Anonymous wrote:For me, it's cultural. The Church is part of my ethnic culture. I couldn't become Protestant or Orthodox because I don't feel a cultural affinity. That sounds bad, but deep down to me becoming Protestant feels like selling out especially WASP sects like Episcopalianism. As for Orthodoxy, that feels cultural as well.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I adore a good portion of the religious works written by these greatest composers, and I absolutely loathe the church.

You may not be able to afford too many of those concerts when your taxes go up to fill the gap in social services left by the demise of the extensive social services provided by the Church in the US:
Cradle to grave medical care
food banks
Clothing closets
Emergency utility payments
Burial funds
orphanages, foster care, and adoption
nursing homes and adult day care
outpatient mental health services

These services are offered to all and often the majority of recipients are non-Catholics.

Outside the US, the Church provides an even greater percentage of services in developing countries. If it dies, so will millions of disabled and discarded people.

Efforts should be made to force massive reform, not kill the only lifeline many people around the world have.

I give to secular orgs that I know do good frontline work in my community. No organization affiliated with the Catholic Church will ever see a penny of my money because I'm not paying for the legal defense of abusers or the lives of contemplation. Beyond that I can't stand to see the big mostly empty buildings in my community owned by the Church. They should liquidate their real estate holdings and give the money away to the needy as penance. I say this as someone whose family was victimized by the Church for generations, and the bags of free groceries they were given along the way didn't make up for the abuse.

Anonymous wrote:Has there been any response from the Vatican yet?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I adore a good portion of the religious works written by these greatest composers, and I absolutely loathe the church.

You may not be able to afford too many of those concerts when your taxes go up to fill the gap in social services left by the demise of the extensive social services provided by the Church in the US:
Cradle to grave medical care
food banks
Clothing closets
Emergency utility payments
Burial funds
orphanages, foster care, and adoption
nursing homes and adult day care
outpatient mental health services

These services are offered to all and often the majority of recipients are non-Catholics.

Outside the US, the Church provides an even greater percentage of services in developing countries. If it dies, so will millions of disabled and discarded people.

Efforts should be made to force massive reform, not kill the only lifeline many people around the world have.

Anonymous wrote:If I leave the US racism will stop?

If I leave the Catholic Church pedophilia will stop?

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I hardly think leaving an institution that has harbored sexual predators for decades is a "casual" decision. It's the ONLY decision.

Anonymous wrote:From the Archdiocese of Washington's website: "Child Protection Policies have been in place since 1986":

The video contains a message from Cardinal Wuerl about the ADW's efforts....for what it's worth.

https://adw.org/about-us/policies-and-resources/child-protection/

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I hardly think leaving an institution that has harbored sexual predators for decades is a "casual" decision. It's the ONLY decision.

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.

Anonymous wrote:I’m not Catholic and female so Im probably talking out my a$$ but the celibacy requirement is very interesting to me.

There are so many posts on DCUM that men must have sex X times per week/month, that if you’re not having sex by the 3rd date, a woman is just using a man for a free dinner, or that if a woman no longer prioritizes sex in a marriage, that’s grounds for an affair, opening the marriage, or divorce.

So obviuosly sex is important. Perhaps there is even some sort of innate need for the body to engage in this behavior. Maybe celibacy is just not a reasonable requirement.

And I don’t thing any of this is new. I believe that there has been homosexual sex and child sex in the priesthood for thousands of years. The difference is now the general public is no longer willing to look the other way. Those that have been abused are telling the world and the church can no longer pretend that this does not occur.

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.