In the back ground, while I am working....

I have the Shoes of the Fisherman on the TV.

First of all, I have to confess, I am a lapsed Catholic. I simply refused to be confirmed. I did not want any part of another Crusade, thank you very much.

But it was the faith of my youth and I still feel a certain affinity toward their approach to the divinity, the behavior of pedophile priests and those who protected them of course not included.

This movie is a fairy tale, of course, but actually played out when pope John Paul was elevated to the wear the purple back in the late 70's.

Two parts of this movie really make me tear up.

When Anthony Quinn begs the other Cardinals to not elect him pope. It shows just how good an actor Quinn was.

And the second scene was when the new Pope wanders the streets of Rome, a Rome that was still recovering from the devastation and degradation of WWII. He performs a ceremony for a Jewish man dying. He also assists some poor people.

Just wanted to put that out there today,

It is the leaders of the church that believe as if they are the gods
They forgot to follow the god that they profess a belief in

By contrast, for example, speaking to educated Mexicans, there is a profound understanding that they can be firmly Catholic but opposed to the hierarchy. And they know how certain members of the hierarchy can differ from others, be for the people, for the poor and oppressed, and so on.

But the pedophilia scandals have gone a certain distance, as have birth-control and abortion battles, toward teaching many American Catholics to be anticlerical.

(Background info: I was raised a Catholic and was one until I was 23, had been an atheist, am now an agnostic loosely affiliated with Unitarian Universalism.)

Try to find "The 25th Hour"..It was his BEST..That movie still haunts me after 40 years

Thanks for taking this moment from your busy day to enlighten us, Chris...

:hug:

a book report on it and got a call from the Nun who taught my class that she was 'concerned' that I'd read it. I assured her the correct title of my book report was the SHORES of the Fisherman! Skated by that one. :eyes:

After 12 years of Catholic school, I'd had my fill of being on my knees in church beating my breast. I was actually over it by about fourth grade. But there are things that bring me comfort -like the Gregorian Chants, the smell of incense, and I loved the days before Vatican II when the Mass was still in Latin and the whole ceremony seemed so sacred. Probably it reminds me of my childhood and I had a good one.

If I die, I think I'd like a Catholic ceremony and would like to be buried in the Catholic cemetery by my parents. Of course, once I'm dead, I won't likely care. :7

I never DID read the book nor did I see the movie. I think I'll rectify that. :hi:

1. The church can give you a great education, all the way to a Ph.d, medical school and law school, however they treat their followers like children. They do not allow an educated discourse on their theology.

2. Their treatment of women. For any faith and any church its strength is usually through women, but the catholic church sees women only as servants, and never allowed to become priests.

When my niece was confirmed, I told her the Bishop might ask questions of the students. I told her, if he asks how many sacraments there are, try to get to answer him by saying, "there are 7, but only six that women can participate in".