Why Europeans Left The Catholic Church

[Aloysius]

[quote name='Budge' post='1264649' date='May 4 2007, 10:09 PM']Define "expert"

Name one "expert" that is NOT Catholic....{dare ya}[/quote]
That was in response to the listing of various "experts" of "protestantism"... I was just saying you don't listen to those folks either (actually, I was defending your consistency)

[Jnorm888]

Budge, the modern world is going the way it is because the Agnostics and Atheists are using Darwinism, Nietzschism, philosophical Naturalism and monetary materialism to axe the roots of Christianity.








INLOVE Jnorm

Oh .....I can't the forget the new bug of post-modernism

Edited May 6, 2007 by jnorm888

[desertwoman]

Word. From Reza's last post with the vid of O'Reily, the statics are staggering in Europe with how many people don't believe in God period.

[Ellenita]

The secular press loves it when people buy into the idea that the church is dying in Europe (and elsewhere) but the church has and will continue to prevail.... our history teaches us that - look at the examples where the Catholic church has survived incredible repression - in Eastern European countries under the soviet bloc; in England under Tudor times; and English repression in Ireland and Scotland.

It's true we may see some people who are weak in their faith through bad teaching leave the church, but hasn't Pope Benedict already warned us about that and urged us to do something about it by teaching our young people about the faith?

I don't believe God will abandon His Church in Europe; I do believe He calls us to pray for one another.

[Socrates]

[quote name='Ellenita' post='1266318' date='May 6 2007, 07:40 PM']The secular press loves it when people buy into the idea that the church is dying in Europe (and elsewhere) but the church has and will continue to prevail.... our history teaches us that - look at the examples where the Catholic church has survived incredible repression - in Eastern European countries under the soviet bloc; in England under Tudor times; and English repression in Ireland and Scotland.

It's true we may see some people who are weak in their faith through bad teaching leave the church, but hasn't Pope Benedict already warned us about that and urged us to do something about it by teaching our young people about the faith?

I don't believe God will abandon His Church in Europe; I do believe He calls us to pray for one another.[/quote]
The difference here is that the Church is dying in Europe (and to a lesser extent in North America), not for the most part because of external persecution (indeed, as the examples you mentioned show, the Faith grows from the blood of martyrs), but because of lukewarmness, apathy and indifference from within - as the Pope has pointed out, many people now simply regard the Church and religion as irrelevent to their lives.

The Church can survive the harshest external government persecution, but can she stand up to the internal decay and indifference from within?

The Church will prevail, but this does not mean that the Church is not currently in a serious crisis - one that comes largely from within, not from without. People are not falling away from the Church in Europe because of external force, but out of their own free will.

[Budge]

[quote]Budge, the modern world is going the way it is because the Agnostics and Atheists are using Darwinism, Nietzschism, philosophical Naturalism and monetary materialism to axe the roots of Christianity.[/quote]

Take this from an ex UU Humanist Theosophist, the humanists, atheists and agnostics have lost, the Luciferian one worlder universalist pagans have WON, the world is switching to pantheistic paganism with Rome leading the charge and they have adopted that entire list.

There is far more to be wary of from those who say they are Christians and who are ANYTHING BUT. At least with the atheists you know what youre getting.

[Budge]

[quote]he difference here is that the Church is dying in Europe (and to a lesser extent in North America), not for the most part because of external persecution (indeed, as the examples you mentioned show, the Faith grows from the blood of martyrs), but because of lukewarmness, apathy and indifference from within - as the Pope has pointed out, many people now simply regard the Church and religion as irrelevent to their lives.

The Church can survive the harshest external government persecution, but can she stand up to the internal decay and indifference from within?

The Church will prevail, but this does not mean that the Church is not currently in a serious crisis - one that comes largely from within, not from without. People are not falling away from the Church in Europe because of external force, but out of their own free will.[/quote]

Hey when you got TOP leaders worshipping Hindu gods, I think your entire church has lost the plot.

Their example has done more for people to lose their souls then anyting else.

The real church of Jesus Christ has nothing to do with hindu-god worshipping hirelings.

By the way one thing all this mushy mouth interfaith garbage has led to is people think why be Catholic, if Hindu, Buddhist and Islam is just as good.

When "any god" will do and niceness and sincerity is enough to take you into heaven, why drag yourself into church on Sunday morning when you can sleep in?

Interfaithism automaically carries with it a LACK OF COMMITMENT. {harlots dont exactly COMMIT if you get my drift--using analogy here}

Edited May 7, 2007 by Budge

[Socrates]

In all my years as a Catholic, I've never seen a Catholic priest worship a Hindu god, nor say that it is ok to worship one.

Some piece of garbage pulled off the internet is not going to crush my faith, and cause me to convert to Budgianity.

[Aloysius]

like I said, here at phatmass we believe in the paperwork, not the people. we follow the paperwork, not the people.

just because there is a cult of personality around popes and bishops nowadays brought on by the media doesn't mean that my relationship to this or that cardinal is in any way analogous to your relationship to your hand-picked pastor. I won't follow a bishop nor a cardinal nor a pope in worshiping any false God; I will not do as they do, necessarily. But I will do as they teach, because of the Seat they sit on. I will follow the paperwork, I won't follow the men in their actions, necessarily. Though many of them have many laudable actions which ought to be imitated by good Christians everywhere, their office does not make their actions imitatable; it just makes their teachings safely and infallibly believable (and even then, not any of the individual offices except the papacy).

The paperwork does not excuse any misdeeds, but it does DEFINE what I believe whereas their misdeeds do NOT define what I believe.