Mr. Foti bemoans the fact that the Catholic Church is declining in both numbers of priests and nuns, as well as in adherents in general. (Letter of May 2). The statistic he quoted were, in fact, quite startling but rather encouraging to me. You see, I have an entirely different point of view. However, before we go there, I must correct one misstatement early in his letter. Mr. Foti mentions the "scandals of child molestation of young boys ... by homosexual priests." He must have meant pedophile priests and/or those inclined toward pederasty (look it up). This is quite a different thing than homosexuality - a normal sexual orientation of about 10 percent of the male population. I think we can all agree that the church should get rid of child molesters.
More importantly, what I want to challenge is the notion that the sharp decline in priests and church adherents is due to the tiny movements towards modernity and progressive thinking that were exemplified in what is known as "Vatican II." These small movements toward bringing the church into the modern world, made prior to the conservative Pope John Paul II's reign, may have served to slow the church's decline down slightly. Mr. Foti urges just the thing that will accelerate the decline - a return to the ancient "traditional Latin rite" - the infallible word of God that hasn't changed since the fourth century when Emperor Constantine I made adherence to the dogma mandatory for all Roman citizens. Good for you, Ross...Return to basics! Death to the heretics. You should be thrilled, however, since your new Pope Benedict XVI, aka Joseph Ratzinger, agrees with you wholeheartedly. Under his leadership the church is sure to return to its more fundamentalist roots and we should see the decline referred to above accelerate at a tremendous rate. What is that old Shakespearian line - "Devoutly to be wished?"
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
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PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
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