Statistics about Religious Life

[HisChild]

I actually understand a lot of what you wrote. My parents too divorced when I was 3. My dad, too, went wonky on her. Came after her with a knife, cheated on her, brought his 'girlfriend' to the house, etc. I won't get into that. He was verbally and physically abusive. Apparently he was all sweetness and light before the marriage. Then afterward? Yes, he went bonkers. She sought divorce because she feared not only for her life, but for mine. They married in the Catholic Church. And my mother thought she married for life. Like I said before, I am an advocate for marriage until death do us part. But sometimes when one person makes a marriage vow, the other doesn't necessarily have the same sentiment. You know? Although they may say they believe in a lifetime commitment, doesn't mean they take it seriously.

I don't know your entire situation, but I tell you what, I would never want my mother to feel like she had to stay married 'in sickness and in health' in the situation she was in. Who knows if either of us would be alive now! If things get a little difficult? Wow. That's just. . .I mean, how old were you? Two, perhaps already 3? How are you to know how difficult things were? My mother said she used to sit by my bedside, with a knife in hand, in case my father showed up. A little difficult? I just can't imagine . . .and thank God that no one was that heartless to say that to her. Actually, I remember her telling me that she called the police one night because he called to tell her he was coming over to kill her. The police told her that they wouldn't come over unless he'd already shown up. Nice, eh?

Incidentally, he did this in two other marriages before he finally realized he needed help. He did seek professional help for quite a long time, and then went on to marry a woman who he treated like gold for 20 yrs. She died of leukemia on Easter Sunday 2005.

Anyway, I understand that there are times when we don't feel that things were fair, or that others didn't try hard enough, etc. But that's not for me to say. There were many times that I was angry that I grew up moving around so much, without both parents. But I learned the hard way that we can't know how we'd react until we are placed in the same situation.

I am not sure the entirety of the reasons for annulment. But I can't imagine that someone going crazy is an 'all of a sudden' thing. There's got to be some sort of latency there. .. something that neither of them (or at least her) was aware of. you know? And were she to see what his behavior would be like after the marriage, chances are she wouldn't have married. But in that case, neither of us would be alive. So, in all that mess, God is good. Something good came out of a sorrowful situation.

God bless you.

Yours in Jesus,

Denise

[photosynthesis]

wow, that DOES sound like a tough situation. ours was kind of similar, although I don't remember much and my mom only tells me some things. I do know that my dad gets violent when angry and he had a machete and a lot of firearms. I'm glad that your dad was able to find help, though. It is nice to know that people can change.

[HisChild]

[quote name='photosynthesis' date='Feb 16 2006, 11:11 PM']wow, that DOES sound like a tough situation.  ours was kind of similar, although I don't remember much and my mom only tells me some things.  I do know that my dad gets violent when angry and he had a machete and a lot of firearms.  I'm glad that your dad was able to find help, though.  It is nice to know that people can change.
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Yea, as I saw him in different marriages/relationships, I saw him get violent when stressed too.

And the thing is. . .we are/were an upper middle class family. He does not fit many people's stereotypes of abusers. He wasn't abused as a child, from what I've been told, either. In fact, his parents were devoted to each other almost to excess (meaning a lot of the time, they ignored everything around them accept each other) go figure.

Lord, Jesus, have mercy on our toxic and fractured world.

[LouisvilleFan]

[quote name='the_rev' date='Feb 15 2006, 11:12 PM']In the US the number of ordinations is up from 2000, but the number of priests is diminishing.
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I didn't understand this trend when I first read it, but it must be that old priests are retiring or dying faster than the young'uns can replace them.

The media some people within the Church like to suggest idea for "solving" this priest shortage problem... allow married men into the priesthood, ordain women, or taking a page out of the Koran and promise 77 virgins to every priest after he dies and goes to Heaven

However, I can't help but be reminded of what God can do. I've heard that the Feeding of the 5,000 is a metaphor for the Church. Christ is the spiritual head; the Pope is the Vicar of Christ. The bread represents the Eucharist coming from Christ. It is passed on to the 5,000 men, who represent the bishops and priests, and the women and children gathered around those men represent our parish communities.

Of course, if God can feed well over 5,000 people, he can surely feed 64.8 million Catholic with 42,528 priests... should be easy!

Another statistic I've heard is that there are something like 30,000 or 40,000 ordained priests who are now inactive because they married. Considering the number of active priests, maybe my memory is inaccurate. However, it got me to thinking that there should be some role of ministry for our ordained who cannot be full-time priests. Does the Catholic Church allow priests who break the vow of celibacy to do hospital and prison ministry? Could they say Mass in places like Catholic schools or nursing homes, where they wouldn't be responsible for pastoring a parish, but their ordination and education could be put to some productive use?

Just something I've been ponderin'...