Catholic humiliation in UK

"....he hoped the humiliation and shame endured by the church would bring healing to the victims of clerical sexual abuse"

Apparently "shame endured by the church" is his plea bargain with his small and shallow god of abraham in lieu of turning over his pervert priests to civil authorities.

garylong3 wrote:

However, an aggresivley secular society has been stunned by the relevance of the Pope's message to their lifes, and many traditional Church of England Protestants have heard a message that resonates, and sates a hunger for strong leadership that does not bend in the breeze of a Godless, PC society. I'm sure many of them will make the journey home to Rome.
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As a member of the Anglican Church, married to an English CofE member, I would bet really serious money that you are wrong.

Try to understand: IF WE PROTESTANTS WANTED TO BE CATHOLIC, WE WOULD GET OURSELVES OVER TO THE NEAREST CATHOLIC CHURCH AND ASK TO BE RECEIVED INTO THE CHURCH. We are free to do so. Yet, not one person I have ever known has done so.

We don't want these old men meddling in our lives or our society. We see the mess they made in Ireland. If that is what the Irish want, it's their country and their decision to make. It's NOT what Protestant Britain wants. It's not even what Catholic Britain wants, as they too want to decide for themselves how they live their lives.

In short: We are not interested.

I'll repeat what I said on the your other blog. Schmalz your writing is a farce.

You were so eager to proclaim the demise of Catholicism that you wrote a complete falsehood.

And look who you quote:
* Gary Wills--surely not a Brit
* Lisa Miller: an inhabitant of--wait for it!--Washington DC.

Oh yes! these worthies proclaim the visit a failure. Case closed.

I always knew the American elite was out of touch with its own citizens, but to preach the gospel according to Wills & Miller in relation to a trip to Scotland and England shows you're out of touch with the rest of the world as well. It really is rich. You're a joke, you know, you really are.

It really doesn't matter whether the visit was a success or failure. What matters is whether the pope will actually ACT on his "humiliation and shame." Both are useless emotions unless they are followed by action, and the pope so far has proven that he is incapaple of doing more than just saying pretty words. He is not capable of actually doing anything to attack the horror of sexual abuse by priests and religious. What consequences are there for bishops, cardinals and popes who covered up for sexually predatory priests? (Oh, I forgot, Law is firmly esconced in one of the largest basilicas in the world as his consequence.) What will be done to those priests and religious who have sexually abused thousands of innocent children and vulnerable adults? Words mean nothing. Shame means nothing. Humiliation means nothing if all the pope is going to do about this horror is pray.

"The Pope's visit to UK was a huge success."

I would have to agree. My heavens, there were hundreds of thousands (over the four day visit) cheering the pope, compared to maybe 10 to 20 thousand protesters. Even the political leader of the Tory party, Cameron, praised the pope, acknowledging that he not only raised the spirits of "6 million British Catholics" but the spirits of the whole country. The Labour party people (Brown, Blair, etc.) were happy, too, since they invited the pope earlier.

The crowds were jubilant. Some American students from Notre Dame said that the people were wildly jubilant, many cheering, following his motorcade to Hyde Park where 85 thousand people prayed and sang. It was unbelievable!

BBC covered it. Check it out! By British standards, it was a huge success. Read the TIMES, GUARDIAN, and TELEGRAPH.

When I read these types of columns I now wonder who and what they are speaking about and to whom they are speaking it. As an ordinary U.S. Catholic, I was outraged that the Cardinals elected Ratzinger. Not knowing much except what CNN and the news media reported I was sure he was the devil. Imagine my surprise by my own reaction to hearing his claim to be a "humble laborer in the vineyard of the Lord" when I saw him on the loggia. His first homily as Pope blew me away. I then read everything online he's written - started at the Cardinal Ratzinger Fan Club aka Pope Benedict XVI Fan Club. From month 2 I realized that the press had created a monster out of the man. I discovered much to my chagrin that most pundits haven't a clue about their own faith let alone the man. And, actually exercise an injustice to him that they, in their self-righteousness, don't see. I for one think that he's terrific and pray that he live a long life. I know countless others who do too because they have seen him and know the same.

And, as was pointed out just in this week's Gospel reading - those trustworthy in small things are trustworthy in big ones - I find I know longer trust the news media to provide me with the truth of a situation. If you are willing to lie or manipulate the truth for an analysis the is pleasing to the subscribers or the shareholders, the truth is always sacrificed. When it comes to the Pope, I always make sure that I read what he actually said. This is easily available all over the WEB and make up my own mind.

As one who attended the Mass at Bellahouston in Scotland, rest assured that the Holy Father's visit has been a huge success! The Catholics of the UK are reinvigorated, and strengthened in their faith, and if that's all that happened, then that would be enough. However, an aggresivley secular society has been stunned by the relevance of the Pope's message to their lifes, and many traditional Church of England Protestants have heard a message that resonates, and sates a hunger for strong leadership that does not bend in the breeze of a Godless, PC society. I'm sure many of them will make the journey home to Rome.

Don't let anyone kid you. The Pope's visit to the UK was a HUGE success.

ADMG