The answer is no, no, and no. The Church will NOT, I repeat WILL NOT change its teachings on women priests, contraception, or gay marriage. Not now, not in 5 years, not depending on who is elected as pope, never. These teachings form part of the deposit of faith and are unchangeable. You can now stop asking these same old questions over and over and start asking substantive questions which actually matter.
If you don't like the Church's teachings on these issues, don't hold your breath for them to change. I would invite you to look into why the Church teaches what it does in these areas, but if you are steadfastly uninterested in that, then please either accept it, keep quiet about it, or move elsewhere. If you are looking for a Church that looks like the Catholic Church in many ways but has women priests, allows contraception, and gay marriage, you might want to try a Protestant denomination like the Anglican church.
Watching TV coverage of the upcoming papal election has become an exercise in tedium. Every interview is identical. Whether they have a Catholic layperson or a bishop, the interviewer only ever asks one of 4 questions:
1) Will the next pope allow women priests?
2) Will the next pope allow contraception?
3) Will the next pope change the Church's position on homosexual acts or allow gay marriage?
3) Will the next pope change the Church's position on homosexual acts or allow gay marriage?
4) Will the next pope change the Church's position on abortion (especially in cases of rape or incest)?
Once the interviewee answers the question, undeterred the interviewer will persist with follow-up questions, such as:
5) But isn't it time for the Church to modernize?
6) So many Catholics oppose the Church's position in this area. Isn't it time for a change?
7) But how will the Church attract young people?
The answer to all of the above 4 question is "No." Period. No if, ands, or buts. Questions 5, 6, and 7 are thus moot. Now that that has been established in the first couple of minutes of the interview, why not try coming up with some original and thoughtful questions?
I don't even have a TV, but from the YouTube videos I see of the mainstream media's coverage of the papal election, this guide I've prepared could come in handy for many reporters, anchors, and journalists.
Supporting intolerance is any form is pure ignorance. Any organization that is unwilling to modernize their approach to match an evolving societal mindset is doomed to eventual failure as the rest of society becomes enlightened and intolerance is seen as the ridculousness that is at it's core.
ReplyDeleteAny religion should be interested in betterment of their people and society in general, not devoted to archaic exclusionary doctrines whose translations have been convenient at best.
I agree with the post above me. To me, the fact that the media is so concerned with these questions might represent the fact that people are really holding out hope that the church will begin to bring their ideals into the 21st century. To me, it's also something of a moral dilemma for a number of these issues. If the Catholic Church condoned the use of contraceptives, it would make a statistically large difference in the number of STIs spread and unplanned pregnancies in third-world countries with less educated populations that look to the Catholic Church for what they should and should not do.
ReplyDeleteGotta live that rich, creamy tolerance from Catholics there, Lynch. It's opinions like yours as a "good Catholic" that makes me glad I didn't just lapse, I sought out the truth and found it. There is no god, no demons, no heaven and no hell.
ReplyDeleteThis article had nothing to do with tolerance or intolerance. It is simply stating a fact. It is about people asking questions which have been answered over and over.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't mind hearing your thoughts on the previous post's point of what the approval of contraceptives could mean to the reduction of STIs and pregnancies. After all, we're a sexually active species. Like any other animal on this planet, we have a natural drive that must be met. Then again, I feel the church tends to forget from time to time that we're just another species.
ReplyDeleteContraceptives are a brilliant way of meeting our physiological needs halfway. While I don't expect the church to change its mind on the other issues mentioned anytime soon, I'm still honestly dumbfounded that this hasn't been accepted.
For once, after all these years of bigoted rambling, Phil is correct. The Catholic Church will never change. They will continue to discriminate against women, they will continue to perpetuate their backward, fearful views of sex, they will continue to dehumanize homosexuals, they will continue to require celibacy of priests, and the priests will continue to rape boys….and the rest of us will continue to leave the church. Membership rates are dropping, numbers of young men entering the priesthood are dropping. People are waking up, and these archaic policies are helping make this happen. Keep going Catholic Church! Keep the blinders on and never turn back!!
ReplyDeleteAnd with that, I’ll leave you with a quote from Jesus himself. Christ, Emmanuel, Lamb of God, Light of the World, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Prince of Peace and Son of God: “If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26)
No thanks, I think I’ll skip the hatred and guilt and love the people in my life, rather than an invisible being in the sky who seems to be overly concerned with his own glory.
I appreciate this blog post. I agree, I do not believe the Church's stance on these issues will ever (or should ever) change. The secular media can act as an influence on society, but society should respect religious traditions and stances.
ReplyDeleteThe idiot comments of the worldlings here who actually hate Jesus Christ and his Church and want us to 'get with the program' of the new world order and it's worshipping of Antichrist, complete with the AC's anti sacraments like....gay "Marriage", abortion, contraception - which separates the PROCREATIVE ACT otherwise known as SEX from the ACT of CREATING another life -which GOD called for in His command to His creatures to "increase and multiply" - of course these idiots are going to say it's 'hate' when someone comes up and accuses someone of 'hate' for standing with immutable and unchangeable truth. These people worship lust and that is their 'god' just like the pagans in their Baal worship - and their 'twisting the scriptures to their own destruction' to justify their teepee creeping and bed hopping only serves to exemplify the truth of that statement. One only has to view a recent film like former "Christian" Miley Cyrus - another casualty of Disneyitis which has morphed her into another unstable young woman after going through the Disney 'treatment' - and her recent film "LOL" which is nothing but a neo pagan paeon praise propaganda catechism for sex anywhere at anytime with anyone provided you don't make a baby while doing it - and hopefully not in a married situation. In fact, the irony of our current society is...that the heterosexuals do NOT want marriage, and the gays do. This is more evidence that we live under the reign of Antichrist and the reverse order of things.
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