Opinion of the Roman Catholic Church

[afleitch]

I have very little respect for the Church.

I will however make the difference that the Church often does not; I have no ill will at all to those who are practicing Catholics (as I was myself until recently) or to the faith. I do dislike the Church and the reasons why are not unusual and they are certainly not new.

We are lucky to live in liberal democracies where from town hall all the way up to the highest office in the land we have a right to elect people to represent us, to vote them out of office and to call for their resignation if they have abused their office in order to protect the integrity of that office. Other Christian denominations have structures that allow individual churches to have a say over their pastor and collectively to have a say on church leadership and direction. No such structure exists within the Church; there is a top down theocratic hierarchy and what stuns me is that the lay Catholic community seem not to mind. Or perhaps they just don't think about it. Yet when crises such as the abuse scandals rear their ugly heads they demand of the Church what we would demand of our politicians but the Church hierarchy lets them down; it has no room for the expression of dissent, anger or calls for change.

The current Pope, when he was still (just) Cardinal Ratzinger sent an official note to bishops telling them on pain of excommunication not to go to the police to report instances of abuse and that the issue was solely a matter for the Church to be 'constrained by perpetual silence.' In any other organsiation such a disgraceful act would preclude them from having any chance at the top job. But not in the Catholic Church.

And that's the problem. Catholicism needs a Reformation.

[afleitch]

Of course, there was also what Afleitch is really piss off about, and I don't blame him, which is the 2005 document telling seminaries to root out people with homosexual tendencies... Afleitch allows this to cloud his judgment on other matters though, sadly, and thus is willing to believe whatever ridiculous thing people tell him.

Bullsh**t.