Posted on 02/23/2019 5:32:13 PM PST by newberger
I spent much of this week reading and trying to absorb the new and devastating book by one Frédéric Martel on the gayness of the hierarchy at the top of the Catholic Church, In the Closet of the Vatican: Power, Homosexuality, Hypocrisy. Its a bewildering and vast piece of reporting Martel interviewed no fewer than 41 cardinals, 52 bishops and monsignori, 45 apostolic nuncios, secretaries of nunciatures or foreign ambassadors, 11 Swiss Guards and over 200 Catholic priests and seminarians. He conducted more than 1,500 interviews over four years, is quite clear about his sources, and helps the reader weigh their credibility. He keeps the identity of many of the most egregiously hypocritical cardinals confidential, but is unsparing about the dead.
The picture Martel draws is jaw-dropping. Many of the Vatican gays especially the most homophobic treat their vows of celibacy with an insouciant contempt. Martel argues that many of these cardinals and officials have lively sex lives, operate within a dont ask, dont tell culture, constantly hit on young men, hire prostitutes, throw chem-sex parties, and even pay for sex with church money. How do we know this? Because, astonishingly, they tell us.
So much of the information in the book comes from sources deep within the Holy See. Named and unnamed, they expose their fellow cardinals and bishops and nuncios as hypocrites, without perhaps realizing that their very targets are doing the same to them. Martel didnt expect this remarkable candor, or, clearly, what he was about to see: Whether they are practising, homophile, initiates, unstraights, wordly, versatile, questioning, or simply in the closet, the world I am discovering, with its 50 shades of gay, is beyond comprehension.
(Excerpt) Read more at nymag.com ...
ping
There’s a predictable Jesuit precedent that Francis will feel compelled to follow: 6 years in office, then out, even if he disregards it.
“Catholic Church = man-made religion. It is not based on the Bible and/or the teachings of Christ.”
On the contrary, the Catholic Church is the only one on Earth that was not man-made but instituted by our Lord Himself. On the other hand, every protestant denomination ever created is a fake, man-made imitation thereof.
On the contrary, the Catholic Church is the only one on Earth that was not man-made but instituted by our Lord Himself. On the other hand, every protestant denomination ever created is a fake, man-made imitation thereof.
What exactly is this new covenant we live under. Remember, God destroyed the curtains separating us from him. He destroyed the temple. He destroyed the old priestly system. He destroyed the old sacrificial system.
He prophecies this in Jeremiah and repeated in Hebrews.
Jer 31:31 “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant ............... .
Jer 31:33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Jer 31:34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
The new covenant is a direct relationship with us through the Holy Spirit.
The RC rebuilt the old system that God destroyed. Some P do this also.
This rot is not only nauseously disgusting; it is deadly. And unless removed, it will sicken more and more. But God is merciful: it's all becoming public --- and exposure to the sunlight is the necessary-and-painful first step of the cure.
For real. May God extend such a blessing to each of personally.
Jesus emphasized the individual coming to God with repentance and re-uniting with God as a faithful follower of Jesus. Catholicism emphasizes their denomination, hierarchy and rituals. Many Catholic rules have no basis in the Bible (such as priests can’t marry). Paul said that was an individual choice but not a rule. Catholics believe they are the ONE TRUE CHURCH but the Bible teaches that Jesus is the ONE TRUE SAVIOR. The Bible is the Word of God. Obey that and not any denomination which deviates from it.
Jesus emphasized the individual coming to God with repentance and re-uniting with God as a faithful follower of Jesus.
And this be the work of the Holy Spirit and not of our own doing?
yes. And not any denomination either. But it is our choice to take up the cross and follow Him. You can reject the Holy Spirit but it has consequences.
The ‘difference’? One sin can be seen and the other can be hidden - hidden to keep playing parishioners for fools.
With all respect and Christian brotherhood, based on what you each wrote, it appears to me that you two folks are about as close as one gets to the logical conclusion of the Protestant movement.
Luther originally broke from the hierarchical Church founded by our Lord on the “rock” of St Peter and the Apostles, the original bishops.
Luther himself created an imitation of the Catholic Church with some doctrinal changes (he even removed several books from the Bible). Following his lead others would soon emerge to create their own denominations with further changes to better suit their own preferences.
Today there are thousands of varieties of protestant churches (you can’t drive a single block in some areas of Brooklyn or the Bronx without seeing multiple storefront churches, such as “the Reformed Universal Church of God Assembly” with a self-named ‘pastor’s’ name stenciled on the window.
The penultimate step in the regression is the “Bible Christian” who forswears all organized religion that gets between them and their Bible. Ultimately though, even they will have to come to terms with the fact that the Bible was compiled by the same Catholic Church founded by Jesus in the first place. At that point they will have a choice to make: come home to the One True Church or abandon the Bible for agnosticism or some vague, ill-defined spiritualism.
This is the Protestant conundrum.
What he broke from was the corruption that the RCC had become. He had the Bible. he read the Bible. He looked around. God spoke to him.
Ultimately though, even they will have to come to terms with the fact that the Bible was compiled by the same Catholic Church founded by Jesus in the first place.
Here we have the arrogance of Catholics on full display. A book wrote mostly by Hebrews and Jews but Catholics want the credit. The written Word of God that the Holy Spirit moved man to write but the Catholics want credit. There is no conundrum for me. The Word is Truth and Truth can set you free. A true Christian gives God the glory but Catholics always give the Vatican the glory.
I said the Church compiled the Bible, I never said she wrote it. But you knew that already. This is a typical straw-man fallacy.
The irony here is that someone who takes it upon himself to become a church-of-one based on the same Bible which states “there is no prophecy of scripture that is a matter of personal interpretation” can call a man who submits to the teaching authority of the Lord’s own Church arrogant.
And the RC church has the same conundrum, but you are too blind to see it... ..
Again, RC rebuilt what God destroyed.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.