The Dilemmas Faced by the Roman Catholic Church Today

Catholicism: A Very Short Introduction written by Gerald O’Collins is a short read that gives an insight to the Catholic church without getting confusing to the reader. It touches on the basics of Catholicism such as the history, practices, and core beliefs. Through each chapter Gerald O’Collins a research professor in the field of Theology at St. Mary’s University College and Twickenham, as well as formally Dean in Gregorian University for the faculty of Theology, shares his knowledge on the Catholic religion one question at a time.

For most civilizations, religious figures have had a large influence over the lives of the common people. The Roman Catholic Church was a very influential figure in many civilizations. It can trace its origins to over 2000 years ago. One of the Church’s most influential periods of this time was the Middle Ages. The Roman Catholic Church played a very big role in the lives of the people during that period. For many, it was the center of their life. The three most important impacts of the Church on medieval life were their secular roles concerning laws and their position over the state, the way that the Church unified Europe, and their power over the common people.

Towards the end of the Middle Ages and into the duration of the Renaissance, the Medieval Church’s social and political power dwindled. Centuries prior the Catholic Church gained a surplus of control, largely due to the stability it maintained during the chaotic breakdown of the Western Roman Empire . Yet toward the end of the Middle Ages the Church set in motion factors that would ultimately lead to its downfall as the definitive figure of authority. However, despite political and social controversy surrounding the church, the institutions it established cleared a path for a new way of thinking, shaping society in an enduring way.

The government and the Catholic Church have not always had a great correspondence. Out of the many parties that have been created for the government, through time, the Democrats and the Republicans have taken precedence. The Democrats lean more to the liberal side of things, while the Republicans lean more towards the conservative side. The Democrat party is the oldest existing party, and called the ‘party of the people.’ The Republican Party came into the existence just before the Civil War, mostly because of their stance for the abolition of slavery and their candidate’s win, Abraham Lincoln. Both parties have their pros and cons, and both parties have their problems with the Catholic Church.

In over a period of years, an increasing amount of attention has been shed to the problem of child sexual abuse in the church. While churches, and other facilities which care for children, have had their experience of this problem, most attention has been brought to the abuse in the Catholic Church. Around the world, case after case has been seen in the press of clergy and members of religious orders being charged with sex offenses against children. Some of these cases go back decades. The issue has certainly brought attention around the world. The reason why, is the question that ponders in everyone mind.

Surely humanity suffers when the function of sex corrupts by representing it as a service or commodity and religion corrupts when it is a matter of dry rituals or abstract doctrines; consequently, underscoring the situation with confusing sex scandals. As a result, sexual misconduct is a major issue in the churches today. Child molestation within the churches reeks of priests being caught-up in lust and unmistakably is a real sign that the brotherhood lacks guidance of the profound reality of the LORD’S sexual identity. Notably, in these past several decades, an enormous amount of priests, along with various other ‘proclaimed’ Christians, predominantly waver with uncertainty, puzzled why they have sexual desires and totally unaware of their Divine sexual heritage. Concurrently, just as the Catholic Church, the Protestant Church also suffers from sex scandals worldwide. Figures released to the Associated Press in 2007, reveals that the numbers of these sex abuse cases appear higher in the Protestant Church than in the Catholic Church. At any rate, the process in obtaining Protestant sex abuse statistics evolves as harder to come by and sketchier because the denominations happen to be less centralized than the Catholic Church. Various Protestant congregations occur independently, making reporting even more difficult.

Pope Francis’ “Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium,” was published in November 2013. The document discusses several current debates occurring in the Catholic Church. First, Francis discusses the dangers of a consumeristic society and warns that the current economy is

New circumstances called for re-appraisal of the church: its position and purposes. A pragmatic response to changed

As time constantly presses forward and the earth continues to revolve, the world will never stop progressing and adapting to better suit the needs of mankind. The evolution of religion has greatly enhanced the quality of life for humanity by providing individuals with a strong belief system that is now the foundation of many peoples’ core values. One universal religion that has undergone extensive amounts of reform is Christianity. In particular, the Catholic church is well-known for the development of their famous ecumenical council meetings that help determine the future of the church. Numerous Councils have been conducted throughout the course of history, but none more significant than the most recent, the Second Vatican Council or Vatican II. The Catholic church was operating as if it was still the medieval period and desperately needed to be modernized. As a result, every Roman Catholic Church official was gathered to meet and devise a plan for how to introduce the church to the modern world. Consequently, the following will reveal the Second Vatican Council and the ramifications of the agenda, history and theology evolution, significant texts, and new developments.

The most important recurring issues in the study of the history of Christianity during our time period is sexual abuse amongst the Catholic Clergy and abortion, the killing of a living entity, as it is a sin against God according to biblical doctrine. Many believe that sexual abuse happening in the Catholic Church, is directly related to celibacy. The Churches restriction on priests that directs them to abstain from sexual relations. This issue has been debated since the reformation in which Martin Luther and other reformers opposed celibacy. They based their argument against celibacy on the bible scripture, namely Genesis 1:28, where God wanted people to “be fruitful and multiply”. There is nothing in the bible that directly mentions celibacy. There are many versions that mention fornication and uncleanliness and the interpretation of the Catholic Church seems to have made this deduction based on those scriptures. The other major issue that is common in most of the world’s religions is abortion; the Catholic Church, the Orthodox Church, and the Protestant Church still adopt the early church’s belief to oppose the practice of abortion. Abortion is considered murder and a mortal sin in accordance which many versus in the bible as it relates to each of these faiths. Even between the Old Testament, where the law or Tora refers to the 10 commandments, where Exodus 20:13 states “Thou shall not Murder” and

The Roman Catholic Church is presented as an institution of knowledge and power, influencing the lives of the people. The clear boundaries in catholic society are presented here, by the “right and wrong”, indicating that there was little variation in beliefs and practice in those following Catholicism. However, even though religion is presented as an important part of life, determining people’s decisions and behaviour, it is also presented as something which is taught, rather than followed willingly, indicating that while children, such as Frank, may have no wish to become “good Catholics”, they were forced to do so by society; their parents and teachers. Frank presents the attitude towards religion in school through the following quote, telling the children to: “Know and remember all the questions and answers in catechism, became good Catholics, to know the difference between right and wrong, to die for the Faith if called on”

In 2002 the Catholic Church was rocked with scandalous reports of Priests sexually molesting young children and particularly boys. The scandal is the result of numerous investigations, allegations, arrests, trials, convictions and imprisonment of Catholic Priests. It became largely reported that once trusted and respected Catholic Priests were pedophiles. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) categorizes pedophilia as a mental disorder if the sexual fantasies or urges involve prepubescent children , if they last six months or longer, if the individual has acted on them, or if they cause marked distress” (American Psychiatric Association, 2000).

I believe we exist for one purpose. That purpose is to worship and reflect our Heavenly Father. He has given His instructions to us in the Bible. The Bible tells of how we are to administer the church, how we are to worship in the church and who is to have roles in the church.

Throughout the semester, we examined many different topics that are important to know and which are beneficial to the priestly ministry. One of these is the church’s Magisterium which is held as the authoritative teaching office of those who teach the community in the name of Christ. It serves its role to safeguard the truth of God by faithfully interpreting and applying God’s revelation. It seems that, in our current society, many people don’t know what to believe anymore. This crisis of people not knowing what to believe has affected the Catholic Church even moreso because of the whole sex scandal in recent years. Because of incidents like this, Catholics no longer trust nor do they know what to believe when it comes to morality, faith, and

Many priests, after taking the vow of celibacy, discover that they can’t suppress their sexual feelings towards others. Many priests have secret relationships that they hide from their parish. Good Tidings is an organization set up by a woman and her husband, a former Catholic priest, to help priests who have fallen in love to decide whether to leave the priesthood. The organization has been contacted by almost 2000 women who were sexually involved