Bunny Trails

[Ernie]

Personally, I'm thankful as a practicing Catholic, who goes to Latin Mass 90% of the time, that I have Orthodox roots within our family as well.

I'm curious what made you decide to be Catholic rather than Orthodox.

[Falco Knotwise]

In my opinion, for what it is worth, I think you are probably both right. I think the presence of gay priests and sexual abuse in the institution is not an expression of liberalism. Neither is the attempt to hide it.
I would say when the institution moves to accept and normalize gay priests and the potential for sexual abuse.....that is an expression of liberalism.

Thanks for your thoughts. I’m trying to think of a way to clarify my own views on it, too, but as yet I haven’t been able to.

[Falco Knotwise]

The recent folly and heresy by the Pope is not surprising. In many ways his ruling on “blessings” is out of the Vatican II playbook. Allow something with supposed clarification. The liberal side will run with it. You will see wide open blessing of gay marriage that looks just like a wedding mass on some places. The conservative side will scream and condemn it….and be ignored. The neo-con will be upset that this is wrong then reconcile it with Paul loyalty by saying “the Pope did not mean you could do THIS. Folks are breaking the guidelines.”

I have never doubted the reality there will be an “end times”, nor quick to say I am living in them.

I have detested this Pope since his election and have always felt we will never know why Ratzinger resigned.
I am deeply thankful for familial roots that offer an escape route to the Orthodox.

It is also good to know that be you Jewish, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anabaptist or Protestant the reality of an Antichrist system is still something you face. Picking the “right church” does not change the reality that like salvation, persistence against joining the Antichrist is an individual battle line for each of us. Your church and beliefs will aid you, but membership is not any guarantee.

Welcome aboard, JayP. I’ve been enjoying your posts. We’d probably see eye to eye on many things.

Btw, I’m a Catholic with some Orthodox roots as well. I was baptized in a Greek Orthodox Church, but then raised Catholic. (My father’s side of the family was Orthodox, my mother’s side was Catholic. It’s a long story . . .)

[Ken]

Ken,

You are aware of the around two dozen particular Greek Catholic Churches, aren’t you?

Only the Latin Rite churches don’t allow married priests.

Yes, I was referring to the Roman Catholic Church which is what governs the US and the rest of Europe.

Although the fact that they have two different standards depending on which country you are in only underscores the hypocrisy of the thing.

[Josh]

Ken,

You are aware of the around two dozen particular Greek Catholic Churches, aren’t you?

Only the Latin Rite churches don’t allow married priests.

Yes, I was referring to the Roman Catholic Church which is what governs the US and the rest of Europe.

Although the fact that they have two different standards depending on which country you are in only underscores the hypocrisy of the thing.

I have a choice of several Greek Catholic parishes plus Latin rite churches without even having to leave the county.

[Falco Knotwise]

P.S. Towards the end of that video a Hutterite student joins the discussion, too. So, that may be of interest to some.

[JayP]

BTW Ken you are incorrect that it is only a few Anglican Priest converts that can be married.

I am not suggesting the average person idea that RCC priests are celibate is generally incorrect.

My own parish priest was a Protestant non Anglican minister convert and married.

The point is not the technicalities.

The point is issues like ordination of women are not up to Pope or possibly something that can change.
Priests marrying can be changed, and thetopic be discussed.
Technically theologians can not even DISCUSS ordination of women.

[Ken]

BTW Ken you are incorrect that it is only a few Anglican Priest converts that can be married.

I'm referencing this article in the National Catholic Reporter which profiles one such priest: https://www.ncronline.org/news/father-j ... bate-world

Which says

There are around 125 married Roman Catholic priests like Whitfield, an Episcopal convert, across the U.S., experts say, and perhaps a couple hundred total around the world.

and...

Whitfield, 41, became a Catholic priest in 2012 through the Pastoral Provision, a set of rules crafted by Pope John Paul II in 1980 that gives married Episcopal priests who have converted to Catholicism the chance to apply for ordination in the Catholic church.

The process, which can take years, includes everything from psychological interviews to exams on Catholic theology and, in the end, a special dispensation from the pope.

The convert priests see themselves as narrow exceptions to centuries of Catholic rules, part of a drive in the Catholic church to reunite with some branches of Anglicanism. They live with special restrictions, including that they cannot become bishops. They also cannot remarry if their wives die, and must spend the rest of their priestly lives as celibates.

Many of the married converts had become disenchanted with the Episcopal church as they watched it grow increasingly liberal in recent decades, amid bitter battles over such issues as women priests and gay marriage. Ironically, they often find themselves heroes to liberal Catholics, who see them as a modernizing force in the church.

"We are these very conservative men who have left the Episcopal church and now meet all these left-wing Catholics who are celebrating our presence," said Fr. Paul Sullins, a married priest, father of three and longtime professor at Catholic University of America. "It can be uncomfortable at times, but we try to love each other."

[ohio jones]

BTW Ken you are incorrect that it is only a few Anglican Priest converts that can be married.

I'm referencing this article in the National Catholic Reporter which profiles one such priest: https://www.ncronline.org/news/father-j ... bate-world

Which says

There are around 125 married Roman Catholic priests like Whitfield, an Episcopal convert, across the U.S., experts say, and perhaps a couple hundred total around the world.

What it does not say, if one reads carefully, is that all 125 are Episcopal converts.

At the last wedding I went to in a Catholic church, the officiant mentioned his wife, which of course surprised me. I later found out that he was a deacon, rather than a priest as I had assumed.

[Judas Maccabeus]

Yes, I was referring to the Roman Catholic Church which is what governs the US and the rest of Europe.

Umm, no. The eastern rite Catholic Churches have no jurisdictional overlap with the Latin rite. The local diocesan bishop ( what Max refers to as an “Ordinary “) has no jurisdiction over them. The only connection between them is that both recognize the pope as the head of the church.