If you find yourself agreeing with this article as you read it, you have no idea what the Catholic Church is all about -- just like the author.
The Church maintained much temporal power through the early Middle Ages, including the power to tax and a system of courts with as much power of life and death as any court in history. As a secular nobility arose in Europe following the collapse of the Roman Empire, clashes occurred between these two networks of temporal power. Those clashes were lessened most effectively by the renunciation, by the holders of benefices and bishoprics, of the privilege of engendering families that could inherit their positions and accumulations. Apparently the secular nobles felt that clerics who had no dynastic aspirations could be trusted better to wield the temporal powers they claimed. Over time, this became uniform Church policy. But as late as the 5th Century, it was noncontroversial for priests to marry and beget.
Christ never said anything about celibacy as a requirement for the priesthood. But then, He never spoke of a priesthood in the first place. It's the way the Church chose to organize itself; its celibacy requirement is a personnel policy, rather than an absolute graven into stone like the Ten Commandments. As an example, there are a handful of married Catholic priests even today. They were ordained Catholic, left the Church for an Anglican or Episcopalian ministry, and were then "recruited back" into the Roman order, and allowed to keep their wives and families. Therefore, even the Holy See does not regard priestly celibacy as a Divine requirement. Whether it's the policy of the Church is, of course, solely for the Holy See to determine.
Freedom, Wealth, and Peace,
Francis W. Porretto
Visit The Palace Of Reason: http://palaceofreason.com
Posted on 4/17/02 5:17 PM Eastern by Dr. Brian Kopp
CATHOLIC WATCHDOG GROUP CALLS ON U.S. CARDINALS TO AFFIRM CHURCH TEACHING WHILE IN ROME
An international group of faithful Roman Catholics has contacted Vatican prelates and all active U.S. cardinals and asked them to publicly affirm the Church's 1961 pronouncement against admitting homosexuals or pedophiles to the priesthood.
Stephen G. Brady, the president of Roman Catholic Faithful, Inc. (RCF) issued a statement on Wednesday that was directed to 8 active U.S. cardinals as well as a number of additional American and Vatican prelates. The American cardinals include Roger Mahony of Los Angeles, Francis George of Chicago, Theodore McCarrick of Washington, D.C., William Keeler of Baltimore, Anthony Bevilacqua of Philadelphia, Edward Egan of New York City, Adam Maida of Detroit, and the currently embattled Bernard Law of Boston. They will be traveling to Rome next week with National Conference of Catholic Bishops president Bishop Wilton Gregory and others at the summons of the Holy Father. They will be participating in closed-door meetings with Vatican representatives to address the scandal and damage the Church in America is undergoing due to an increasing number of sexual abuse cases coming to light. A number of prelates have been accused of protecting abusive priests and moving them to other areas, where they have repeated their predatory acts with new victims. An overwhelming number of offenses have involved homosexual acts.
"As a measure of their sincerity in addressing this horrible crisis inflicting so much damage on the souls of the innocent," Brady charged, "we challenge each and every one of these princes of the Church to sign a statement agreeing they will follow the direction of a letter issued by the Sacred Congregation for Religious in Rome." Brady is asking each prelate to affirm the following declaration: "I, ________ Cardinal ________, hereby agree to follow the direction of the letter issued by the Sacred Congregation for Religious in Rome in 1961, which states: 'Those affected by the perverse inclination to homosexuality or pederasty should be excluded from religious vows and ordination'". The Church directive has never been rescinded and is still officially in force.
"If a cardinal is not willing to sign this document," Brady stated, "then there is no point in his traveling to Rome. Moreover, if he travels to Rome and doesn't sign it, I wish he'd do us a favor and just stay there."
Roman Catholic Faithful, Inc. (RCF) is a not-for-profit lay organization, with many religious members, dedicated to promoting orthodox Catholic teaching and fighting heterodoxy and corruption within the Catholic hierarchy.
ROMAN CATHOLIC FAITHFUL, INC.
P.O. Box 109
Petersburg, IL 62675
Phone 217-632-5920
Fax 217-632-7054
Web www.rcf.org
Press Release
Contact: Stephen G. Brady
Phone: (217) 632-5920
BEST NEWS I'VE HEARD ALL DAY: [Rod Dreher] Michael Rose, author of Goodbye, Good Men, the blockbuster expose of homosexuality and heresy in American seminaries, e-mails to say he just filled an order from a Polish monsignor in the Vatican, who ordered four copies and promised to do his best to get a copy into the Holy Father's hands before the pontiff meets next week with the American cardinals. You go, Monsignor! If John Paul reads only chapter four, "The Gay Subculture," he will meet the cardinals with fire blazing in his eyes. In other good news, Regnery Publishing has bought rights to Goodbye, Good Men, which is now out only in paperback, and will be rushing a hardcover edition into stores next month. Regnery's involvement means this extremely important book will get huge distribution and exposure. Posted 1:50 PM | [Link]
1 posted on 4/17/02 5:17 PM Eastern by Dr. Brian Kopp
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To paraphrase Jesus Christ:
"I declare, Simon, that you are the Rock, and upon this Rock I will build my church. And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, and it will last until the end of time."
If that isn't the establishment of an absolute, monarchical form of church "government," then I don't know what it is. In specifically elevating ONE of his closest disciples (and not his "favorite" one in a personal sense) above the other twelve, Jesus established a monarchy, not a senate.
Indulgences were and are guarantees signed and sealed by folks in no position to deliver on the promise. Indulgences were sold by those who had invented the idea of purgatory in the first place (there is no biblical basis for purgatory).
This guy here doubts two elements of the Catholic faith, and broadcasts this to his allegedly Catholic audience. He not only denies Purgatory, he also denies that the Church's Magisterium was given the power to bind and loose.
In short, this man is not a Catholic.
SD
Celibacy in those who seek holiness is not limited to Catholics. The tradition is ancient in the Eastern church, where married men can become priests but priests cannot marry, and where bishops come from the unmarried clergy.
Hindu holy men do not marry, nor do most Buddist monks, for example. Gandhi, for example, was married but became celibate later in his life when he decided to become a holy man. Indeed, one legal reason for divorce in India is if one's husband leaves to become a holy man.
Many "mystery" cults that predate Christianity encouraged celibacy (mainly in the East.).
Some of this is due to the "gnostic" influence, which feels that bodily functions including sex, are evil, and only the spirit is good. Christianity rejected that idea, but some influence remained. And, of course, what Paul said stays true today: That a married man or woman has to use much of their time pleasing the spouse, but an unmarried person can do the Lord's work full time.
The author of this article proves that one does not have to be a non-Catholic to be anti-Catholic.But the whole NCR mob IS in fact non-Catholic, and yes, very much anti-Catholic.
We can always depend on the AmChurch and NCR to pick up where the anti-Catholics bigots leave off. I take this time to thank God for all who have worked to save the Church over the last years of struggle - God bless Fr. Joseph Fessio, SJ, Mother Angelica, Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz, Archbishop Chaput, Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR, Fr. Andrew Apostoli, CFR, Johnette Benkovic, Fr. Ed Sylvia, the staff of Catholic Answers, Bud Macfarlane, Jr., Michael O'Brien, and ...