No not at all, your missing the point. A celebrate priest is not divided between serving the Church and his family. That can be difficult, considering priest who are married have to also have another source of income as well as time spent away from family to do his priestly work. The Church is very wise in her disciplines and can change them when necessary. That would be up to the Holy Spirit and the Pope.
As a Catholic who is used to priests being celibate, I cannot see what the fuss about them being celibate. But that is because I am a Catholic. Protestants have issue with this because their pastors are not celibate. It looks like a matter of defending one’s position.
I agree with all your points, Memaw.
Apparently not.
Proof that the arms of the Catholic Church are wide open to welcome those who wish to return or join us. God Bless, them all, Memaw
Some of this is just speculation and it also can’t be assumed that people are only going in one direction. Churches/denominations everywhere, including more conservative ones, are losing members as our society becomes more secular. Even the Catholic church in the US is losing members and parishes are closing and the drop would be more precipitous than it has been in the US if not for Catholic immigrants from Latin America. The losses are much greater in Europe. Many of these people do not belong to any organized religion at all now. I also know of former Catholics who are now Episcopalians, so the movement is not only in one direction.
I can only speak from my own experience, but the parish that I attend has a little over a thousand registered households, and five Masses on Sunday to accommodate them all. There a quite a few parishes in my city with a thousand or more registered households. And my city is quite liberal, to boot.
Thanks for that reply (and sorry for the slowness of this one).
Possibly I have been a tad too negative, or critical, on that point. Actually, when you really come down to it I think the issue is more with Protestants (or protestants) eschewing the term “catholic”. (Note: Not talking about those of you who say “I’m catholic, I’m just not Catholic”, but rather those who regard being “Catholic/catholic” as a bad thing regardless of punctuation.)
But are you my separated brother, or am I your separated brother? (Be aware that your hot coffee might end up on your head if you answer wrongly.
)Both. We are seperate because you are Catholic and I am a Arminian Evangelical. We are united by our belief in Jesus Christ, baptism and botg are apart of the Body of Christ. We just have “seperate” faith traditions.But are you my separated brother, or am I your separated brother? (Be aware that your hot coffee might end up on your head if you answer wrongly.
So if it doesn’t will that convince you that Christianity is the true religion?
It’s interesting that you say that because in my short time here, I’ve seen quite a few Protestants of the High Church persuasion eagerly refer to themselves as Catholic and I think a thread or two has gotten started on this very topic. For myself, I wouldn’t call myself Catholic because I’m sure that would be misleading. " Catholic" in today’s parlance is shorthand for " Roman Catholic." People being people, they tend to label and file things away mentally. I spoke to a friend just the other day who referred to herself as Anglican. In my experience, normally people who go to the Episcopal Church in the US call themselves Episcopal ( although some do call themselves Anglican), while many breakaway groups, such as the Anglican Catholic Church or the Anglican Church in North America, use the Anglican moniker. I find it interesting that a word taken from a Greek word that means " Universal" has such a draw that so many people want to claim the name.Thanks for that reply (and sorry for the slowness of this one
Possibly I have been a tad too negative, or critical, on that point. Actually, when you really come down to it I think the issue is more with Protestants (or protestants) eschewing the term “catholic”. (Note: Not talking about those of you who say “I’m catholic, I’m just not Catholic”, but rather those who regard being “Catholic/catholic” as a bad thing regardless of punctuation.)
No argument there.
Not to get off-topic, but I have many times seen “Roman Catholic” used as a shorthand for “Roman-Rite Catholic”.
Yep. Egg-zactly.
Well, not exactly. “Catholic” means people who profess to believe what is here:
I don’t think people are drawn to the word. After all, it’s just a word.
Glad you found a place to experience God!
So am I.