A Look Into Catholic Issues

By Kathleen Murphy


So much information regarding the Catholic Church has been made available to the communities world over. While some of this information is factual, much of it is mere speculation and with no grounds. This has created quite a dilemma as sieving valid commentary from baloney has become very hard. This has made dealing with the increasing threats to faith and morals an uphill climb for the concerned. A number of catholic issues are elucidated below.

Human civilization undergoes evolution each and every day that goes by. Changing factors in faith, theology and other issues have received the most attention. The increased number of unanswered critics among the Catholics has affected the number of believers. Unlike the past where very many people opted for priesthood, recent trends show otherwise. There are not enough priests to meet the growing need. This has especially been an issue in the US.

Owing to the above issue, American faithful had their own opinions, though it was not what the Vatican wanted to hear. A survey that was conducted by the American Press Poll showed that most Catholics favored appointment of female priests, and favored the opinion that policies should be changed to allow priests to marry.

Reading through news reports one will notice an increase in number of sexual harassment cases occurring in community. The church holds a record increase in sexual misconduct cases. They have however been more concerned on the image of religion than dealing justice to assaulted. The followers of this faith have challenged the concerned leaders to make sure that accused priests face the consequences for their actions.

Among the many developing issues that have taunted this religion is that of homosexuality. For so long the church has condemned this behavior publicly. Recent research however shows that religious leaders have embraced the idea and are advocating for the gays to abstain like other people. This is after the clergy was hit by several scandalous accusations of homosexual tendencies.

The late Pope John Paul II was very staunch in what he believed in. Throughout his 26 years as head of all Catholic Churches, he remained unwavering. Whenever it came to taking stand against communism, almost the entire world supported his side. Despite this support, he was also faced with criticism especially on his stance on birth control methods. Opponents have long raised complaints that his policy may have contributed largely to population problems in certain countries.

Some few issues have led to a large cultural gap between the Vatican and US Catholic Church. The Vatican has remained staunchly opposed to ordination of women while a huge number of Americans seem to support the idea or ordaining women. A large percentage of a survey conducted responded that women need to be offered rights to join priesthood.

Common script condemns sexual relations between people who are not married. This issue is approached with threats that God will make such sinners pay for their actions. This approach has been met with several critics. The idea of a vengeful god has been received well by the masses.




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