The latest info leaking out of the Vatican where a SYNOD
(church council) of bishops is meeting hinted at some liberalization involving
gays and divorced Catholics among other issues. Well a strong backlash has occurred
with Catholic conservatives challenging all such liberalizations as heresy. A
heresy is any opinion, idea or thought that is contrary to established church
dogma.
Some letter writers to the Detroit News wrote that the
Vatican cannot change the teachings of the church because those teachings came
from GOD.
The basic Catholic does not distinguish between Doctrine,
Dogma, Discipline or Tradition to any great extent and believe everything
coming out of the Vatican is from God.
Our history is replete with people and organizations that
have claimed to be the voice of God. The Old Testament is loaded with prophets
that claim to speak for God. Shamans, witch doctors, faith healers, seers, oracles,
soothsayers all claim to have a connection with the “other” side and have
inhabited our history for many, many years and still do to some extent, today.
The Catholic Church claims to speak for God based on the
Apostolic Succession principle which states that Jesus gave Peter the authority
to build HIS church here on earth. St. Peter then passed on that authority to
all successive popes and therefore the Catholic Church.
Historically that is quite debatable since Peter and the
other apostles were opposed to the teachings of St. Paul on whose teachings the
Catholic Church is based. There is also skepticism as to Peter’s actual presence
in Rome but the church claims that by “tradition” Peter was the first pope and
all successive popes obtain their authority from Peter who obtained it from
Jesus…but that is a historical argument meant for another time…
I feel the Catholic Church owes it to its followers to
explain in detail the differences between “irrevocable” teachings and teachings
that can be changed according to new data based on a developing social
structure and custom as well as scientific evidence and new interpretations of
what the Bible is saying to us today (the Bible words were directed at people
not of our age).
The Catholic Church has definitely painted itself into a
corner on some of its pronouncements as it has in the past on many occasions
but to remain relevant in people’s lives it needs to change some of its views.
I understand that it is extremely difficult for the church
to admit it may have been wrong on some issues but I feel Pope Francis will
find a way to appease the conservatives and give the progressives what they
have been calling for…a tough job indeed.
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