Posted on 05/09/2023 7:57:06 AM PDT by ebb tide
I was born and raised Southern Baptist. Gave my life to Jesus at 15. Got baptized in a pair of white pajamas. Then, I went to a Free Methodist college. Got a job at an American Baptist Church and have been serving in the ABCUSA for more than twenty years. I will be elected to the Board of General Ministries for American Baptist denomination this summer.
My wife is Irish Catholic. We got married in St. Teresa of Avila in our hometown. My very Southern Baptist grandmother went to her grave not knowing that piece of information.
Both my boys have been raised in the Catholic church. They were baptized as infants, and both have had their First Communions. They go to PSR classes nearly every Sunday morning before coming to worship at my church. And our sons attend Wednesday night youth group at the local United Methodist Church.
We wanted them to be part of a religious community. They are active in three. I hope that one of those sticks.
I try to get to Mass with my family a few times a year. Usually on Holy Days of Obligation, and other important days like Ash Wednesday. I really do like a lot of aspects of the Catholic Church. They certainly have better architecture than the average non-denominational Protestant building. Plus, I don’t have to do anything when I go to Mass. I can just sit there and meditate on the scriptures and get lost in the rituals.">
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I think the problem is the sex scandal. I don’t care about VII or the Latin mass or whatever. The sex scandal bothers me.
Ping
We go to a TLM Church in 34602, Florida. There is never enough room, always overflowing.
There are many factors.
The sex scandals didn’t help, but reality is the biggest part of the sex scandals goes right back to V II... when they started to allow admitted homosexuals in the priesthood.
Its not a coincidence that the incidence of those things spiked beginning in the 70s, nor that the cover up of them went to the extremes they did.
Once in the church they formed a Cabal, trading sexual favors etc with each other.. and if one of them just happened to molest kids, the motivation to cover it up was even greater to protect the entire lot of sodomites.
At this point the lay Catholic has no idea just how much the homosexual Cabal runs the church, they have spent 50 years now consolidating power, protecting themselves and pushing aside anyone who would take them on.
To this day, I believe without hesitation Pope Benedicts attempt to take them on and clean up the church is what lead to his retirement, he grossly underestimated the size and scope of the problem.
However, church attendance in general is down for all denominations, so its more than just V II or the sex scandals... undermining of the Church is fundamental to push communisms, and the neverending attack by the left on all things stabilizing in US society has been going on for more than 100 years
What I’ve seen it’s the dreaded covid. The churches in our diocese opened up within 4 weeks of the quarantine but 90% of the people did not return especially the elderly. There were those who refused to come because we were required to socially distance and wear masks and then those who were terrified of getting covid.
So even now we’re down about 50% and the elderly have not returned.
On the plus side we have a lot of younger people and their children.
The crazy thing is collections are up and money is pretty much never mentioned in my parish except in the bulletin.
Good observation and analysis
It should bother you to the point of expecting more from the Church. The sex scandals are the fruit of disobedience to the faith, tradition and wanting a "Modern Church".
I stopped in 2016. Our parish announced a huge need for funds for future litigation due to the ongoing sex scandal. Got up and walked out that day and went back for one funeral mass. On the upside, I speak to God directly a lot more than I once did.
The anti-pope rules.
It has become a total joke.
I’m out because of the evil, commie Pope and the Church’s acceptance of him.
Francis!!
Our church kept up the social distancing of 6 feet between chairs for over a year, and of course the stupid masks. I marveled at how people could arrive for church together in one vehicle, but sit 6’ apart during Mass because of stupid dictates. You can gather that my husband and I didn’t attend in person again until we were allowed to sit next to each other. I didn’t wear and refuse to wear a mask. I shake people’s hands if they stretch theirs out also.
The Church has let me down a few times in my life, but I began to realize that Jesus is the One for whom I am there, not the Popes or the Bishops. Jesus is the One I rely on, and He is Present there. So I go, and we go. I would be utterly lost without Him.
I recently went to Confession. Priest literally kicked me out after I reached the 60 second mark as “there was a line.” He actually directed me to make my contrition after I left the confessional. He wasn’t interested in hearing all that I had to say, or that he interrupted me. It was demeaning. I am definitely not going back to that parish again. A lot of the priests that are left are old and crotchety in many parishes. He’s no the only one who has treated us with a less than fair amount of respect. I can’t imagine doing this to parishioners when your Church is suffering through an image problem which is it at the moment.
I, too, though, am there for Jesus and that’s it. I don’t hold it against the Church — I blame the institution of the Church for all the nonsense.
That’s horrendous!
Keep searching for the right parish. I’m certain there is one out there, though it may be difficult to find. The Good Shepherd will lead you.
Our old parish did the tracking part overboard - we weren’t going to beg to walk into church with a mask on. We couldn’t stand all the chit-chat on Facebook during the live stream Mass - we got up early and watched EWTN Mass for MOST of the time.
Then, during a zoom meeting, we heard that a neighboring parish “wasn’t being too careful” - HOORAY! we could walk in without mask and sit where we wanted. they took the tape off every other pew at Mother’s day 2021. We might have been back to the old place twice since.
Then, we moved east to a diocese with a WONDERFUL Bishop - were surprised how close the new church was to the new house. Have not looked back. NOBODY has asked what our “status” with anything related to Covid is.
I can’t get past the thousands of kids assaulted by pedophile priests and then the church paying billions to hush it up.
Perhaps BECAUSE the Church has LEFT it’s followers, the Catholic Church is the biggest NGO at the border helping illegals into our country, AND the biggest elephant in the room is covering up for the priests that molested children THEN the icing on the cake is this commie Pope!! I am Catholic and have become very disturbed with the church!!
I don’t think it’s about Vatican II. I think it’s about the widespread embrace of contraception. Fr. Hardon (1914-2000), now Servant of God, says the embrace of contraception destroys the faith in those who embrace it and he’s been proven right.
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