Staying, Leaving?

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emilysue said:
I have worked in child protection, I know the score, I know that sexual abuse happens in other situations and not just in the Church. But the Church hierarchy’s response to this is simply indefensible.

My oldest child is no longer attending Mass, sadly, and my second-oldest is struggling too. Despite my attempts to hold on to my faith, I find myself increasingly drawn back to my Protestant roots. I don’t know what will happen.
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Are these abuses as common in Protestant churches or is this mostly a Catholic thing?
 
anon98328916 said:
Jesus wouldn’t want you to leave. To say people are angry and upset is an understatement, those that where supposed to be apostles of Christ did awful things but they in no way represent Jesus or His church we must never forget that.

Stay close and focus on Jesus, His teachings and His church are still the same. The Holy Mass which He is and always will be present in will never change. Jesus is the reason I am Catholic because it is the true church - One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic church.
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If a priest was an abuser, do you think God still gives him the ability to turn the bread and wine into the Eucharist?
 
The Sacraments work regardless of the state of the soul of the Priest. Ex Opere Operato.

They work because of Christ, not because of any works of man.

To state otherwise is a heresy known as Donatism.
 
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emilysue said:
The rot is so deep and widespread in the Church hierarchy
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25, 30, 40 50 years ago, yes as the PA scandal has shown. But in the last twenty it has not been as serious as you seem to believe. You need to honestly look at the fact, and not just an emotional feeling, or listening to the secular media. There is no current widespread abuse problem in the church, at least in most of the United States. Yes, some current bishops made very bad decisions about abusers back then, but even they are few and far between.
 
And one of them is the current cardinal archbishop of Washington, who reached the age of 75 almost 3 years ago and whose resignation letter has been sitting at the Vatican since then. To put it bluntly: the only reason he’s still in office is because the pope wants him to be.

The pope has a bad track record on responding to abuse.
 
joeybaggz said:
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emilysue:
The rot is so deep and widespread in the Church hierarchy
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25, 30, 40 50 years ago, yes as the PA scandal has shown. But in the last twenty it has not been as serious as you seem to believe. You need to honestly look at the fact, and not just an emotional feeling, or listening to the secular media. There is no current widespread abuse problem in the church, at least in most of the United States. Yes, some current bishops made very bad decisions about abusers back then, but even they are few and far between.
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No good can ever come of swallowing wholesale the poison and lies that the mainstream media spews forth. They want to tear down all religion and replace it with their secular blasphemy.
 
Hope1960 said:
Are these abuses as common in Protestant churches or is this mostly a Catholic thing?
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I’m not sure that anyone’s tried to do a comparative study on the rates. If there’s one out there I’d be interested to read it.

Mostly I think I find myself drawn back to the more decentralized congregational structure of the Protestant denominations I grew up in… a leadership structure much different than the Catholic hierarchy… and to the earnestness with which most of them love Jesus and truly try to follow Him.
 
I’m heartbroken and angry, but I will never leave Our Lord’s Church.
 
there really is no “leadership structure” in the “protestant” church

basically (as i understand it) if you find a “pastor” who gives a dynamic enough homily, hires a good christian rock band, you keep going to his “church”

who does this “pastor” answer to ?
 
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Grateful for the life I have been given in Christ and the privilege to call myself a catholic christian. Sin is sin, whether it is clergy or lay. I am spurred on to pray more diligently for the priests in my parish/diocese and for the seminarians in formation.
 
But sometimes it feels like the church wants us to use forks to get the water out
 
I also feel that there is nowhere else to go, the Catholic Church is the one true church founded by Jesus Christ. These scandals are horrible but as a convert I also try to look at it like, if all Protestant denominations were united into one Protestant Church, then the people questioning the Catholic church now couldn’t be Protestant either, if that makes sense. The Catholic Church scandals are very public and prominent but taken individually there have been many Protestant scandals as well.
 
I don’t know yet what I will do. I am hoping God will light a path for me to follow. I’m struggling to hang on but my strength is running out. Fasting and praying for now. Honestly I have no idea what I will do.
 
Hope1960 said:
Who is staying in the Church as a faithful Catholic after the scandals an who, if anyone is leaving?

I plan to stay but I feel kind of uncomfortable about staying? Anyone else?
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From the Holy Gospel According to Saint Matthew:
And he spoke to them at length in parables, saying: “A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear.”

“Hear then the parable of the sower. The seed sown on the path is the one who hears the word of the kingdom without understanding it, and the evil one comes and steals away what was sown in his heart. The seed sown on rocky ground is the one who hears the word and receives it at once with joy. But he has no root and lasts only for a time. When some tribulation or persecution comes because of the word, he immediately falls away. The seed sown among thorns is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. But the seed sown on rich soil is the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.”
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— Matthew 13:3-9,18-23 (NABRE)
 
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I am staying in the Church that Jesus founded.

Matthew 16:18
k 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.
 
Leaving. Well strongly considered it. After the scandal I began to question if the Church even has moral authority. I began to feel as though any authority that the Church had was stripped away. I’m disgusted at how the church preaches pro- life of the unborn but has neglected the abuse victims in the US, Chile and throughout the world. I came to the realization that, as a new convert, I put my faith in an institution rather than Christ. It looks like everyone is staying but I wanted to share my feelings.
 
CatholicDetroit said:
Leaving. Well strongly considered it. After the scandal I began to question if the Church even has moral authority. I began to feel as though any authority that the Church had was stripped away.
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Yeah, I sort of feel like it’s hard to trust priests and their teaching on morality anymore.

Where, if anywhere, might you go if you leave?
 
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