This is probably not going to be a popular perspective. But it is IMOHO that the Catholic Church needs to clean house first before it goes and cleans other peoples’ houses. In other words, IMOHO, the Catholic Church needs to concentrate first and foremost on unifying Catholics, and obtaining fidelity from Catholics, and getting Catholics to believe, obey and value the rules of the Church before it can go out and “preach to the nations” because if they can’t get compliance from their own, how can they get compliance from others? IMOHO, they need to spend a lot more energy bringing Catholic education to Catholics first before they go telling other people that their religion is wrong, and that they are being misled.
The Catholic Church is fragmented throughout the world. There is a big division among Catholics regarding taking communion in the hand vs. communion on the tongue. There is a big diffence between pre and post Vatican II Cathlics. There is a big division over Latin vs. English Masses. There is a big division over whether or not, and what kind, of public reprimand should be given to Catholic politicians who dare to oppose Catholic rules and laws in favor of respecting other religions and other cultures. And you know, some of them are reminiscent of the Inquisitions
There is a big division over the role of women in the Church. There is a big division over headcoverings inside as well as outside of Church, or the choice to not wear them at all. Let me tell you, it’s quite refreshing to meet people who “do their thing” as their calling, but afford others another calling without bias, indignation or reprimand.
Let’s be honest here, whether Catholics are traditional or liberal, we’re all Cafeteria Catholics who pick and choose what to believe. Whether you reject the “communion in the hand is allowed” plate, or you reject “NFP is the only form of birth control a Catholic can use”, they’re both rejecting rules of the Church that are quite plainly available in black and white. The “interpretation” of canons, CCC ,and scripture varies across the board, even among clergy. There’s always a different perspective and exceptions to the rules, depending on with whom you speak.
The Church, however, is pretty clear on many issues. I mean, come on, we have a 1500+ page rule and regulation book. But why isn’t it getting to the everyday Catholics? And why so many interpretations of the same quotes? For example, I went to Catholic grammar school, Catholic, high school and Catholic university…but in all that time I never cracked the CCC book once, didn’t even know it existed, never knew about NFP, I never knew
why the Church forbids IVF,
why the Church forbids artificial birth control. And I know many Catholics who participate in IVF and are on artificial birth control. In fact, I don’t know one person outside this forum (Catholic or not) who is even familiar with it, yet it’s supposed to be taught at pre-canna classes. My brother attended a seminarian preparatory high school (before falling away from the Church over whatever the heck went on over there) and had never even heard of an encyclical until he and I discussed one last month.
There is a very big disparity in Catholic education across the board. And I think the Church would be wise to step up and bring Catholicism to Catholics first before trying to convert the world. No offense guys but CAF shouldn’t be the go-to reference for Catholics. Thankfully I found it (or not
) or I wouldn’t know the things I learned from here. However, it should come from the Vatican. Why doesn’t the Vatican have a CAF run by authoritative sources? Or do they, and I missed it? Let me know if they do…
Do I think they have the duty to evangelize? Of course I do. But not to the expense of neglecting the education of Catholics. Someone should be available AND approachable in every diocese to answer questions and help people work their way through issues. You shouldn’t have to figure out how to contact the diocese, wait on hold 15 minutes, leave a message and wait a few days for someone to get back to you. Information is passed a heck of a lot more quickly now with our current technology…and IMOHO the Church (all of it as a whole) is neglecting their duty to evangelize Catholics first.
So…about evangalization…Whether some like it or not, you can’t force people to be Catholic, or to follow Catholic rules and laws — even those who were Baptised Catholic. And the Church does support freedom of religion. This quote from the Council of Florence damning everyone to Hell who is not Catholic was said at a time when there was no freedom of religion, and when Catholic leaders of nations were killing Jews for the simple fact that they were Jews, and killing people who tried to break away from the Church. It needs to be read for what it is: the thoughts of a Pope who lived at a time where there was only Catholicism, Judiasm and the Muslim religion, and who was trying to hold it all together. That same Pope would have said something different if there were the 100s of Christian denominations representative that there are today. And a present day Pope did exactly that. Since we believe that the Pope cannot err, we can safely deduce that the JPII spoke with additonal information available, which wasn’t available at the Council of Florence.
The Church says this about “Outside the Church there is no salvation”
847 This affirmation is not aimed at those who, through no fault of their own, do not know Christ and his Church:
Those who, through no fault of their own, do not know the Gospel of Christ or his Church, but who nevertheless seek God with a sincere heart, and, moved by grace, try in their actions to do his will as they know it through the dictates of their conscience - those too may achieve eternal salvation.337
), and the athiests.