Opinion of the Roman Catholic Church

[Phony Moderate]

Discuss.

[Scam of God]

Horrible Organization

[sbos_wx]

Catholic Church has lost all accountability and respect in my eyes.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

The Church established by Christ for the salvation of mankind, and no matter how hard they may try, the gates of hell shall never prevail against it.

[justW353]

The Church established by Christ for the salvation of mankind, and no matter how hard they may try, the gates of hell shall never prevail against it.

I understand this type of sentiment.  I have first hand experience with it.

So, Libertas, do you believe that...killing millions in the name of the Lord is acceptable?  Or...is that Satan's work?  Or...molesting children?

I was raised Catholic, attended Catholic schools.  Hell, I sang in a Cathedral choir.  I lost my faith in the church gradually, due in no small part to the modern Catholic Church's perversion of Christ's teachings.

If John Paul II was still the Pope, I would have much more respect for the Church than I do now.

[Earth]

Horrible Organization

This describes it well overall, although doesn't say much in the way of actual good clergy.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

The Church established by Christ for the salvation of mankind, and no matter how hard they may try, the gates of hell shall never prevail against it.

I understand this type of sentiment.  I have first hand experience with it.

So, Libertas, do you believe that...killing millions in the name of the Lord is acceptable?  Or...is that Satan's work?  Or...molesting children?

I was raised Catholic, attended Catholic schools.  Hell, I sang in a Cathedral choir.  I lost my faith in the church gradually, due in no small part to the modern Catholic Church's perversion of Christ's teachings.

If John Paul II was still the Pope, I would have much more respect for the Church than I do now.

No, but unlike certain people here I don't let the bad actions committed by .01% of Catholics define and override the good done by the other 99.99%.

I didn't like John Paul II and I don't like Benedict XVI. Liking them is not part of the Catholic faith.

[fezzyfestoon]

One of the most hypocritical, damaging, and perverted (in several senses) established churches from the bottom up.

[Earth]

The Church established by Christ for the salvation of mankind, and no matter how hard they may try, the gates of hell shall never prevail against it.

I understand this type of sentiment.  I have first hand experience with it.

So, Libertas, do you believe that...killing millions in the name of the Lord is acceptable?  Or...is that Satan's work?  Or...molesting children?

I was raised Catholic, attended Catholic schools.  Hell, I sang in a Cathedral choir.  I lost my faith in the church gradually, due in no small part to the modern Catholic Church's perversion of Christ's teachings.

If John Paul II was still the Pope, I would have much more respect for the Church than I do now.

No, but unlike certain people here I don't let the bad actions committed by .01% of Catholics define and override the good done by the other 99.99%.

Would this logic fly anywhere else? You take your child to daycare, they abuse them, but the daycare facility is good by itself, it's just the rotten apples among them that spoil it, right? Would you be caught dead bringing your child to the same daycare center again? 

I didn't like John Paul II and I don't like Benedict XVI. Liking them is not part of the Catholic faith.

Considering the immense weight the papacy has in all things spiritual within the religion, that's a mighty big assertion to make.

[justW353]

The Church established by Christ for the salvation of mankind, and no matter how hard they may try, the gates of hell shall never prevail against it.

I understand this type of sentiment.  I have first hand experience with it.

So, Libertas, do you believe that...killing millions in the name of the Lord is acceptable?  Or...is that Satan's work?  Or...molesting children?

I was raised Catholic, attended Catholic schools.  Hell, I sang in a Cathedral choir.  I lost my faith in the church gradually, due in no small part to the modern Catholic Church's perversion of Christ's teachings.

If John Paul II was still the Pope, I would have much more respect for the Church than I do now.

No, but unlike certain people here I don't let the bad actions committed by .01% of Catholics define and override the good done by the other 99.99%.

I didn't like John Paul II and I don't like Benedict XVI. Liking them is not part of the Catholic faith.

The Catholic Church is full of great people.  However, no other organization (I'm talking about the hierarchy) is so hypocritical.  It's teachings are so perverted from the original teachings of Christ I simply could not remain a member of it.

They preach practicing what you preach while they look down on other Christian denominations as inferior.

Once again, I'm speaking of the Vatican mainly.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

One of the most hypocritical, damaging, and perverted (in several senses) established churches from the bottom up.

Well said.

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

The Church established by Christ for the salvation of mankind, and no matter how hard they may try, the gates of hell shall never prevail against it.

I understand this type of sentiment.  I have first hand experience with it.

So, Libertas, do you believe that...killing millions in the name of the Lord is acceptable?  Or...is that Satan's work?  Or...molesting children?

I was raised Catholic, attended Catholic schools.  Hell, I sang in a Cathedral choir.  I lost my faith in the church gradually, due in no small part to the modern Catholic Church's perversion of Christ's teachings.

If John Paul II was still the Pope, I would have much more respect for the Church than I do now.

No, but unlike certain people here I don't let the bad actions committed by .01% of Catholics define and override the good done by the other 99.99%.

I didn't like John Paul II and I don't like Benedict XVI. Liking them is not part of the Catholic faith.

The Catholic Church is full of great people.  However, no other organization (I'm talking about the hierarchy) is so hypocritical.  It's teachings are so perverted from the original teachings of Christ I simply could not remain a member of it.

They preach practicing what you preach while they look down on other Christian denominations as inferior.

Once again, I'm speaking of the Vatican mainly.

Catholicism is the original teachings of Christ, preserved by the Apostles and their spiritual descendants through the centuries.

[useful idiot]

My opinion of it has gone down immeasurably in the last couple months. There are still some great Catholics out there, and I respect a lot of them, but if we're talking about the hierarchy and institutions, then it's pretty despicable.

I went to a Catholic school and had a generally good experience, I really loved a couple of the priests(detested one though), and I attended a Catholic church as a kid from about the age of 8 to 14, and most of that time I was in Catholic schooling. I loved its theological depth and the commitment to intellectualism not found in many other denominations, and I respected its commitment to standing fast for objective morality despite the wave of liberalism that swept over the mainline Protestant denominations in the 20th Century.

There were a few things that irked me while I was involved with them. The most negative thing that sticks out in my mind was the funneling of funds from my parish(that I loved dearly), which was falling apart, in order to fund the already much nicer and bigger parish run by the main priest in the city, Fr. Jay. This was done under the guise of raising money for the school I went to. When the priest of my parish, Fr. Patrick, objected, suddenly the main priest claimed he was an alcoholic and had him sent to the boonies. The priest who replaced him, Fr. Steve, was a young guy who started attracting more people to our parish. All of a sudden he was sent to the small mission at the local college, quite a demotion. Fr. Jay was known to be a little too close to a guy named Dan that worked at the church office, if you know what I mean. This seemed to be not such a big deal to the congregants of Fr. Jay's church, who verbally harassed Fr. Steve when he showed up to a school field trip in the middle of May in shorts and a polo shirt instead of a black shirt and collar. It became apparent to me that appearances mattered more than genuine faithfulness and behavior. I once shared a car with Fr. Jay when I was at a retreat in the mountains with the youth group, and he invited me to come to his room(I kid you not), which I flatly refused and told him I knew what he was doing and that if he said anything else to me I'd tell the retreat organizers. This was almost two years before the scandals in Boston became big news.

I would normally write these stories off as a bad personal experience. After all I loved the church I was attending when not at school and the two priests that had been there were great teachers and awesome guys. They exemplified everything a serious Christian would want in a leader on a personal level. The good experiences I had caused me to attend a couple different Catholic churches last year, because I missed that which was good. The problem, though, is that I saw how people refused to talk about the things going on with Fr. Jay, and I saw how they treated the guys who were genuinely good men who they disliked because they might not have been as buttoned down. I knew that the church hierarchy in the area knew what was going on and helped facilitate a bad apple because it was common knowledge in my parish.

I see that same stuff on a much bigger and more severe scale now, and even though there are great people and great churches within the organization, I don't think I could ever be a part of it. For the church to ever regain my respect there has to be an extreme amount of house cleaning going on, and I don't see that happening anytime soon. Sorry, Libertas.

[Mechaman]

I hear that when it comes to faith, it has a killer record.
Haha, get it?

[Obnoxiously Slutty Girly Girl]

My opinion of it has gone down immeasurably in the last couple months. There are still some great Catholics out there, and I respect a lot of them, but if we're talking about the hierarchy and institutions, then it's pretty despicable.

I went to a Catholic school and had a generally good experience, I really loved a couple of the priests(detested one though), and I attended a Catholic church as a kid from about the age of 8 to 14, and most of that time I was in Catholic schooling. I loved its theological depth and the commitment to intellectualism not found in many other denominations, and I respected its commitment to standing fast for objective morality despite the wave of liberalism that swept over the mainline Protestant denominations in the 20th Century.

There were a few things that irked me while I was involved with them. The most negative thing that sticks out in my mind was the funneling of funds from my parish(that I loved dearly), which was falling apart, in order to fund the already much nicer and bigger parish run by the main priest in the city, Fr. Jay. This was done under the guise of raising money for the school I went to. When the priest of my parish, Fr. Patrick, objected, suddenly the main priest claimed he was an alcoholic and had him sent to the boonies. The priest who replaced him, Fr. Steve, was a young guy who started attracting more people to our parish. All of a sudden he was sent to the small mission at the local college, quite a demotion. Fr. Jay was known to be a little too close to a guy named Dan that worked at the church office, if you know what I mean. This seemed to be not such a big deal to the congregants of Fr. Jay's church, who verbally harassed Fr. Steve when he showed up to a school field trip in the middle of May in shorts and a polo shirt instead of a black shirt and collar. It became apparent to me that appearances mattered more than genuine faithfulness and behavior. I once shared a car with Fr. Jay when I was at a retreat in the mountains with the youth group, and he invited me to come to his room(I kid you not), which I flatly refused and told him I knew what he was doing and that if he said anything else to me I'd tell the retreat organizers. This was almost two years before the scandals in Boston became big news.

I would normally write these stories off as a bad personal experience. After all I loved the church I was attending when not at school and the two priests that had been there were great teachers and awesome guys. They exemplified everything a serious Christian would want in a leader on a personal level. The good experiences I had caused me to attend a couple different Catholic churches last year, because I missed that which was good. The problem, though, is that I saw how people refused to talk about the things going on with Fr. Jay, and I saw how they treated the guys who were genuinely good men who they disliked because they might not have been as buttoned down. I knew that the church hierarchy in the area knew what was going on and helped facilitate a bad apple because it was common knowledge in my parish.

I see that same stuff on a much bigger and more severe scale now, and even though there are great people and great churches within the organization, I don't think I could ever be a part of it. For the church to ever regain my respect there has to be an extreme amount of house cleaning going on, and I don't see that happening anytime soon. Sorry, Libertas.

Well of course, it's understandable, the credibility of the Church has been greatly tarnished by the evil men who've risen to power since the mid-20th century.

But you shouldn't let that interfere with your own spiritual journey. In antiquity the true and faithful Catholics were persecuted while the Arian heretics took over the institutional church. The faithful were and are the Church, not the corrupt and perverse clergy.

 The situation is much the same today. We need good men and women to join and remain with the Church for its problems to be fixed, not to leave it to these freaks to do with as they wish.

I much prefer independent churches myself. The less associations with the Novus Ordo hierarchy, the better.

[Associate Justice PiT]

     My limited experience with Catholicism has been relatively positive. I'm far from a disinterested observer, though.

[Bo]

Negative

[dead0man]

It's shocking how well they play the role of Evil Organization.

[patrick1]

Individual sicko "priests" and the Church leadership handling of them was a disgrace and a moral failing. Sadly, people who prey on children are widespread throughout society and certain occupations attract sick people who wish to have access to children.  Witness all of the swim coaches who have molested children and boy scout leaders. The Church leadership often covered up these crimes to silence the issue and in doing so compounded the issue and allowed more abuse to occur. There is nothing that can be done now to repair this damage. Obviously this cannot be allowed to happen again and new laws to be set in place.  The Church has to take a serious look at the ordaination process. There are too many weak and confused people being let in.

I do feel many people disregard the good that the Church does. Catholic Charities, St Vincent de Paul, Catholic Relief Services etc. 

[hcallega]

I have a very positive view of the Church. While in recent years their record of being active in rooting out evil within their own ranks has been less then stellar, I don't view this as the core of Catholiscism. Unlike most people defending the Church here, I wasn't born or raised Catholic. I chose the faith several years after the Boston scandals, and have stuck with it since. I believe in the justice, the love, and the message of the scripture. When comparing it to any other denomination you see the most truethfull and accurate application of the Bible, wheras the faiths that spun from Luther and Calvin seem to be less accurate. Of course my opinion of the hierarchy has slipped in recent weeks, but nonetheless the Church will always have a special place in my heart.

[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.

[John Dibble]

My perception of the organization itself is quite negative.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I have very little respect for the Church.

....itself, as Andrew I think said as well.

[Gustaf]

The Church established by Christ for the salvation of mankind, and no matter how hard they may try, the gates of hell shall never prevail against it.

I understand this type of sentiment.  I have first hand experience with it.

So, Libertas, do you believe that...killing millions in the name of the Lord is acceptable?  Or...is that Satan's work?  Or...molesting children?

I was raised Catholic, attended Catholic schools.  Hell, I sang in a Cathedral choir.  I lost my faith in the church gradually, due in no small part to the modern Catholic Church's perversion of Christ's teachings.

If John Paul II was still the Pope, I would have much more respect for the Church than I do now.

No, but unlike certain people here I don't let the bad actions committed by .01% of Catholics define and override the good done by the other 99.99%.

Would this logic fly anywhere else? You take your child to daycare, they abuse them, but the daycare facility is good by itself, it's just the rotten apples among them that spoil it, right? Would you be caught dead bringing your child to the same daycare center again? 

I didn't like John Paul II and I don't like Benedict XVI. Liking them is not part of the Catholic faith.

Considering the immense weight the papacy has in all things spiritual within the religion, that's a mighty big assertion to make.

To be fair, the analogy would rather be to not bring your child to any daycare center again. Or something along those lines. The Catholic Church is a pretty big organization.

[President Mitt]

A menace to the Civilized World for nearly 2000 years. It's an organization full of liars, hypocrites, and authoritarians. I don't have disdain for practicing Catholics,as there are many in my family, just their Church.