How to Defend our faith against Priests or Religious who are wrong?

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Donna_P

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If a Priest or Religious says something like,“Jesus may have married Mary Magdalene” and your Mom thought this could be true becuase a Priest said it - how do you refute that the Priest etc was wrong and could be wrong even though they are “of the cloth”.

Do NOT answer the Marian example I gave. I need to know…
Code: 
1. The Bible verse where Jesus talks about the Church and that  
    there may be people in it that aren't good but the Church will 
    always be.
2. What are some of the best arguments you know for defending 
    our Church?
God Bless,
Donna
 
well we know from scripture that some members of the Church will do bad things–such as peter, judas,doubting thomas etc–but Jesus still said "whoever hears you hears me…"etc and Jesus said “whatever you bind on earth is bound in heaven”–there is no error in heaven—and whatever is binded here is bound there–defintion of infallibilty–not possible of error–only one church claims infallibilty—guees? Catholic church0----also common sense—i if "bad "person says that “columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492”–it doesnt make that statement false just because the person is bad–and of the nicest most kindess person were to say “Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1493” well that wouldnt make that statement correct----its simple logic that truth is independent of the person or vessel conveying it.
 
A COMMON SENSE APPROACH TO DEALING WITH DISSIDENT OR ERRONEOUS PRIESTS
**Step 1:
**It is very easy for someone to misinterpret their priest, or in some other way not understand what the priest did or said.

Thus, unless the situation is one of sexual abuse or some other matter like that where a person needs to go directly to the bishops, the first step is to confront the priest.

One needs to be prepared with documentation and with a loving heart. It is important to give the benefit of the doubt to the priest at the beginning. Ask him, for example, *“Father, last Sunday in your homily I thought you said something to the effect of ____________. Did I hear you correctly?”

Then when the Priest answers and confirms that you heard correctly, ask, “Father, thank you for confirming that. I guess my question then is how does your statement fit into Church teaching?” The Catechism says ____________.

*Do not get emotional; stay business-like. Do not be accusatory rather act more like a journalists interviewing someone. If the priest did do or say what one thinks they did or say, then the goal is to gather as much evidence from the priest’s own mouth to support the fact that the priest is doing something contrary to Church teaching.

Thus this first encounter is to confirm whether or not the Priest really did say and mean, or do, something improper. If he didn’t do or say anything improper, then this step clears up the misunderstanding. Otherwise, this step is a gathering of information; not a session of accusation.

**Step 2:
**Now with solid evidence in hand – the priest own words; and the documentation from the Church – one can go the next step if the priest will not correct his mistake.

Write a letter to the bishop marked CONFIDENTIAL. Explain what you witnessed in business-like and journalistic-like language and tone. Describe the meeting with the Priest and report as accurately as possible what the priest said. Suggest to the bishop that something is wrong since what the priest has done or said does not seem to jive with Church teaching, AS YOU UNDERSTAND the catechism, or whatever document.

At this point, your duty has been met for the most part.

**Step 3:
**If the situation is one of grave concern, such as an issue of heresy, schism, major scandal, or otherwise something that could gravely harm the Faithful or the Church, then you may consider writing a letter to the Vatican, to the appropriate dicastery that handles situations of the type in question.

Throughout this process one should be in prayer for the priest and the bishop.

Depending on the situation, once you go to the bishop or the Holy See, then your duty is done. It is up to the competent authority to handle the situation or not as they see fit.

For us, however, we should continue to practice our Faith the way it should be practiced, with no bitterness, but with prayer for the situation in question.

saint-mike.org/qa/FS/ViewAnswer.asp?QID=123
by Bro. Ignatius Mary, posted with permission
 
On the particular issue of a priest who teaches error, my first thought for a simple reply would be “An individual priest may visibly represent the Church because of his state in life but that does not make him The Church and he can be in error. He us not infallible. Only the Pope or the Bishops in Union with the Pope are gifted with infallibility and even then certain criteria must be met.”
 
What a sad thread.

Not too many years ago, I had to tell a pastor to stop telling folks in the confessional that use of contraceptives is fine. He always had a very long line at his confessional, while the other priest had few.

The Bible verses you are looking for are verses like this…

And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18.

…and…

And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." Matthew 28:20.
 
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BibleReader:
What a sad thread.

The Bible verses you are looking for are verses like this…

And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18.

…and…

And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." Matthew 28:20.
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Thank you! Now I hope this will help my Mother.
God Bless!
Donna
 
kepha1 said:
A COMMON SENSE APPROACH TO DEALING WITH DISSIDENT OR ERRONEOUS PRIESTS]

Thank you. I cannot approach this priest becuase it was something my Mom saw a Franciscan say on the History Channel about Jesus being married to Mary Magdalene. I have not been able to trace who specifically this was on the History Channel website. But I wanted something solid to help my Mother understand the teachings of the Catholic Church and that sometimes even a priest or religious could be in error.

God Bless,
Donna

PS - I already researched the Bible verses and logic behind Jesus being celibate.
Click to expand...
 
There are too many wolves in sheeps clothing - running around. From every pulpit they preach heresys. Every day thousands are going to hell because of priests and bishops.

There is an old saying -

The walls of hell are lined with priest and the floors are paved with bishops.

But this does not give us an excuse to NOT know our religion. We must know, love and serve God. You can not love and serve Him if you do not know Him.

I have spent many a day arguing about something a priest said - If a priest teaches false doctrine (and there are many) he is a heretic and has excommunicated himself from the Church - unfortunately there is no authority looking after this problem.

Before I listen to or give any credence to a priest - I make sure his thinking is in line with The Church - if it is not I would not give him the time of day. - Beware of false prophets! If you want to protect yourself - then know your God and your religion!
 
Donna P:
I need to know…
Code: 
1. The Bible verse where Jesus talks about the Church and that there may be people in it that aren't good ...
Click to expand...
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”
Matt. 7:15

I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.
Acts. 20:29-30

Another parable he put before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away.
So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the householder came and said to him, Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then has it weeds?' He said to them, An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, Then do you want us to go and gather them?' But he said, No; lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

Then he left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.”

He answered, "He who sows the good seed is the Son of man; the field is the world, and the good seed means the sons of the kingdom; the weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the close of the age, and the reapers are angels. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the close of the age. The Son of man will send his angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all evildoers, and throw them into the furnace of fire; there men will weep and gnash their teeth.
Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears, let him hear.
Matt.13:24-30 & 36-43
 
Please tell your mother that she needs to take those programs with a grain of salt. I know of the program she watched and when I heard the statement, I nearly choked! Those programs are ao biased in their presentations - they almost never produce anything orthodox - have you ever seen any? No! Just the garbage like the DaVinci Code - it can all be easily debunked! See CA homepage for the book that debunks these theories. This would help your mother alot!

Above all, tell her NOT to take those programs with any seriousness - unless she knows the orthodox truth. That’s why I hate those programs! They take the facts and turn them around and people who don’t know their faith very well get sucked right in and then they start doubting what they DO know - all because of a priest on TV. They think that if it’s on TV, it must be true! WRONG! Please educate her about that and get the book debuking the DaVinci Code! It will help tremendously!
 
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TNT:
Or in this case, the weasel !
Click to expand...
How to defend the faith:

Step 1) Buy a Catechism

Step 2) Whack the weasel over the head with it

Step 3) Remove weasel remains
 
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