Posted on 07/22/2006 7:06:59 AM PDT by NYer
Aw dang, Jeff, you caught us red-handed!Trying to Hook More Youths on Priesthood
In this era of Eminem and Britney Spears, of sexy sitcoms and sexier commercials, of high-speed Internet and instant gratification, a life of celibacy devoted to God can be a hard sell to a teenager.
So as the nation's Roman Catholic leaders gathered recently and watched a video called "Fishers of Men," designed to draw young men to the priesthood, they had good reason to worry about the future of their chosen way of life.
Church leaders have long been aware of the statistics. There are now about 43,000 Catholic priests in America, down from more than 58,000 in 1965. As the U.S. Catholic population has risen to about 70 million, more churches have had to share priests.
What receives less attention is that the men who go into the seminary generally don't do so until later in life. The average age of newly ordained priests was 36 last year, up from 28 in the 1960s and 26 in the 1940s.
...
Observers of vocational trends say more effort is needed now because of smaller families, with parents who want grandchildren; a secularized culture wary of lifetime commitment and celibacy; Catholic assimilation in America; and increased family mobility, which detracts from parish loyalties. [More...]
The belief of what Muslims practice is OT in this thread. We're talking why the Catholic Church is finding it difficult in recruiting priests.
Again, you brought up what Muslims believe, not I?
Careful, your hate is showing again.
We have diff interpretations and understandings as to hate. Even JC did as well. You know, the money changers.
Dumb question from me but where does it say Paul was a bishop? I know he was an apostle but I can't find where it says he was a bishop.
Dear neocon,
I didn't know that! Perhaps all those years of studying French will have a positive health effect!
"It's a pity so many colleges have dropped their foreign language requirement."
I agree strongly.
"That was off-topic, though ... sorry."
Eh, this thread's gotten a little zany, anyway.
sitetest
Are you a Muslim?
Dear marajade,
My comment about your language wasn't about the Muslims.
It was about your foul mouth.
Read what you wrote in #376, specifically the third line, the sentence that begins "What was this...":
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/religion/1670431/posts?page=376#376
sitetest
I'm sorry but his little semen is still an aggressor. It is part of the criminal! It is not innocent. Her egg is!
The use of "crap" is an obscenity?
Dear marajade,
Not my call. The Religion Moderator has yanked numerous posts for the use of that word.
Your interpretation, notwithstanding. LOL.
sitetest
Since St. Paul was still named Saul and a persecutor of Christians before God came upon him, it follows that he wrote 1 Corinthians after God came upon him. Since he refers to his celibate state in that letter in the present tense, it follows that he was celibate after God came upon him as well.
In fact, in writing 1 Corinthians, St. Paul was acting in his capacity as bishop. Therefore, he was simultaneously celibate and a bishop.
It follows that your interpretation of 1 Timothy, that celibacy is incompatible with the office of bishop, is erroneous. For 1 Corinthians shows that St. Paul was both celibate and a bishop simultaneously. St. Paul is the counter-example which disproves your thesis. I have provided an interpretation which reconciles 1 Corinthians and 1 Timothy. You have not. You must do so, or you must argue that Scripture may contradict itself. But self-contration is error, and Scripture, being inspired by the infallible Holy Spirit cannot contain error. Therefore, that line of argument is closed to you as well.
What posts?
Was a Paul a bishop? He established Churches in the Book of Acts and then moved on.
Dear landerwy,
I'll go with the sperm as aggressor (though it's a bit of a stretch). However, once conception occurs, there is no sperm. There is no egg. There's just an innocent unborn human being.
If you can keep the sperm from penetrating the egg, go for it. But the innocent unborn human being that exists after conception is not an aggressor.
sitetest
Dear marajade,
Posts here on Religion Forum threads. I couldn't cite specific threads for you. If you'd like, ask the Religion Moderator yourself. Read his guidelines. Here they are:
http://www.freerepublic.com/~religionmoderator/index?U=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.freerepublic.com%2Ffocus%2Ff-religion%2F1670431%2Fposts%3Fpage%3D408
Sorry for trying to be helpful. It won't happen again.
sitetest
Dear marajade,
Here's the relevant text from the Religion Moderator's guidelines:
"I have no tolerance for potty language simply because it inflames other posters and results in unnecessary abuse reports that moderators then have to process. It is a waste of everyone’s time and doesn’t help the poster’s image either.
"Whenever I see a profanity – or a reference or acronym for a profanity – I will remove the post. If your post was pulled and you remember using such a word, just rephrase and repost and everything will be fine."
sitetest
It's not dumb at all. I believe someone cited a verse earlier, but I hope you will forgive me for not looking it up right now, as I'm getting ready for bed. (Mass in the morning, you know!)
But the bishops are successors to the Apostles, as can be seen in the passage concerning the election of Matthias in Acts. So all Apostles are bishops; in fact they are the original bishops. As you know, St. Paul wasn't one of the Twelve, but claimed the title of Apostle (for he certainly fulfilled that role), and that was acknowledged and accepted by the Eleven. So, having been an Apostle, St. Paul was automatically a bishop.
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