There may still be hope for the Catholic church

Nattering Naybob: The Red Ranger, as you know we both have had some distractions at work (damn job!) and at home so our little blog has been on hiatus for a little while. I think going forward we can be back to normal for the immediate future at least. Due to the recent SGM dormancy, this content of this post is slightly outdated bit I think is still note-worthy.

We discussed in a previous post (in somewhat tongue-in-cheek fashion) what a breath of fresh air Pope Francis seemed to be at the time of his installation this past Spring. My comments to you were concerned mainly with the symbolism of the new Pope’s eschewing of much of the pomp and ceremony that seemed to be the currency of Francis’ immediate predecessor, Pope Benedict, and of many previous Popes in general.

But recently came news, via The Huffington Post and other news outlets , of a potentially seismic shift in the way that the Catholic church does business. While giving an interview to an Italian paper called La Civilita Cattolica, he basically said that the Catholic church has been too obsessed with enforcing its stifling, archaic stances on gays, abortion and contraception… more specifically, on the church’s absurdly impossible opposition to both abortion AND contraception.

I am what you would call a “lapsed” Catholic. I felt that I could no longer support a church whose hierarchy turned the other cheek for decades while its priests, bishops and in some case, cardinals, were inflicting horrible acts of abuse on young boys. Most odious to me, other than the actual crimes and resulting cover-ups themselves, was the fact that the church was draining the pockets of many in its flock to help pay for the multi-million dollar lawsuit victories awarded the victims of church-sanctioned pedophilia… while doing nothing to sell of its own stashes of gold, paintings, and statuary first (we’ll see if Francis does anything about this display of conspicuous consumption in future months and years).

But Pope Francis’s comments seem to signal a realization that the Catholic church needs to adapt to the times in order to re-focus on its true mission of helping those who need to be saved, rather than condemning those they think should be damned. If Pope Francis is successful in the Herculean job of changing the culture of the church, or at least starting that journey, then I would be curious if Republicans would also modify their nonsensical opposition to both abortion AND contraception. I have to temper that wish with the fact that the institution of Modern Republicanism is trending more and more towards fundamentalist / evangelical Protestantism, and accordingly may not find much legitimacy in anything that the Catholic church does or says anyway. Much like they treat Obama.

The Red Ranger: Again as you know I am not a very religious person but I respect those who are.  I find it interesting that you refer to the Catholic church as a business as that is sometimes how I view it.  They are more interested in pulling in donations than actually helping their congregations.

If the pope changes the Catholic church’s stance on abortion, contraception, gays, etc. I will then change my stance on religion and be a staunch supporter of the banning of all religions.  If a religion can change its basic tenets on a whim to bring itself into the mainstream and perhaps enhance its monetary pool then it is really not a religion but it is a business as you suggested that is just catering to the needs of its customers.

If I were a long time parishioner of a parish where the priest has been sermonizing against abortions, gays, etc. for the past twenty years and all of a sudden one Sunday he comes in and says, “You know all those things I have been preaching about the last twenty years, forget it, abortion is OK, a homosexual lifestyle is fine and by the way we have a sale on condoms 3 for $15 and you can pick them up on your way out”.  Just doesn’t seem right to be able to change like that.

I would have much more respect for the Catholic church if they actually dug in their heels and held firm to their beliefs regarding abortion, contraception, gays, etc.  Perhaps God is testing them by putting so much immorality in the world now.  If the church caves then we are on a path to certain destruction.  It will be slow but ultimately we will get to a point where anything goes and whatever each person wants to do as long as it makes them happy will be acceptable.

I do not understand why you feel that opposition to both abortion and contraception is absurd.  If someone is able to display self-control and take responsibility for their actions then there would be no issue.  However, when people are always looking for their immediate satisfaction regardless of the outcome then I could see how there could be an issue here.  I guess this just goes hand-in-hand with the anything goes attitude that so many people have today.

Nattering Naybob: Interesting take you have there, Red Ranger. My problem with being opposed to both abortion AND contraceptives, is from a policy perspective, not from a moral one. I do not believe that morality can be imposed. It must come from within. Your interpretation of the Pope’s interview seems to me, to fit right in with what he is worried about: that the Catholic church has become more worried about castigating certain types of behavior, rather than welcoming imperfect people into their fold. As the Pope himself perfectly summarized the problem in his interview:

“We must always consider the person. In life, God accompanies persons, and we must accompany them, starting from their situation. It is necessary to accompany them with mercy. When that happens, the Holy Spirit inspires the priest to say the right thing… God is in everyone’s life. Even if the life of a person has been a disaster, even if it is destroyed by vices, drugs or anything else, God is in this person’s life…This church with which we should be thinking is the home of all, not a small chapel that can hold only a small group of selected people. We must not reduce the bosom of the universal church to a nest protecting our mediocrity.”

Unless he turns out to be a total phony who might later “clarify” his statements, this Pope is a true man on the cloth. He seems to be a genuine follower of the teachings of Christ, who many cite at every opportunity but whose message of unconditional mercy is not observed.

Dear Cardinals: I know when I’ve been insulted

Nattering Naybob: I know this complaint is a little late, but another Papal election has come and gone and the so-called Cardinals have again failed to elect me to the Papalcy on a write-in basis. Can you imagine they instead voted for some person who doesn’t even take advantage of his newly-available Papal limousine and instead hitches a ride back from the Vatican in a lowly VAN, with the rest of the Cardinals? What kind of a “Catholic” is he? Next thing you know the new so-called “Pope” will sell of some of the paintings and gold statuary that is in the Vatican to help raise cash to continue paying off the victims of decades on Church-enabled pedophillia, rather than ask for increasing donations from old widows in shawls who already give a big chunk of their Social Security checks to the Church.

If they had elected me I would have acted like a real Pope should, or at least HAS over the past thirty or so years, that is ignore all bad news and credible reports of criminal and financial malfeasance, and focus on the real issues such as the evils of birth control and the audacity of those disrespectful women wanting to be priests. Just let me ride in that Pope-mobile and I’ll keep my mouth shut…. man, you could LIVE in that thing it’s so big.

And who ever heard of a Pope from a Latin American country anyway? Next thing you know they’ll be electing Popes from Africa. As Archie Bunker would say, “Aw, Geez!”

The Red Ranger: I too was surprised that you were not elected, however, I think the biggest negative against you is your age.  I believe the job requirements for the Pope say you must be 70 years old.   If the Catholic church wants to get into the 21st century I think they need to spice up the selection process a little.  Maybe a Pope Survivor or Pope Idol contest to select the new Pope.

As you know I am not Catholic and not a very religious person, however, I am getting tired of everyone belittling the Catholic church and its beliefs.  If you choose not to follow the Catholic religion or any other religion then that is fine just allow those who believe in it to do so as they choose.   No one truly knows which religion is right or wrong or whether having no religion at all is the best approach.  So we are all just going to have to live with each other.

As far as the Pope-mobile goes that is one sweet ride.  I wonder if they have gone green with it yet.

Nattering Naybob: You have a fair point about the members of a religion having to abide by all the tenets of that religion, or leave the religion. However I believe that any enterprise or organization, whether a religion, a business, a governmental institution, or whatever, needs to grow with the times and allow its followers to speak their minds about the way that enterprise is run. What the Catholic church has forgotten is that the person responsible for the Catholic church’s existence, and Christianity as whole– that would be Jesus Christ– eschewed all material comforts and focused all his energy on tending to all people, nout just those whose appearance, behavior, and gender met his approval. I think it is ludicrous that the Catholic Church steadfastly refuses to allow women to become priests, or even to rise to the positon of deacon. What qualities or traits that are specific to males, make them uniquely and exclusively qualified to be priests?

I also think that the Catholic church should sell off every artifact and piece of gold decoration that adorns any of its churches or cathedral throughout the world, and use the money to tend to issues and practices that are more in keeping with Jesus Christ.

The Red Ranger: I agree wholeheartedly with your last point.  What is the reason for having an ornately decorated church or cathedral and to your point isn’t that in direct contrast with what Jesus Christ would have wanted.

I am not so sure about letting women become priests.  Not that I have anything against that personally but what I fear happening is that the church would then be molding its beliefs to fit the current environment to maintain membership and its continuing existence.  However, all the while as these seemingly small and innocuous changes are taking place over time the church becomes a shell of its former self and unrecognizable to its original beliefs.

So would a lesbian priest be in fitting with the Catholic gospel.  Not being Catholic I cannot answer that but to me it seems that this would be straying far afield from its teachings.

Personally, I would rather see the church stick to its guns and fight the attempts to make it into something that it is not.  Again not being Catholic that is easy for me to say.

On a different but related topic, a few years ago when Margaret and I and the boys were driving back from NJ on Easter after spending some time at my mother’s we realized that we did not have anything at home for Easter dinner.  We thought OK we would just pick something up at the supermarket when we got to MA.  However, when we got to MA near our home all of the supermarkets were closed.  Now this year Margaret and I both noticed that the supermarkets and many other stores were open on Easter.

Nattering Naybob: I don’t see what impact lesbian priests would have since 1) the official policy of the Catholic church is to mandate that their priests be celibate and 2) it is an open secret that many Catholic priests are gay, if not in practice, then in orientation. I do not feel as strongly about abolishing celibacy as I do about allowing owmen to be priests. I am not virulently against abolishing celibacy nor am I enthusiastially in favor of it. I also do not lend any credence to the theory that there would be less child molestation committed by the clergy if the ban on celibacy had been lifted, or was in effect. Sexual predation such as molestation and rape, whether heterosexual, homosexual, underage, or of age, are not sexual acts but acts of crime and abuse of power and probably about eighteen other negative and horrific traits.

Funny about Easter, my observations were in some ways similar but other ways different. In my view, Easter has surpassed Christmas as a Holiday in which the secular has overtaken the religious. You hear virtually nothing about what Easter really means, instead there is only talk of bunnies, Easter Egg rolls and hunts, and spring “Easter” breaks. On the other hand, and in contrast to your experience, I never realized that many stores closed on Easter Sunday until this year. So I noticed the opposite what you did. When you were able to find an open store that could give you some sustenance, did you admonish the store manager for staying open on Easter thereby doing his part to promote the War on Easter… while loading your shopping bags with meatloaf, cake, potato chips, and marshmallow Peeps?