[redleghunter]

My point in posting about the Church of today is that Protestants should carefully consider that they have survived under the protective umbrella of the Catholic Church. The rapid apostasy we are seeing in the Protestant world (gay clergy and weddings are just the beginning) shows how precarious faith can be without a central teaching authority to hold firm.

I would not lean on that twig so fast. You have gay clergy as well. Also a pedophile and pederast problem. Perhaps your parish does not suffer from these scandals...As my assembly does not either.

[pgyanke]

You have gay clergy as well. Also a pedophile and pederast problem.

There is no question the Church came under attack by those who sought to undermine Her from within. There is a stretch of approximately 40 years where most of the claims of abuse originated. There are stories of the "gay mafia" taking over seminaries and working to drive out conservative clergy in favor of their own. However... there are almost no incidents of reported abuse that have occurred since the year 2000.

We can fault the bishops for how they handled their PR and they certainly made mistakes as leaders... but they ultimately dealt with the problem. Society, on the other hand, continues with high rates of abuse. The Church simply remains a target of convenience.