—I also believe that, though Pope Francis was not present at the Conferences in the flesh, he certainly was in spirit.

An immodest and egalitarian "uniform"

Unisex revolutionary attire

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Bad example of clergy and conference speakers

Fr. Mike Schmitz, Jen Fulwiler

and Dn. Larry Oney

A priest from the modernist

Mundelein Seminary pulls a face

while eating an enormous dessert Deacon Larry Oney, is at the same time both the most well-dressed and poorly-dressed of the three. He is well-dressed in the sense that his clothes appear natural to him (if we didn't know he was a deacon of the Church), and, except for his lack of a tie, it is appropriate attire. He is, however, the least-appropriately dressed due to his status as a member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. At least with Fr. Schmitz I can tell he is a priest, and at least with Jen Fulwiler I know she is just an (albeit poorly dressed) laywoman. Dn. Oney's wardrobe choice is particularly sinister because he just looks like a comparatively well-dressed layman.



To his credit, though, his choice of clothes is probably superior to 95% of the male conference attendees, and it certainly looks better than Fr. Schmitz's wrinkled and awkward "clerical" clothes. How much more attractive would this picture be, though, if Fr. Schmitz and Dn. Oney wore their respective cassocks, and Ms. Fulwiler opted for a dress, something far more suited to a Catholic woman...



Let's also not forget the enormous, toothy smiles, present in almost all the photos. It is something of a "grave sin" in the modern culture to neglect to show one's teeth when being photographed...

Dominicans making a mockery of themselves , is at the same time both the most well-dressed and poorly-dressed of the three. He is well-dressed in the sense that his clothes appear natural to him (if we didn't know he was a deacon of the Church), and, except for his lack of a tie, it is appropriate attire. He is, however, the least-appropriately dressed due to his status as a member of the clergy of the Catholic Church. At least with Fr. Schmitz I can tell he is a priest, and at least with Jen Fulwiler I know she is just an (albeit poorly dressed) laywoman. Dn. Oney's wardrobe choice is particularly sinister because he just looks like a comparatively well-dressed layman.To his credit, though, his choice of clothes is probably superior to 95% of the male conference attendees, and it certainly looks better than Fr. Schmitz's wrinkled and awkward "clerical" clothes. How much more attractive would this picture be, though, if Fr. Schmitz and Dn. Oney wore their respective cassocks, and Ms. Fulwiler opted for a dress, something far more suited to a Catholic woman...Let's also not forget the enormous, toothy smiles, present in almost all the photos. It is something of a "grave sin" in the modern culture to neglect to show one's teeth when being photographed...

Schizophrenia in pictures

Schizophrenia: progressivists and pseudo- traditionalists

Another intuitive expectation I had about my research, before I even began, would be overwhelming immodesty. In general, I expected bad fashion, and I found it in almost everyone in every picture I saw of the Conference. Bad fashions were the foremost of my expectations, and they were also foremost of my observations. They are the most striking and most immediately-noticeable problem with this youth conference, whose standards of modesty are, apparently, "anything goesoutright nudity". These two pictures below, of two "different" groups, illustrate this:I believe these pictures give a good sample of the fashions typical of Conference attendees, and it also gives a good idea of the male-to-female ratio, another troubling aspect. The women are universally wearing either jeans or elastic pants. The use of skirts is very rare in my observations, and most of the skirts are above-the-knee or otherwise immodest.Also, the men, who are clearly the minority in this picture, wear the same thing as the women. The clothing is unisex and egalitarian: there are absolutely no apparent distinctions among the attendees.I can imagine someone countering: "Look at the sheer number of youth attending this conference. Isn't this proof that the Church is growing and strong?"I would answer:. This looks more like a women's conference than aConference. The fact that so few men are present tells me the men think the conference is too feminine. Also, I would imagine many of the men actually present have something of an ulterior motive: "I am not interested in the conference, I am just here to get a girlfriend or a wife"...while not necessarily an evil motive, it shouldn't be the primary motive for conference attendees, for a Conference that is allegedly about teaching the Faith and such as that.It is unsurprising, then, that the men would be wearing indistinguishable unisex clothing so they can more easily "blend in" with the women: tee shirt and blue jeans, and only occasionally a "formal" polo shirt. In their perverse logic, lowering themselves to the level of the women makes them more agreeable to the women. To dress "properly" is "nerdy" and therefore unattractive. The men, then, are just like the modern clergy who wear lay clothes under the pretext of "humility".Rather than setting a more formal and tendentially Catholic tone, as men are supposed to do, the men go along with the trends.Of course, it is only natural that the vast majority of conference attendees would dress so inappropriately. The tee shirt, jeans, and tennis shoe, or some variation thereof, are what everyone wears. As (I believe) Dr. Marian Horvat described it, it is the "uniform of the Revolution". Why would it be any different at a conference for theChurch of today? Moreover, why would it be any different for the clergy or the other conference speakers?I was completely unsurprised to see how sloppy and lazy the Conference speakers dressed. The picture atis a good example of this:, a popular Robert Barron-esque Internet celebrity priest, sports a wrinkled clerical shirt and the omnipresent "clerical" blazer and slacks (really lay clothing). Without the collar, he would be indistinguishable from a businessman.sports the equally-omnipresent pants (apparently tight-fitting), and some sort of open shirt.There are other problems with this Conference, besides the most prevalent problem of bad fashion. I could categorise them under the heading of "Schizophrenic". Why would I do so? Because I notice a jarring and horrifying theme: it is a hodgepodge between garbage Novus Ordo Catholicism, and some commendable traditionalist elements.I can only imagine how confused some of the conference attendees may have been, as they passed through the countless rows of booths, all advertising different groups, different apostolates, different orders; all of them advertising different and conflicting orientations of thought.I believe the picture atis a great example, perhaps one of the most palpable, of the veritable schizophrenia of this conference. Take note at how open the state of near-schism within that particular order manifests itself, and then imagine it as a microcosm of the entire conference, even the entire Conciliar Church. At left in that picture, you have some conservatives who retain a more traditional attire. At right in the picture, separated, and apparently tense and ill-at-ease, are the progressives, with their trousers, and hoodies. Even still, those who are "traditionally"-attired are no different than those who show up to these ridiculous mini-World Youth Days dressed "properly", but still go along with the bad music, the revolutionary mannerisms, and of course the untouchable Novus Ordo Mass.What a horrible state of soul, to be present at this conference and to be bombarded with so many contradictory mentalities. One notices as well the presence of the Canons Regular of St. John Cantius, a pseudo-traditionalist group that accepts both the legitimate Mass of the Roman Rite and the illicit Novus Ordo. In spite of this mortal failing, one can still appreciate other aspects: their attire, entirely appropriate, and the good ambience of their booth (the attractive rug, the nice pictures, the tastefully-decorated table and the reliquary) must be among the most traditionalist in the entire Convention Center, perhaps the entire city of Indianapolis. But how this contrasts so sharply with the conference at large.Meanwhile, one can imagine the innumerable legions of youth processing through the conference center, snacking on the typical fare of pretzels, pizza, and soda, and no doubt consulting their iPhones regularly to take the equally innumerable pictures and videos of this conference for the sake of social media...