Revenge of the Neo-Cats

(www.RemnantNewspaper.com) A lot of my friends are in Catholic media, in one way or another. Today I watched a podcast by a friend who used the term “neo-Catholic” to refer to the kind of Catholics who feature prominently in publications like the National Catholic Reporter. I thought it was important to correct this, since the term is often used but seldom defined.

My note to my friend:

You are using the term "neo-Catholic" incorrectly and it will cause a lot of confusion. The definition, because it is a term used widely by Traditionalist Catholic bloggers, can be obscure, but it is most decidedly NOT synonymous with the kind of "liberal" Catholics to whom you are applying it in your latest piece. It was first coined in a 2002 book called The Great Façade: Vatican II and the Regime of Novelty, by Christopher Ferrara and Thomas E. Woods Jr.

As the term is used on the internet (by people leveling it [me] and by those denying it applies to them [Mark Shea]) it refers to a "conservative" Catholic, often an American convert from evangelical protestantism, who adheres generally to and likes to make a show of defending the sexual moral teachings of the Church but is generally satisfied with the direction taken by the modern Church and the modern world.

Part of the difficulty with the term is that it describes a set of characteristics that can only clearly be observed from a certain vantage point, namely, that of the Traditionalist. Neo-Catholics themselves frequently become angry when it is pointed out that it is an observable fact that there are certain taxonomic features that create an identifiable classification to which a distinguishing term, "neo-Catholic" can usefully be applied. They become doubly angry when they realize that it can usefully be applied to them. (Hours of fun can be had at the after-Mass tea ticking these characteristics off one's fingers.)  (more...)

Revenge of the Neo-Cats

See:

The Great Facade: Vatican II and the Regime of Novelty in the Roman Catholic Church

The Neo-Catholics: Implementing Christian Nationalism in America

and...

Courtesy of:

BEING AN EXERCISE IN THE UTILIZATION OF SEQUENTIAL SYMBOLOGY TO VISUALLY CHARACTERIZE AND SYNOPSIZE "CONSERVATIVE" NEO-CATHOLICISM