The Catholic Religion

[DGS49]

After seventy-odd years attending Catholic Mass, more or less every Sunday of my life, it suddenly struck me today.

I watched the priest in his sacred vestments offering what we refer to as "the sacrifice of the Mass," and realized that for me, it can only be this way. This particular priest, like most of the ones I've come into contact with, is a wise, dedicated servant of God and his congregation - of which I am happily a part. He has no wife, no children, owns next-to-nothing, and has only one mission in life, for as long as he lives. If I call him at four AM because my wife or son is dying or dead, he will be there in a flash. I've seen it happen several times in my life with friends and relatives. Or even if I only want to talk. If it is humanly possible he will be there. And it matters not if there was a prior relationship with that priest or with the parish. They will show up.

In my view, there is no real comparison with a Christian "minister," married with kids. My priest works for me...and everyone else. No married man (or woman) with kids can put his/her congregation at the top of the priority list the way a Catholic priest can.

While it was horrifying to learn several years ago that something on the order of seven percent of Catholic priests were child molesters, I am apparently lucky in that regard. I was a choir boy, an altar boy, a boy scout, and played on various sports teams for the parish and my parochial schools. I went to 8 years of Catholic grade school and four years of Catholic HS, and never encountered a single priest, nun, or Christian Brother (who taught at the HS) who was even accused of these improprieties. One neighborhood kid, several years older than I, was a flaming homosexual who became a parish priest, and even he was never accused of any improper act, although he ultimately left the priesthood to pursue...whatever it was he wanted to pursue.

The infamous Seven Percent who have furnished the excuse for those millions of "Catholics" who simply didn't want to go to church or contribute any more, BETRAYED the Church; they were not REPRESENTATIVE of the Church. They broke their vows massively, and did their best to conceal what they were doing. When discovered, they swore to God (and their Bishops) that they would never commit this particular sin again and...shame on the Bishops who believed them.

Our priests are the heart of the Church. I would welcome women priests, and have known many women (some of them nuns) who would have made marvelous priests. But to reject the Church and its teachings because of the Seven Percent is bullshit.

Sorry.

 

[sparky]

Sorry.

don't be

~S~

 

[Meriweather]

The infamous Seven Percent

I am curious...where did you get the 7% number? I see only 4% during the worst years, which has fallen even further the last twenty years.

 

[Meriweather]

But to reject the Church and its teachings because of the Seven Percent is bullshit.

It has been my experience that people do not make a decision on important matters without three good reasons. Okay, so a low percentage of priests who broke their vows is one reason. I am curious as to the other two reasons of why Catholics chose to leave the faith.

 

[jehanne1431]

After seventy-odd years attending Catholic Mass, more or less every Sunday of my life, it suddenly struck me today.

I watched the priest in his sacred vestments offering what we refer to as "the sacrifice of the Mass," and realized that for me, it can only be this way. This particular priest, like most of the ones I've come into contact with, is a wise, dedicated servant of God and his congregation - of which I am happily a part. He has no wife, no children, owns next-to-nothing, and has only one mission in life, for as long as he lives. If I call him at four AM because my wife or son is dying or dead, he will be there in a flash. I've seen it happen several times in my life with friends and relatives. Or even if I only want to talk. If it is humanly possible he will be there. And it matters not if there was a prior relationship with that priest or with the parish. They will show up.

In my view, there is no real comparison with a Christian "minister," married with kids. My priest works for me...and everyone else. No married man (or woman) with kids can put his/her congregation at the top of the priority list the way a Catholic priest can.

While it was horrifying to learn several years ago that something on the order of seven percent of Catholic priests were child molesters, I am apparently lucky in that regard. I was a choir boy, an altar boy, a boy scout, and played on various sports teams for the parish and my parochial schools. I went to 8 years of Catholic grade school and four years of Catholic HS, and never encountered a single priest, nun, or Christian Brother (who taught at the HS) who was even accused of these improprieties. One neighborhood kid, several years older than I, was a flaming homosexual who became a parish priest, and even he was never accused of any improper act, although he ultimately left the priesthood to pursue...whatever it was he wanted to pursue.

The infamous Seven Percent who have furnished the excuse for those millions of "Catholics" who simply didn't want to go to church or contribute any more, BETRAYED the Church; they were not REPRESENTATIVE of the Church. They broke their vows massively, and did their best to conceal what they were doing. When discovered, they swore to God (and their Bishops) that they would never commit this particular sin again and...shame on the Bishops who believed them.

Our priests are the heart of the Church. I would welcome women priests, and have known many women (some of them nuns) who would have made marvelous priests. But to reject the Church and its teachings because of the Seven Percent is bullshit.

Sorry.

And of that 7%, 80% or more were homosexual encounters, i.e., priest with a 11 – 16 year old boy. These priests entered the seminary for all the wrong reasons, not in all cases, but a majority. And the greater crime against the Catholic Church is the bishops or superiors who either covered some of this up, or passed their troubled priest along to another diocese.

I have no idea how many of the hierarchy knew of these scandals and did nothing, or knew of this and felt powerless to do anything within? Easy to blame the popes, but I am not so ready to blame John Paul II or Benedict XVI. I cannot say why but there has to be some awful reason or circumstance they could not just send out a party of Vatican “police” to round up all the suspects. Pope Francis, on the other hand, seems only partially interested in totally stopping that which remains. But I believe the numbers are miniscule compared to the loose, enabling seminaries in the 60s and 70s. The young Catholic priests are far more deeply committed and obedient.

So do the sins of some bishops or cardinals or even a pope give reason for a Catholic to leave the Church and find something else? Like what? Did followers of Jesus deny Him because a traitor and liar was in His precious circle of the privileged, Judas? What is protected by God is the teachings of the Church and its sacraments and the special graces and revelation given only to the Catholic Church, established by Jesus Christ. Dance around it all you want, but even the protestant’s Bible makes that very clear, The Eucharist, Confession, honor and reverence to the Mother of God, and the reality of purgatory --- to deny those is a real loss for the denier. So if your particular church or denomination is not ostensibly under attack by the devil trying to corrupt ministers and those within ---- perhaps that is because the devil does not feel great opposition there or as much. But he surely does with Catholicism, so he schemes to “Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter.”

I do not know what most people are doing here on earth, but they sure give the message that the Four Last Things, “Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell” is not a big driver in their lives, as to what they focus on and how they conduct themselves. I have never been able to understand how so many can be so cavalier about the only thing that truly matters in their life and in their family’s lives as well.

 

[Augustine_]

Our priests are the heart of the Church. I would welcome women priests, and have known many women (some of them nuns) who would have made marvelous priests.

That would make you liberal in thought among your congregation. Are you sure you're comfortable with that?

 

[Harry Dresden]

the catholic religion is a wealthy cult......

 

[Hellokitty]

After seventy-odd years attending Catholic Mass, more or less every Sunday of my life, it suddenly struck me today.

I watched the priest in his sacred vestments offering what we refer to as "the sacrifice of the Mass," and realized that for me, it can only be this way. This particular priest, like most of the ones I've come into contact with, is a wise, dedicated servant of God and his congregation - of which I am happily a part. He has no wife, no children, owns next-to-nothing, and has only one mission in life, for as long as he lives. If I call him at four AM because my wife or son is dying or dead, he will be there in a flash. I've seen it happen several times in my life with friends and relatives. Or even if I only want to talk. If it is humanly possible he will be there. And it matters not if there was a prior relationship with that priest or with the parish. They will show up.

In my view, there is no real comparison with a Christian "minister," married with kids. My priest works for me...and everyone else. No married man (or woman) with kids can put his/her congregation at the top of the priority list the way a Catholic priest can.

While it was horrifying to learn several years ago that something on the order of seven percent of Catholic priests were child molesters, I am apparently lucky in that regard. I was a choir boy, an altar boy, a boy scout, and played on various sports teams for the parish and my parochial schools. I went to 8 years of Catholic grade school and four years of Catholic HS, and never encountered a single priest, nun, or Christian Brother (who taught at the HS) who was even accused of these improprieties. One neighborhood kid, several years older than I, was a flaming homosexual who became a parish priest, and even he was never accused of any improper act, although he ultimately left the priesthood to pursue...whatever it was he wanted to pursue.

The infamous Seven Percent who have furnished the excuse for those millions of "Catholics" who simply didn't want to go to church or contribute any more, BETRAYED the Church; they were not REPRESENTATIVE of the Church. They broke their vows massively, and did their best to conceal what they were doing. When discovered, they swore to God (and their Bishops) that they would never commit this particular sin again and...shame on the Bishops who believed them.

Our priests are the heart of the Church. I would welcome women priests, and have known many women (some of them nuns) who would have made marvelous priests. But to reject the Church and its teachings because of the Seven Percent is bullshit.

Sorry.

Agree with everything except welcoming women priests. The priesthood was instituted by Christ, so the Church doesn't have the authority to change it.

 

[Michelle420]

Great testimony thanks for sharing. I am new to studying the religion but love the Catholics so far they have been the nicest people to me. The Mormons rejected me years ago and more recently rejected my boyfriend because we live together not married. But the Catholics welcome me with love.

 

[Michelle420]

Agree with everything except welcoming women priests. The priesthood was instituted by Christ, so the Church doesn't have the authority to change it.

I agree. I think Catholics should keep it traditional we have Nuns and there is a reason for the roles, this goes back to Jesus times.

 

[Michelle420]

And of that 7%, 80% or more were homosexual encounters, i.e., priest with a 11 – 16 year old boy. These priests entered the seminary for all the wrong reasons, not in all cases, but a majority. And the greater crime against the Catholic Church is the bishops or superiors who either covered some of this up, or passed their troubled priest along to another diocese.

I have no idea how many of the hierarchy knew of these scandals and did nothing, or knew of this and felt powerless to do anything within? Easy to blame the popes, but I am not so ready to blame John Paul II or Benedict XVI. I cannot say why but there has to be some awful reason or circumstance they could not just send out a party of Vatican “police” to round up all the suspects. Pope Francis, on the other hand, seems only partially interested in totally stopping that which remains. But I believe the numbers are miniscule compared to the loose, enabling seminaries in the 60s and 70s. The young Catholic priests are far more conservative and obedient.

So do the sins of some bishops or cardinals or even a pope give reason for a Catholic to leave the Church and find something else? Like what? Did followers of Jesus deny Him because a traitor and liar was in His precious circle of the privileged, Judas? What is protected by God is the teachings of the Church and its sacraments and the special graces and revelation given only to the Catholic Church, established by Jesus Christ. Dance around it all you want, but even the protestant’s Bible makes that very clear, The Eucharist, Confession, honor and reverence to the Mother of God, and the reality of purgatory --- to deny those is a real loss for the denier. So if your particular church or denomination is not ostensibly under attack by the devil trying to corrupt ministers and those within ---- perhaps that is because the devil does not feel great opposition there or as much. But he surely does with Catholicism, so he schemes to “Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter.”

I do not know what most people are doing here on earth, but they sure give the message that the Four Last Things, “Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell” is not a big driver in their lives, as to what they focus on and how they conduct themselves. I have never been able to understand how so many can be so cavalier about the only thing that matters in their life and their family’s lives as well.

The Devil is attacking the church vehemently. Must really upset him when the faithful remain unphased. Great post of yours.

 

[Wyatt earp]

After seventy-odd years attending Catholic Mass, more or less every Sunday of my life, it suddenly struck me today.

I watched the priest in his sacred vestments offering what we refer to as "the sacrifice of the Mass," and realized that for me, it can only be this way. This particular priest, like most of the ones I've come into contact with, is a wise, dedicated servant of God and his congregation - of which I am happily a part. He has no wife, no children, owns next-to-nothing, and has only one mission in life, for as long as he lives. If I call him at four AM because my wife or son is dying or dead, he will be there in a flash. I've seen it happen several times in my life with friends and relatives. Or even if I only want to talk. If it is humanly possible he will be there. And it matters not if there was a prior relationship with that priest or with the parish. They will show up.

In my view, there is no real comparison with a Christian "minister," married with kids. My priest works for me...and everyone else. No married man (or woman) with kids can put his/her congregation at the top of the priority list the way a Catholic priest can.

While it was horrifying to learn several years ago that something on the order of seven percent of Catholic priests were child molesters, I am apparently lucky in that regard. I was a choir boy, an altar boy, a boy scout, and played on various sports teams for the parish and my parochial schools. I went to 8 years of Catholic grade school and four years of Catholic HS, and never encountered a single priest, nun, or Christian Brother (who taught at the HS) who was even accused of these improprieties. One neighborhood kid, several years older than I, was a flaming homosexual who became a parish priest, and even he was never accused of any improper act, although he ultimately left the priesthood to pursue...whatever it was he wanted to pursue.

The infamous Seven Percent who have furnished the excuse for those millions of "Catholics" who simply didn't want to go to church or contribute any more, BETRAYED the Church; they were not REPRESENTATIVE of the Church. They broke their vows massively, and did their best to conceal what they were doing. When discovered, they swore to God (and their Bishops) that they would never commit this particular sin again and...shame on the Bishops who believed them.

Our priests are the heart of the Church. I would welcome women priests, and have known many women (some of them nuns) who would have made marvelous priests. But to reject the Church and its teachings because of the Seven Percent is bullshit.

Sorry.

What the hell is the catholic religion? What is a christian minister?


Jesus Christ you do know Catholics are Christian and the protestants broke off from them right???

 

[Meriweather]

Agree with everything except welcoming women priests. The priesthood was instituted by Christ, so the Church doesn't have the authority to change it.

I have watched women's roles in the Catholic Church. Keep in mind these are only my observations and I have only resided in a few parishes. Girl altar servers...result, fewer boy altar servers. Female ushers...result, fewer male ushers.

This begs the question...What role do we want males to have in the church? Second, it downplays the roles of nuns, who are in no way inferior.

Women have always been a tremendous force in the Church, with vital roles. How would it benefit the Church to remove men from their vital role, a role that was instituted by Christ?

 

[Meriweather]

What the hell is the catholic religion?

Along with Scripture, the Catholic faith follows Apostolic traditions.

 

[Wyatt earp]

I have watched women's roles in the Catholic Church. Keep in mind these are only my observations and I have only resided in a few parishes. Girl altar servers...result, fewer boy altar servers. Female ushers...result, fewer male ushers.

This begs the question...What role do we want males to have in the church? Second, it downplays the roles of nuns, who are in no way inferior.

Women have always been a tremendous force in the Church, with vital roles. How would it benefit the Church to remove men from their vital role, a role that was instituted by Christ?

A women tried to give me communion a few years ago in Casper Wyoming, I declined..

 

[DGS49]

I. The "seven percent" comes from that movie, I think it was called, "Spotlight," which laid out some extensive research done by people who had looked closely at the problem over a long period of time and came to that conclusion. I have never seen a better estimate, so I accept it.

I(a). I believe that the Catholic Church unwittingly created a lifestyle (being a parish priest) that was akin to "Disneyland" for child molesters. It took them way too long to recognize that, and to recognize the extent of harm caused by these devils. Still, it is a great injustice to hold the 93% responsible for the sins of the 7%.

II. A "priest" is a minister whose role is to perform sacrifices - initially animal and crop sacrifices, and ultimately the sacrifice of the Redeemer, which we re-enact at Mass every day. The Sacrifice of the Redeemer made all other sin offerings and sacrifices moot, which is why Christians immediately stopped that Jewish custom. As the Baptist so profoundly said, "Behold the lamb [sin offering] of God!"

III. I believe that the decision to make the priesthood a male-only thing was not a theological one, but one of mere custom. I also believe that the reason the Catholic Church has rejected this innovation in recent centuries is that it would be extremely inconvenient to implement, although less so in recent years. If we get a new Pope, who knows?

 

[Meriweather]

I. The "seven percent" comes from that movie, I think it was called, "Spotlight," which laid out some extensive research done by people who had looked closely at the problem over a long period of time and came to that conclusion. I have never seen a better estimate, so I accept it.

There are much better estimates than Hollywood, by better scholars. Three to four percent may also be a little high.

 

[Meriweather]

I(a). I believe that the Catholic Church unwittingly created a lifestyle (being a parish priest) that was akin to "Disneyland" for child molesters. It took them way too long to recognize that, and to recognize the extent of harm caused by these devils. Still, it is a great injustice to hold the 93% responsible for the sins of the 7%.

I was a journalist at the time. Do you know who had higher statistics? Public schools. The news media decided not to cover that. Family statistics were even higher than public schools. Catholic priests turned out to be among the lowest statistics, but it made the better story...and the media is in business to make money and therefore try not to offend everyone.

The other part of the story they would not print: Psychiatrists thought they could cure pedophiles. At the time they were advocating their retraining programs--AND MOVING OFFENDERS TO NEW LOCATIONS. Yes, within the public school system as well. It were Catholic priests and bishops who started telling these psychiatrists their program was not working, was not working, was not working. The news media got a hold of this and the Catholic Church took the blame for pedophilia.

I am glad it did. Even if they did have the lowest percentage, even if they were the ones who were blowing the whistle on programs that did not work, pedophilia in any church or public school should be ZERO. The Catholic Church learned they could take their own steps at clean up, and after about ten years became the model on mitigating what was happening to children.

This being said--there were some Catholic dioceses that closed their eyes and ears and pretended nothing was going on. US Conference on Catholic Bishop had their hands full insisting all dioceses follow the guidelines. Catholic toleration is ZERO, and we still work at this.

Catholic priests have the lowest percentage of men who are pedophiles, including other sects and denominations. Not that the news media will ever note this. The Catholic Church will always be the whipping boy, and personally, I wouldn't have it any other way.

 

[Meriweather]

I(a). I believe that the Catholic Church unwittingly created a lifestyle (being a parish priest) that was akin to "Disneyland" for child molesters. It took them way too long to recognize that, and to recognize the extent of harm caused by these devils. Still, it is a great injustice to hold the 93% responsible for the sins of the 7%.

Are you aware that 44% of those guilty of pedophilia are married--or have been married? By your criteria, it is being married that is more akin to Disneyland for child molesters.

 

[Batcat]

What I heard was it was hard to get men to volunteer to become a priest in the Catholic Church as they had to take an oath of celibacy. Therefore some homosexuals viewed the Catholic Church as a land of opportunity, especially those who were pedophiles.

That makes sense to me as I would NEVER make an oath of celibacy as I know I could never keep it.