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...]
Listen Dude, my husband is ill and can't get a hard on and has not been medically necessary since our first day of marriage.
I've kept my marriage vows for 16 years and remained faithful and celibate. More than some priests have been able to accomplish.
This line of posting is OT and I do really consider it to be a personal attack at this point forward.
Marajade, that's not the same thing. You said earlier you are pro-abortion. We are talking about killing the child through medical intervention so that the woman is no longer pregnant, not the child naturally dying within the womb.
Ahem.. well. Then why did you say it was a mutual decision you made a FEW YEARS AFTER YOUR MARRIAGE!
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/abortion
#2
Look it up.
What the heck do you want from me?
I don't need to look it up, Marajade. I happen to know what we're talking about here no matter how many smokescreens you want to put up about the subject.
Consistency would be nice.
Thank you for your post #64, which provides the link to a website, which lists all the Protestant Ministers that they know about who have either been accused of or been found guilty of abusing children sexually...
I am so sick and tired of folks who point fingers at the Catholic Church, and say, see there, how bad those Catholics are, they allowed their priests to continue to molest children, and did nothing about it, until it was brought more into the public domain...
Its sad, yet informative to see, that child sexual molestation, knows no bounds when it comes to which religion has more molestors than another religion...
Lets just wake up here, and realize that evil and dangerous adults will always find a way to find access to children, regardless of what religions they profess, or in which religions, they are leaders...these types of people will worm their way into every single religion and every single church...
And no, I am not Catholic...just sick and tired of seeing the Catholics pointed out for some evil deed, that undoubtedly goes on in every other religion as well...
You link, proves what I am saying..thanks for that...
"Consistency would be nice."
Like I stated earlier in the thread. Who would want your brand of Christianity if all you're offering in this thread is condemnation of someone's soul without the truth?
Dear marajade,
"Again, its still OT."
Not in my interpretation. ;-)
"When the child is dead in the womb?"
To have one's unborn baby die before birth is an especially heartbreaking thing.
However, that isn't with what the law concerns itself when it addresses the topic of "abortion." Abortion law has to do with terminating the life of living unborn babies while expelling them from the woman's womb (it's generally accepted that one must kill the baby before inducing and completing its expulsion, as in many states, one might be prosecuted for murder if the baby is murdered after being fully expelled).
Although the medical term "abortion" is sometimes used to describe the procedure to remove a deceased unborn child, in my own experience, doctors prefer to call the procedure something more specific, like a "D&C."
I don't believe that it has ever been illegal to remove a dead baby from a woman's womb prior to normal labor.
Any other "medically-necessary" conditions that you believe justify abortion?
Thanks,
sitetest
No. Do I pass the test?
You link, proves what I am saying..thanks for that...
Thank you for your fairness and kind words. It is a shame that men that profess to be of God are doing these things and we should all work together to get it stopped. I am ashamed of the priests that did this, but know that there are many good priests who don't conduct themselves this way and outnumber the bad. Just as I know there are Protestant ministers that don't conduct themselves in that manner too.
Gratias ago tibi!
Dear marajade,
Then you don't believe that abortion, as defined in law, should ever be legal?
Except for the removal for already-dead babies, you don't believe that any abortion should ever be legal?
sitetest
Where have I condemned your soul? I am not capable of condemning your soul as only God can do that. I can point out to you where I think you are wrong or where I think you are inconsistent.
Who would want my brand of Christianity? I suppose those who don't support abortion and don't care if priests are married or not.
Yeah. I'd go for that. But you know its tough... there's the mother's live or the child's. I wouldn't have to be presented with that choice. Its just not clear cut as people who say us conservatives should say it should be.
"I am not capable of condemning your soul as only God can do that."
Thank the Lord. If your posts are representative, no would be ever able to measure up.
Dear marajade,
"Yeah. I'd go for that. But you know its tough... there's the mother's live or the child's. I wouldn't have to be presented with that choice. Its just not clear cut as people who say us conservatives should say it should be."
Well, which is it, marajade? I can't pick for you.
Do you think that no abortions at all should be illegal (except in the use of the word "abortion" in one narrow medical sense, when used to remove an already-dead child from the womb)?
Or do you think that abortions should be legal in some other limited circumstances? If so, could you describe them?
sitetest
Why does it matter? Why don't you ping me to an abortion thread when one comes up in the future.
Which is great. The Church needs great and holy married laymen, as well as great and holy priests. Every one of us has the vocation to be a saint.
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