Volume 1: About

page 5:

The Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church (rcc) is the worlds largest and oldest embodiment of Christianity. This site owes its existence to the rcc. I was born within it, became dissatisfied with it, and am now intent in reforming it. Without the education, pain and inspiration it gave me, these pages would not exist.

The distinction between the rcc and Christianity in general developed slowly, becoming entrenched in the period of the Reformation and Counter Reformation (1517-1563). In 1517 Martin Luther published 95 theses, concerning errors and abuses in the Roman Church. Luther

The Catholic Church responded to Luther and the other Protestants through the Council of Trent (1545-1563). Trent produced a systematic statement of Catholic belief and eliminated much corruption within the church. The work of the Council was summarized for the faithful in the Catechism of Trent. Trent

The Council of Trent tended to harden Catholic belief and take a very negative attitude to some of the reformers' positions. The rift between the Catholic and Protestant Christian churches still exists.

The Reformers were not the only people to question the power of the rcc to impose belief. Like Christianity upon which it is built, the Catholic religion is based on a set of ancient miraculous and mysterious events that are far from the normal way of the Universe. The embryonic scientific approach to knowledge, based on the normal functioning of the Universe, emerged in the person of Galileo (1564-1642), whose relationship with the Church remains controversial. The growth of science and human independence continue to be a problem for the Church.

The Philosopher Emmanuel Kant (1724-1804) called the tendency to independent thought and action Enlightenment:

Enlightenment is man's release from his self-incurred tutelage. Tutelage is man's inability to make use of his understanding without direction from another. Self-incurred is this tutelage when its cause lies not in lack of reason but in lack of resolution and courage to use it without direction from another. Sapere aude! [Dare to think!] "Have courage to use your own reason!"- that is the motto of enlightenment. (from "Was ist Äufklarung?") Brainard.

In all but his scientific experience, Galileo was a faithful Catholic, and the questions he raised about the solar system are of very minor theological importance. The theory of evolution developed by Darwin and Wallace cut much deeper into the foundation of Catholic (and Christian) belief: the divine creation of humanity and the world. Darwin, Jones.

The first Vatican Council (1869-70) confronted the growing tendencies to intellectual and political independence. It is perhaps best remembered for its definition of Papal Infallibility:

We teach and define that it is a dogma divinely revealed: that the Roman Pontiff, when he speaks ex cathedra, that is, when in discharge of the office of Pastor and Doctor of all Christians, by virtue of his supreme Apostolic authority he defines a doctrine regarding faith or morals to be held by the Universal Church, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, is possessed of the infallibility with which the divine Redeemer willed that His Church should be endowed for defining doctrine regarding faith or morals: and that therefore such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are irreformable of themselves, and not from the consent of the Church.

But if any one - which may God avert - presume to contradict this our definition: let him be anathema. Manning, at 240

The Church continued to oppose the scientific and political development of humanity for the first half of the twentieth century, but manifested a certain softening through the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) called by Pope John XXIII. Since that Council, and despite increasing pressure from the faithful, the rcc has remained resolutely conservative.

The chief conflicts between the Catholic Church and its human environment seem to lie in the following areas:

Divine right: As well as claiming infallibility, the Pope enjoys supreme, full, immediate and universal ordinary power in the Church, which he can always freely exercise. Such power has led the Church to ignore human rights. Not only has it been responsible for widespread sexual abuse of children, it has frequently attempted to pervert the course of justice to hide these crimes. This evil has cost the Church not only its claim to moral and ethical superiority in the human community, but civil claims against the Church continue to absorb a large fraction of the funds donated by the faithful for its upkeep. Russel Shorto: The Irish Affliction

The distinction between matter and spirit: The rcc depends for its livelihood on a claimed monopoly on communication with a God. Part of the cosmology that goes with this claim is that human spirits are specially created by God and placed in each child during gestation. Neither we nor the Church are of this world, but in some way alien to it.

Deprecation of the World: The Church holds that 'this life' is a period of testing in a fallen world to determine who is worthy of salvation. As a result of the murder of Jesus, God will repair the damage caused by original sin, the blessed will enjoy an eternal life of the blissful vision of God, the dammed an eternity of suffering in Hell. There is no evidence for any of this scenario.

Misunderstanding of pain: In a similar vein, the Church holds both that pain is punishment for sin, and that endurance of pain, even self inflicted pain, is a source of merit. It overlooks the fact that pain is in general an error signal that enables us to diagnose and, ideally, treat errors, diseases, corruption and other malfunctions that impair our lives. Included here is the unnecessary pain caused by the false doctrines of the Church.

Absolutism: From a scientific point of view, the Catholic model of the world is an hypothesis, to be accepted or rejected on the evidence. From the Church's point of view, the fundamentals of its model are not negotiable, and anybody who chooses to disagree with them is ultimately a heretic and to be excommunicated from the Church. There is no room in the Church for the normal scientific evolution of our understanding of our place in the Universe.

Sexism: Within the Roman Catholic Church, the glass ceiling for women is practically at ground level; women are excluded from all positions of significant power and expected to play traditional subordinate roles. McGillion, John Paul II

Violence: In the Christian model God the Father oversees the death of His own Son, in order to placate himself for the 'original sin' committed by the first people he created. This story, which has origins shrouded in ancient mythology, places violence at the heart of human salvation. Since the Christian God is omnipotent, he could have dealt with original sin without the murder of his own son. We might divide Churches generally into those that will go as far as murder to get their own way, and those that hold life sacred. The Catholic Church, unfortunately, has a long history of killing unbelievers. Frazer

Monarchy: We now hold that all people are born free and equal. Social structures which give some people arbitrary control over others are deprecated. In their place we would like to see free and open associations of people whose resources, including power, are shared by all. The Catholic Church with its celibate, male, priestly hierarchy culminating in an absolute monarch is very far from this ideal.

Marketing and Quality: The Catholic Church believes it has a duty to induce everyone to hear and accept its version of the Gospel. This is a natural foreign policy for an imperialist organism whose size and power increases in proportion to its membership. But the modern world expects any corporation promoting itself in the marketplace to deliver value for value. People contributing to the sustenance of the Church and following its beliefs and practices need to be assured that they will indeed receive the eternal life promised to them. Vatican II: Ad Gentes: On the Missionary Activity of the Catholic Church, Lumen Gentium: Dogmatic Constitution on the Church

Having mulled over these difficulties for may years, it is time to do something about them. Starting again from the Christian message, how would one structure a modern church? How do we unite ourselves into an organism that effectively implements the injunction love God, love your neighbour.

The answer to this question is still remote, but it is time to become a player. I have entered the religion industry through The Theology Company Pty Ltd and hope to see the Company grow to the point where it can become a force in the public debate on theology and religion.

(revised 13 July 2014)

Copyright:

You may copy this material freely provided only that you quote fairly and provide a link (or reference) to your source.

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Further reading

Books

Click on the "Amazon" link below each book entry to see details of a book (and possibly buy it!)

Ad Gentes, in Walter M Abbott and Joseph Gallagher (translation editor): The Documents of Vatican II: Decree on the Church's Missionary Activity, Geoffrey Chapman 1972 'The pilgrim Church is missionary by her very nature. For it is from the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit that she takes her origin, in accordance with the decree of God the Father. (para 2) ... The specific purpose of this missionary activity is evangelisation and the planting of the Church among those people and groups where she has not yet taken root.' (para 6)  Amazon   back

Canon Law Society of America, Holy See, Code of Canon Law: Latin-English Edition, Canon Law Society of America 1984 Pope John Paul XXXIII announced his decision to reform the existing corpus of canonical legislation on 25 January 1959. Pope John Paul II ordered the promulgation of the revised Code of Canon law on the same day in 1983. The latin text is definitive. This English translation has been approved by the Canonical Affairs Committee of the [US] National Conference of Catholic Bishops in October 1983.  Amazon   back

Catholic Church, New Catholic Encyclopedia, Gale Group 2002   Amazon   back

Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church: Revised in accordance with the official Latin text promulgated by Pope John Paul II, United States Catholic Conference 2000 Jacket: "This second edition of the Cathechism of the Catholic Church has been revised in accordance with the official Latin text promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 1997. It has been enhanced by the addition of more than 100 pages which include ... An analytical index translated from the Latin text; A glossary of terms; The decree of promulgation of the official Latin text. The first new compendium of Catholic Doctrine in more than 400 years, the Catechism of the Catholic Church stands, in the words of Pope John Paul II, as "a sure norm for teaching the faith" and an 'authentic reference text"."  Amazon   back

Darwin, Charles, and Greg Suriano (editor), The Origin of Species, Gramercy 1998 Introduction: 'In considering the Origin of Species, it is quite conceivable that a naturalist, reflecting on the mutual affinities of organic beings, on their embryological relations, their geographical distribution, geological succession, and other such facts, might come to the conclusion that each species has not been independently created, but has descended, like varieties, from other species.'  Amazon   back

Denzinger, Henricus, and Adolphus Schoenmetzer, Enchiridion Symbolorum, Definitionum et Declarationum de Rebus Fidei et Morum, Herder 1963 Introduction: 'Dubium non est quin praeter s. Scripturam cuique theologo summe desiderandus sit etiam liber manualis quo contineantur edicta Magisterii ecclesiastici eaque saltem maioris momenti, et quo ope variorim indicum quaerenti aperiantur eorum materiae.' (3) 'There is no doubt that in addition to holy Scripture, every theologian also needs a handbook which contains at least the more important edicts of the Magisterium of the Church, indexed in a way which makes them easy to find.' back

Frazer, James, The Golden Bough: A Study in Magic and Religion, Penguin Books 1996 Preface: "The primary aim of this book is to explain the remarkable rule which regulated the succession of the priesthood of Diana at Aricia. ...' 'Such was the rule of the sanctuary. A candidate for the priesthood could only succeed to office by slaying the priest, and having slain him, he retained office till he himself was slain by a stronger or a craftier.' [p 1]   Amazon   back

Jones, Steve, Darwin's Ghost: The Origin of Species Updated, Random House 2000 An Historical Sketch: 'The Origin of Species is, without doubt, the book of the millennium. ... [This book] is, as far as is possible, an attempt to rewrite the Origin of Species. I use its plan, developing as it does from farms to fossils, from beehives to islands, as a framework, but my own Grand Facts ... are set firmly in the late twentieth century. Almost Like a Whale tries to read Charles Darwin's mind with the benefit of scientific hindsight and to show how the theory of evolution unites biology as his millenium draws to an end.' (xix)   Amazon   back

Lumen Gentium, in Walter M Abbott and Joseph Gallagher (translation editor) The Documents of Vatican II: Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Geoffrey Chapman 1972 'This sacred Synod turns its attention first to the Catholic faithful. Basing itself upon sacred Scripture and tradition, it teaches that the Church, now sojourning on earth as an exile, is necessary for salvation.' (para 14)  Amazon   back

Manning, Henry Edward, The Vatican Council and its Definitions: A Pastoral Letter to the Clergy, Excelsior Catholic Publishing House 1905 Latin original of quoted passage: '... docemus et divinitus revelatum dogma esse definimus; Romanum Pontificem, cum ex Cathedra loquitur, id est, cum omnium Christianorum Pastoris et Doctoris munere fungens, pro suprema sua Apostolica auctoritate, doctrinam de fide vel moribus ab universa Ecclesia tenendam definit, per assistentiam divinam, ipsi in beato Petro promissam, ea infallibilitate pollere, qua divinus Redemptor Ecclesiam suam in definienda docrtina de fide vel moribus instructam esse voluit; ideoque eiusmodi Romani Pontificis definitiones ex sese, non autum ex consensu Ecclesia irreformabiles esse. Si quis autem huic Nostrae definitioni contradicere, quod Deus avertat, praesumpserit; anathema sit.'back

Manning, Henry Edward, The Vatican Council and its Definitions: A Pastoral Letter to the Clergy, Excelsior Catholic Publishing House 1905 Latin original of quoted passage: '... docemus et divinitus revelatum dogma esse definimus; Romanum Pontificem, cum ex Cathedra loquitur, id est, cum omnium Christianorum Pastoris et Doctoris munere fungens, pro suprema sua Apostolica auctoritate, doctrinam de fide vel moribus ab universa Ecclesia tenendam definit, per assistentiam divinam, ipsi in beato Petro promissam, ea infallibilitate pollere, qua divinus Redemptor Ecclesiam suam in definienda docrtina de fide vel moribus instructam esse voluit; ideoque eiusmodi Romani Pontificis definitiones ex sese, non autum ex consensu Ecclesia irreformabiles esse. Si quis autem huic Nostrae definitioni contradicere, quod Deus avertat, praesumpserit; anathema sit.'back

Manning, Henry Edward, The Vatican Council and its Definitions: A Pastoral Letter to the Clergy, Excelsior Catholic Publishing House 1905 English translation of quoted passage: '... docemus et divinitus revelatum dogma esse definimus; Romanum Pontificem, cum ex Cathedra loquitur, id est, cum omnium Christianorum Pastoris et Doctoris munere fungens, pro suprema sua Apostolica auctoritate, doctrinam de fide vel moribus ab universa Ecclesia tenendam definit, per assistentiam divinam, ipsi in beato Petro promissam, ea infallibilitate pollere, qua divinus Redemptor Ecclesiam suam in definienda docrtina de fide vel moribus instructam esse voluit; ideoque eiusmodi Romani Pontificis definitiones ex sese, non autum ex consensu Ecclesia irreformabiles esse. Si quis autem huic Nostrae definitioni contradicere, quod Deus avertat, praesumpserit; anathema sit.'back

Schmemann, Alexander, "A response (to the decree on the Eastern Catholic Churches)" in Walter M Abbott and Joseph Gallagher (translation editor) The Documents of Vatican II: Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, pp 387-388, Geoffrey Chapman 1972 "There can be no doubt as to the positive, irenic and constructive intentions of the Decree as a whole. .. Certain important reservations, must, however, be made. First of all, the Decree seems to "take for granted" and to perpetuate the reduction of the differences between the East and the West to the sole area of rites, discipline and "way of life". But it is preceisly this reduction which forms the basis of "uniatism" that the Orthodox reject, for they affirm that the liturgical and canonical tradition of the East cannot be isolated from the sdoctrinal principles which it implies and which constitute the real issue between Roman Catholicim and Eastern Orthodoxy.'  Amazon   back

Papers

McGillion, Chris, "Blast at gays a move to tighten loose canons", Sydney Morning Herald, , 50 696, 26 February 2000, page 4. back

Steinfels, Margaret O'Brien, "Winners don't take all", Eureka Street, 2, 6, July 1992, page 21-25. 'The Catholic Church has lived with factions and disputes before. But, Margaret O'Brien Steinfels argues, it is time to dismantle some of the battle lines that have divided Catholics since Vatican II. back

Links

Age of Enlightenment - Wikipedia, Age of Enlightenment - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The Age of Enlightenment (or simply the Enlightenment or Age of Reason) was an elite cultural movement of intellectuals in 18th century Europe, that sought to mobilize the power of reason, in order to reform society and advance knowledge. It promoted science and intellectual interchange and opposed superstition[1], intolerance and abuses in church and state. Originating about 1650–1700, it was sparked by philosophers Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677), John Locke (1632–1704), Pierre Bayle (1647–1706), mathematician Isaac Newton (1643–1727) and historian Voltaire (1694–1778).' back

Answering the Question: What is Enlightenment? - Wikipedia, Answering the Question: What is Enlightenment? - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, '"Answering the Question: What Is Enlightenment?" (German: "Beantwortung der Frage: Was ist Aufklärung?") is the title of an 1784 essay by the philosopher Immanuel Kant. In the December 1784 publication of the Berlinische Monatsschrift (Berlin Monthly), edited by Friedrich Gedike and Johann Erich Biester, Kant replied to the question posed a year earlier by the Reverend Johann Friedrich Zöllner, who was also an official in the Prussian government.' back

Brainard, History Wiz: Kant, 'Immanuel Kant, 1724-1804, was a German philosopher, and was most well known for his work in metaphysics. He is responsible for the use of the word "enlightenment" to describe this age of reason, though the expression "age of enlightenment" didn't catch on until later. He also coined the motto of the enlightenment, "sapere aude" dare to think.' back

Catholic - Wikipedia, Catholic - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The word catholic (derived via Late Latin catholicus, from the Greek adjective καθολικός (katholikos), meaning "universal"[1][2]) comes from the Greek phrase καθόλου (kath'holou), meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words κατά meaning "about" and όλος meaning "whole". . . . It was first used to describe the Christian Church in the early 2nd century to emphasize its universal scope. In the context of Christian ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages.' back

Christus Rex, Christus Rex Catholic Site, Database of Catholic resources back

Council of Trent | Catechism, The Catechism of the Council of Trent, 'CATECHISM OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT FOR PARISH PRIESTS Issued by order of Pope Pius V INTRODUCTORY The Necessity Of Religious Instruction Such is the nature of the human mind and intellect that, although by means of diligent and laborious inquiry it has of itself investigated and discovered many other things pertaining to a knowledge of divine truths; yet guided by its natural lights it never could have known or perceived most of those things by which is attained eternal salvation, the principal end of man's creation and formation to the image and likeness of God. back

Crusades - Wikipedia, Crusades - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The Crusades were a series of intermittent military campaigns in the years from 1096 to 1487, sanctioned by various Popes. In 1095 the Byzantine Emperor, Alexios I, sent an ambassador to Pope Urban II requesting military support in the Byzantines' conflict with the westward migrating Turks in Anatolia.[1] The Pope responded by calling Catholics to join what later became known as the First Crusade. One of Urban's stated aims was to guarantee pilgrims access to the holy sites in the Holy Land that were under Muslim control while his wider strategy was to reunite the Eastern and Western branches of Christendom, divided after their split in 1054, and establish himself as head of the united Church. This initiated a complex 200-year struggle in the region.' back

Daniel J Wakin, New Pope Must Have 'Zero Tolerance' for Sex Abuse, U.S. Cardinal Says, 'The statement by Cardinal Francis George, the archbishop of Chicago, was a rare mention of the scandal in the context of discussing “papability” — the qualities and attributes desired by the cardinals in the man who will succeed the pope emeritus, Benedict XVI, who relinquished the position on Thursday. back

Galileo affair - Wikipedia, Galileo affair - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The Galileo affair was a sequence of events, beginning around 1610, during which Galileo Galilei came into conflict with both the Catholic Church, for his support of Copernican astronomy, and secular philosophers, for his criticism of Aristotelianism.' back

Genesis, The Book of Genesis, 'Genesis is the first book of the Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy), the first section of the Jewish and the Christian Scriptures. Its title in English, “Genesis,” comes from the Greek of Gn 2:4, literally, “the book of the generation (genesis) of the heavens and earth.” Its title in the Jewish Scriptures is the opening Hebrew word, Bereshit, “in the beginning.”' back

Holy See - Vatican II, The Holy See - Archive - Documents of the II Vatican Council, An archive of the documents of the second Vatican Council in Byelorussian, Chinese, Czech, English, French, German, Hungarian, Italian, Latin, Portuguese, Spanish and Swahili back

John Paul II, Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, 22 May 1994, '4. Although the teaching that priestly ordination is to be reserved to men alone has been preserved by the constant and universal Tradition of the Church and firmly taught by the Magisterium in its more recent documents, at the present time in some places it is nonetheless considered still open to debate, or the Church's judgment that women are not to be admitted to ordination is considered to have a merely disciplinary force. Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church's divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful.' back

John Paul II, Ordinatio sacerdotalis: On reserving priestly ordination to men alone, '. . . in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church's divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32) I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful.' back

K Knight, New Advent Catholic Site, Database of Catholic resources back

Lumen Gentium, Lumen Gentium, Vatican II Dogmatic Constitution on the Church solemnly promulgated by His Holiness Pope John Paul VI on November 21, 1964. back

Luther, The Project Gutenberg EBook of Martin Luther's 95 Theses, 'Disputation of Doctor Martin Luther on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences by Dr. Martin Luther, 1517 Published in: Works of Martin Luther Adolph Spaeth, L.D. Reed, Henry Eyster Jacobs, et Al., Trans. & Eds. (Philadelphia: A. J. Holman Company, 1915), Vol. 1, pp. 29-38. back

National Catholic Reporter, National Catholic Reporter, 'Established in 1964, the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) began as a newspaper and is now a print and Web news source that stands as one of the few independent journalistic outlets for Catholics and others who struggle with the complex moral and societal issues of the day.' back

Osservatore Romano, Osservatore Romano , The official Vatican newspaper back

Pope Paul VI, Inter Insigniores: On the question of admission of women to the ministerial priesthood, '. . . in execution of a mandate received from the Holy Father and echoing the declaration which he himself made in his letter of 30 November 1975, the Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith judges it necessary to recall that the Church, in fidelity to the example of the Lord, does not consider herself authorized to admit women to priestly ordination.' back

Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Encyclopaedia: The Church, Catholic Encyclopaedia article on the Catholic Church back

Roman Catholic Church, Catholic Encyclopaedia, Online encyclopaedia of Catholic doctrine back

Russel Shorto, The Irish Affliction, 'Of the various crises the Catholic Church is facing around the world, the central one — wave after wave of accounts of systemic sexual abuse of children by priests and other church figures — has affected Ireland more strikingly than anywhere else. And no place has reacted so aggressively. The Irish responded to the publication in 2009 of two lengthy, damning reports — detailing thousands of cases of rape, sexual molestation and lurid beatings, spanning Ireland’s entire history as an independent country, and the efforts of church officials to protect the abusers rather than the victims — with anger, disgust, vocal assaults on priests in public and demands that the government and society disentangle themselves from the church.' back

The Holy See, The Holy See, The Vatican official site back

The Ninety-Five Theses - Wikipedia, The Ninety-Five Theses - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences (Latin: Disputatio pro declaratione virtutis indulgentiarum), commonly known as The Ninety-Five Theses, was written by Martin Luther, 1517 and is widely regarded as the primary catalyst for the Protestant Reformation. The disputation protests against clerical abuses, especially the sale of indulgences.' back

Vatican I, Pope Pius X: Pastor Aeternus, Chapter IV: On the infallibility of the Roman Pontiff . . . 9. Therefore, faithfully adhering to the tradition received from the beginning of the Christian faith, to the glory of God our savior, for the exaltation of the Catholic religion and for the salvation of the Christian people, with the approval of the Sacred Council, we teach and define as a divinely revealed dogma that when the Roman Pontiff speaks EX CATHEDRA, that is, when, in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole Church, he possesses, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, that infallibility which the divine Redeemer willed his Church to enjoy in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals. Therefore, such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are of themselves, and not by the consent of the Church, irreformable. So then, should anyone, which God forbid, have the temerity to reject this definition of ours: let him be anathema. back

Vatican II, Ad Gentes, Decree on the Missionary Activity of the Catholic Church back

Zenit Newsagency, Zenit Newsagency, 'ZENIT is an International News Agency. Our mission is to provide objective coverage of events, documents and issues emanating from or concerning the Catholic Church.' back