Posted on 02/08/2014 4:28:42 PM PST by NKP_Vet
Yesterday, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child issued a report, purportedly over the sexual abuse scandal involving the Catholic Church. Forget for a moment the average Catholic’s (need I qualify that with “non-dissenting”?…or “orthodox”?) bias in reading this report…and forget for a moment the facts of the scandal…that’s what most of the “top and bottom of the hour” reporting is focusing on…yet, this same UN report is attempting to get the Vatican to change its own doctrine and canon law. How consonant this is with the current Administration’s chilling efforts related to the HHS contraception/abortifacient mandate as well (Sebellius and Little Sisters of the Poor) as the general trend of lawsuits related to the redefinition of marriage (Christian bakers and gay “marriage” wedding cakes).
(Excerpt) Read more at the-american-catholic.com ...
“You must be aware that many don’t go to Sunday Mass every week, do not go to confession/reconciliation, engage in sex before marriage, live together before marriage”.
Correct, but it also describes the majority of protestants.
If you’re not Catholic why does it bother you how some that identify as Catholic live their life?
The UN is a God-less, leftist organization that has been trying to destroy the Catholic Church for years. That so-called “conservatives” on FR actually agree with the UN when they badmouth the Catholic Church shows you how deep the hatred of the Catholism really is. It will never change and God predicted the hate and persecution. He also said he would be with HIS church till the end of time and that Church He was talking about is the Catholic Church.
I remember the years between 1968 and 1970 or 71, when a huge number of men abandoned the priesthood in the US in the wake of Humanae Vitae. I think the bishops decided that, from a pastoral point of view, they had to assiduously protect and nurture the remnant of priests who remained, just to keep the parishes covered and make sure the faithful weren't left orphaned.
This fed into the "Therapeutic Approach" that was so prevalent inside and outside of the Church at that time: if a man has real, serious problems--- alcohol, drugs, sexual disorder --- they'd send him off to the psych counselors at St. Luke's or whatever, where he'd hopefully gain an insight on his problems, learn to manage his depression or anger or addiction issues, get a lot of affirmation from his bishop, be pronounced "cured", and then put right back on the job again.
The lack of strict oversight, the eagerness to give "trust" and a fresh start to "ex"-offenders, and the clergy shortage which made bishops extremely reluctant to remove a priest from parish duties--- add all that together, and it practically guaranteed a moral and institutional catastrophe.
It make it possible for lawyers - looters to decapitate parishes and bankrupt dioceses, and for government agencies to finish off what was left. And for the pedophile-loving UN to come and say "While you're at it, we expect you to drop your hateful regressive doctrines against adolescent sex, contraception, abortion, and the Human Right to Sodomize."
We've not seen the end of it. Not by a long shot.
Possibly for the same reason that my devoutly Protestant mother is annoyed by priests who don't wear clerics all the time. Deep down she's either aware that the Church is what she claims to be (possible) or she's clearly aware that the Church claims to be something that her members don't even believe anymore (probable).
Now this would never be the case for a Freeper Protestant, but there are lots of generic Protestants who turn to Catholic priests when there's something spooky going on and they think they need an exorcist. People expect that members and "officials" of a church that claims to be divinely founded are really going to be "better" than everyone else. Rightly or wrongly that's the way it is. We put "the Church" up on a pedestal and people genuinely expect it to make a difference in our lives...
“the Church claims to be something that her members don’t even believe anymore (probable)”
The vast majority of people that leave the Catholic Church want to live by their rules and not God’s rules. They can’t stand being part of a Church that actually has rules that they should live by. So they find themselves a protestant church that could care less how they live their life. It is not easy being a Catholic, and by that I mean a Catholic that lives their faith. And that is the reason you have people leaving the faith. I have never heard of a devout Catholic that all the sudden left the faith. Devout Catholics would never abandon the Holy Eucharist.
Oh absolutely the vast majority leave over what I like to call "groin issues". But that wasn't my point, I was talking about the people who are still sticking around out of... sheer inertia I guess.
I am saying that the God-given gifts of Baptism and Confirmation do not disappear, regardless of their actions. Their souls are still marked indelibly as Catholic!
As to some identifying as Catholics, I don't give a damn. It's up to the Church to insist that their rules be followed---or change the rules.
I also disagree with some teachings. After twelve years of Catholic schooling, I will go by their rule, whether I agree or not.
There are very complicated and problematic situations in life. Yes, we do need strong guidelines to live by and possibly solve these situations. Good people may envision their God somewhat differently than the Church sees Him though.
We all know people, maybe even ourselves, who have had bad circumstances which ended their marriages. Some got married too young, it just couldn't work out, and they're divorced at a young age, maybe with children. Are they destined to live a long and lonely life because of an early mistake?
I tend to think that God is all-loving and understanding.
Please know that I do not agree with abortion, homosexuality, easy divorces, child abuse and a number of other no-nos.
We celebrated our 53rd wedding anniversary last week; suffice it to say I've lived through many of life's changes.
There are probably others who have a different belief. Who really knows?
That is cute the way you did that, you confused Catholics who merely leave the denomination, with those who move to what they see as a deeper, more christian, denomination.
Two different things, Catholics who quit going to church or believing, and those who are seeking to move to a more Christian church.
“It’s up to the Church to insist that their rules be followed-—or change the rules”.
Did I just read that right. If someone that calls themselves a Catholic believes in murdering their unborn child, contrary to what the Bible says about murder, you want the Catholic Church to say murder is OK and to just disregard the Word of God. Same thing goes for homosexual “marriage”.
So it’s not up to the Church to change it’s rules (because they can’t change scripture), it’s up to someone who wants to call themselves Catholic to either abide by the teachings of their faith or find themselves another faith. that will. The Catholic Church could care less what some backslidding sinner thinks about it. Sin it sin.
“Catholics who quit going to church or believing, and those who are seeking to move to a more Christian church”
No way a devout Catholic would leave the faith Christ started for any other faith. You don’t leave the Holy Eucharist for
a “more Christian” church. It does not exist. I am member of the Catholic Church because of the dogma and doctrine. I will not leave that Church, the one founded by Christ himself, because that Church, just like the protestant faith, is full of sinners. How naive is that.
You can believe that, but what you were posting was not the reality, or the truth, but it appeared to be deliberately creative.
Catholics who move to another Christian denomination do so because they want a deeper relationship with Christ and faith, not because they are seeking a church more “indifferent” to their Christian faith and lives.
“Catholics who move to another Christian denomination do so because they want a deeper relationship with Christ and faith”
You can have no more “deeper relationship with Christ” than actually being in His presence in the Holy Eucharist.
No devout Catholic could possibly abandon Christ for any other faith. Impossible.
If they left, they never believed in the real presence to start with, and certainly were not devout Catholics.
That is your belief, and an argument that you can have with them about church denominations, but you should strive to be more accurate when describing their reasons.
“Nor are the people becoming Protestants lazy or lax Christians. In fact, they attend worship services at a higher rate than those who remain Catholic. While 42 percent of Catholics who stay attend services weekly, 63 percent of Catholics who become Protestants go to church every week. That is a 21 percentage-point difference.
Catholics who became Protestant also claim to have a stronger faith now than when they were children or teenagers. Seventy-one percent say their faith is “very strong,” while only 35 percent and 22 percent reported that their faith was very strong when they were children and teenagers, respectively. On the other hand, only 46 percent of those who are still Catholic report their faith as “very strong” today as an adult.
Thus, both as believers and as worshipers, Catholics who become Protestants are statistically better Christians than those who stay Catholic. We are losing the best, not the worst.”
I was going to let this pass but I really cannot. Most of the people who exit the Catholic Church do so because they don't want the Church to tell them who they can sleep with. I'm sure it's not the case with any Freepers, but out here in the real world that's the number one reason people leave. They'll rationalize it most of the time but the separation starts with groin issues.
On the other hand at least they have the personal integrity to leave instead of living in hypocrisy like many so called Catholics do.
What report are you citing in post 56?
No, Catholics don’t join other Christian churches because of different rules on sex and dating.
http://ncronline.org/news/faith-parish/hidden-exodus-catholics-becoming-protestants
No devout Catholic leaves the faith. Cut and dry, end of story.
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