Anonymous wrote:I don’t know how people switch churches so casually. Clearly you must not have been truly faithful is you can suddenly just not believe things you used to claim or start believing new things. I love the Mass and I have a strong faith in the beliefs of the Catholic Church. I will continue going to Mass for me.

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Anonymous wrote:I left the Catholic Church 10 years ago in fairly large part because of this issue.

I drifted away from the Catholic church decades ago, unrelated to any scandal. I'm so glad I didn't have to deal with all that. I'm not religious but still love the familiar Catholic liturgy. I used to go occasionally to a high Latin mass and throw a few dollars in the basket.

From now on, if I go, I won't give any money. If the church dies out, I'll pay to go to concerts of the numerous beautiful Catholic masses composed by some of the world's greatest composers.

Anonymous wrote:I left the Catholic Church 10 years ago in fairly large part because of this issue.

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Anonymous wrote:These crimes happen in every church - the abuse and the cover up. It's horrible and inexcusable, and has no influence on my ability to reconcile with the decision to remain Catholic.

Tell me more about that. Here and there? Or on a grand scale like the Catholics?

I'm not defending the Catholics but MCPS for one has been moving oedophokes around for decades . Obviously not on a large scale since so few men work there. Montgomery county prosecutors arrested an employee from RM who was raping a student, released him with no bond, refused a restraining order for his step daughter and raped the same girl the day he was released.

Yes, creeps can turn up anywhere -- but it's institutionalized in the Catholic church.

About how many MCPS pedophile teachers were moved around? A few or hundreds?

Anonymous wrote:I can’t reconcile it. I won’t send my children to parochial school. I won’t attend weekly mass anymore and I am looking at switching over to the Lutheran Church. To be honest- I hope thousands of Catholics do this. I do not trust the church one bit.

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Anonymous wrote:Sort of. My faith is intact. I still believe in God, and Jesus, and Mary and the saints and being a good person and loving all, etc. But I've long disagreed with many official holdings of the church - birth control, homosexuality, women can't be ordained, priests can't marry, etc. And of course, I'm disgusted by the decades (probably centuries) of sexual crimes and cover-ups. So basically, I dont consider the church any type of moral authority. The church leaders are just people, as flawed as anyone else. Certainly the church does some good in the world, and most priests are good people, but I don't see how it can hold itself out as a voice for justice and human rights and morality until it makes a LOT of big changes.

So yes, I can still be Catholic inasmuch as my faith guides my personal life. But I feel no loyalty to the institution of the Catholic Church. I hope one day the church can live up to it's potnential and promise.

I feel much the same, PP. Having been raised Catholic, I will always be a “cultural” Catholic, but I left the church years ago when I realized I couldn’t look my daughter in the eye and say I was taking her to a church that valued her brother more than her. As a human-made institution, the church, like all others, is inherently flawed. I never expected it to be perfect but it had all gone too far way before yesterday’s news. Makes me sad and angry.

I'm catholic and one of the reasons I like the catholic church is that it honors women both current and saints. I don't see an issue with the Catholic church for honoring men over woman at all. I've never considered a priest the only respectable vocation. I love how the catholic church both honors women and asks that we all pick a vocation. For years most of the schools had nuns, so I can't see how the church didn't respect women for teaching the congregation.

I do not like that other Christian religions allow divorce. I think they are going against Jesus's teachings. I also don't like how many of them change with time in their beliefs. Whether I agree personally or not, it makes me feel like they don't stand for anything.

I don't want to be harsh, PP, but SPARE ME the line that the Catholic Church doesn't allow divorce. If you have money and power, you can pay for an annulment. Did you not read about the Archdiocese of Boston's annulment of Joe (son of Bobby) Kennedy's 12- year marriage to his first wife Sheila? The annulment would have made his 2 sons illegitimate in the eyes of the Church. What an a$$ to do that to his first wife and children. He wanted to marry again in the Catholic Church -- this shows Catholic Church and Kennedy corruption at its worst. Good for his ex-wife for fighting that corruption and getting the Vatican to overturn the ruling:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-463631/Vatican-overturns-Kennedy-wifes-annulment-10-year-battle.html

My father-in-law did this. It's was so hurtful to his family after 40 year of marriage and 4 kids.

You obviously don't understand Catholic doctrine. The children would not be illegitimate.

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Anonymous wrote:“Celibate clergy” = sex perv haven
I met so many strange men studying for the priesthood at CUA. SMH

No one says that about Buddhist monks and nuns.

Are Buddhist monks interacting with children in parish-type communities?

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Anonymous wrote:These crimes happen in every church - the abuse and the cover up. It's horrible and inexcusable, and has no influence on my ability to reconcile with the decision to remain Catholic.

Tell me more about that. Here and there? Or on a grand scale like the Catholics?

I'm not defending the Catholics but MCPS for one has been moving oedophokes around for decades . Obviously not on a large scale since so few men work there. Montgomery county prosecutors arrested an employee from RM who was raping a student, released him with no bond, refused a restraining order for his step daughter and raped the same girl the day he was released.

Yes, creeps can turn up anywhere -- but it's institutionalized in the Catholic church.

About how many MCPS pedophile teachers were moved around? A few or hundreds?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These crimes happen in every church - the abuse and the cover up. It's horrible and inexcusable, and has no influence on my ability to reconcile with the decision to remain Catholic.

Tell me more about that. Here and there? Or on a grand scale like the Catholics?

+1. Nothing like this has happened in other churches. It's the celibate priesthood and the power structure that encourages the abuse.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These crimes happen in every church - the abuse and the cover up. It's horrible and inexcusable, and has no influence on my ability to reconcile with the decision to remain Catholic.

Tell me more about that. Here and there? Or on a grand scale like the Catholics?

I'm not defending the Catholics but MCPS for one has been moving oedophokes around for decades . Obviously not on a large scale since so few men work there. Montgomery county prosecutors arrested an employee from RM who was raping a student, released him with no bond, refused a restraining order for his step daughter and raped the same girl the day he was released.

Yes, creeps can turn up anywhere -- but it's institutionalized in the Catholic church.