Thank you for your reply. I believe we were discussing possibilities, not realities. Do you object to free- thinking? You have to remember that not everyone in the world has a background in catholicism or is a catholic. Nor do they have the exclusive claim on truth that the church presumes. Give a little, huh? Thanks. Wanna win converts? Be nice.
Sane folks object to giving credence to the delusions of gradure of crazy frenchmen, and their attempts to have themselves crowned king.
I believe it was G.K. Chesterton who said that an open mind was good only to be closed on something solid.
Nor do they have the exclusive claim on truth that the church presumes.
The church presumes "no exclusive claim on truth," but that doesn't make it wise or responsible for the rest of us to prate about foolishness like this.
I have no patience for "big nasty conspiracy theories". They are intellectually lazy. Look, I can play, too:
"Jesus was a space alien from the fourth planet around Zeta Reticuli. The true way of salvation is for all of us to fly there on spaceships we can build in our backyards. I have the plans, which can be yours for a small free-will contribution of say, $200. Don't believe me? Well, the only reason you don't believe me is that the big bad Roman Catholics have destroyed all of the evidence that would make my position inescapably obvious. Most of it was done by albino monks from Opus Dei at the Council of Nicaea, led by their leader, Constantine."
See what I mean about intellectually lazy? "Dog ate my homework" lazy? Hey, maybe I can write a book and sell 40 million copies and get rich, off an intellectually lazy society that doesn't want to hear the real truth: "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, for the remission of sins." (Acts chapter 2)