thanks for pointing out when the letter was written. i added that to the post.

editor

This letter to the Pope is more than 3 years old and has already appeared in other papers.

Sadly, Fr Boulad has not received a reply to his courteous and relevant suggestions.

95% of child abuse occurs within the family. Schaum, 3.31pm Tuesday, you can hardly castrate everyone as they announce their engagement, or even at the wedding.

Obviously ordination in any religion is not assurance of good behavior !!!!!

www.eutimes.net/category/criticism/pedophilia/

"Yet another prominent Orthodox rabbi has been charged with sexual abuse. This time it is Rabbi Mordechai Elon, one of the foremost rabbinic leaders of the Israeli Orthodox movement and former rosh yeshiva at the flagship Yeshivat HaRav, where last year a Palestinian mounted an assault which left several students dead. The result was that students of the yeshiva and other far right Jews went on a rampage and tried to burn down the home of the family of the perpetrator of the attack. Elon’s brother is Benny, a former MK for a far-right pro-settler party.

At one time the rabbi was so renowned he’d hoped to be named chief rabbi. Alas, that hope is all but dashed as he was charged several years ago with abusing boys at his yeshiva:
Takana, a rabbinic forum established in 2003 to clamp down on sexual misconduct by Orthodox educators, went public February 15 with allegations that Mordechai “Moti” Elon had taken advantage of his influence over male students and performed “acts at odds with sacred and moral values.”

The panel later said that two people, whose complaints alleged acts from about 25 years ago, had been under 18 at the time.

More recent alleged acts involved students of Elon who were 18 or older. Since its initial disclosure, the panel reports having received one more complaint of an alleged underage encounter…

What is unusual about this case is that a splinter group of the Orthodox community is taking the position that the entire prosecution is an attempt to destroy rabbinic authority and the Orthodox movement. It calls for refusal to cooperate with state authorities (or to deal with the charge through a beyt din)."

From:
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1855948_1861760_1862212,00.html#ixzz0jg0lEyZj

“Facing calls to curb child sex abuse within its churches, in June the Southern Baptist Convention — the largest U.S. religious body after the Catholic Church — urged local hiring committees to conduct federal background checks but rejected a proposal to create a central database of staff and clergy who have been either convicted of or indicted on charges of molesting minors. The SBC decided against such a database in part because its principle of local autonomy means it cannot compel individual churches to report any information.

And while the headlines regarding churches and pedophilia remain largely focused on Catholic parishes, the lack of hierarchical structure and systematized record-keeping in most Protestant churches makes it harder not only for church leaders to impose standards, but for interested parties to track allegations of abuse. "

Number 7,

Dear Father,

The doctrine serves to illuminate the truth as it applies to our everyday lives, including the intamacy of marital love.

I hardly think abandoning the truth about sex and love, and in the same stride, abandoning the flock, would serve anyone but those who hate the Church.

I would hope priests would be able to vigourously and lovingly preach our Catholic truths about love and sex. It is what is best for all of us. Isn't that what we should want?

The church (read: Pope) will respond to this letter in two days: 1) "discipline" the writer, perhaps with excommunication, 2) ignore it and continue to stonewall.

The Holy Catholic Church is not capable of seeing the harm it has imposed in any Century. It is always dismissed with a wave of the Papal arm. All rational people are now being confronted with the consequences of ignoring fundamentalism. Religion is pure perversion when taken to its extremes. I am disgusted at all of the apologists who want to protect Pope Benedict from the harm he has done to the children who have suffered at his hand. The Catholic Church and all Fundamentalist Religions will gladly offer up their victims to ignominy than stand ready to answer to their institutional disgrace. To state this more plainly, no matter how base the crimes against our children, God has never "dropped a dime" against the offenders. I can only assume that there is no "God". It is left to the thinking among us to take the "perps" to civil court and sue them out of business.

just a brief reply to douglas barber's point about my comment that the "church is an institution living in time" and "is there an institution that doesn't live in time?" well, of course not. I was trying to suggest that the church and its believers lose sight of the limitations of its humanity and timeboundedness. Too much is made of its eternal mission and spirital transcendence.

Many are called but few are chosen. Well the got more than a few bad apples and some are on top of the tree but they are the cover up varity that blow smoke.

That's one.

How about it Archdiocese of Washington priests .. anyone else?

Faith in a Fiction is Foolish!

The next pope, if there is one, should only wear jeans and a tee shirt, smoke from a ritual bong everyday, and have two or three righteous looking earth mamas as wives/caretakers.

The current Pope and why was chosen for office etc. has much to do with his effectiveness at "handling" the abuse issue.

Popes are traditionally appointed for life and I do not believe that resigning from office is a serious option.

Conversely, this may become a great moment for the Church to come clean and rid their ranks of pedophiles and other hypocrites.

But, I am not holding my breath, only time (and history) will tell ....

If gellyne_julia posts her comment 3,000 more times within the next 10 minutes, I'll be convinced that her argument has merit. Otherwise, not so much.

mcdonaldjames2 wrote "As an institution living in time the church has experienced many crises".

Are there institutions which live outside time?

Fr. Bolard wrote an intelligent article on the need for broad and deep reform of the Roman Catholic Church. It's current problems with clerical pedophilia and cover up may well reflect the deeper spiritual malaise. The Church lacks relevancy, vitality, even spirituality. As an institution living in time the church has experienced many crises and decline of its spirit. It has usually found renewal from within, and sometimes from without if one considers the Protestant Reformation. Another post alluded to Gorbachov's attempt to reform Soviet Communism. There reform shattered the entity, the Soviet State. Perhaps the Vatican is afraid of that sort of reform. One gets that impression from the way they have retreated from the Spirit of Vatican II.

Religion can not save the world and mankind. Human need some changes of their own character and how we will change is by our own human revolution. Without faith, love and action, it's useless to believe that there is an existing God. Pope. Patriarch, Bishop, Priest and Deacons can not helped people to change their life. Jesus has live a simple ways of life and teach a 2 commandments of God. We don't need hypocrisy doing a good deeds and advertise in the TV, Newspapers and Internet just to ask for donations and charity. He will judge the living and the dead. No one else can judge us nor priests or pope. For they are humans not saints or sages. We don't need your sermons and your teachings too. Angelin Gan - Philippines

Buckminsterj

“Actually, one theory regarding the evolution of the religious impulse posits it as a byproduct, or misfiring, of a useful trait, though it is not in itself advantageous.”

I would quote another theory that is based on beliefs that have existed for thousands of years and is accepted in cultures on every inhabited continent:

“In many ways, throughout history down to the present day, men have given expression to their quest for God in their religious beliefs and behavior: in their prayers, sacrifices, rituals, meditations, and so forth. These forms of religious expression, despite the ambiguities they often bring with them, are so universal that one may well call man a religious being.” Catechism of the Catholic Church: Man’s Capacity for God.

“I assume you mean ‘accumulation,’ because we are nowhere near the culmination of human knowledge (though a biblical literalist would likely argue otherwise).”

You are correct, I misused the word. Also, I am in no way a biblical literalist.

“But what happens when the knowledge of one age contradicts that of another?”

This is exactly the point of the article, and an excellent argument for reform. Also, I don’t feel a refined understanding of knowledge is enough to dismiss all merit of a previous understanding.

“Besides, even if we accept spirituality as a fundamental human trait (like selfishness or prejudice), that does not rquire us to condone or celebrate it.”

It is the ignorant or destructive behavior of specific people that we should not condone or celebrate. Your point is not a sound argument for denying our own spiritual nature, nor the existence of God.

I appreciate your thoughts, this has been an interesting exchange!

Buckminsterj,

Thank you for your responses as well. Here is my counter-argument:

“Is this your perception of atheism? If so, you misunderstand the term.”

I assure you, I understand the term ‘atheism’ completely as a disbelief or denial of the existence of God or gods. Being that it is a belief that exists only to deny another system of beliefs, I stand by my characterization. Denial of existence is an acceptance of nothingness. Otherwise it would be a system of beliefs that offers a viable alternative.

“I would argue that spirituality is in fact the suppression or perversion of intellect BY emotion, not a seperate phenomenon.”

I don’t see these aspects of our perception as separate phenomenon, but rather parts of the sum total. I would disagree in your characterization as a suppression of intellect. You should consider which likely first gave early humans the ability to interpret the world around them. However, I will concede that many faithful in today’s society exist as proof to the contrary. We all have a varying level of understanding and expression. I have found in my experience that neither scientific discovery nor philosophical debate contradicts my understanding of God; rather it reveals a better understanding of his mysterious nature. I have also found that expression of faith (or the lack thereof) is most useful when done so constructively and not solely as an opposition to another's beliefs.

more...

All religion is a joke...From the suicide bombers of Islam, to the "chosen people" non-sense of judaism, to the Pope and his child-molestation enabling behavior while he wears Prada shoes...

Religion is a business and the business of finding suckers to buy their particular brand of BS is good.

Here is an idea religious people, grow up... and live your life by this simple prinicipal and the world's problems go away... "Would I want this done to me?" its just that simple...We do not need a narsacistic god and their politicos that make money of the religion you subscribe to because it fits your lifestyle.

When Gorbachev allowed Glasnost and Perestroika in the USSR, it led to an honest assessment of the foundations of that country. The country recognized it was facing a legitimacy crisis and could not survive by maintaining the status quo. The first thing the people did was to reject Stalinism. Many at that time wanted to continue to believe that the USSR could continue to exist by exorcising Stalin, but they came to realize that he was standing on Lenin's shoulders. The whole thing came apart. The Chinese realized that they could sustain at least their rule by liberalizing the economy and not being so dogmatic regarding communism as Mao would have defined it. This is the only reason they survive today. I agree with the author that to survive, the catholics will both have to address their shortcomings and reinvent the church. To do otherwise is to accept the slow steady decline to oblivion. But thats not so bad. It was the most successful movement and business model in world history.

I was educated by the Jesuits in High School and the university. I don't see the future of the catholic church as pessimistic as father Boulad, for a simple reason the Church's CEO is our lord Jesus Christ!!
I rest my case.

nickwallmark,

Sure, please re-post, if not inconvenient. I'm off for the day (like many, I only screw around here while on the clock), so I can't promise I'll respond, but I will look for your comments tonight or tomorrow morning. Take care.

Well, Boulard, you're welcome to join the Episcopalians in their "modernized" faith...

Not only the Catholic Church but all of Christianity needs reformation. The marriage of fundamental protestantism and the Republican Party has produced a theology that has traded grace and the lessons of the Beatitudes for the ugliest and meanest social Darwinism one can imagine, while the remainder of the Protestant churhes remain silent. Christianity is in trouble--and unless it reforms itself, society will rightfully shove it aside for something else.

It is precisely because the church is REACTIONARY, HOMOPHOBIC, ANTI-FEMINIST, ANTI-LIBERAL, ANTI-PROTESTANT, ANTI-DEMOCRATIC, and ANTI-MODERN that we love it and stick with it.

buckminsterj,

I posted a counter-argument about an hour ago, but unfortunately it has not shown up. If you are interested in reading it. Let me know.

Thank you for your comments.

Many are called but few are chosen.

All in all, this will ultimately purify the difference Catholic churches. You never hear much about the French Catholic church. They seem to have talken care of the problem.

And the US Catholic church, almost 1/4 of the american population, has done a good job and is doing a good job. So hopefully, other countries, churches will get better at monitoring and self-monitoring youth.

Already offending clerics and workers who abuse youth in the US are sent to the police, first. Bishops call the police. That's a better policy than most secular US institutions dealing with abuse.

The letter is far too rational to be taken seriously by the hierarchy of arrogance and theocracy. The Pope had said to the world last weekend that he is not discouraged by "petty gossip," regarding the child sexual abuse scandals. I choose not to be an enabler/ accomplice by refusing to contribute to them.

If the Church had any wisdom whatever, the Cardinals should ask Benedict to step aside and proclaim Father Boulad Pope by Acclamation aloud (there is a precedent for this in the 13th century with the nomination of Celestine V who was a simple monk before).

Not being a Roman Catholic, I am somewhat overwhelmed by this Jesuit's comments!

At last someone from the R.C. clergy, admits openly, the problem with the Church,i.e, it's doctrine, dogma and leadership, vision, etc.

He has apparently struck a cord, because there are a lot of comments on this article.

I call for other Catholic clergy to stand up! Now is the time!

My partner and I (gay couple)are progressives and we both go to daily Mass at a church in Western Massachusetts. I love the Mass--I love the Liturgy. The "stuff" going on with the Vatican drives me crazy at times but this craziness can't take away the love my parish, the sacraments--the People of God. I'm not in denial--I just don't want to focus on the negative 24/7. Every day I pray for renewal in the Church, women priests and celibacy as a choice.By the way the Pastor of out church knows we are gay--it's no problem.

Pope Benedict ... As a nazi youth ... blind to Hitler and his ways ...

As the "pope" ... blind to humanity, civil behavior ... regret ...

JUST PLAIN BLIND ..........................

The question is ... Will the Church and its loyal, good people survive such an extreme lack of leadership ? ? ?

Hey, Christians, Catholics;

It is often repeated that, "if someone lies, then it eventually comes back to bite you in the ....".

Consider this that moment.
I'm really not able to believe or have faith in the idea that God impregnated Mary directly, as you so often say he did.

What a doozie of a lie, you ask ordinary people to actually BUY that lie every day?

And so it begins, the unravelling; it's caught up to you, all this lying to people over the centuries.

You are in the process of losing the ability to have ordinary folks join up because eventually, the lies just are too insurmountable for even the simplest of minds to comprehend as truth what you say they need to take as a truth...

...and they're often quite out of step with a thing I'll call reality.

Faith? I'd take my chances that I KNEW was imaginary and "inspired by the idea of God", rather than chooses an outright self-perpetuated conflict of truth and the 'possible' consequences that are often held up as a deterrent to doubt, reaching so very deeply into these churches of perpetual deception.

Good luck with this. I've already moved on, though.

nickwallmark,

Thanks for your response. Allow me to address your post one point at a time:

"In your efforts to evangelize the existence of “Nothing” . . ."

I assure you, I do no such thing. Is this your perception of atheism? If so, you misunderstand the term.

"Spirituality is as basic to human nature as emotion and intellect."

I would argue that spirituality is in fact the suppression or perversion of intellect BY emotion, not a seperate phenomenon.

"Each of which likely evolved as a survival advantage."

Actually, one theory regarding the evolution of the religious impulse posits it as a byproduct, or misfiring, of a useful trait, though it is not in itself advantageous. Humans, for the purposes of survival, are wired to recognize agency. This is a valuable tool in avoiding hungry bears or aggressive rivals, but it also results in perceptions of agency (i.e. god) where there is none.

"My approach focuses on accepting our nature in its entirety and relies on the culmination of human knowledge throughout all ages as a foundation for understanding."

I assume you mean "accumulation," because we are nowhere near the culmination of human knowledge (though a biblical literalist would likely argue otherwise). But what happens when the knowledge of one age contradicts that of another? Besides, even if we accept spirituality as a fundamental human trait (like selfishness or prejudice), that does not rquire us to condone or celebrate it.

@JoeDBrown

My friend, and I do mean that sincerely. I have read the anti-catholic posts. They are a perfect example of the kind of hatred that should be rejected. Responding with an equal amount of anger only undermines your opposing point of view. Christ's way was to love and forgive our enemies, not taunt them. There is a tremendous power and pragmatism in that philosophy. It contains the ability to diffuse anger and hatred. In order for the church to survive it must be an example of Christ's love, not its antithesis. That is exactly the point of the author.

It was actually the angry conservatives of his time that called for his execution. I feel sorry for you if the practice of your faith inspires such angry rhetoric. Are you sure you're doing Christ's work when lobbing such hateful criticism of anyone who doesn't share your exact point of view?
Posted by: nickwallmark
__________________________

By the way it was the establishment of Christ's time that did him in. Liberals are our establishment. Who is in the WH? Who controls Congress and the msm? Ordinary decent Americans are now cast in the odd role of being the real anti-establishment, the real counter culture, the real avant garde.

It was actually the angry conservatives of his time that called for his execution. I feel sorry for you if the practice of your faith inspires such angry rhetoric. Are you sure you're doing Christ's work when lobbing such hateful criticism of anyone who doesn't share your exact point of view?
Posted by: nickwallmark
_____________________________

Hateful criticism? Are you mad. Have you read the articles and comments associated with them that have appeared in the msm? Have you noticed that all of these "news" articles and the drooling anti-Catholic comments contain no real facts or factual accusations linking the Pope to any thing? Have you and you ilk noticed the ongoing, not 50 year old, sexual abuse scandal in our public schools that is in the news daily across this country? Nah. Facts and reason have no place in the liberal world view. What pious, delusional self-righteousness.

I learned early in life that liberals love humanity but no one in particular but themselves. I learned they are very sensitive except when heaping abuse and lies and violence on any one who disagrees with them. Do you know what projection is?

Was the subject article well written? No. It was published to abuse the Pope and his Church. Read the comments again and try to be honest. Who is being hateful?

If this isn't the lamest blog on the internet, it's a close second.

You're so short on ideas that you have to post weird stuff like this? C'mon. Find somebody who actually has an interest in (and cares about) religion to run this blog, or just shut it down.

The Catholic Church is a rigid, authoritarian, antiquated bureaucracy that at the highest levels of its hierarchy has little to do with the true spirit of Christ. It will finally implode under the weight of its own excrement. This process is part of a new world order that is being ushered in and which cannot be stopped.

"After all, look what the main stream fanatics of Christ's time did to him and the faithful."

It was actually the angry conservatives of his time that called for his execution. I feel sorry for you if the practice of your faith inspires such angry rhetoric. Are you sure you're doing Christ's work when lobbing such hateful criticism of anyone who doesn't share your exact point of view?

Yes we should listen to nimrods like the author and become the Church of What's Happening Now. I mean he and other leftists have found the truth. The other 1.5 billion Catholics and 2000 years of Saints, Theologians, Religious and scholars must feel really stupid. Ooops isn't that how the Church got into it's current mess? You bet.

Sure the the RCC should take the advice of a far left wing, statist propaganda sheet and all of its followers who advocate for sodomy, gay marriage, cross dressing, abortion, pornography, sexual license, euthanasia, legalization of drugs, large intrusive government, politcal correctness, high taxes and who are inordinately fond of thugs, mass murderers and tyrants like Fidel, Che. Mao, Stalin etc..

Or were those guys mystics too?

With all of the insane, factless abuse being heaped on the Pope and his Church I am beginning to think they may be the true faith. After all, look what the main stream fanatics of Christ's time did to him and the faithful.

Very touching, but for an elderly Jesuit this shows suprisingly little understanding of the Church. Some of us remember the 60's when, inspired by John XXIII's Second Vatican Council, many people attempted by bring the Catholic Church into line with modern realities. The traditionalists, both in the clergy and laity, rebelled and the reformers mostly left for greener pastures.

The reason traditionalists (or "conservatives" if you prefer) find change so objectionable is that the basis of their faith holds the Church to be eternal and unchanging. It was established by God, even before the coming of Jesus (so they've claimed), as perfect in every respect. Therefore, any change is a degradation from the perfect state of absolute truth.

Of course, the actual history of the Church has shown this to be a complete fantasy, as the Church has in fact been forced to change many times and in major ways. But traditionalists are so addicted to the fantasy of eternal perfection that they are compelled to oppose any change whatsoever, imagining that to do so would offend their God.

Now you have a situation which suggests that it might be better to allow male priests to have normal relationships with women. The celebacy requirement did not exist from the beginning of the Church. It was in fact one of those changes that was forced by the circumstances of the times. Nevertheless, once an unavoidable change has been decreed, it is eventually adopted by traditionalists as the will of their God, and therefore absolutely correct and unchangeable.

This is the absurdity of their position. It is also the reason why any change will meet stiff resistance from the most entrenched members of the Church. Unless the Church leaders impose change from the top (and they usually have no reason to do so), reformers will be driven out, just as they were 40 years ago.

Could the Church eventually reach the point where there are no followers left? It has already happened in Europe, arguably the most highly educated population on earth. The center of Church power is now in the Third World, among illiterate masses. As long as they exist, so will the Church.

A major problem that is at the heart of the RCC's sex abuse candals around the world is its use of old style authority. I think that is what the writer was proposing. A change in the Church's approach to authority.

After all, a Priest is supposed to be "called" by God to enter the priesthood. The man does not "choose" a "job." He has a "vocation."

As part of the ordination Mass, the new Priest's hands are blessed by the Bishop.
Those same hands for the sex abusing Priest's are used to pull down the pants of little boys, and touch their private parts!

In some instances minutes before or after handling the Euchrist at the alter, since alter boys were involved in these criminal acts by the offending Priests.

Therefore, how could God "call" these tousands of men in the US and Europe to be Priests?

Is God falliable?

If God is falliable, then how can the Church have an infalliable Pope?

For the RCC, any break in its foundation of authority, weakens the entire edifice. That is why the RCC is fighting so hard today, and over all the years in the past, to avoid this scandal.

Oh please, don't cry from them. The Catholic Church has about as much to do with God as the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster does. Give it up. That Crazy Catholic Church is unacquainted with God and is a waste of time to mourn for.

@ buckminsterj - “Reason is not a whim - it is careful consideration, supported by logic and evidence, of what is true and good. Whims, on the other hand, are mere feelings, capricious by definition. The word is far more applicable to the assorted edicts of an imagined deity (perhaps the ultimate product of man's whim).”

In your efforts to evangelize the existence of “Nothing”, you’ve seemed to fail at carefully considering the evidence and logic in the totality of human nature. Spirituality is as basic to human nature as emotion and intellect. Each of which likely evolved as a survival advantage. Focusing on one aspect of our ability to exist in our environment leaves a vacuum for the rest. Your comment seems to suggest you take an ‘either/or’ and dismissive approach to understanding who we are. My approach focuses on accepting our nature in its entirety and relies on the culmination of human knowledge throughout all ages as a foundation for understanding.

A criminal is a criminal, stop using religion to cover up these crimes. And stop mislabeling the child sexual abuse by scapegoating it on to the LGBT population.

There are many of us following this story who are not church-goers or "Christians" in the sense that someone within the church might use the word. We don't particularly care about the supernatural aspects of the religion - things like virgin birth or ascension. Yet we are followers of the teachings of Jesus - how to live, how to relate to others, what things are truly important in life.

We stay away from the church because of its focus on "beliefs" - and some of us actually think that focus is unlike Christ who seemed himself to be inclusive rather than dogmatic. Henri Boulad seems to understand that the churches have gone awry and lost their way. We don't need a church to explain nature like they did in ancient history. We don't actually need the church so much for a moral compass. Those functions have other institutions. But we do need the church for our spiritual development - something that has little to do with beliefs, dogma, or the supernatural.

Perhaps the synod he suggests might refocus the church on what Jesus actually taught and how he lived...

"I believe it’s no coincidence that we also live in an age where the use of pharmaceutical ant-depressants is equally high."

Great point. People in other eras never used pharmaceutical anti-depressants or "sexted" or browsed internet porn. Because they had god, right?

TOC59, you were so dead on, bravo!

Well stated!

And what IS their policy for handling pedophile priests? I thought it'd be straightforward. Call the cops, let them handle it and boot the perverts to the curb for good. What kind of sheperd allows wolves to freely roam the flock? I mean, really.

I always thought those who aided and abetted criminals were just as liable for that crime as the person who commits it, so why isn't anyone higher up going to jail?

Hope for the future in the Catholic Church comes from those priests on the ground who are dedicated and sincere (despite the scandals, there are a lot of them left) and from the people in the pews.

I don't hold out much hope for the Vatican hierarchy. Everything they are doing to assess the crisis of faith and to manage the sex abuse scandals is wrong. Everything. Epic fail. Where people suffer doubt, they advocate blind adherence to The Law. They miss the point utterly, when they try to "solve" the problem of Catholics who think for themselves by redefining faith as stupid obedience to a human institution.

Fortunately, nobody, not even the Pope, can control the workings of the Spirit, or Spirit. The Vatican may crumble but faith goes on, and these days I think faith would be better off without the Vatican.

For all of those bashing the Catholic Church and calling for its demise, I would like to point out a few facts and figures:

The Catholic Church educates 2.6 million students everyday at the cost to your Church of 10 billion dollars, and a savings on the other hand to the American taxpayer of 18 billion dollars. Church educated graduates go on to graduate studies at the rate of 92%, all at a cost to the church. To the rest of the Americans, it's free.

The Church has 230 colleges and universities in the U.S. with an enrollment of 700,000 students. The Catholic Church has a non-profit hospital system of 637 hospitals, which accounts for hospital treatment of 1 out of every 5 people - not just Catholics - in the United States today.

Catholic Relief Services and the US Coast Guard were the first on the ground in Haiti and CRS was among the most effective orgainzations in directing aid directly to those most in need.

Need we look any further than the District of Columbia to see the good work of Catholic Charities and Covenant House, the thousands of students educated in local Catholic Schools, Georgetown University and The Catholic University of America as among the top universities in the District and the world (even former President Clinton benefitted from his law degree from Georgetown), Catholic Legal Aid Service giving free legal assistance to those who otherwise would not be able to afford those services. The list goes on...

There's a reason the Church is growing in places where people are educated the least. There's a reason why in Europe and now in the U.S., non-churchgoers is becoming (or is) the majority of the population. It's not that people are sick of God or religion. People are sick of religious institutions that have lost the trust of their followers. In days of old, only priests could read. They were able to preach anything, and wouldn't be questioned. Now that people are better educated, and with the advent of the Internet, the general population is more tuned-in to the goings on in the World. Therefore, they see right through the bulls**t religions preach (i.e. condom use is somehow evil, killing innocent people is somehow ok as long as it's for a good reason, religious leaders are somehow above the law, etc.). The Pope is just as human as I am, therefore, should be held to exactly the same standards (by the way, I'd say that also extends to politicians, athletes, CEO's and "the rich", police and everyone else under the Sun). Saying something is ok for someone to do but not someone else will not fly in the World today, and religious institutions need to recognize that and adapt to today's standards or they will disintegrate once they face the wrath of the People (who really control everything, but sometimes are unsure how powerful they really are).

The word "whim" has been mis-applied at least twice in this thread - once to describe a moral code not rooted in theism, and once to describe those forces of progress to which the RCC "refuses to bend."

Please. Reason is not a whim - it is careful consideration, supported by logic and evidence, of what is true and good. Whims, on the other hand, are mere feelings, capricious by definition. The word is far more applicable to the assorted edicts of an imagined deity (perhaps the ultimate product of man's whim).

What would vicious anti-Catholic bigots do if there were no priestly pedophile scandal?

Well said, and long over due. I can’t say much to those who comment with an obvious hatred towards Catholicism, and perhaps religion in general. However, I can comment to those, who like me, are willing to take our place as the next generation of church leaders. It is plainly obvious that the task ahead of us is daunting and seemingly impossible. Please, don’t lose your faith!

The church has faced many crises in its 2000 year history, and our age is no different. We live in an age and culture that is rejecting traditional religious practices at an astounding rate. I believe it’s no coincidence that we also live in an age where the use of pharmaceutical ant-depressants is equally high. Clearly humanity has not lost its thirst for answers or direction. It is the institutions that have lost their direction, and more poignantly, it is the leaders of these institutions that have lost their focus. As clearly stated in this article, all of the worlds major religions must address the changing world with an open humility and the courage to change if they wish to remain as a guiding light in people’s lives. We can do this. Join this fight. Return to the religion of your upbringing and be a voice from within.

I'm sorry but anyone who has a God with the only word has a problem in a globalized world culture. All cultures to some degeree have problem reconciling ethics and morals with sexuality. We as human seem unable to balnace body and minds evidenced by how easily to accept collateral damage in service to idealogies in war.
We are approaching a world crisis learning how to live within the means of our planet, sustainably without excessive growth schemes and controlling our population and limiting the amount of resources being drained by excessive elite hierarchies. If we cannot do this and limit our embrace of wars and get rich economic hysteria we are going to be the cause of our own extinction.

The RCC and other churches may benefit from undergoing certian reforms. The sects have different viewpoints. In the RCC tradition Mary is deserved of prayer and honoring. Priests should not marry, but are to be solely focused upon the Lord to attain a higher spiritual state, and avoid distractions from the mundane. Hopefully, the church, together with misguided priests can atone for their transgressions, and move forward.
In response to the cynical, oppinionted earlier post, you question Jesus our Lord's miracles, as "myths" and "hallucinations." This is your oppinion, fine, and he had many skeptics of his day that insisted he was insane or feared as he challenged the status-quo. His miracles and events were widely, publicly reported during his lifetime. The NT has discrepencies over time; although, Jesus' fundamental message and acts were known and well-recorded. Your 30% NT authenticity is subject to challenge. To get the facts straight, furthurmore, our Lord was raised and taught as Jew, not Cananites, Hitites, Babylonians, etc. This is not to say he did not absorb any of the latter's influnece, but his main cultural, philosophical insights were those of Juda. He also travelled to India where he received additional devine spiritual lessons.
The concept of Original Sin is interesting, and a culturally different viewpoint. Not everyone is expected to understand or appreciate this.
You really need to ease up, why furthur insult of "atoned pewed people."
Your reesponse indicates that of a spiritless, agnostic or atheist going out of his/her way to demean.
Happy Easter

#7 listed SHOULD ACTUALLY BE #1!

Glad to see the Catholic Church finally in it's death throes.

Thousands of years of lies, oppression, violence, wars, theft, orgies, murders, power grabs, censorship and mismanagement will be the legacy of this organization.

The Catholic faith is basically a blasphemous polytheistic religion deifying Mary and worshiping a pantheon of Saints as though they were gods.

They destroyed cultures world-wide in their efforts to proselytize their message and recently plotted to diddle ever choir boy on Earth.

Why can't they just go away? The world is sick of you Catholics. You burned us too many times.

I would start by electing a pope who is under 135 years old and DOESN'T LOOK LIKE SATAN HIMSELF!!!

That should be obvious no?

What this RCC administration has done and has fail to do as we all have seen around the earth just on the sex abuse & rape cases of children all for the sake of not damageing the image of the RCC has backfired. What BEN16 administration wants is to turn the VATICAN II clock back to ORDINARY STANDARD TIME. It is time for a NEW POPE and for him to call VATICAN III account RC members are voteing with their feet not to mention what the average RC member thinks of the RCC administration, the middle men. TRUTH will always come out in due time and this is no time to blow smoke in the RC members faces.

Very thoughtful piece. I agree with so many of the points made. But the glaring omission of the Clergy Sexual Abuse Scandal, now entering its second decade (although the abuse has been going on for at least a half-century that we know of), is the most damning problem of all. It has exposed the leadership of the Vatican as rotten to the core. With 2/3 of bishops having shuffled around pedophile priests for the past generation (including the current pope), the majority of the leadership in the Vatican is simply guilty of massive crimes for which jail should be seriously considered. Until this scandal is dealt with seriously by the court system, the Catholic Church will never recover.

The RCC and other churches may benefit from undergoing certian reforms. The sects have different viewpoints. In the RCC tradition Mary is deserved of prayer and honoring. Priests should not marry, but are to be solely focused upon the Lord to attain a higher spiritual state, and avoid distractions from the mundane. Hopefully, the church, together with misguided priests can atone for their transgressions, and move forward.
In response to the cynical, oppinionted earlier post, you question Jesus our Lord's miracles, as "myths" and "hallucinations." This is your oppinion, fine, and he had many skeptics of his day that insisted he was insane or feared as he challenged the status-quo. His miracles and events were widely, publicly reported during his lifetime. The NT has discrepencies over time; although, Jesus' fundamental message and acts were known and well-recorded. Your 30% NT authenticity is subject to challenge. To get the facts straight, furthurmore, our Lord was raised and taught as Jew, not Cananites, Hitites, Babylonians, etc. This is not to say he did not absorb any of the latter's influnece, but his main cultural, philosophical insights were those of Juda. He also travelled to India where he received additional devine spiritual lessons.
The concept of Original Sin is interesting, and a culturally different viewpoint. Not everyone is expected to understand or appreciate this.
You really need to ease up, why furthur insult of "atoned pewed people."
Your reesponse indicates that of a spiritless, agnostic or atheist going out of his/her way to demean.
Happy Easter

Notes about the Eucharist:

The Last Supper? It apparently was not an historic event based on scriptural analyses by many contemporary experts.

See http://wiki.faithfutures.org/index.php/016_Supper_and_Eucharist

An excerpt:

"At the same time, Luedemann concludes that the portrayal of Jesus celebrating such a ritual on the night before his death is not historical. He is clear that there is "no generic relationship" between any actual final meal and the Lord's Supper understood in cultic terms. He also denies the Passover character of the supper as a Markan creation. Like Meier (below), Luedemann does accept the saying (Mark 14:25) about drinking wine in the kingdom of God as authentic. He concludes: (this saying) "hardly came into being in the early community, for in it Jesus does not exercise any special function for believers at the festal meal in heaven which is imminent. Only Jesus' expectation of a the future kingdom of God stands at the centre, not Jesus as saviour, judge or intercessor."

And these notes from a graduate theology class at a large Catholic university:

"Communion/Eucharis is not Jesus' physical body and blood since Jesus exists as a spirit (as are all dead people based on Catholic belief) therefore has no physical form.

Transubstantiation is still a Catholic doctrine, but it never meant a
literal transforming of bread and wine into the physical body and blood of
Jesus. "Substance" in medieval philosophy referred to the essence of a thing
and was not reducible to material appearance.

Transubstantiation is a way of
expressing belief that Jesus is SOME HOW present in the consecrated
bread and wine in a special way.

Some theologians believe that
"transignificantion" would be a better term today than transubstantiation.
[Note: both Episcopalians and Lutherans believe in the real presence of
Jesus in the Eucharistized bread and wine.]"

At the heart of the church is Jesus, and He is alive and well and guiding, through the power of the Holy Spirit, all who humbly seek to be guided. That is the first thing. If we forget that, and look to ourselves, we will find ourselves stumbling in darkness and error, whether we are left, right, or center, Catholic or Protestant.
The second thing is that each of us is a flawed human vessel and subject to error. Despite our best intentions, we do not see everything clearly, and we do not get everything right.
Augustine's maxim is worth keeping in mind:
In essential things, unity, in secondary things, tolerance, in all things, charity.
If a worldwide synod of bishops could be convoked, with submission to the Holy Spirit, to discern once again what is essential, what is secondary, what the Father is calling us to in this turbulent age, I believe God would honor that synod and work through it.
My personal belief--and I am a lifelong Catholic, daily communicant and participant in ecumenical ministries with my Protestant brothers and sisters--is that the Catholic Church is a treasure chest of sublime doctrines, teachings and Christian customs without parallel, but that other Christian communities often exhibit greater personal devotion to Jesus and freer expressions of worship, especially the Pentecostals.
What is needed now is to bring these elements together--Catholic sacramental theology and hallowed traditions with evangelical and Pentecostal fervor. The answer to our dilemma is not: "Which path should we choose? Ancient or modern? Sacramental or Evangelical or Pentecostal?"
Satan's ploy has long been to get us to disdain and combat "the other," and vaunt our own community as "the true believers."
God's way is to heal and bridge the gap and take advantage of the strengths of all sides of the Christian enterprise, and bring us into a powerful, transcendant unity.
I hope that these thoughts dovetail with Fr Boulad's hopes for the church, for his cri de coeur touched me deeply and I hope will act as a needed catalyst for changes to which the Spirit is calling us.
Blessings upon all who dialog upon this topic.
John Patrick Grace
Huntington, West Virginia

Some statistics:

FIRST-YEAR CONTRACEPTIVE FAILURE RATES

Percentage of women (men?) experiencing an unintended pregnancy (a few examples)

Method
Typical
Pill (combined) 8.7
Tubal sterilization 0.7
Male condom 17.4
Vasectomy 0.2

Periodic abstinence – 25.3
Calendar 9.0 –
Ovulation Method 3.0 –
Sympto-thermal 2.0 –
Post-ovulation 1.0 –

No method 85.0"

(Abstinence) 0

(Masturbation) 0

More facts about contraceptives from

www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_contr_use.html

"CONTRACEPTIVE METHOD CHOICE

Contraceptive method use among U.S. women who practice contraception, 2002

Method No. of users (in 000s) % of users
Pill 11,661 30.6
Male condom 6,841 18.0 "

i.e.
The pill fails to protect women 8.7% during the first year of use (from the same reference previously shown).

i.e. 0.087 (failure rate)
x 62 million (# child bearing women)
x 0.62 ( % of these women using contraception )
x 0.306 ( % of these using the pill) =

1,020,000 unwanted pregnancies
during the first year of pill use.

For male condoms (failure rate of 17.4 and 18% use level)

1,200,000 unwanted pregnancies during the first year of male condom use.

The Guttmacher Institute (same reference) notes also that the perfect use of the pill should result in a 0.3% failure rate
(35,000 unwanted pregnancies) and for the male condom, a 2% failure rate (138,000 unwanted pregnancies.

The RCC and other churches may benefit from undergoing certian reforms. The sects have different viewpoints. In the RCC tradition Mary is deserved of prayer and honoring. Priests should not marry, but are to be solely focused upon the Lord to attain a higher spiritual state, and avoid distractions from the mundane. Hopefully, the church, together with misguided priests can atone for their transgressions, and move forward.
In response to the cynical, oppinionted earlier post, you question Jesus our Lord's miracles, as "myths" and "hallucinations." This is your oppinion, fine, and he had many skeptics of his day that insisted he was insane or feared as he challenged the status-quo. His miracles and events were widely, publicly reported during his lifetime. The NT has discrepencies over time; although, Jesus' fundamental message and acts were known and well-recorded. Your 30% NT authenticity is subject to challenge. To get the facts straight, furthurmore, our Lord was raised and taught as Jew, not Cananites, Hitites, Babylonians, etc. This is not to say he did not absorb any of the latter's influnece, but his main cultural, philosophical insights were those of Juda. He also travelled to India where he received additional devine spiritual lessons.
The concept of Original Sin is interesting, and a culturally different viewpoint. Not everyone is expected to understand or appreciate this.
You really need to ease up, why furthur insult of "atoned pewed people."
Your reesponse indicates that of a spiritless, agnostic or atheist going out of his/her way to demean.
Happy Easter

Let's get to the nitty gritty of it all; The catholic church is losing it's influence. People are leaving the faith in droves, perhaps to look for new ways to worship or to just get away from it all. The connection between daily living and faith needs to be updated to give people direction. I am sure our Lord would want the church to do whatever it takes to help people understand that living the faith is about devotion and caring for others regardless of anything and everything.

I am an estranged Catholic, a former acolyte who used to give the morning Bible readings during one of 12 years growing up in 1960s era Catholic school. My mom was in the convent, ready for final vows, when she decided it was not for her after all; but her belief and faith remain constant, as does her knowledge of all things Catholic.

When I asked her about things that didn't make any sense to me - for example, the Popes clinging to a misguided and even dangerous ban on ordinary birth control methods, and how could an "infallible" Pope maintain such a ban - she would always tell me that the Pope is considered infallible only in matters of faith, not necessarily in human affairs.

I would suggest that the modern Catholic church seriously review its history to separate what was suggested and commanded by Christ from that which was added over the years by Man and a historical string of very flawed, human Popes and leaders.

It would be fine with me if the current Catholic church shrank further and further into its own stubbornness and stodginess; I live with the excess guilt and other unnecessary burdens I came away with. But an irrelevant, tone-deaf church seems to me a shame, like a light hopelessly stuck under a bushel basket.

Read again the clever verbal retorts from the quick-on-his-feet Christ of the Gospels. Is today's race-to-the-most-conservative-doctrine really what Jesus would have said? I believe the author makes a wise suggestion: bring back Vatican II, and move onward to Vatican III.

I am an Anglican-Catholic, which means I'm not Roman Catholic. However, the Apostolic church was founded by Christ, and is for eternity. It was here 2,000 years ago. It will be here 2,000 years from now. The winds of change blow cold, but they are temporary.

Will the church grow and contract over time? Sure! Will heresies and evil doers defame the church? Sure! Will current changes affect the church's true teachings over the millenia? I doubt it!

Yes, many priests who were proud to wear the clerical collars are now embarrassed and humiliated by relevations of priestly misdoings. The displays of piety that once gave them privildege and power are debased. Good! This is as Christ said to his followers, Pick up the cross, and follow me. The failings of your brothers are also your failings, and you must work harder to restore the faith of the people in your work. It is not easy; it is humbling to do so.

But the rewards are great. The mockers, the anti-Christians and the athiests will all die away; and the truth will endure. The church, developed by men, will crumble and fail. The church, established by Christ, will continue.

After all, the cry of most of the athiests is that the followers of Christ are not Christian enough! The cries of the abused is not that they were betrayed by their priest, but that the church doubly betrayed them by supporting and protecting the miscreant priests out of managerial necessity. All of these are failings of the men who manage the church, and who are prone to the sin and failings of men everywhere.

Let us burn the chaff away. The gold will remain with us always, even unto the ends of the earth. This is not man's promise, but God's.

Given Father Boulard's extensive experience within the Catholic Church surely he's known pedophile priests over the years. What did he say or do about it? Did he look the other way?

We human beings have mastered the art of distorting facts perfectly well. The talk about the Church gives the impression that the Church is the Vatican or the Pope, some cardinal or Archbishop. The Church rightly understood simply refers to the people of God and this does not limit us to Roman Catholicism. To this end, the call should be for some people to reform because reforming the whole Church does not make much sense. We would run the risk of obscurity in our attempts to boast of clarity. Priests are human beings and the allegations against them seem to imply that they claimed some angelic virtues which we know to be rare among humans. Meanwhile Roman Catholicism must come to terms with this rather nasty experience, we sincerely hope that every one will come out well for only then could we be assured that those involved were genuinely Christian. There is the obvious danger of allowing this problem to degenerate in the hands of those with obvious inclinations towards doing havoc to Christianity instead of really correcting its abuses and excesses. The Church still remains our hope for a one united human family. Such a family will always be characterised by the zeal to care for one another. This involves understanding human weaknesses, correcting them and moving on. It is pointless to revisit things of the past and allow them tp ruin our experiences today. We sincerely sympathise with all victims of abuse: in the past, the present and the future and hope that authorities involved will learn one or two lessons.The will to challenge the world for the better should not be misconstrued as the will to abuse others. Obviously not all who end up in holy orders or such ranks could be seen as perfect human beings that have no propensities towards error. Thank you. Thomas Mhuriro, http://www.onehumanityproject.comxa.com

Stop looking to the Church for moral guidance.

They are utterly clueless.

The church is simply being itself. It can't be reformed from what it is.

IT IS a wealthy, arrogant, mysoginistic mens club. IT DOES consider itself and it's priests above secular law (and obviously any moral standards). IT DOES put the welfare and material comfort of it's priests above the welfare of it's flock. IT IS blind to it's own hypocrisy.

Remeber when Mother Theresa died and John Paul II, while sitting surrounded by untold wealth, opulence and luxury and without any sense of irony or hypocrisy, praised her for living a truly modest, impoverished, christ-like life?

That's who they are.

Give us your money, your will, your conscience, and yes, even your children, and control over the most intimate areas of your life and don't you dare question or criticize us about what we do with them.

The Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Mohammedanism are hopelessly based on flawed tribal customs and history of the wandering nomads of the Middle East! There roots are in the Babylonian and Egyptian cultures and that mythology is long ago displaced by growing knowledge and the civilization of modern ages. Having rehashed and amalgamated versions written into Jewish history does not make them any more relevant or true; in fact it does the opposite of course as the roots of the myths are exposed to the light of truth and knowledge. All Abrahamic religions are businesses of the anointed priests; depending on ignorance and social conditioning from generation to generation to enslave the minds, bodies, and fruits of their labor to the benefit of the business of religion and its rulers. Nothing is clearer than when one looks at the Vatican and its old men parading about in Medieval costumes reflecting the glory days when the Priests ruled the rulers and their pockets overflowed with the wealth taken form their supplicants. Today's version is the mansions and extravagant life styles of the self-promoting con men of Evangelical entertainment industry of America. The Abrahamic cults are a parasite of man; the Fundamental varieties are a cancer eating at the survival of the species!

Well, you see, part of the problem is the newest pope to reside in the catacombs of the Vatican, JPII. Relying on Ratzinger to redefine Vatican II, JPII returned the Church to it's pre-Vatican II closing of the windows. JPII was adamant that the features of your faith that scream Roman tradition be returned: Latin mass, habited religious, fanatical devotion to Mary, and a strong tradition of letting priests rape whoever they want.
Ratzinger was JPII's little "butt-boy" in helping to change canonical law to the point that JPII could undo the wonderful advances of John XXIII. Ratzinger was elected as a way to solidify those JPII reactionary retreats into entrenchment.
The only thing is, Ratzinger never had the love of the people and still doesn't. He's a chancel prancer and lives in his theology. He has no sense of human decency unless it fits within canon.
Reform the present RCC? Ha! Ain't gonna happen. I say let the Mannequin of Christ just die. It's time. It's outlived any purpose it maight have had. It's now a destructive and dangerous presence -- some would say it always has been.

I need to ask: Why all this effort over 'saving' the church? Jesus didn't tell us to save the church. He told us to feel the hungry, care for the sick, shelter the homeless, etc. etc. So why are the good people who have been faithful to this faithless institution--the good laypeople, the good nuns, and yes some good priests--why are you all so worried about remaking the church to save it? Our vocation as followers of Christ is to follow Christ, not to save the Church.

What I find troubling about this opinion and other articles like is that folks are serious about this junk they write.

One of the great things about Roman Catholicism is that it does not conform to modern society. It is a rock of truth that stands firm. Can your whims justify changing the care that Christ and great minds for the last 2000 years have formulated?

If you want it your way go to Burger King. If you want it His Way the Church is ready and waiting to help you with living a true Christian life! Catholics love Christ and strive for the best way to follow. It is unfortunate that many people aren't willing to go the whole distance. Christ was put on a cross for us. Nobody said following Him to that cross would be easy or convenient.

First, full disclosure: I speak as an ex-Catholic, now evangelical.

I don't see Fr. Boulad calling for a change in the content of the message, but in its packaging. The Church should be careful not to lose focus on the eternal message for the sake of being attractive to today's world. But think of it this way: not so long ago, the Mass was "packaged" in Latin. Not many people would say it was wrong to switch to the native tongues of the faithful. The Church has much, much more to do, however, to clean its moral and doctrinal house. Interesting days ahead.

To hold the current Pope responsible for all the abuse would be akin to holding our current president responsible for all the economic problems in this country - or even for slavery. It is not helpful nor is it valid.

One either has faith or one doesn't. No amount of research, philosophy or reason will help you to understand the Christian religion. It comes from the heart. The Holy Spirit must come to you with divine revelation. That is why Jesus said, "You must have the heart of a child to enter the Kingdom of God." The hatred I read in the opinions above are sad. Most of you need to know the Lord to resolve some of the issues you have endured. Remember each time Israel was saved only a small remnant remained. It has always been that way. In America many of you will drift off because of various reasons. The remnant will be us that have remained true to Christ. People, think about Noah and the people who mocked and laughed at him. But when the Flood came he and his family were saved. God Bless all of you.

Fr. Henri identifies the problems well, but his proposals boil down to "let's go with the flow."

Yeah - what the world needs now is another Martin Luther.

"Stay away from organized religion" is one piece of advice I give my children. You can believe in God and be a follower of Christ, but past that is a minefield of extortion, emotional abuse, and brain washing.

To author Henri Boulad S.J :

I dare to write to you directly.
As you doubtless know the RCC has alternately resisted and accepted reformation since Paul prevailed upon his Jerusalem seniors to relax kosher laws for gentiles. But one element Rome has never eased is it's position of primacy as "god's" officially designated administrator to earthlings. Either the buck stops with the pope or it doesn't.
At least Innocent X had the wisdom to bottle up the Piarists when they couldn't control their libido.
Write your boss another letter and this time make it priest-to-priest. Recommend that he sell off some of that gold and rediscover humility's virtue.

I sincerely hope you will listen to Lon Solomon some morning as he teaches the bible by giving us facts, information, history of what life was like back then and relates it to how things are currently. Facts, not opinions; a lesson in God's word, not repetitive prayers nor opinions based on rhetoric -- The way Lon Solomon reads the bible and teaches it's lesson by relevance to history and today and cross-referrals to actual biblical text is what we come to church for. We are in search of God's word, his meaning, his lesson from scholarly priests who have studied and mastered the technique of breaking down the complicated into easy to understand relevance -- please do away with the repetitive nature of mass and all opinion -- just give us what we so desparately need, facts, history, relevance. Please listen to Lon Solomon at McLean Bible Church -- his reading of the bible and explanation by providing us with background history and relevance to today is what religious teaching should be all about. Thanks for your consideration.

The church needs always to be reformed. When it refuses to do so it leads to radical change, as happened in the 16th century when Protestants threw out the baby with the bathwater. The result was the insipidities of Protestantism with which we still live, namely HERESY, EVANGELICALISM, KITSCH, and LESBIAN PRIESTESSES.

The Catholic church already went through a reformation - it was called the "Reformation". Today there are still good Reformed churches throughout the world. The Catholic church hasnt been true to the gospel for over 1000 years and if it is in a state of decline then it is an act of grace from God. The Catholic churches works based religion is "another gospel" that we are warned of in scriptures. Praying to Mary, celebrating the Mass, venerating the Pope—you won’t find those doctrines in the Bible. And yet more than one billion Roman Catholics throughout the world follow such practices in line with the official teaching of the Roman Catholic Church.

Find out what they don’t know—the origin and error of Catholic doctrine—so you can help the Catholics you know out of the darkness and into the light.

http://www.gty.org/Resources/Sermon+Series/296_Explaining-the-Heresy-of-Catholicism

The good father never even mentions the Eucharist. For the rest, I wonder whether he considers the Church a rough draft in need of an editor (himself) before publication.

The truths of the Catholic Faith are timeless. The Incarnation happened. Christ rose from the dead. We crucified Him and now He begs us to let Him forgive us. He longs to spend eternity with us.

Let Him!

Happy Easter to all.

When will the Vatican expand the role of married Eastern Rite priests to the rest of the world?

A good, heartfelt appeal. Too bad you can't put new wine into an old vessel. The basic problem is with any religion that teaches that "the truth" rests only in old scriptures. God talks to all of us all the time and new revelations are all around us. We just seldom tune in and listen. No need for fancy cathedrals or temples. God is staring at you through the eyes of your neighbor. And through your own eyes in the mirror. Look. Go within or go without.

A call for a Catholic reformation? No, a call for reformation of all of today's religions!!!

"We do not have to look to the Bronze Age to find our way forward. We should take the best these religions have to offer--compassion, community, charity and jettison the rest on the trash pile of history." Posted by: explorers100
------------
These are important, but not enough. Something else which is less fashionable these days is self-discipline, especially in sexual matters. In addition to compassion,community and charity, we also need the more sober virtiues.

Somebody is channeling Satan. Wouldn't be the first time though honeyed lips offered false advice to the faithful to seek the world's approval rather than keep the Holy Spirit as their spiritual beacon.

Who cares if we're dwindling in numbers? It's foretold. Soon the day of reckoning will come and the sheep will be separated from the goats along with their false priests who lead the faithful astray with their treachery and pedophilia.

The very premise of god-based religions is no longer accepted, acceptable. Assertions and conclusions based on this faulty and unprovable premise are then seen as faulty and unprovable themselves.

The big 3 theistic religions come to us here in our current future created and packaged by iron age primitives. How relevant can they be?

Religion has been our training wheels, it helped us get to where we are now, for better or worse we seemed to need it. But now it has become parasitic, and it needs us more than we need it. This author's points can easily be seen in this light.

The Jesuit's letter is interesting, but in a sense he falls into an error many clergy make these days. He believes it's possible to fundamentally transform religion to make it more appealing.

If truth be told, many former theists leave because they don't appreciate the constraints historical religion seeks to impose on their lives. There's simply no way to bridge that gap, unless religion is turned into non-religion, and places of worship are transformed into places of entertainment. It would be absurd to alter the content of a faith in order to fill a building.

The ministers of religion will have to convince people why the suggested restraints are good. And people will choose to believe or not. He really shouldn't fret too much if a large number of people don't believe. It's a personal choice for which each person bears the consequences, even if the belief is that there are none.

Funny that people believe Ronald Reagan told Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall. As noted by Historians, the People of Russia were tearing down walls long before Reagan spoke up.

I suggest that we are in a period of enlightenment in which the evils of a dark age are being revealed. From the more spiritually inspiring witness accounts of JC's life I noticed He said that (paraphrasing) once eyes are opened, there will be disappointment. But this should not deter true Believers to loose faith as the process itself under Divine intervention may lead to a spiritual housecleaning of the Church itself.

There is comfort to the masses in ritual, but I think certain the healing powers of the Church have to come from its own cleanliness first. And of course, some people believe the Evil One would like nothing more than to discredit its adversary.

The ole line is "Tell no one and offer yourself to the Waters as witness but sin no more". In the end, through the demands by the People will thy Physician heal itself, God-Willing.

Fr. Boulad is as cogent as he is courageous. Of couse he is righ. Most Catholics would likely agree with him. The problem is with the boys in the pointed hats.

Gary Wills offers a coherent and rather liberal case for keeping the Church (and the wider church) around. The old prophets, Gospel writers, Paul, and a huge collection of Church Fathers and miscellaneous saints have quite a lot to say for us. Paulist Press (a distinctly American outfit) has a healthy practice of printing good, cheap editions of religious thinkers, not all Catholic, or even Christian.

explorers100 wrote, "...humanity's energy is needed to create a new moral order based on right reason."

There are at least two problems with this popular argument.

1: Whenever and however Homo Sapiens came about, it has enjoyed the use of reason for as long as it's been out and about. Its history is one of disingenuous use of reason in the service of self interest. To expect that this will now suddenly change, that modern humans are somehow morally different than ever humans have been, is to hitch your wagon to an article of faith which has been empirically falsified by the record human beings have established in every time and place where they've shown their faces.

2) With regard to a "new moral order", all moral disputes depend, not only on evidence, but also on which value you regard as highest, and reason is of no use in deciding whether you should value altruism more highly than selfishness, self-determination more highly than respect for human life. These are matters of aesthetics, "feeling", if you will.

If you choose to believe that peoples' feelings have become more moral over time, you might get your argument off to a good start by explaining Hitler, Stalin, the murder rate in American inner cities, and the USA's use of nuclear weapons against Japan in WWII.

But please, spare me the "new moral order based on right reason" rhetoric.

It is time for what Gore Vidal called the "Sky God" religions to retire. They have outlived their usefulness and now all they do is hinder humanity.

We do not have to look to the Bronze Age to find our way forward. We should take the best these religions have to offer--compassion, community, charity and jettison the rest on the trash pile of history.

Today, while over a billion humans live on less than a dollar a day and even in the industrialized world thousands are homeless, we heat and maintain millions of square feet of churches.

These religions have become almost gangrenous. They are being used to destroy the future and humanity's energy is needed to create a new moral order based on right reason.

Why don't you Catholic clerics just stop lying? It's a commandment, you know! Where's you're credibility when all you do is lie?

"Europe has arrived at its maturity. Our adult Europe does not wish to be treated as a child. The paternalistic style of a church "mater et magistra" is completely out of touch and no longer works today. Christians have learned to think for themselves and are no longer inclined to swallow just anything that someone else proposes."

I rather think that those in the materially comfortable, politically democratic post-industrial west who haven't abandoned religion altogether feel entitled to religion tailored to satisfy their needs as consumers of spiritual comfort. They most certainly won't stand for a religion which asks them to make personal sacrifices.

Of course, if you tailor Christianity to the tastes of such people, you rob it of its essence. Perhaps the Bishop of Rome is unwilling to allow the spirit of the age to thus gut Christianity, and perhaps this is why Pope Benedict will decline to act on this Jesuit's suggestions.

A call for a Catholic reformation? No, a call for reformation all of today's religions!!!

Why?

Let us begin with Judaism and Christianity sometimes called "Mythianity"

Abraham founder/father of three major religions was either the embellishment of the lives of three different men or a
mythical character as was mythical Moses, the "Tablet-Man" who talked to burning bushes and made much magic in Egypt.

Many of the 1.5 million Conservative Jews and many of their rabbis have relegated Abraham to the myth pile along with most if not all the OT.

Current crisis:

Realization that the Jews are not god's chosen people.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20E1EFE35540C7A8CDDAA0894DA404482

2. Jesus was an illiterate Jewish peasant/carpenter/simple preacher man who suffered from hallucinations and who has been characterized anywhere from the Messiah from Nazareth to a mythical character from mythical Nazareth to a mamzer from Nazareth (Professor Bruce Chilton, in his book Rabbi Jesus). Analyses of Jesus’ life by many contemporary NT scholars (e.g. Professors Crossan, Borg and Fredriksen, On Faith panelists) via the NT and related documents have concluded that only about 30% of Jesus' sayings and ways noted in the NT were authentic. The rest being embellishments (e.g. miracles)/hallucinations made/had by the NT authors to impress various Christian, Jewish and Pagan sects.

The 30% of the NT that is "authentic Jesus" like everything in life was borrowed/plagiarized and/or improved from those who came before. In Jesus' case, it was the ways and sayings of the Babylonians, Greeks, Persians, Egyptians, Hittites, Canaanites, OT, John the Baptizer and possibly the ways and sayings of traveling Greek Cynics.

http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/theories.html

For added "pizzazz", Catholic/Christian theologians divided god the singularity into three persons and invented atonement as an added guilt trip for the "pew people" to go along with this trinity of overseers. By doing so, they made god the padre into god the "filicider".

Current crises:

Pedophiliac priests, atonement theology and original sin!!!!

3. Luther, Calvin, Joe Smith, Henry VIII, Wesley, Roger Williams, the Great “Babs” et al, founders of Christian-based religions or combination religions also suffered from the belief in/hallucinations of "pretty wingie thingie" visits and "prophecies" for profits analogous to the myths of Catholicism (resurrections, apparitions, ascensions and immaculate conceptions).

Current crises:

Adulterous preachers, "propheteering/ profiteering" evangelicals and atonement theology, all male hierarchies and strange banking and funding.

Hopefully Henri Boulad, the Egyptian Jesuit, discusses these important contemporary findings with his students.

YOU ARE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN A NEW BLOG…

…that tackles Church abuse, separation of Church and State, Atheism, Buddhism, Existentialism….

Just posted:

CONCEPTS + LOGIC = KNOWLEDGE, by Blacksun
MAN AND REASON, by Randall Duncan
RATZINGER’S VATICAN: SEX, LIES AND SECRETS, by Emily Helm.
THE NEW BUDDHIST ATHEISM, by Mark Vernon

http://theexistentialatheist.blogspot.com/

“The only way to cure the cancer of Catholicism, and stop the pedophilia, is to begin each ceremony of ordination to the deaconate with castration.”

My, how novel.

Another decalogue?

As far as modernizing the language of the church (Number 4), Christopher Hitchens offers an excellent rewrite of the Ten Commandments--an updated moral code, if you will--which you might want to truly seriously consider. You can find the Hitchens version quite easily on the Web.

I think there are as many fervently faithful people out there as there were in ages past but in today's Western societies, they are not allowed to force everyone else into church with them. Could anyone really claim to be an Atheist 200 or 300 years ago without some severe consequences? Living without faith is quite viable today, both in that the big questions are touched on by science enough to make the holy books seem antiquated, and because society (in the US at least) is diverse enough so that the whole community isn't able to force you to church if you don't desire it. Much as evangelicals of all sects desire it, I don't think that universal triumph of a religion is possible anymore, now that government is released from bindings to the church.

Also, a particular fault with the RCC seems that it is still running itself as a tyranny in the days of democracy. The Supreme Leader of Iran and his Guardian Council operate in a way that is identical to that of the Pope and the Cardinals. The leader appoints the council, and the council appoints the leader. Regular people have little input on their church. Having experienced a bit of Lutheranism, the congregation voted for its pastors, the whole church was consulted on matters of policy, and its pastors are not deprived of family and leisure.