Be Proud of Being Catholic

[thinkrich]

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----- Be Proud of Being Catholic (Excerpts of an article written by Sam Miller, prominent Cleveland Jewish businessman - NOT Catholic) Submitted by Dee Lynd

Why would newspapers carry on a vendetta on one of the most important institutions that we have today in the United States, namely the Catholic Church?

Do you know - the Catholic Church educates 2.6 million students everyday at the cost to your Church of 10 billion dollars, and a savings on the other hand to the American taxpayer of 18 billion dollars. Your graduates go on to graduate studies at the rate of 92%, all at a cost to you. To the rest of the Americans it's free.

The Church has 230 colleges and universities in the U.S. with an enrollment of 700,000 students. The Catholic Church has a non-profit hospital system of 637 hospitals, which account for hospital treatment of 1 out of every 5 people - not just Catholics - in the United States today.

But the press is vindictive and trying to totally denigrate in every way the Catholic Church in this country. They have blamed the disease of pedophilia on the Catholic Church, which is as irresponsible as blaming adultery on the institution of marriage.

Let me give you some figures that you as Catholics should know and remember. For example, 12% of the 300 Protestant clergy surveyed admitted to sexual intercourse with a parishioner; 38% acknowledged other inappropriate sexual contact in a study by the United Methodist Church , 41.8 % of clergywomen reported unwanted sexual behavior; 17% of laywomen have been sexually harassed. Meanwhile, 1.7% of the Catholic clergy has been found guilty of pedophilia. 10% of the Protestant ministers have been found guilty of pedophilia. This is not a Catholic Problem.

A study of American priests showed that most are happy in the priesthood and find it even better than they had expected, and that most, if given the choice, would choose to be priests again in face of all this obnoxious PR the church has been receiving.

The Catholic Church is bleeding from self-inflicted wounds. The agony that Catholics have felt and suffered is not necessarily the fault of the Church. You have been hurt by a small number of wayward priests that have probably been totally weeded out by now.

Walk with your shoulders high and you head higher. Be a proud member of the most important non-governmental agency in the United States . Then remember what Jeremiah said: 'Stand by the roads, and look and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is and walk in it, and find rest for your souls'. Be proud to speak up for your faith with pride and reverence and learn what your Church does for all other religions. Be proud that you're a Catholic.

Reprinted excerpts with permission of the Buckeye Bulletin - courtesy of Brookside Council #3297, Cleveland Diocese.

***i got this from my email so i dont have any link to this article but im you can probably check BUckeye Bulletin's website, if they have. anyway, the point is, not everything gets reported by the media. whether the numbers are correct or not, i believe that there are always two sides to every coin. As catholics, let us focus on the good things that the Roman Catholic institution has done and yet remain vigilant against sin.

As Jesus said, in John 8:7, "Whichever one of you has committed no sin may cast the first stone." So before you, my other religious groups and christian denominations, continue to condemn the Church, it may be best to first look yourself in the mirror. and if indeed, your group has never committed any sin, then you may now cast the first stone.

[Hellblazer]

was the Inquisition something to be proud of?

[forester]

was the Inquisition something to be proud of?

Yes sir.
1. It was, generally speaking, a successful program of the Church;
2. It shows the superiority of the Church [that even Hades cannot conquer];
3. It displayed the immense power of the Church [deaths were justified and considered as collateral damage to a necessary cause]

[Hellblazer]

have you seen the movie "Goya's Ghost"? it portrayed the dark side (the only side) of the Inquisition. well, i guess catholics before were different than catholics now. so it's not something that they could relate to anymore. it was a horrible past. the literal Dark Ages.

i don't know if the Gospel of Shame is something for catholics to be proud of.

[topaz]

i'm not ashamed of being a catholic nor i am proud of it.
other religions do what they think they should be doing in line with their beliefs, same goes with Catholic.

@hellblazer: i guess all religions have it's dark past..

[Hellblazer]

i'm not ashamed of being a catholic nor i am proud of it.
other religions do what they think they should be doing in line with their beliefs, same goes with Catholic.

@hellblazer: i guess all religions have it's dark past..

yeah, i guess it's just some holy @$$hole's idea of making the world a better place to live in. ('c',)

[topaz]

the world is a better place to live in..it usually depends on your perspective

[thinkrich]

it is very easy to condemn the things, label them as right and wrong, in hindsight. It is not my place to condone nor to condemn what happened centuries ago. in the first place i wasnt there nor do i know the circumstances in its entirety. All we have are the writings from various historians all biased towards their views/stands.

I do believe that no religion is perfect since no man is perfect (sinless). what is important for me is that the Church continues to struggle to right itself. you do not simply pick one situation and condemn the entire history of the Church. coz if you do, and i guess that is what some people do, that is the time na one jumps from one denomination to the next, one religion to the next, trying to search the perfect and sinless religion, only to find their is none. it is just like condemning the darkest years of the Philippine nation (take your pick) and then saying i do not want to be a Filipino no more.

the problem man gud with our society is we are so quick to condemn yet find it so hard to praise.

[makusama]

Yes sir.
1. It was, generally speaking, a successful program of the Church;
2. It shows the superiority of the Church [that even Hades cannot conquer];
3. It displayed the immense power of the Church [deaths were justified and considered as collateral damage to a necessary cause]

I dont agree although I am a proud catholic. Anybody here perfect? Please raise your hand.

[carmicael]

i am proud to be one. in Nomine Patris et Fillii et Spiritus Sancti.