"The Catholic Church is obsolete: in its organization and in its some of moral teachings. It refuses to be open and transparent and accountable and subject to public scrutiny. It forbids the election or the recall of its leadership. It refuses to update its moral teachings to meet the realities of the times. And it has been part of atrocities in the past and in recent times --which neither revisionism nor outrage can go back in time and change. The Catholic Church was involved in the Crusades, in the Inquisition, and so on, up to the present day of allowing child molesting priests to continue till that vileness was exposed. This isn't about Christ or the Gospel or the many, many saints and good people who kept the Gospel in the Catholic Church. This is about an institution that got substantially corrupt because there were inadequate checks and balances on its power."
My prayers are with you John. You are battling your demons in public on this forum.
There are a multitude of reasons why Pope John Paul II took to the altar and begged forgiveness for the Church's sins. Some in the Church considered this weakness. I found it admirable.
You speak of conservatives, may I take the liberty to interpret this as "'ultra'conconservatives", taking over the church. Pope Benedict XVI is not about overturning the applecart, as many portray he is. He is continuing the work of his predecessors. We can either accept the church's teachings and ask forgiveness for our sins or we can go our own way. The world would like to see the collapse of the church. Therefore it paints the church as being rigid, inaccessible and it's truth unattainable. On the contrary the church is love, understanding and forgiveness.
Bill
