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Culture War Roundup for the week of April 21, 2025

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I disagree that it's a poison pill clause. It's a significant part of why the vast majority of the Cardinals present signed off on Sacrosantum Concilium. They wanted a globalized Latin rite.

Let's say the church wants to expand in a culture where showing the soles of your feet is considered horribly rude (like half the world). Even if it doesn't make it into an official document, you can imagine that in those regions, people would be careful to not show the soles of their feet at Mass. They might kick other people out for doing so.

The priest might modify the liturgy in places where they would typically have to show the soles of their feet, for example during Eucharistic Adoration they might not kneel with their back to the congregation. People might not kneel at all but adopt other postures of reverence. Churches may come up with feet hiding devices, like an altar rail for legs.

All this is to say, there are legitimate reasons why "rigid uniformity" can be bad - if you're expanding to actually different cultures and peoples.

The problem with the football example is that it's not actually rude to neglect the morning football prayer. It's not a requirement of the society. They're just normal Westeners, mixing the sacred with the banal.

Churches may come up with feet hiding devices

It's called a (non-French style)cassock.