No offence intended
The Roman Catholic Church has taken a battering in recent months, particularly after priests in the Irish Republic were found to have been involved in child sexual abuse over many years. And not just in Ireland either. So it will not come as a major surprise that the authority of the Church has suffered a decline.
However, rather than indulging in a spot of introspection and recognising that there is some truth in the phrase "mea culpa", the Vatican has decided that investigators need to be sent to Ireland to reassert its authority and reestablish the standing of the Church in everyday life. Liberalism is to be stamped out at every cost. See this article in the Irish Times.
In 1984, I was invited to a lecture by some followers of the strict Jesuite order Opus Dei, with the object of converting me to Roman Catholicism. It managed to convince me that Roman Catholicism is not for me. I cannot accept that the Pope is infallible, for a start. He is a man, very much like every other of the 3 billion males of the species. As are each and everyone of his priests, as shown with the child sex abuse scandals - I condemn the sexual abuse of children in the strongest possible terms by the way. I feel that Pope Benedict XVI has made a serious error of judgment in slapping down on "liberals", rather than acknowledging that the Church made mistakes and working towards change.
Not being prepared to embrace change places the Vatican in the same league as the dinosaurs. Heading headlong for extinction.
All religion is based on human fallibility and as such I cannot believe a word it says.
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