The hierarchy of the Catholic Church does not get it!
The members of the Church get it: only 27% of American Catholics have confidence in the way the Pope is handling the worldwide sexual abuse of children by priests, nuns, and seminarians.
Popes have their own personal preachers. The Reverend, Dense, and Tone-Deaf Raniero Cantalamessa is the current holder of the title, "Preacher of the Papal Household". On Good Friday he said in his sermon that criticizing the Church for the sexual abuse of children was equivalent to the persecution of the Jews under the Holocaust.
He did not say that sexually abusing children was somehow like killing Jews. He said that criticizing the Church for the abuse of children was somehow like killing Jews!
There are at least two obvious reasons why the hierarchy does not understand; why they are as dense as stones. First, the Catholic Church is a male-dominated hierarchy with delusions of infallibility. Second, the Church has an atrocious understanding of human sexuality.
In Catholic theology, the Pope is the Vicar of Christ: When the Pope speaks on matters of faith and morals, he is speaking for Christ. He is considered to be infallible when he does that. Infallible! The Pope is not just the first among equals. Were he to resign, as even some Catholics have suggested, there is no one qualified to accept his resignation. He is above that! The Church is a top-down organization, and it is a male top-down organization. Women may not become Popes. Women may not become Bishops. Women may not become Priests. Women may not become the heads of their households: the men are that, but the men are duty-bound to love their wives, just as Christ loves the Church.
Yes, indeed.
If women want to become particularly holy, they may refuse to marry men, and marry Christ, or the Church, or something like that. It is called celibacy. Popes, Bishops, Priests, Seminarians, Monks, and hermits who want to live in a cave or a crab shell have to be celibate. So sexual denial is demanded of holy men, and available as an option for women. It is an ideal devoutly to be hoped for.
Utter perversity!
So look at the priesthood! Whether the seminarians and priests are homosexual, or heterosexual, or metrosexual, or sexually uninterested, they are required to be celibate. Priests cannot have wives, or partners. If they do have normal sexual desires, they must either suppress them, or act on them, and lie about it. Since open, normal sexual relationships with other adults are not permitted, and are difficult to hide, it is inevitable that children will become victims of sexual crimes. Children can be threatened.
Putting people into prison results in criminal sexual behavior, too.
There is no way on God's green earth that a male-dominated, hierarchical, sexually screwed-up Church can serve as a model for decent, ethical human behavior. There is no way that a male-dominated, hierarchical, sexually screwed-up Church hierarchy can even understand what is going on; not Raniero Cantalamessa, and not Joseph Ratzinger, either, who sat there, listening, doing nothing, just being Pope Benedict XVI, living a delusion.
Like an infallible stone.
The members of the Church get it: only 27% of American Catholics have confidence in the way the Pope is handling the worldwide sexual abuse of children by priests, nuns, and seminarians.
Popes have their own personal preachers. The Reverend, Dense, and Tone-Deaf Raniero Cantalamessa is the current holder of the title, "Preacher of the Papal Household". On Good Friday he said in his sermon that criticizing the Church for the sexual abuse of children was equivalent to the persecution of the Jews under the Holocaust.
He did not say that sexually abusing children was somehow like killing Jews. He said that criticizing the Church for the abuse of children was somehow like killing Jews!
There are at least two obvious reasons why the hierarchy does not understand; why they are as dense as stones. First, the Catholic Church is a male-dominated hierarchy with delusions of infallibility. Second, the Church has an atrocious understanding of human sexuality.
In Catholic theology, the Pope is the Vicar of Christ: When the Pope speaks on matters of faith and morals, he is speaking for Christ. He is considered to be infallible when he does that. Infallible! The Pope is not just the first among equals. Were he to resign, as even some Catholics have suggested, there is no one qualified to accept his resignation. He is above that! The Church is a top-down organization, and it is a male top-down organization. Women may not become Popes. Women may not become Bishops. Women may not become Priests. Women may not become the heads of their households: the men are that, but the men are duty-bound to love their wives, just as Christ loves the Church.
Yes, indeed.
If women want to become particularly holy, they may refuse to marry men, and marry Christ, or the Church, or something like that. It is called celibacy. Popes, Bishops, Priests, Seminarians, Monks, and hermits who want to live in a cave or a crab shell have to be celibate. So sexual denial is demanded of holy men, and available as an option for women. It is an ideal devoutly to be hoped for.
Utter perversity!
So look at the priesthood! Whether the seminarians and priests are homosexual, or heterosexual, or metrosexual, or sexually uninterested, they are required to be celibate. Priests cannot have wives, or partners. If they do have normal sexual desires, they must either suppress them, or act on them, and lie about it. Since open, normal sexual relationships with other adults are not permitted, and are difficult to hide, it is inevitable that children will become victims of sexual crimes. Children can be threatened.
Putting people into prison results in criminal sexual behavior, too.
There is no way on God's green earth that a male-dominated, hierarchical, sexually screwed-up Church can serve as a model for decent, ethical human behavior. There is no way that a male-dominated, hierarchical, sexually screwed-up Church hierarchy can even understand what is going on; not Raniero Cantalamessa, and not Joseph Ratzinger, either, who sat there, listening, doing nothing, just being Pope Benedict XVI, living a delusion.
Like an infallible stone.
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