When
conciliar teaching precluded such deviant “reforms,” an appeal to “the spirit
of Vatican II” was made by the defectors. Religious themselves were sent to
seminars, conferences, and think-tanks which pressured them to abandon
hierarchical structures in favor of the “democratic,” to question traditional
doctrinal certainties, and to demand reasons for those things formerly regarded
as sacred, the most important of which was the basis for their vocation to the
religious life. They became exposed to new anthropologies under the influence
of psychology, sociology, and other social sciences, acceptance of which many
sisters were naturally compliant under obedience — all this in spite of the
obviousness that such changes were not approved by Rome and threatened the
existence of their communities. In other words, the desired ressourcement of the council Fathers, rather than providing the guiding
atmosphere in which aggiornamento was
to occur, was ignored in favor of “updating.”
In 1941, Tolkien wrote a masterful letter to his son Michael, dealing with marriage and the realities of human sexuality. The letter reflects Tolkien's Christian worldview and his deep love for his sons, and at the same time, also acknowledges the powerful dangers inherent in unbridled sexuality. From the letter: This is a fallen world…. the dislocation of sex-instinct is one of the chief symptoms of the Fall. The world has been 'going to the bad' all down the ages. The various social forms shift, and each new mode has its special dangers: but the 'hard spirit of concupiscence' has walked down every street, and sat leering in every house, since Adam fell….The devil is endlessly ingenious, and sex is his favorite subject. He is as good every bit at catching you through generous romantic or tender motives, as through baser or more animal ones. Tolkien advised his young son that the sexual fantasies of the 20th century were demonic lies, intended to ensnare u...

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