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greentea07
Guest
I’ve seen a lot of casual references to praying that God will have mercy on this man and his family and so on and so forth. I’m just throwing this out there…but I highly doubt we need to pray to God to have mercy on this man’s soul for his decision given that he calls himself Christian. Will there be only Catholics in heaven? We are not qualified to judge the state of this man’s soul.
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Roy5
Guest
CATHOLICISM AND PAGANISM
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Today, Sunday, I attended a special mass for Italian-Americans. The mass was fine, though all in Italian - but that was okay. What did disturb me was the way a statue of Mary holding the Baby Jesus was carried along the street with some people actually attaching money to her as she went from one street to the next.
I understand this is a tradition in the 'old country' but it doesn't fit here. It struck me as so pagan, more reminiscent of Greek or Roman or Egyptian mythology than Biblical Christianity.
There seems to be a battle for the soul of Catholicism. Traditionalists - really fundamentalists - seem determined to keep everything from the past, including practices that need to be jettisoned. But the majority of Catholics I know don't believe in some of the basic teachings of the Church. I cite there three things: transubstantiation, Immaculate Conception, and artificial birth control. There are more.
I think this helps explain why a survey indicates that 30,000,000 Americans are ex-Catholics. If immigration (legal and illegal) didn't work in her favor, Church membership would have shown a major decline since the 60s.
Today there are millions of highly-educated Catholics in America. They think for themselves. They would like to remain Catholic for cultural and family reasons, as many do, but many others simply can't stay in a church which teaches doctrines and holds on to traditions that they can no longer accept.
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Peter_J
Guest
I’m sorry but that just isn’t true. The Catholic Church only teaches that the pope is infallible when he makes an ex cathedra statement, not whenever he teaches anything about faith and morals.
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Namesake
Guest
I have said before and gotten blasted for it that most of the Catholics I know don’t accept the RCC teaching on those subjects you mentioned. They don’t follow the Church much at all but they still consider themselves to be Catholic. Most people here don’t believe me, but it’s quite true and I know a whole bunch of people, mostly Catholic. I work with lots of Latino immigrants. I have several family members who are Catholic but they reject the most basic teachings and really don’t see that they are not in communion with the RCC.
In fact I have only one Catholic friend who is a very “good” Catholic. She accepts the whole deal. One person out of many hundreds that I personally know intimately.
I think it’s a problem and needs to be fixed because lots and lots of people who call themselves Catholic aren’t even close to being Catholic. And, I think it’s because the RCC is an anachronism, and lots of you think that’s just great. But many Catholics don’t think it’s so great.
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1holycatholic
Guest
Christ established only one Church, the Catholic Church. The Church Triumphant are those in heaven. Sounds to me like everyone in Heaven is Catholic.
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1holycatholic
Guest
Many cannot accept the fullness of Christianity found only in the Catholic Church.
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Church_Militant
Guest
Nowhere does it say, man must confess to an ordained man employed as a priest of the RCC to receive forgiveness from God.
It is a moot point as far as I’m concerned.Actually you are dead wrong here and I know of very very few n-C communities who practice anything even remotely like what the New Testament actually teaches. Catholic Confession and “I Find No Sacraments In the Bible” he said.
I wasn’t here for that part. Maybe everyone needs to calm down and act like Jesus…
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1holycatholic
Guest
It’s a statue. Statues are inanimate objects and aren’t referred to as “her” or “she”, except possibly by pagans.
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elts1956
Guest
Since we Catholics believe the spiritual power of priests and other ordained clergy to forgive sins is derived directly from Christ and in turn given to each of His successors, see Matthew 18:18 “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven”, I for one have been taught the priest, or clergy, to whom we are confessing our sins is a direct “stand in” for Christ. There are also other instances in scripture where Christ has said, “Go show yourself to a priest”. I think this was in the instance of the cure of the blind man. So indeed the priest in the Catholic Church today validates the forgiveness of sins just as the priest in the Jewish Temple validated the cure of the blind man.
Forgiveness of sins also in the end depends on the supplicant’s frame of mind, intention, etc. So no matter if the priest says you are forgiven, you are ultimately placed in the position of throwing yourself on the mercy of God as only God really knows the honesty of your confession.
Hope this helps.
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Namesake
Guest
Yes they are and by Catholics. Maybe you meant to say that statues ought not be referred to that way?It’s a statue. Statues are inanimate objects and aren’t referred to as “her” or “she”, except possibly by pagans.
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Church_Militant
Guest
This is an unverifiable personal assertion. With no way to prove that you are telling the truth, at best this has to be taken with a great deal of salt.
This is the same way any rational person would respond to similar comments from me about n-C that I know or have known.
Do you have stats to back that up? No? Then again, what you have here is an unverifiable assertion of your personal opinion. Again…it is no more valid than one I might offer of n-Cs.
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Church_Militant
Guest
Code:
Today, Sunday, I attended a special mass for Italian-Americans. The mass was fine, though all in Italian - but that was okay. What did disturb me was the way a statue of Mary holding the Baby Jesus was carried along the street with some people actually attaching money to her as she went from one street to the next.
I understand this is a tradition in the 'old country' but it doesn't fit here. It struck me as so pagan, more reminiscent of Greek or Roman or Egyptian mythology than Biblical Christianity.
There seems to be a battle for the soul of Catholicism. Traditionalists - really fundamentalists - seem determined to keep everything from the past, including practices that need to be jettisoned. But the majority of Catholics I know don't believe in some of the basic teachings of the Church. I cite there three things: transubstantiation, Immaculate Conception, and artificial birth control. There are more.
I think this helps explain why a survey indicates that 30,000,000 Americans are ex-Catholics. If immigration (legal and illegal) didn't work in her favor, Church membership would have shown a major decline since the 60s.
Today there are millions of highly-educated Catholics in America. They think for themselves. They would like to remain Catholic for cultural and family reasons, as many do, but many others simply can't stay in a church which teaches doctrines and holds on to traditions that they can no longer accept.Nice propaganda...what a-C site did you c&p that from? You realize that one generally adds a link to citations like this. I know that I do...
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GOP
Guest
Duh, I have.Duh… Catholics have always done that. Maybe you should actually read and study Catholic teaching.
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catolico30
Guest
It is understandable that when people live very sinful lives, God’s law can be a burden. This is when they leave for “easier” religions or no religion at all.
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catolico30
Guest
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whatevergirl
Guest
Jesus gave His Apostles the power to forgive sins. It isn’t the priest who is forgiving us, certainly–it’s the priest in persona of Christ. If Christ gave such an ability and asked the Apostles to hear confessions, why would that stop after Christ’s death? This event in the Bible marked the beautiful Sacrament, the beginning of, Reconciliation. It is not ‘better’ than asking God for forgiveness, but it is something that Jesus wanted us to follow, otherwise, why would He have asked His Apostles to hear confessions, and offer absolution?
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elts1956
Guest
Whether the Catholic Church is, or isn’t an anachronism isn’t up to ANY independent member of the Church to decide. Even if anyone considering themselves Catholic doesn’t believe what the Chruch teaches does not make the disbelief right. They are not THE authority. Anyone can have an opinion. No secular law against it.
In this day and age of liberalism, it is no wonder that many people are confused about what is truth, what is absolute theology, what are the core beliefs the Catholic Church teaches. There is a lot of misinformation out there among all members of any religious denomination. But as with you, I have found many, many Catholics have forgetten what it means to be Catholic.
To be Catholic one follows the teachings of the Catholic Church and the Holy Father. If one doesn’t do this, one may SAY they are Catholic, but they truly aren’t.
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jmcrae
Guest
No - the two things have absolutely nothing to do with each other. When the Pope is speaking ex cathedra, it’s like the judge on the bench making a ruling on a case.
When the Pope is not doing that, he’s just like everyone else - he might be a sinner, or not. Same as like with a judge when he’s off duty. He might do whatever - what he does when he’s at home or out on the town doesn’t affect what he does when he’s on the job.
They don’t set the entire prison free, if it turns out that the judge was doing something illegal that had nothing to do with any of the cases. The only way they would set them free is if the judge’s ability to judge the case was impaired in some way (like taking bribes, or something) - otherwise, it doesn’t make any difference.
None of the bad Popes (and there were only a very few, really) ever made any infallible pronouncements at all, so there is nothing to worry about, in that regard.
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