[Aquinasfan]

Karl is right on the money.

[Aquinasfan]

In his e-letter Karl Keating summarizes the sad state of affairs in the Church, and proposes a solution: the cold, hard truth.

[Pyro7480]

Ping!

[polemikos]

Direct article link
http://www.catholic.com/newsletters/kke_031209.asp

[conservonator]

What they tell me is that the Church in this country has failed in its first task, which is instruction in the faith. If the folks in the pews don't know their religion, they can't practice it.

Amen, Amen, Amen! After 16 years of "Catholic" education I was ill prepared to understand, explain or defend the faith. This is, of course, a failure on several fronts: the Church failed to instruct, my parents failed to instruct and I failed to take the initiative to investigate a faith I claimed to hold.

How many have we lost to ignorance in exchange for those gained from adopting un, non, and even anti-Catholic practices.

Some of our shepherds are feeding the flock the Word and others are feeding the flock their word.

[FormerLib]

Reminds me of the old adage that Church "needs to comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable."

[Jesusfreak101]

I think this article should be Christian who act like Christians. I grew up in Catholic Churches, and it was not until I left the Catholic Church in 97 that I learned what it was to beleive.

[NYer]

And they need to lose congregants. They will know when they're saying what needs to be said when they see some people walk out of church.

Won't happen! And those good priests who do deliver the truth are, themselves, kicked out of their own parishes. I'm referring to Father Paul Weinberger in Dallas, TX.

Love of Latin has created controversy in Dallas parish

Catholic Ping - let me know if you want on/off this list

[nickcarraway]

I'd like to see the Catholic opinions broken down by Mass attendance.

[franky]

"Instead of trimming their remarks to pacify (or somnabulize) their congregations, bishops and priests need to go on the offensive. They need to be blunt about the necessity of subscribing to all Catholic teachings, particularly moral teachings, since assent is weakest there. They need to talk in black and white to get people's attention. They need to focus on the hard sayings instead of on the usual fluff."

After watching the Bishops conference in Washington, I wonder how aggressive they will be. I just got the feeling that they were more concerned about their images that will befall them when the February report comes out on the scandal than in any particular strong moral leadership..

[Desdemona]

Aside from the obvious political topics, there are a host of other little things that Catholics don't think like Catholics on, i.e., how to behave during Mass, how to turn off your call phone in a theater thus respecting others and treating them with dignity, yada, yada, yada.

And no, not many people think this way either.

[RonF]

When the Anglican Church split off from the Catholic Church, the Bishops got together and wrote what are called the Thirty Nine Articles of Faith, that all good Anglicans subscribe to, especialy the priests thereof. Here's article 35:

THE second Book of Homilies, the several titles whereof we have joined under this Article, doth contain a godly and wholesome doctrine and necessary for these times, as doth the former Book of Homilies which were set forth in the time of Edward the Sixth: and therefore we judge them to be read in Churches by the ministers diligently and distinctly, that they may be understanded of the people.

Of the Names of the Homilies.

Of the right Use of the Church.

Against peril of Idolatry.

Of the repairing and keeping clean of Churches.

Of good Works: first of Fasting.

Against Gluttony and Drunkenness.

Against Excess of Apparel.

Of Prayer.

Of the Place and Time of Prayer.

That Common Prayers and Sacraments ought to be ministered in a known tongue.

Of the reverend estimation of God's Word.

Of Alms-doing.

Of the Nativity of Christ.

Of the Passion of Christ.

Of the Resurrection of Christ.

Of the worthy receiving of the Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ.

Of the Gifts of the Holy Ghost.

For the Rogation-days.

Of the state of Matrimony.

Of Repentance.

Against Idleness.

Against Rebellion

Now, just because you guys figure Anglicans to be apostate doesn't mean you can't steal a good idea from them. Perhaps the Pope should come up with some standard sermons or Apostolic Letters that clearly set out essential articles of the Catholic Faith and command that they be read from the pulpit (not just printed up and left in the pews, and not edited by the priest reading it) once a year.

If you go to the above link, it in turn has links to the actual text of these sermons.

[Salvation]

**A similar number, 64 percent, say the Church should change "policies to reflect the attitudes and lifestyles of Catholics today."**

Won't happen!

[RobbyS]

Do our priests and bishops have the will to instruct and admonish (including the will to instruct and admonish one another)? Frankly, I don't know.

To put it another way" Do our priests have faith? Many of them, no.