I actually seem to remember that picture in the papers in SF when I was a kid. I would have lumped "Catholic" and what we now call "mainstream Protestant" in the same category, because I intuited correctly that the forces at work were the same. I was Baptist at the time.

I have made the crack that our Archdiocese is smart: they lumped all this kind together in one very rich parish. Cardinal McCarrick was much maligned by conservatives outside the Archdiocese, my friends all tended to admire him: he kept a robust Latin Mass at the Cathedral, I never heard of liturgical abuses, he encouraged his seminarians to pray in Latin, he was orthodox. So, as far as the concerns of people here, he was fine. I could do without his appearing at every political event in town, but it is the Archdiocese of Washington.

And where the great harm is done is not in these abominations---the showgirl's cloak on the altar made me blanch--but in what is in the "missalettes" and in what is taught from the pulpit. Those are often "minor," by which I mean unnoticeable to the untrained eye, and so you look like the troublemaker for pointing them out.

It figures there is a website dedicated to the problems at Holy Trinity. McCarrick's predecessor, I think it was, appointed a faithful pastor during the "crisis" over female ordination, when members of the parish wore priestly stoles and stood during the consecration in "protest." I always felt sorry for that priest.

I have noticed that most of the clowns in our churches do not dress like clowns. No, they are clever and deceptive in that they routinely wear sort of normal attire, but they will annex themselves to the lectern before mass, intent on giving giving this amusing 'welcome' and telling people what church they are in (on the assumption that the people didn't know where they were?). Then, in an astonishingly irreverent and non-sacral air they announce the name of the hymns and tell the people to stand (Catholics don't know when to do this, you know) and sing (nor do they know that this is the moment for them to do this). The best and funniest clown part is when they raise their hands in the air and make jestures which they probably believe cause the people to sing... some of the clowns even do cute little pirouettes which (presumably) cause the people to sing even more. (I've never noticed, though, that this particular clown trick had its intended effect: most people just seem to stare, somehow knowing though that they shouldn't giggle at the clown.) Throughout the mass they may interrupt liturgical action or silent prayer at any time to give some unneeded directive, or wave their arms around, absconding with the choirmaster's and organist's prerogative of leading music.
Yes, I have heard of priests actually dressing up as clowns for some scraping-the-bottom delusional notion that this is making the mass 'friendly' or easier for children (of whatever age) to relate to. However, the joker priest is not nearly as clownish or riotously amusing as the corps of announcers and not-really-real cantors who perform their jokes with perfectly straight faces and an annoying lack of sacred decorum. The funniest thing of all is that the people aren't laughing! - or even groaning!

Nobody needs to add to this thread or reply to my statement if they really don't want to, but I've been studying some opera recently and just couldn't help myself: you can't have a Clown Mass without singing "Vesti La Giubba."

That video made me actually feel sick to my stomach. What uncatholic to see a priest speak about the devil handing out Holy Communion. I actually somewhat wish I never saw that.

melo

You already have a lite version.

1978? Then I'm not surprised. The horror stories I've heard of 1970s Masses are rampant.

In our diocese, there was a clown mass celebrated at St. Boniface way back in the 1970s. Now, it is known as being the home of the St. Michael Hymnal. So all is not lost - necessarily.