Suffering from Ecumania

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/features_opinion/features_3.html
An interesting, ("I'll be the judge of that!" I always shout when Himself begins a story that way.... I'm a pain, aren't I? He probably gets a Get Out Of Purgatory Free card for having married me,) but anyway, an interesting piece by a Fr Michael Seed.
He obviously travels in far more exalted circles than I, but I think, I think he just may be talking about the same reaction I am having to what passes for Ecumenism, this kind of very earnest and spacey at the same time, What does it matter what you believe as long as you're a nice person? jamboree.
When Mrs. Himself Sr. learned we were to be married she asked him, or rather, more or less stated, "So you'll become a Catholic," and I too quickly said NO, and then of course explained, not unless he wants to we haven't even talked about that, it's certainly not necessary, not that it wouldn't really make me happy, but that's not a good reason... I never know when to stop talking anymore than I know when to stop typing.
But after we were married, and he began to ask more questions, and I began to ask them back, we decided, he couldn't really think about converting, (yes, I know being received into the Catholic Church from another Christian denom is not technically "conversion,") unless he knew from what he was converting.
And there's the rub.
And I cannot speak for Anglicans, or Methodists, (I'm thinking of some of the big entering into full communion stories of the past few months,) but it seems to me for Catholics, the emphasis on ecumenism in my lifetime coincided perfectly and horrifically with the catechetical collapse. All those Catholics "leaving" the Church had no idea WHAT they were "leaving."
And also perfectly synchronized with the let's cut out felt banners and sing I am a Giant Ball of Love phase of faith formation, (I'm not making this up -- our class had a big poster that said, "God is Orange,") was the de facto suppression of all the oblique catechesis , the devotions, sacred art, the ethnic Catholic customs, the cultural Catholicism.
So maybe I'm reading into Fr Seed's piece, but I think I'm seeing someone who looks on most manifestations of "ecumenism" with as jaundiced an eye as I.

The 100th Week of Prayer for Christian Unity ends today. The week was established in 1908 by the founder of my order, the Rev Paul Wattson (an Anglican who became a Catholic a year later). It worked pretty well for the first 60 years, but over the last 40 years it has become ever more complex and problematic. We often say: “Oh, it’s the turn of the Methodists this year” or “It’s the turn of the Anglicans.” It’s their turn to organise “the thing”, whatever the thing is. The week now is an exercise in “forced ecumenism”. It’s dominated by thousands of ecumaniacs. These are people in the grip of a terrible disease called ecumania. There is no cure at the moment. The disease leads to a living death, and it is a very painful one. The week needs to be totally rethought.

The emphasis of the next 100 years, I hope, will be on prayer and a deep spirituality.
The greatest joy I had in 2007 was when I was invited to address an ecumenical clergy meeting in a certain London borough. At the end of my address, they decided to abolish their pointless meetings. They wanted to wait upon the Holy Spirit to guide them to a new level of ecumenical life. I suspect that when they went back and told their congregations the meetings were over there were a few scarcely suppressed cheers from the pews.