning of a particular portion and be told repeatedly what is entails, there is a difference in the level of understanding if someone reads it in their own native tongue.

Along with faith, it is also important to have the spirit to study more about our religion. This helps us reaffirm our belief and learn about the philosophies laid down by our elders. One needs to develop a seeking spirit because that is what will help them discover the correct path.

The other reform was brought about in the manner in which people are asked to participate in religious ceremonies, which is commonly called as liturgy. It was said that those who have faith should not participate only because they are asked to. The participation should be done in consciousness and after knowing the reason behind every ceremony.

Mostly, people do not understand the significance of things. They do things blindly and do them out of fear of reprimand, or believing that it would anger the Gods. The motive behind this reform was to enable people to improve and change this habit and to participate in services of the Church only when they are fully conscious of what they are doing.

It is not only in Christianity that one sees such practices. This is common with all religions. It is said that today, mankind is a bunch of God fearing people, and not God loving people. And that is why one does everything that is asked of them by religious men, hoping to please God and not anger Him. But instead, one must try to understand philosophies.

People often blindly follow what their elders ask them to do, or what religious men ask them. Nobody questions the basis or the significance behind such ceremonies or events. It is not that they would be cheating people or doing something unlawful. But such tendencies give rise to blind faith, which leads to people becoming fanatics about their religion.

Faith, practice and study together make up a religion and all three are equally important. Absence of even one leads to blind faith and one loses their sincerity in the process. May be this was the reason behind the catholic renewal. The actual reasons, however, are only known to the leaders of the movement.




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