Catholicism & Women

[MissBrattified]

Originally Posted by Titus2woman

Honestly this is not a knee jerk defending of the 'underdog'... I could never see the RCC as the underdog in anything.

My defense of Catholics comes from having been Catholic. I was taken in by the Sisters of Charity as a kid when my mom became too sick to care for me. I spent several years at a home called Maryvalle in California that is still there to this day. The nuns were wonderful women who loved God and loved the kids. Their prayers at sunrise could be heard all over campus and I was much reminded of them the first time I entered an Apostolic ladies prayer room. I believe they moved heaven for their little charges and in addition they taught us to keep clean minds and bodies and eat our veggies. Lives sacrificed to that kind of service is something that is little understood and often mocked in Pentecostal circles and that is shameful.

I believe that when we simply distance ourselves from RCC history instead of acknowledging that it is OUR history we tend to believe that we could NEVER have made the same mistakes. Yet the Bible tells us that we are capable of all manner of sin. We also lose much, our history, our art, our traditions.

Also, by blanket condemnation of Catholics I believe we grieve God who has given a place in eternity to many who lived under that banner. We will share the Kingdom with them (or not) and would be better served to get used to the idea now.

And lastly, when we distance ourselves far enough to deny any commonality we miss our opertunity to help the Catholic church find forgiveness and leave their horrific history behind. Change is coming to them and to every other faulty denomination, God promises it.

Ah. Good post.

I suppose that humility requires the acknowledgement that any religion--including our own--taken too far in the hands of corrupt men can result in the most horrific crimes and immorality. Such is human nature. I'm not quite willing to intertwine Catholic history with mine, though. I'll have to think about that.

Nevertheless, there is a distinct difference between Catholicism and Protestant denominations both in doctrine and religious practices. I find some good and some bad in both. Hoovie has mentioned this before, and I agree: coming from a religion that majors on spontaneity and following the Spirit, being immersed in a church that still abides by centuries of tradition, ritual and a very structured religious experience can be very appealing and even a comforting notion. On the flip side, I wouldn't trade my Pentecostal experience that has found me pursuing God on my own path, of my own accord, to my heart's content and finding a church that is uniquely suited to my walk with God for the more traditional, predictable, ritualized style. Modern Catholicism has opened its mind somewhat, but the basic doctrines are still the same and the potential for abuse of power is greater because of the leadership structure.