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"I'll be more supportive when they start removing pedophiles
from the priesthood."
- George Carlin
"Sin has to be a grievous offense, sufficient reflection,
and full consent of the will."
- The Church's view on sin
"1. The condition of being unmarried, esp. by reason of
religious vows. 2. Abstinence from sexual intercourse."
- Webster's definition of Celibacy
"1. The state or quality of being chaste or pure. 2. a.
Virginity. b. Virtuousness. c. Celibacy."
- Webster's definition of Chastity
"I just knew it would be the Catholics."
- Serendipity (Salma Hayek) from the movie, Dogma, about
the finding the loophole that would erase all of existence.
Contradicting that God is infallible.
"Religion should be a celebration. You, Catholics, mourn
it. "
- Serendipity (Salma Hayek) from the movie, Dogma, to
the last Zion.
"I wasn't too worried about people who were making judgments
about the film as Catholic-bashing and they weren't happy about
that, because those people weren't going to go to the movie
anyway. What I was worried about was the section of the audience
that hears the movie is Catholic-bashing and can't wait to see
it because they're looking for that movie with teeth and they
get in there and watch and they find out it's just a fun film."
- Kevin Smith on his movie, Dogma
"Every dogma has its day."
- Abraham Rotstein
April 26th, 2002
A WORD OF WARNING: IF
YOU ARE A DEVOUT CATHOLIC AND ARE SENSITIVE ABOUT THE STANCE
THE CHURCH HAS TAKEN ON SEXUAL ABUSE IN THE CATHOLIC PRIESTHOOD,
YOU MAY NOT WANT TO READ THIS. YOU WILL BE OFFENDED.
That being said, let the carnage begin.
Can you believe it? The Catholic Church has decided
to alienate not only the women of its congregation but also
the children as well. Kids, you should now know you are not
safe as an altar boy, and you may be a little more hesitant
about going on Catholic Retreats, CYO, Lock-Up, or anything
involving a priest and a boy (or girl for that matter).
There is a major "crisis" in the Catholic
Church.
Let us look at what the Catholic Church is NOT
doing for their congregation.
- The Pope and the US Cardinals have DECLINED
the ZERO-TOLERANCE policy.
- A priest who has committed sexual abuse to
kids can still go on being a priest. The church will not take
any action unless he is a SERIAL sex abuser. (The first one
is on the house after that, boy, you're in trouble.)
- The Cardinals define what a child is. If you
are under twelve, you are a child and qualify as being a sexually
abused child. If you are twelve or over, you were probably
asking for it, because in the Church's eyes you are an adult
and can take care of yourself.
- They have taken the original definition of
celibacy, meaning that the vow is to remain unmarried. The
vow to pay attention to is the vow of chastity.
- The cardinals say, "Even if the cases
of true pedophilia on the part of priests and religious are
few, all the participants recognized the gravity of the problem.
In the meeting, the quantitative terms of the problem were
discussed, since the statistics are not very clear in this
regard. Attention was drawn to the fact that almost all the
cases involved adolescents and therefore were not cases of
true pedophilia."
- The cardinals also say, "Given
the doctrinal issues underlying the deplorable behavior in
question, certain lines of response have been proposed:
- The pastors of the church need clearly
to promote the correct moral teaching of the church and
publicly to reprimand individuals who spread dissent and
groups which advance ambiguous approaches to pastoral
care.
- A new and serious apostolic visitation
of seminaries and other institutes of formation must be
made without delay, with particular emphasis on the need
for fidelity to the church's teaching, especially in the
area of morality, and the need for a deeper study of the
criteria of suitability of candidates to the priesthood.
- It would be fitting for the Bishops of
the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to ask
the faithful to join them in observing a national day
of prayer and penance, in reparation for the offenses
perpetrated and in prayer to God for the conversion of
sinners and the reconciliation of victims."
So, what have we learned. That breaks in the
vows of celibacy and chastity are not really grounds for a priest
to be defrocked. And if we really, really, really, really, really,
pray for this problem to go away. It will. Also, that it's not
the clergy's fault, it's ours. So, beg for forgiveness.
I'm not going to lie to anyone. I stopped being
a practicing Catholic shortly after college. I have to say after
college because I went to a Jesuit school and mass was a regular
sort of thing there. (I even read a book by Thomas Merton about
monastasism.) But even before I went to college, I had never
believed in the Catholic Church. It seemed so contra to everything
that Jesus said in the Bible.
I've always believed that religion is between
the individual and God. No middle man.
The Catholic Church has done so much to discourage
people from joining the flock, how can anyone take them seriously.
This is not a product of modern thinking. I think you could
probably trace this all the way back to St. Paul (I use the
term "saint" loosely, having an apparent misogynist
as a saint helps me to accentuate the "T" when I spit
his name.) Let's take a look at St. Paul, shall we?
For most of his life Paul (AKA - Saul) was a
murdering soldier from Damascus. He hated women. Paul was “educated
strictly according to the law of our fathers” at the rabbinical
school conducted in Jerusalem by the great rabbi Gamaliel (Acts
22:3). Gamaliel was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin,
“a teacher of the law respected by all the people”
(Acts 5:34). Although Gamaliel is depicted in the New Testament
as lenient towards Christians (Acts 5:33-39), his disciple Saul
was active in the earliest persecutions of Christianity and
attended the stoning of St. Stephen the deacon and first Christian
martyr (Acts 7:58). Paul “persecuted this Way to the death,
binding and delivering to prison both men and women” (Acts
22:4). Intent on exterminating the new faith, Paul sought to
travel to Damascus to undertake the persecution of Christians
there. It was during his trip from Jerusalem to Damascus in
Syria that his life would take a crucial turn when he encountered
the risen Jesus in a searing vision of light that left him temporarily
blind. This experience was revolutionary, engendering a complete
transformation and redirection of his life. He was thrown from
his horse and saw Jesus in a vision, telling him to give up
the sword and follow the Lord. Three years after his conversion,
Paul journeyed to Jerusalem to meet with Peter and stayed with
him for fifteen days. “But I did not see any other apostle
except James, the Lord’s brother” (Galatians 1:18-19).
In Acts 9:26-30 Luke describes the suspicion with which the
leaders of the Church in Jerusalem greeted Paul and that it
was Barnabas who secured Paul’s acceptance. From Jerusalem,
Paul returned to Syria and ultimately went to its capital, Antioch,
the third city in the empire after Rome itself and Alexandria
in Egypt.
Eusebius, the 4th century bishop of Caesarea
who is often called the first Church historian, records that
the apostle Paul was executed in Rome during the persecution
of the emperor and madman, Nero. Nero’s persecution of
Christians lasted for four years, from 64 to 68AD. It was also
during this persecution that the apostle Peter was executed.
As a Roman citizen entitled to a quick death, Paul was beheaded.
St. Gregory the Great, the 6th century pope, wrote that Paul’s
execution took place on the left bank of the Tiber River on
the Via Ostiensis, the road to the port of Ostia, and is buried
near the site of the basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls.
That's the story of Paul. To get a real feel
for his idiocy, which I'm certain was from the head injury he
got from the horse fall, you should read his Letters to the
Corinthians. He taught what he knew. Not what he was "inspired"
to know. He excluded half of the human race from his congregation
(for being female). I can't find any documentation to say he
was behind the concept of celibacy, but I'm pretty sure he would
be. Let's remember, most of the original apostles were married.
Mary Magdelene was with the original 12 almost all of the time.
And she got the word of God from the source.
Also, if I told people that I fell off a horse,
went blind and said I saw Jesus (after he had died), they'd
either take me to a hospital for a concussion or put me away
in an insane asylum. I like the view of Paul as given in THE
LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST (Another film that the Catholic
Church has banned along with MONTY PYTHON'S LIFE OF BRIAN
and THE EXORCIST). Paul meets Christ. He said that he
was disappointed because his Christ died on the cross and that
was the one that he was preaching about.
I have a different more sinister view of Paul.
His original plan for the destruction of the Church comes to
fruition 2,100 years after his original mission. But not until
after the Crusades, Papal indulgences, and pedophiles in the
priesthood.
So, 2,100 years after Christ died. Women STILL
can not be priests. That came from Pope "I have a spare
drool bucket in my room", John Paul II, who said "b-b-b-b-b-b-b...
no women as priests. Naptime." Face it folks, it's time
for the man to retire. He is sick and major decisions have to
be made. For God's sake the man probably went to school with
President McKinley. It's time for "new" Catholic Church
leadership.
How are we to take seriously a man who has dismissed
the concept of not only breaking vows of chastity, but of human
decency. He has condoned rape. What he has not condoned is SERIAL
rape. Considering that priests are not supposed to have sex
at all. I don't see why there is a problem with convicting a
rapist.
We have allowed rapists in to the Catholic Church
but not into our neighborhood without alerting the public as
per Megan's Law. So, rape is bad - unless you are a priest and
in that event don't get caught.
My really big question is: Why are there so many?
In 1990, Father Bruce Ritter was accused of sexual
improprieties with some homeless young men under his care. For
those of you who don't know who Father Bruce is, he founded
Covenant House. Ever since that event, Father Bruce has been
out of the spotlight.
Now, several years later, boys who have now reached
adulthood are coming forth and telling their tales of being
sexually abused by priests. Surely, they had to have seen this
coming. But according to the Catholic Church - the attitude
is so what? They are still priests and they are not in jail.
The Catholic Church's only solution may be, "Why don't
you do some missionary work in the Phillipines?" And the
good father will disappear.
I hate to say this because it is right on the
verge of blasphemy. But I've come so far already- why stop?
Jesus had said to Simon. "I call you Peter
and upon this rock I shall build my Church."
I say now that if the Catholic Church kept a
better mind on their own "peters" they wouldn't be
in this mess to begin with. There has been a violation of trust
in the relationship of the Catholic Church, the clergy, and
the congregation. Sexual impropriety should not be an issue
within the walls of the Church. Priests have had a calling to
be spiritual leaders and now instead of children seeking a good
example, they should be running in fear. I remember Church and
Sunday School as a place to give us a good blueprint of right
and wrong. How can we follow a religion that is teaching one
thing and doing the exact opposite?
The church was built on Peter, but it looks now
that the Catholic Church is "petering" out.
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