R
Roy5
Guest
3 quick responses
** 1. If Luther had been burned at the stake or otherwise executed, more reformers would have come forward.** A number had been killed for their heresy before Luther which did not slow down the rmovement to reform a corrupt church. Had the Papacy shown greater wisdom, it would not have waited until the Council of Trent to make sweeping reforms. Unfortunately, also, in some respects the Council of Trent took actions that simply propelled the Reformation rather than squelching it.
** 2. I would certainly rather live in the US where there is separation of church and state to living where any one religion had the power to enforce its views on the wider society.** As but one example, if traditional Catholicism dominated in the US birth control would be outlawed (except for the Catholic-approved method). Other religions would either not be permitted or severely regulated as they were as late as the days of Franco Spain.
** 3. It’s not 10% of Catholics who have left the Catholic Church. That’s more like 30% or higher.** It’s that 10% of Americans (30,000,000 of 300,000,000) were once Catholics who have left the church. The number of Catholics in the USA today is roughly 70,000,000. Roughly 150,000,000 are Protestants. The Catholic figure would have fallen had not there been a major migration of Hispanics to the USA. Probably half of all those who identify as Catholics are of the cafeteria variety. Many Hispanics have drifted to Pentecostal or other forms of Protestantism.
** 4. Fr. McBrien of Notre Dame has a superb column today on why Catholics are leaving the church.** It’s in our daily paper every Saturday, and I hope many will read it and ponder. It would be helpful if the hierarchy took it to heart.
** God bless everybody. Let us get rid of our fervent, narrow tribalism** and remember that people of every creed, color, culture and country are treasured children of our one God. The Lord surely would want us to make religion a bridge rather than a barrier. This continuing battle over the reformers, for example, is ridiculous. It has caused bigotry for 500 years. There should be room in the church for different points of view. Otherwise, we seem to be devalueing the brain God has given us.
** 1. If Luther had been burned at the stake or otherwise executed, more reformers would have come forward.** A number had been killed for their heresy before Luther which did not slow down the rmovement to reform a corrupt church. Had the Papacy shown greater wisdom, it would not have waited until the Council of Trent to make sweeping reforms. Unfortunately, also, in some respects the Council of Trent took actions that simply propelled the Reformation rather than squelching it.
** 2. I would certainly rather live in the US where there is separation of church and state to living where any one religion had the power to enforce its views on the wider society.** As but one example, if traditional Catholicism dominated in the US birth control would be outlawed (except for the Catholic-approved method). Other religions would either not be permitted or severely regulated as they were as late as the days of Franco Spain.
** 3. It’s not 10% of Catholics who have left the Catholic Church. That’s more like 30% or higher.** It’s that 10% of Americans (30,000,000 of 300,000,000) were once Catholics who have left the church. The number of Catholics in the USA today is roughly 70,000,000. Roughly 150,000,000 are Protestants. The Catholic figure would have fallen had not there been a major migration of Hispanics to the USA. Probably half of all those who identify as Catholics are of the cafeteria variety. Many Hispanics have drifted to Pentecostal or other forms of Protestantism.
** 4. Fr. McBrien of Notre Dame has a superb column today on why Catholics are leaving the church.** It’s in our daily paper every Saturday, and I hope many will read it and ponder. It would be helpful if the hierarchy took it to heart.
** God bless everybody. Let us get rid of our fervent, narrow tribalism** and remember that people of every creed, color, culture and country are treasured children of our one God. The Lord surely would want us to make religion a bridge rather than a barrier. This continuing battle over the reformers, for example, is ridiculous. It has caused bigotry for 500 years. There should be room in the church for different points of view. Otherwise, we seem to be devalueing the brain God has given us.
, nor were most of my classmates, but they knew what ‘impartiality’ meant and they made sure we knew it too. So what happened in the last 40 years to completely unravel centuries of hard-won knowledge and advancement?