Time for my wise-ass to chime in...
6-5--One of these days when I am in BG, we are going to meet for a beer. Hopefully, after our meeting you can say that you have met a Catholic who (thinks) he knows what he believes. to answer your question about sprinkling babies--You can be referring to the holy oils or the baptismal water. I think you are probably referring to the oil since water is used in most Christian faiths for Baptism. The person receiving the Sacrament of Baptism (usually babies in Catholic church) is annointed with holy oil on the forehead lips, throat, and I think chest as a protection from spiritual harm. The next step is when the baptismal water is used. The baby is blessed in the Trinity with the baptismal water, then annointed with holy oil again as a sign of receiving the Holy Spirit.
The only reason I know this in such detail right now is that I was recently the Godfather of my niece. I knew most of it, but not all of these details. I guess that is cheating a little.
On to the child molestations and the Catholic Church: As a Catholic I was/am appalled by the route taken by those who are the leaders of my faith. The horrible mistakes made by those priests are just that, horrible mistakes. BUT the way that the Church chose to handle this situation was very disheartening to me, but I also look at those decisions as mistakes made by humans. It pains me to see the suffering that the victims have had to go through and the pain that they have to live with. There is no payback for that kind of act. I can only offer my apologies for the entire Catholic population and hope that we/they have seen their wrong doings and every effort will be made to correct those situations and keep tham from happening in the future.
posted by djv: Could be if they had let them get married. They may have left the kids and them selfs alone. But Then you never know if they have a sickness they could have ended up just a lot of wife beaters.
I couldn't disagree more. Child mollestation is a sickness. I don't think marriage or anything else would have changed these occurrences. I think the bigger fault in this story, though, lies with the leaders of the Catholic Church.
My opinion on married priests: I do not want to see married priests for a couple of reasons. When receiving a catholic Sacrament, there are three parts: a vow (obvious), a mark (the wedding band), and the secret (this I have never understood). When my wife and I received the Sacrament of Matrimony, we took a vow with one another to God to dedicate ourselves to each other for the rest of our lives (shortened version here). Matrimony as well as Holy Orders (priesthood or sisterhood) are in a group called "state of life" Sacraments. I think it would be too much burden on one man to take both Sacraments and fulfill both of them to the best of his ability. I think his dedication to one would be to the demise of the other. I would rather see female priests be allowed in the Catholic Church. I am in a minute minority in this thinking, though.
JT made a very good point. I, as a Catholic, hoped and continue to hope that our "management" would be above making the hideous decisions that we did. It was a real eye-opener to me that the Church is run by humans who make human mistakes the same as anywhere else.
Contributions to the Church: I think it is a very rewarding experience to tithe to the Church. You don't need the Church to tithe, though. Your time and money are much needed in every community no matter your skill, age, or financial status. If you have never volunteered and seen the faces of those less fortunate than you, you should give yourself the opportunity. My favorite charity is Habitat for Humanity because there is responsibility that is laid upon those receiving. It's fun, too, to participate in building a house from scratch for someone else.
Can anyone tell I like this conversation?
