Please, if you going to resort to congitive reasoning have some sort of advisory. I'm not used to coming across it much on the web and I was so stunned that had a been eating something I might have chocked. And yes celibacy had NOTHING to due with inheritance issues but those with intrinsic hostility to the Catholic Church make good progaganda of that little falsehood.

My father was born and raised Catholic. He attended 12 years of Catholic school, taught almost exclusively by priests, and was an altar boy. He was also a Boy Scout.

My brother and I were born and raised Catholic, and attended ten years of Catholic school, taught mostly by priests. We were Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts from nine years of age up to 18, and my father was our Scoutmaster for a few years. We were altar boys for six years.

Neither my father, brother nor I were ever touched or spoken to in an inappropriate manner by any priest or adult involved in Boy Scouts.

Am I naive enough to believe that that means it didn't happen to others? Not at all. I'm sure it did, and I agonize for the victims. Anyone who abuses the trust of a child and hurts them, especially sexually, should be flayed alive and drowned in wood alcohol. God may forgive you, but that doesn't mean that the grand jury should. The bishops who shuttled these vermin around like old dynamite sweating nitroglycerine should be defrocked and sent to work in underfunded AIDS wards in Africa.

I'm ashamed of what those in power in the Catholic Church have allowed to go on.

From: Raymond Grosswirth, Who has an M.A. in Theology and an M.Div (Master of Divinity) from St. Bernard's Institute in Rochester, New York

When one looks at the history of celibacy in the Catholic Church, it soon becomes apparent that this state of life became mandatory due to financial considerations, not because priests were supposed to emulate Christ by remaining single. When one focuses more specifically upon the medieval period, we can clearly see that church property was donated by kings and princes in exchange for faithful service. A controversy arose when married priests in turn left this property to their heirs. To make a long story short, celibacy soon followed as a requirement for ordination, so as to prevent such property transactions between heirs. (There was nothing theological in the celibacy directive.) As a side note to this history, it is interesting to note that the imposition of celibacy in 1139 was not the end of married priests. We now know that secret marriages took place after 1139, whereby married priests continued to serve. Unfortunately, the Council of Trent and the infamous Inquisition sought out such marriages, whereupon Trent served as a catalyst for several centuries of mandatory celibacy.
[url]http://www.angelfire.com/ga2/religious/celibacy.html[/url]

By the twelfth century, as we have illustrated, Rome had consolidated an enormous amount of power in itself.  For the most part, however, it was "paper power," the power flowing from signed concordats, papal pronouncements, decrees of its marriage tribunal, and so forth.  To make that power more "real" Rome needed real estate.  Many bishops were living like feudal lords, owning large tracts of land, and the priesthood was frequently passed on from father to son as an inheritance.  Part of that inheritance was land, often given as "a benefice" to the local bishop or priest by a rich patron.  Rome saw a possible bonanza here, if it could find a way to get its hands on all that real estate.  Celibacy was the key.  The inheritance lines had to be cut.  That would bring all benefices under the control of the Church's bureaucracy and the appropriated lands could be leased out to fatten the papal coffers.  Celibacy made Rome an important power broker in the real estate business
[url]http://www.ejhs.org/volume2/walsh/walsh1.htm[/url]

orginally posted by Belloc:


No it wont suddenly evaporate but answer me this
Why is this pedophile problem so much greater in the Roman Catholic Church than say in the Jewish,eastern orthodox , LDS,7th day Adventists, etc religions?  Even growing up I always heard the pedophile priest stories

First let me say that I am outraged.  These deviants and their protectors in the hierarchy failed to bring about swift and need justice.

The ecclesial authorities in their arrogance sought to limit the damages to the institution, and by sweeping it under the rug they only managed to victimize more people.

Rochester, NY... that explains a lot.  He's so far off base it's almost laughable, if it weren't for the fact that people are being led astray.  You may not know who Raymond Grosswirth is.  He is a vocal dissenter on much that the Catholic Church teaches, and views the Church through a radical, left-wing feminist political notion that God intended the Church to be a democracy, much like political organizations.  For him, all the Church's actions are politically motivated instead of spiritually motivated.

This whole mindset rejects what the Church says, saying "oh, that's just a bunch of old white men who are out of touch with the world, making things up as they go along," instead of looking at the Church as it really is... divinely instituted by Christ with Peter (and his successors) as the visible head on Earth.  It basically started during the sexual revolution by those who wanted to justify their immoral lifestyles instead of submitting to God's law.  They just didn't have enough integrity to publicly leave what they had already rejected in their hearts.  Their goal is to make the Church in their image instead of conforming their lives to God's will.

Needless to say, I don't put much stock in what Grosswirth says.

Go and re-read Atencio's post.

When the Church gained power the "Church" was the Catholic Church.  They actually became more power full than the the government at the time (The Monarchies).  If you were not in line with the "Church" you where a heretic and summarily executed.

The Catholic "Church" became so drunk on their own power that hey thought that they could start writing scripture again.

Martin Luther, a (at the time) Catholic Monk started reading the Bible and said "Hay, these Catholic Priest are full of Bull Shit".

Hence the Protestant Religion.

That's why I go to a Lutheran Church.

You know whats laughable?  "Their goal is to make the Church in their image instead of conforming their lives to God's will."  Where did God write down all the canon laws?  Why did we have not only a married Pope but the son of a Pope also become a Pope. When was the celibacy rule written.. 1100 years after Christ.  We changed the rules.  You dont like Grosswirth, fine.  Second link isnt by him or did you even bother to read it?  How many links you want? 5? 10?  Doubt it would make any difference anyway.  Meanwhile we will use Priests from other countries provided they can get into the U.S. while we can.  Then what?  How do you propose to correct the problem of lack of Priests.