Oh my heck it’s TK. Welcome back.
Could you clarify something? You said the actions of past and current Bishops or Popes convince you to leave the Catholic Church, and then say the actions of church members do not make a church true.
Regarding supporting clergy, of course you know it is Biblical. It’s been discussed ad nauseum with any Mormon who posts here.
Seeing that most parish priests make a very modest salary, most Catholics don’t mind giving to a priest, as a small measure of support and appreciation, for serving us. Giving their lives to us, really. Also an acknowledgement that group functions take resources of the parish and church. It isn’t required, but it feels kind of freeloader-ish to not compensate for using resources or not acknowledging people’s service and contribution. I mean didn’t you give a gift to your best man? Is it wrong to also gift the priest who celebrates the wedding?
Catholics gift each other. It’s a Catholic thing, that is often a new thing for people who convert from Mormonism. We give gifts when someone is baptized, and include gifting the person who does the baptizing. We give gifts when someone is married, when they are confirmed and receive their first communion, when they are ordained, etc. We don’t leave out the celebrant of the Sacrament!
Mormons definitely have a different mentality, not necessarily wrong, but it seems to create an illogical oversion to giving at very special events to a person’s life, and to those who participate in the event.
