The Catholic Conclusion
| The Catholic Church's response to the American sex crises among its clergy has helped increase the rate of decline in the United States. As with many crimes, the real damage was done with the cover up. In shuffling priests from one parish to another even though the evidence of their misdeeds was known, the American portion of the Universal Church shouldered much of the blame and paid hefty restitution fines because of it. That the Church in Rome did very little except try to isolate the Americans contributed mightely to its tarnished image. As a professed moral leader, the Church clearly showed very little moral leadership. |
In a bizarre sense Catholic Church leaders predicted exactly what Protestantism would become. If everyone were allowed to interpret the Bible as they saw fit, there would be an infinite number of interpretations and consequently no real theology. Catholicism; however, is the one major Christian Church that has lost its theology. In attempting to embrace many of the findings of science, the Catholic Church has given up the core of its original foundation. If the Earth is as old as Pope John Paul II admitted, the story of Genesis has to be considered an allegory. More specifically, if humans did evolve in any sense, the concept of one man and one woman in fully developed form giving birth to the human race cannot be held as a fact. This eliminates the concept of Adam and Eve bearing the original sin that would carry through all of humanity. Without original sin there is no need for salvation and the entire premise of Christianity falls apart.
The Catholic Church continues to lurch forward without a real direction. It's followers by and large do not know of the Pope's proclamation or do not understand its implications. Those that do understand it are abandoning the Catholic fold in droves, leaving behind a following that is older, less educated, and less inspired. Those that want to continue believing in Christianity are turning to evangelical Protestantism where the implications of science are simply ignored along with the science itself. Where this will leave Catholicism is still unclear but its future looks far bleaker than the Protestantism it fought so hard to dismiss.
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