I left the Catholic church about 15 years ago..priests behaving badly wasn't the issue really--anybody who read Dante and the Decameron in western civ shouldn't be surprised. But priests behaving badly having the power to decide whose marriages are valid and who can set an impossible standard for sexual activity--even within a marriage! …
I left the Catholic church about 15 years ago..priests behaving badly wasn't the issue really--anybody who read Dante and the Decameron in western civ shouldn't be surprised. But priests behaving badly having the power to decide whose marriages are valid and who can set an impossible standard for sexual activity--even within a marriage! That was the last straw for me. Get your own house in order before you tell me why I can't even use birth control. Still a practicing Christian though--just moved across the Thames.
As a protestant convert (sounds weird to think of myself that way-Catholicism is so much more than a denominational preference) it amuses me no end, and sometimes even shocks me, at how fundamentally protestant American Catholics are. I am not talking about the CEO's or even the "cafeteria Catholics." I'm looking at the RadTrad Catholic mafia. They claim to be better Catholics than the divorcing, contracepting, novus ordo rabble and yet they openly disrespect the Vicar of Christ on earth--giving scandal to the church with their disobedience. I'm old enough to remember when dissing the Pope would probably open a trap door and you'd drop straight into hell.
You can't have it both ways. If you are a traditional Catholic, then Pope Francis should have your respect and obedience. God put him there, according to Catholic teaching. If there is something you disagree with, then chances are it's you--not God or the Pope--that is in error. If you can't handle that core Catholic teaching then maybe think about your own arrogance.
As someone raised by RadTrad Catholics, IMO they are the ultimate "cafeteria Catholics", a term they are so eager to hurl at their fellow parishioners.
The best part is, the RadTrads hate each other. HATE EACH OTHER. More than they hate nuns without habits, liturgical dance, and guitar masses combined. Because their "faith", like the worst of evangelical Protestantism, is performative and they are either busy trying to outperform their fellow RadTrads or bitterly watching other RadTrads outperform them. It is the most soulless form of Christianity I can imagine. And the "marriages" are miserable shams. Maybe it's because of the personalities attracted to the movement. Or maybe it's because when you believe to your core that divorce is not an option, you have leeway to be much, much worse to your spouse than you would otherwise be. I suspect its both.
I left the Catholic church about 15 years ago..priests behaving badly wasn't the issue really--anybody who read Dante and the Decameron in western civ shouldn't be surprised. But priests behaving badly having the power to decide whose marriages are valid and who can set an impossible standard for sexual activity--even within a marriage! That was the last straw for me. Get your own house in order before you tell me why I can't even use birth control. Still a practicing Christian though--just moved across the Thames.
As a protestant convert (sounds weird to think of myself that way-Catholicism is so much more than a denominational preference) it amuses me no end, and sometimes even shocks me, at how fundamentally protestant American Catholics are. I am not talking about the CEO's or even the "cafeteria Catholics." I'm looking at the RadTrad Catholic mafia. They claim to be better Catholics than the divorcing, contracepting, novus ordo rabble and yet they openly disrespect the Vicar of Christ on earth--giving scandal to the church with their disobedience. I'm old enough to remember when dissing the Pope would probably open a trap door and you'd drop straight into hell.
You can't have it both ways. If you are a traditional Catholic, then Pope Francis should have your respect and obedience. God put him there, according to Catholic teaching. If there is something you disagree with, then chances are it's you--not God or the Pope--that is in error. If you can't handle that core Catholic teaching then maybe think about your own arrogance.
As someone raised by RadTrad Catholics, IMO they are the ultimate "cafeteria Catholics", a term they are so eager to hurl at their fellow parishioners.
The best part is, the RadTrads hate each other. HATE EACH OTHER. More than they hate nuns without habits, liturgical dance, and guitar masses combined. Because their "faith", like the worst of evangelical Protestantism, is performative and they are either busy trying to outperform their fellow RadTrads or bitterly watching other RadTrads outperform them. It is the most soulless form of Christianity I can imagine. And the "marriages" are miserable shams. Maybe it's because of the personalities attracted to the movement. Or maybe it's because when you believe to your core that divorce is not an option, you have leeway to be much, much worse to your spouse than you would otherwise be. I suspect its both.
The Pharisees are squishes compared to some of them.