What Will be the Outcome of German Catholics versus Rome


There is a steady stream of news items centering of the German Catholic Church going in a different direction than "allowed" by Rome. There are stern warning from conservative clergy the Pope must take disciplinary action. Pope was quoted from a meeting about six months ago he would tolerate differences between Germany and Rome even if the rest of the bureaucracy was angry.

While conservative clergy are going about with their holier-than-thou noses in the air, one of their Pope heroes, the late John Paul, has people protesting in the streets. These protests are taking place in his native Poland. Polish citizens have found documentation that when John Paul was a Bishop he transferred child abusing priests from one diocese to another instead of turning them over to law enforcement. There must be many statues honoring John Paul. Yet, we know now he was not a good person and was more worried about bad publicity for the church than he was those in the church.

I suppose some of those defending the legacy of John Paul are complaining that the Catholic Church of Germany is not adhereing to church laws. They would not doubt defend the cruel deeds of the former Pope. 

I discuss the German Catholic Church often here because to me it represents the future not only of the Catholic church but of all of Christianity. There is simply no way to enforce beliefs if there is no legimate source of those beliefs. All kinds of ideas can claim the Bible as a source but the Bible is full of conflicting ideas. It's just a matter of putting all the pages on a wall and throwing a dart.

The current Pope will not be throwing down the gauntlet and enforcing beliefs and policies in Germany or anywhere else. He has decided the church must go forward while including conflicting beliefs. This is the only practical option he has and his is wise to take it.

Those who cannot stand unenforced rules will just have to take a deep breath and resolve they have lost and must get used to it. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Maybe the "Original Sin" Should be Reassigned

Image
We can all agree most Catholic priests are fine people and not guilty of sexual abuse. What Catholics must face, however, it that their church harbors executives who are dishonest . There is an incredible story about the Argentine Bishop Zanchetta. The Pope worked with him in Argentina and they are considered friends. Around 2015 Zanchetta sent nude pictures of himself and they began circulating world wide. He also was too friendly with young seminarians and some left because of him.  Three different officials say they made formal complaints to the Vatican about Zanchetta between 2015 and 2017. Yet, in 2018, the Vatican claimed it was unaware of any complaints about Zanchetta. This might be a good time to repeat the Catholic hierarchy claims to have the sole authority handed down from Jesus to what the faith stands for. It condemns as sinners those who practice birth control, have abortions and gay sexual relationships. Handing the hierarchy this responsibility would make...
Read more

Who Suffers from a "Hardened Heart"

Image
Some years ago on this blog there was a discussion about what the Bible calls "The hardened heart." The "hardened heart" was the explanation given for why people like me cannot accept the tenets of Christianity. We are unable to believe there are floating spirits and gods or imaginary places people go when the die. Now, a prominent Christian preacher and author has given us a way to diagnose the "hardened heart." It contained some surprises.  Rev. John Piper, who spoke about the hardened heart, said we can see this in a person who lacks "ordinary tenderness and compassion." He went on to describe the characteristics of a person without the affliction of the hardened heart. A healthy person displays empathy and sympathy. Those with the hardened heart are like stone. Jesus wanted compassion for the poor. The hardened heart discussion referred to atheists only if they are sinners and then it was indirectly. Sin, Piper said, hardens one's heart a...
Read more

Young Women can see Bull$hit a Mile Away

Image
Republicans including their Forced Birth subgroup is bother by recent election results and polling. All show young women going to the left. A poll shows young women are 30% more likely to be very liberal than young men. The link advises the Forced Birth community to give young pregnant women an uplifting message. The message suggested is, "Buck up. You've got this. You can give birth and have a happy life." Another way of saying this is, "It will be OK if you miss work and/or are fired because of the birth. If you cannot make your rent payment, it's OK. Somewhere out there is another place to live. We don't know where but be optimistic."   This is an add on to the new version of the Forced Birth message, "We're for both the baby and the mother." They are not and never have been for the mother. Their message has always been to condemn women who have abortions. Now, the "thoughts and prayers" message, which costs no money, it the me...
Read more