You wrote:
” However, to be honest, I just could never get past my negative feelings that I have about the priests.”
Thanks for admitting to your sickness.
“I feel most priests are people that hide in the church to battle their own demons.”
Your feelings do not match reality.
“They are trusted to give marriage and family counseling, but never could understand the joy and/or challenges of having a family.”
Really? How do you know? Are they not from families? Do they not have parents, siblings, do they not spend hours and hours listening to the problems and concerns and joys of couples, widows, widowers, mothers, fathers, children, the lonely, the sick, the imprisoned? Your comment is simply ignorant.
“Many years ago my fathers friend bought an old seminary. (I think that’s what it was called) I was given an after school job to help clean up during the renovations. I won’t even tell you the sick things we found hiding in the walls, attic, basement, and floorboards. It will stay with me forever.”
Please tell us. I have no reason to believe you anyway. Quite frankly I have seen and heard anti-Catholics make stuff up for a decade now and I just learned to never trust them. They lie. One anti-Catholic insisted his uncle told him that he had done construction work in a Los Angeles parish in the 1950s where there were people chained up in the basement as slaves. Of course, gee, he never reported to the police. Imagine that. The story was clearly made up nonsense.
“However, I will tell you that I must of pulled out hundreds of empty liquor bottles that were found in every nook and cranny in that huge old building.”
Oh, no! Not alcohol! Oh, how terrible. Christ and the Apostles drank and were accused of being drunk no less (which they never were). There’s nothing wrong with alcohol in itself.
“I wouldn’t even want to be in the same room with these men, and I sure would never look to them for spiritual advise.”
Your ignorance is your own.
You can also call me a liar all you want, but the Catholic church will be forever be remembered for allowing the abuse of children. That is a stain that you can not escape or deny.
I'm sure there are good priests. I also know that there can be a few bad apples in every religion. However, the Catholic church sure seemed to have more than it's share. However, it's the cover up and for allowing the continued abuse that will live on in the minds of many.
I don't need to get into the details of the things that were found. The fallout was already all over the news.
When the molestation scandals broke, it came as no surprised to me.