Catholic Folk Piety - A Defense by Philip Campbell

I think our readers will find this video by the ever-wise Phillip Campbell of the blog Unam Sanctam Catholicam very interesting (like all his work). It is a defense of Catholic folk piety, which is to say, devotional customs and practices which have arisen spontaneously among the people, and not from the Church’s official rites. He makes a very good point when he repeats an observation of Chesterton (who also had a lot of wisdom to offer on this matter), regarding the attitude of modernism and modernity to such customs. People like to say that all religions look different, but in essence teach the same thing, but the truth is exactly the opposite: all religions look alike, but teach different things, and this in turn provides a very useful way of understanding how folk piety relates to the Church’s liturgical life. I also found useful Mr Campbell’s explanation of why attempts to incorporate such practices into the liturgy in the name of inculturation are so often such an embarrassing failure. 

By the way, Mr Campbell informs me that his ongoing series about the attacks on the sacrament of Confession in the journal Consilium will likely resume shortly. (See the already published parts at these links: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.)