I suppose I share some responsibility in this, for taking you on. Had I not posted as I did, the acrimony might not have sparked, and for that I am truly sorry. Anytime there is dissension, we know who is at work.
As always, it is sad to me that our church, OUR CHURCH, has been publicly characterized as a church of "voo-doo worshippers" and mass murderers on this thread.
At the same time, I'm reminded of what Christ said about coming to earth for the sick and the sinners.
And, as always, I'm encouraged by my faith.
Please read Lux Mundi. It begins this way:
"I am a Catholic – without sadness, without shame, and without any of that silly “Catholic guilt” I hear about. The Catholic Church needs no human defense, for the light streaming from God on high is sufficient to enlighten every man coming into this world concerning the truth. Nonetheless, because men in these days have freely chosen blindness, because they have freely chosen to harden their hearts, and because their attacks upon the truth display the most vitriolic contempt, their self-inflicted infirmity must be addressed, even though screams and moans may come from the infirm. It is the only charitable thing to do."
It continues:
"To all of you out there who are willing to think the matter through with me, I say that the argument is always the same. Either the Church originates from God or the Church originates from men. Now, “if this plan or this undertaking is of men, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God.”(Acts 5:38-9)
And...
"The more the wretchedness of Catholic leaders is brought to light the better. For if the Church is of God, then even the most furious attack upon it, even the most evident dirty truth about Her leaders -- no matter what its magnitude, no matter what its duration, no matter what its degree of intensity -- all of the efforts of those who would destroy the Church will come to nought. All the power and the influence of the media, the secularists, the skeptics, the Catholic bashers and the bigots, all of it will come to nothing, even though we ourselves hand them ammunition so damaging that they could ask for none better. That is why I relish these days, for in these days the invincible stability of the Church is shining brightly. The evil, both within the Church and without, only shows that God is with us, that it is God Himself who stabilizes the Catholic Church. It is God who vouches for Her message. It is God who is telling the story that the Church is constantly telling about Herself. The Church is not merely the product of man."
If you do not believe this,ultima, you should stop calling yourself a Catholic, imho.
I appreciate the additional information you have furnished in this thread about your experience with the Church.It does allow us to gain a certain insight,given what we have seen in the media from others who shared your situation in the seminary and were disgusted with what they saw. None of us can judge, but we can all say we understand what the experience of sin is like -- we have all been both victims and perpetrators. And one seems to beget the other.
The thing I admire so much about the pope is that he realizes salvation isn't a popularity contest. He knows that Christ knows all of our hearts. And he knows that ultimately, Christ will be the judge of all our actions.
That is not to say the sexual abuse scandal in the Church should be lightly dismissed. It should not be. And if truth be told, any Catholic who was paying attention was aware long before the scandals broke that there were serious problems within the U.S. Catholic church long ago.
This is not the time nor the place to list those problems, as so many others have done. Infighting is NOT unique to the Catholic church, not that it matters. What does matter is our faith, our belief, our willingnes to stand up for those beliefs and act on them. None of us are anywhere near perfect in that regard, and the U.S. Catholic church is sorely in need of reform. I believe JP II knows this. But he may also realize that the U.S. church is so fragile right now that his approbation might only serve to further criticism. If, for example, Cardinal Law was removed from his post, or ex-communicated, more than one person would say..."That's all well and good, but where were you 20 years ago, before Johnny got raped?"
Expediency? Perhaps. But it's not, unfortunately, for you or me to judge. We're Catholics, remember? Or so you say.
The answer to all of this, all of it, is prayer. Whether that prayer is in solitary, or in community with others, or with clergymen, or at Mass, Christ does heal.
Sometimes it takes decades, but healing does take place.
One more thing: the Catholic Church will NEVER cater to the whims of everybody. I would prefer the song "They'll know We are Christians by Our Love" to be sung at every mass. But I haven't heard it for years. On the other hand, at the funeral of my father (a converted Protestant), they did sing "The Old, Rugged Cross." And I have heard "Amazing Grace" at Mass more times than I can count.
Music is a tool to touch the heart. And as far as World Youth Day is concerned, anything connected with God and Christ that touches the hearts of young Americans these days is good.