[Aliska]

I agree with you that a lot of changes have been for the better. Not growing up Catholic, I respected the catholic clergy and perceived them as almost squeaky clean. It is hard to let go and admit that more married priests might help alleviate the problem. There is a mystique about the priesthood, a lot of it misplaced. Priests feel they are placed on a pedestal and cannot possibly live up to all that is hoped for and expected from them. I think that is why the hardliners cling so to not wanting a married clergy.

I still don't want women priests. Can you imagine going to someone like Dr. Laura for confession? ;-).

I think the church has already caved in to women and has welcomed them as window dressing so they can say to the world, "See, we like women and want to work with them." What I have seen is that many, many of these women are on ego trips and power hungry. Some are compensated with salaries and others must serve for nothing. They will never be satisfied and the competition between them is already out of the ball park to get recognition and prized parish positions.

The dichotomy between what I feel about womens' status and being allowed in the priesthood really doesn't square very well. It's a visceral thing with me, I guess. You want to go to a man for confession but you want to go to a woman for intimate personal issues.

As to altar servers, maybe they should have limited that to adults. It appears the reason boy altar servers were instituted was solely to groom young boys to want to become priests. I don't believe young boys serve in the Orthodox church. Which is neither here nor there but it seems to be a tradition, small t, that has developed in the west.

[CdMGuy]

LOL - Dr. Laura for confession. Actually, there were, and perhaps still are, many Dr. Lauras hearing confessions. In the old days, growing up we always went to confession - about twice a month. Well, all us kids knew full well which priests were nice and friendly, and which priests barked like a baying dog. I can tell you that the pastor of my parish was a very nasty man whom none of the parish members respected. Then, when we moved to another parish, one of the priests, who later became the pastor, was as mean as they come. Wow, did this guy have a problem.

That was in NYC. Today, living in Southern California, I have not come across such personalities. Maybe some day, we can say the same for the sexual abusers of both men and women - that they are no longer here.