The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #152856 Message #3578147
Posted By: Joe Offer
22-Nov-13 - 04:18 PM
Thread Name: BS: The Pope's Survey
Subject: RE: BS: The Pope's Survey
Eliza speaks of the ingrained horror of sex as an untold evil and enormous sin which is a tenet of most of the world's great religions.
Oh, there have been times when this has been true, Eliza - but is it true now? I can answer that - yes, it is true among some people. All of the horror stories told above are true, but are they anecdotal incidents or are they a true, complete view of religion?
I think they're anecdotal. Churches have lots of members and leaders who are assholes, as do all other segments of society. I've spent my life opposing assholes in the Catholic Church. I currently have a pastor who can be a real asshole, and I take wicked delight in devising devious ways to thwart him - with some success.
But my overall experience of the Catholic Church is good. I find there a good place for rich discussion, for building deep friendships, for working for social justice for the homeless and immigrants, and for expressing my faith in worship.
I could wish that the management structure of the Catholic Church were otherwise, but it has its good points. The Second Vatican Council set forth "collegiality" as the basic principle of management for the Catholic Church. Decisions are supposed to be made by consultation and consensus, not by the individual fiats of autocrats or the tyranny of majority rule. Individual parishes and dioceses are supposed to have consultative councils, and the Pope himself is supposed to make decisions in consultation with all the bishops. This doesn't always work, but it does work very well in many situations in the Catholic Church. Most religious orders in the United States and Western Europe take collegiality very seriously, and they've made it word (don't know about orders in other parts of the world, but I get the impression this success is worldwide-with exceptions). I'm an associate member of the Sisters of Mercy. Our region has 700 sisters and 700 associates. We elect a regional president and a five-member governing body every three years. All the members of the region are invited to "consultation network" meetings twice a year. The sisters find their own employment and pool their resources. We associates don't take vow of poverty or chastity, so we don't participate in the pooling of resources; but we do participate in almost all other activities of the religious community.
I've worked very closely with nuns from four different religious orders, and also with four different orders of priests. Most seem to be very happy, stable people who enjoy their lives very much and do excellent work - especially in serving the poor and immigrants. I think there tends to be more unhappiness among diocesan priests who live on their own, but the community life of religious orders seems to be quite healthy and fulfilling nowadays. I also know of some religious orders that are rigidly conservative and still in the "obedience" mode, and it upsets me that these neoconservative orders are the ones that are growing and recruiting large numbers of young, backward-thinking members. The older orders are relying on lay associates like me as their future.
There are lots of things about the Catholic Church that upset me, and I have worked all my life to make those things better. But on the whole, I would say that I've found a way to live happily and prosper within a flawed church.
-Joe Offer-