Finding My Way In The Catholic Church After Twenty Years.

[JustaServant]

Since I crossed the Tiber eight months ago, I have been carefully finding my way around and getting re-acquainted with the Church of my youth. I returned to the Catholic Church because, when I threw down the gauntlet of challenge, She convinced me that She is indeed the Church founded by Christ.
With a billion people world-wide, the Catholic Church is truly diverse. But at the same time, it requires obedience to the teachings of the Holy See. If one wants a ‘warm and fuzzy’ Jesus, the Catholic Church is not the place for them.
As I am writing this, a Catholic priest in Chicago has made the news by supporting a pro-abortion candidate for president. Recently, I encountered a priest who, to me, appeared to be bragging about his liberal views on homosexuality.
Having grown up in the Church, this comes as no great surprise. I was aware that the Church was far from perfect and not everyone is obedient to her.
Catholics have always taken a stand against racism and for social justice. However, the Church cannot be called ‘liberal’. The definition I am using of ‘liberal’ is one who because he or she can legitimately dissent from Church teaching. A conservative will assent to Church teaching and teach fullness of our faith.
There is a generation of liberal priests from the sixties and seventies who still hold power. These priests are also often not pro-life and believe social poverty issues are far more important than the slaughter of the unborn.
They have misguided their flocks into dissent on matters that are not up for discussion. The Christian conscience is to be guided by the Holy Spirit. The church is to be guided by it and the Pope, etc.
Liberal Catholics do more damage to the Church than any wide-eyed anti-Catholic. They create nominal ‘cafeteria Catholics’ who pick and choose what the doctrines of their Church they want believe in. They have created more fundamentalists, than fundamentalists have.
While some liberal priests are still in control on the parish level, the seminaries, and some of the bishoprics, they are slowly being replaced by those who obey to the Pope and the Church. Many of these replacements come from outside the US.
I have noticed, on a personal level, the differences between American priests and foreign-born priests. When I tell a foreign-born priest of my return to the Church, it is met with joy, interest and enthusiasm. With some American priests I have met, it is met with disinterest.
I did not return to the Catholic Church to discard Her doctrines and teachings. For what would be the purpose of returning?
I am a conservative Catholic and traditional. I believe the Bible is the Word of God and I submit myself to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
I would like to see more Latin in the Mass, but I have nothing against the Norvus Ordo. I am under the authority of the Church and the Pope, who have upheld the doctrine for 2000 years.
On the other hand I will not be part of a schismatic group just because I am conservative and prefer some Latin in the Mass. For what would be the purpose of returning to the Catholic Church only to join with a group that has disobeyed their Pope? That is not conservative, that displays as much disobedience as the Protestant reformers did.
The Catholic Church is 2000 years old, and the gates of Hell will never prevail against her. As I find my way back into her arms, I will defend her against enemies both within and without.

[Birgitta Noel]

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[AccountDeleted]

[quote name='JustaServant' post='1492669' date='Apr 4 2008, 05:01 PM']Since I crossed the Tiber eight months ago, I have been carefully finding my way around and getting re-acquainted with the Church of my youth. I returned to the Catholic Church because, when I threw down the gauntlet of challenge, She convinced me that She is indeed the Church founded by Christ.
With a billion people world-wide, the Catholic Church is truly diverse. But at the same time, it requires obedience to the teachings of the Holy See. If one wants a ‘warm and fuzzy’ Jesus, the Catholic Church is not the place for them.
As I am writing this, a Catholic priest in Chicago has made the news by supporting a pro-abortion candidate for president. Recently, I encountered a priest who, to me, appeared to be bragging about his liberal views on homosexuality.
Having grown up in the Church, this comes as no great surprise. I was aware that the Church was far from perfect and not everyone is obedient to her.
Catholics have always taken a stand against racism and for social justice. However, the Church cannot be called ‘liberal’. The definition I am using of ‘liberal’ is one who because he or she can legitimately dissent from Church teaching. A conservative will assent to Church teaching and teach fullness of our faith.
There is a generation of liberal priests from the sixties and seventies who still hold power. These priests are also often not pro-life and believe social poverty issues are far more important than the slaughter of the unborn.
They have misguided their flocks into dissent on matters that are not up for discussion. The Christian conscience is to be guided by the Holy Spirit. The church is to be guided by it and the Pope, etc.
Liberal Catholics do more damage to the Church than any wide-eyed anti-Catholic. They create nominal ‘cafeteria Catholics’ who pick and choose what the doctrines of their Church they want believe in. They have created more fundamentalists, than fundamentalists have.
While some liberal priests are still in control on the parish level, the seminaries, and some of the bishoprics, they are slowly being replaced by those who obey to the Pope and the Church. Many of these replacements come from outside the US.
I have noticed, on a personal level, the differences between American priests and foreign-born priests. When I tell a foreign-born priest of my return to the Church, it is met with joy, interest and enthusiasm. With some American priests I have met, it is met with disinterest.
I did not return to the Catholic Church to discard Her doctrines and teachings. For what would be the purpose of returning?
I am a conservative Catholic and traditional. I believe the Bible is the Word of God and I submit myself to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
I would like to see more Latin in the Mass, but I have nothing against the Norvus Ordo. I am under the authority of the Church and the Pope, who have upheld the doctrine for 2000 years.
On the other hand I will not be part of a schismatic group just because I am conservative and prefer some Latin in the Mass. For what would be the purpose of returning to the Catholic Church only to join with a group that has disobeyed their Pope? That is not conservative, that displays as much disobedience as the Protestant reformers did.
The Catholic Church is 2000 years old, and the gates of Hell will never prevail against her. As I find my way back into her arms, I will defend her against enemies both within and without.[/quote]

If you are up for a good (fiction) read about this very topic, then Father Elijah by Michael D O'Brien is a great book. The evil one gets much of his power from the simple fact that people either don't believe in him, or they are prepared to compromise their moral values in the name of a new "social humanism" (not a technical term).

Don't be disheartened though, the Church Militant will one day be the Church Triumphant - because God wants it that way! But that doesn't mean there won't be battles along the way.

Welcome home!