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To: Boogieman
Your point about the Church over the centuries suffering various schisms, desertions, dissentions, declaring interdicts, falling into disunity --- is indisputable.

But I must fault myself for not making my point clear. When I said the Church had not suffered a "total irreparable rupture," I just meant that her existence has been continuous. There have neve been a gap or hiatus in time, from the Apostles' day until now, in which there was no Succession, no Catholic Church.

Surely there were departures. Some of them cause by faults on the part of priests, bishops, cardinals, and popes on the Catholic side. (I personally think that Cardinal Humbert of Moyenmoutier on the Catholic side was almost totally unjustified in his actions in 1054, typefying multiple offenses committed by the Latins --- don't get me started!!) --- But none of these caused a rupture in the very existence of the Catholic Church.

Here's where the human and ugly side of the Church comes in --- Paul discusses that even in his earlies epistles --- the spirit of faction, ego, self-promotion, pride, discord. There is plenty of biggetty-britches spirit all around. It does serious and lasting harm. But even all this sin has never closed down the Church.

Reconciliations are still possible. They still, through the power of the Spirit, happen. Christ Himself prayed for "one flock, shpeherd." You and I, let's pray for this as well, for His sake.

392 posted on 02/27/2013 11:46:57 AM PST by Mrs. Don-o (The severed hand cannot heal the Body.)
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To: Mrs. Don-o

Yes, I will pray for that, and I think it will happen eventually, even if it’s only when Christ returns. I do think though, that even though God’s ultimate goal is for perfect unity, He knows that we wouldn’t likely achieve that in this world. Just like each individual Christian has to struggle with our sins before we are finally perfected by God, maybe the church on Earth must wrestle with itself and fail many times before God wins the battle for us.


415 posted on 02/27/2013 9:36:17 PM PST by Boogieman
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