As usual, when there is a change in the air, everyone starts declaring the changes that need to be made in order to keep up with the times. No different is the fact that the Catholic Cardinals will soon be electing a new pope to guide our Church. I found a lot of this article offensive as the concentration of attention was on the materialistic side of how the Church should be run as opposed to what has actually worked for centuries. The Catholic Church is the only church that has stood the test of time. Jesus said the church would not fail even in the midst of difficult times because of Faith.
http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/opinion/2013/02/14/new-pope-new-doctrine-archaic-catholic-church-should-allow-priests-to-marry/
Don't people realize that having to sacrifice to reach a level of spirituality is the way to Heaven and that making things easier and allowing a softening towards sin and the current ways of the world isn't conducive to a faithful participation in the Church.
The author seems to feel that we'd have more vocations if we raised the salaries and had married priests. Interesting . . . I used to live in a small town where the Protestant church and our Catholic Church had a good relationship and shared in social events and such. This was years ago but the subject of allowing priests to marry was brought up then, too. The Protestant minister said Catholic priesst were crazy to entertain that thought because it is difficult to minister to a congregation and when you add the needs and care of a family, neither job can be 100 percent done. A friend knew a Greek Orthodox priest whose wife was very miffed when she had to deliver their first child alone because he had to be about church business that day. It reminds me of women who claim they are full-time mothers and work full time, too. There are only 24 hours in a day and when push comes to shove, something gets neglected.
Personally, I don't think it is the celibacy rule that is keeping priestly vocations down but the lack of real Catholic instruction from the pulpit to teach and inspire Catholics that turns young people away from a more spiritual inclination in their lives. If you don't know your Faith, how can you want to make it your entire life.
When Jesus told Peter that He was building His Church upon 'this rock', he didn't mean one of sandstone.
The author cites the problem of child abuse in the Church over the last few years. Yes, we have had sinful people taking advantage of children. Yes, it has made headline news and marred the reputation of good and holy priests who are being tarred by the same brush. Meanwhile, your child has a greater chance of abuse in the public school system but they have the teachers' unions protecting them. Many of these people were married and that didn't stop or minimize their desire to do harm.
In our society today, everything comes down to 'sex' and how the lack of it causes all these problems. What happened to self control?
The author seems to feel that economics and a changing world should be revered over dogma. Dogma is an official belief of a religion. Why should the Church change religious views to accommodate the modern world in these respects? Many of the mores of the modern world are not in line with good, Church teaching. Shouldn't people adhere to spiritual truths rather than sully the truth to fit in with their materialistic wants in this world? Making it easier won't make it better.
