Pope: Priest abuse came as 'a shock'
Pope hasn't done enough to stop abuse, British say
Why I oppose the pope's visit
Our moral code is out of date
These articles are beating the usual drumbeat of how organized religion is bad, the Pope is out of touch and intolerant and the Catholic Church is evil. Blah, blah, blah. We are living in a world were the Pope can't even sneeze without someone attacking his every action, this includes some Catholics. But what I found most interesting about England recently was this article:
Catholic Marriages Plummet in Britain
According to this article, Catholic marriages in Britain have declined dramatically over the past three decades. A Catholic priest in London made some interesting observations about this decline:
Fr. Timothy Finigan, a parish priest in the London diocese of Southwark and founder of the Association of Priests for the Gospel of Life, told LifeSiteNews.com that in general Catholics of Britain have followed the trend in the secular world of rejecting marriage.
“Sadly, Catholics who are not well catechised tend to follow the prevailing culture.”
“In the UK, marriage is regarded by many as risky because of the possibility of divorce,” he said. “They have not been helped to understand that non-marital relationship are far more likely to break up.”
He also pointed to a deeper cause, saying that men in particular are unwilling to commit to a permanent relationship. They suffer from “a mistaken belief that commitment involves predicting the future instead of making a promise whatever the future holds.”There is a connection here between the reaction to the Pope's trip and the plummeting marriage rates. People are are forgetting what it means to be real men and women. In Britain and Europe, as well has here in the U.S., people are being brainwashed by a hedonistic culture that tells them it is normal and good to avoid commitments and true virtues such as loyalty, honor, humility, and self sacrifice. Instead they are acting like selfish spoiled little children whose only goal is their personal pleasure and entertainment. They choose cohabitation and contraception over marriage and children because it allows them to selfishly focus only on themselves.
The Pope and the Catholic Church have become a target to these petulant "children" because it dares to point out the moral problems with their lifestyles. They will use things like the sex-abuse scandal and attack with exaggerations and false accusations to undermine the credibility of the Pope and the Church. As evidenced with the articles above (and countless others you could find on Google) the media is virulently anti-Catholic for the sole reason that it wants to silence the Church on matters of morals and ethics.
No selfish child likes to be told of the error of their ways, it only makes them angry. It is no different for these vocal critics of the Church. They are furious because the Pope has dared to speak out against condoms and other contraception and promoted abstinence until marriage. They can't tolerate it when the Pope has preached about the sanctity of life and the evils of abortion and euthanasia. They call the Pope bigoted and hateful because he dares to defend the holiness of traditional marriage and condemns same-sex relationships as an intrinsic evil. Along with false accusations of abuse cover-up by the pope, groups in England have branded Benedict as sexist and controlling as they call for women's ordination and more power for the laity in the Church.
It should come as a surprise to no one that this hedonistic society and its blind followers would lash out so strongly at the Pope and the Catholic Church. They do not what to be reminded that they are wrong and their lifestyles are unhealthy and will lead to their destruction. It is easier for them to attack than to embrace the truth. About two weeks ago, an advisor to the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster England made the following remarks:
Advisor to Catholic bishops says Britain is a 'hedonistic wasteland'
The same can be easily said for the rest of Europe and the United States. I believe this statement is very accurate. Our society is becoming a hedonistic wasteland as evidenced by declining marriage and birth rates. However, the outrage towards these words by the British was so great that even some of the Catholic Hierarchy in England refused to stand behind this advisor. The only way this will change is if strong men and women stand shoulder to shoulder with the Pope and defend the truth that is our Catholic faith. We are in a war where the Christian culture of life is under attack by a hedonistic culture of death. It is up to us what side we will stand on.
"If it does not please you to serve the LORD, decide today whom you will serve, the gods your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose country you are dwelling. As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD." - Joshua 24:15
Please pray for Pope Benedict XVI during his visit to England. Pray that his words and example will touch the hardened hearts of his critics.
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