Catholic DUers: How can we cheer ourselves up...

[cap]

I am just feeling devastated and would like some ideas about cheering myself up.

I suspect there are others out there who would need some cheering up as well.

Please, no remarks about leaving the Church. It is a 2000 year organization and we have weathered worse things.

[girl gone mad]

1. Remind yourself that he's 78.

Chances are, you'll live to see the another papal election.

[DoYouEverWonder]

2. Why would anyone want to stay with an institution

that is so corrupt? An institution that does not follow the true teachings of Jesus? An institution that deemed most of Jesus's true teachings heretical?

There are other ways to follow Jesus.

[Is It Fascism Yet]

4. Amen, n/t

[cap]

6. you know we survived the Spanish Inquisition

:)


Again, I didnt want this to be a thread on leaving the church...

I want support... if people like me can endure, we can change the church. It will be a long and tedious journey....

Just like changing our country.

[Hobarticus]

16. I've been on the fence for years, but this might push me off.

I expect more from my church than this.

[DoYouEverWonder]

22. Heck, the alcoholic pastor

who couldn't hold the chalice straight at my 1st Communion and the Nun from Hell that falsified my school records in the 6th grade pushed me off the fence a long time ago.

[sandnsea]

3. He's supposed to be a scholar

Maybe he'll encourage learning. That would be good. :shrug:

That's the only thing I could come up with today. But then, I quit going to mass a long time ago. Every time I think I can reconcile myself with the Church, they do some stupid thing that makes me mad for another year. I won't be getting over this ex-communication garbage during the election any time soon. Not to mention the rest of the archaic positions. The AIDS & condoms ban is a sin as outrageous as the holocaust, in my opinion. Just can't do it anymore.

[bklyncowgirl]

5. About the best we can hope for...

Is that he'll be as progressive on issues that do not involve sex or gender as John Paul was.

I'm not holding my breath.

For what it's worth, although I admire many people in the church, I left years ago. I'd like to return but I cannot support a religion that put's it's stubborn and imho unconscionable stand on birth control above the desperate need to present diseas.

[mmonk]

7. He is an interim pope

That's one. Then we can hope he will moderate given his new position. Other than that I'd say we're SOL.

[cassandra uprising]

8. perhaps you should have posted a thread that read

"Practicing Catholic DUers: How can we cheer ourselves up..."

I'm struggling too and like yourself, very devastated. I'm holding onto the fact that he's 78, which is horrible, to wish that someone would just hurry up and die.

But in this scenario, I'm at an absolute loss. When ever I have a conflict with my faith, or the RC church as an institution, I think of Padre Pio, which always cheers me up. Hang in there.


edit: grammer

[Zynx]

9. He sounded quite moderate and sane at Mass today

He actually looks fairly promising - keep in mind how seriously Catholics take his new office. You aren't yourself anymore - you are literally an extension of Christ.

He's not a rock star like JPII, though. It will be interesting to see how he does at World Youth Day.

[immoderate]

10. His equivalent of saying, "I'm a uniter, not a divider."

Deeds, not words will tell.

--IMM

[Bridget Burke]

12. He now has a different role.

Perhaps being crowned the successor of Peter prompts one to take a different view of things. I'd certainly be impressed!

Not that he'll liberalize, but he may not crack down.

[KitSileya]

13. You know, I hope for the same thing.

As head of the congregation of the defense of the faith (or whatever the correct name was) it was his job to guard the truth zealously. He was supposed to go head to head with theologians and such. Being Pope is a completely different job - I've likened it to the difference between master of the house and the guard dog in the yard. He's no longer the rottweiler (but he is, I guess, a german shepherd LOL) and therefore, he's not expected to bark at every passer-by to alert the master of the threat.

[Bridget Burke]

11. There have been far worse Popes.

Delve into Church history & you'll get a sense of proportion.

The new guy definitely won't moderate Church policies, but we don't yet know that he'll turn things backward. A priest interviewed on BBC this AM said he'll concentrate on reorganizing the bureaucracy, for one thing. And he's just been made Pope--he may realize that his role is different, now. He has pastoral duties beyond laying down the law.

Perhaps, after a short reign, the Church will be ready for some movement forward.

I'm speaking as a lapsed Catholic here--lapsed because I no longer accept the "God" concept. If I did, I'd become an annoying Catholic activist rather than join another Church.

Take intellectual interest in some of the anti-Catholicism being exhibited. I can understand opposing Church policies, but some of the criticism has an antique reek. Such an ancient & mighty institution--one that has done both good & evil--excites much envy. And the loudest complainers build such ugly churches!

[ArkDem]

14. Earl Warren was a republican when Eisenhower appointed him

to SCOTUS. We don't know yet what kind of pope he will be.

[AngryAmish]

15. Beer always seems to help

[cap]

20. ching-ching

:):toast:

[Ilsa]

17. Non-Catholic here...

I really hope it all works out. I feel for American Catholics (especially) right now. I'll remain open-minded for now.

I wish some DU'ers were priests so there could be friendly change from the inside.

:grouphug:

[Ilsa]

18. double-post.

[Bryn]

19. Read Any Books and Articles by Matthew Fox

Matthew Fox is former Roman Catholic priest. He has written 14 books, exploring the theme of spirituality in the modern world in all of them. Fox clashed with Vatican repeatedly and he was eventually defrocked.

Fox was a Catholic priest for more than 30 years. He became an Episcopal priest in 1994

Former Catholic priest Matthew Fox doesn't think of his views on "creation theology" and other theological issues as renegade, even though the pope had him dismissed from the Dominican order in 1993.

from www.matthewfox.org (he has such a sweet face. I think he would have been an excellent pope.)

"This pope and his self-appointed German mafia headed by Cardinal Ratzinger will have to face the judgement of history (and very likely God also) over issues that include but are not limited to the following:

A pre-occupation with morality as sexual issues even when this morality is deeply flawed. I include the following examples:
--The forbidding of one billion Catholics world wide to practice birth control even while the human population explodes at the seams.
--The forbidding of the use of condoms even in a time when AIDS is killing individuals and whole populations the world over.
--The head-long pursuit of Augustine's theology of sexuality (all sex must be legitimized by having children)
--Ugly attacks in the pope's name against homosexuals and the complete ignoring of what science and professional psychological associations have learned about homosexuality (for example, that it is a natural phenomenon for 8-10% of any given human population as well as over 460 non-human species).

Other attacks include documents against yoga (yes!); against Buddhism (calling it "atheism"); against Thich Naht Hahn (calling him the "anti-Christ"); against feminist philosophers; against women (girls cannot serve at the altar; nor can women be priests); against theologians in general. Priests are forbidden to use the pronoun "she" for God at the altar."

<snip>

"When I think of this pope I think of a hard-working priest who came to see me a year ago from southern California. He cried as he told me how ALL of the budget for the ministry to the poor was being cut to pay for a big new cathedral and for priestly misconduct. He himself was close to leaving the priesthood. I think of another priest who came to me three years ago and who was the person who actually ran his entire diocese on behalf of his bishop. He was at his wit's end with the hypocrisy and lies emanating from Rome--he knew many secrets. Rather than leave and rather than play the game, he quit his position and diocese and found a ministerial position in another diocese thousands of miles away."

Now that this pope has passed, let readers reflect on the seriousness of these matters. And pray for this pope. I for one would hate to have to face my Creator with a track record like this one.

Copyright 2005 Matthew Fox

[Cuban_Liberal]

21. Some of the positives:

I'm not exactly thrilled by his selection, either, but here's some positives I posted in the Catholic and Orthodox Christian Forum:

Cuban_Liberal (1000+ posts) Wed Apr-20-05 09:24 AM
Original message
I must give Benedict XVI a chance.

Edited on Wed Apr-20-05 09:25 AM by Cuban_Liberal
I won't pretend to not be disappointed by his election, but in fairness, I must give him a fair chance before judging him. It is not at all unheard of for Pope so-and-so to act quite differently than did Cardinal so-and-so, and this may well turn out to be the case with Benedict XVI.

As reasons for hope, I would note that he is an able administrator, actually understands Church finances (a true rarity among the clergy, in my experience), has a deep, intellectual curiousity and is, by all accounts, a warm, humble and genuinely respectful individual. Much of what he has written and is berated about may well have found its source not neccessarily in deeply-held personal beliefs, but as a result of the job he held and his sincere attempts to carry out the instructions of our late John Paul II.

I will sincerely pray that the Holy Spirit will guide Benedict XVI to shepherd our Holy Mother Church and defend Her against Her enemies, and I wish him well.

-- Tony





Peace.

:hi:

[Blue Moon]

23. I'm not Catholic

But you can console yourself with the fact that many respected Democratic leaders are Catholic, such as Kerry and Kennedy. I have not heard them say anything against your Pope.

[Lisa]

24. I guess it could have been worse ...

I'm not Catholic, but a lot of my co-workers are -- they were passing cartoons around this morning. My officemate says she's hoping that that Malachy prophecy thing is wrong and the Pope after Benedict XVI will be like John XXIII (whom she liked a lot and still thinks about!).