The Philadelphia RC priest scandal.

[dudley]

Do you think there will now be some Roman Catholics who will leave that church after the latest scandals in Philadelphia? . I can not imagine how they would not begin to question the validity of the rc priesthood and the church itself.

Quotes from the news concerning the latest RC priest sex abuse priest scandal .

The possibility that even one predatory priest, not to mention three dozen, might still be serving in parishes — “on duty in the archdiocese today, with open access to new young prey,” as the grand jury put it — has unnerved many Roman Catholics here and sent the church reeling in the latest and one of the most damning episodes in the American church since it became engulfed in the sexual abuse scandal nearly a decade ago.

Some parishioners say they feel discouraged and are caught in a wave of anxiety, even as they continue to attend Mass.

“It’s a tough day to be a faith-filled Catholic,” Maria Shultz, 43, a secretary at Immaculata University, said after Mass last weekend at St. Joseph’s Church in suburban Downingtown.

I believe these latest sex scandal by 21 priests in Philadelphia demonstrate the immoral nature of the notion of Priest and celibacy in the Roman catholic church..

I am surprised that more Catholics have not begun to question Roman Catholicism and come out of the Romish religion. What do you think is the reason they stay? Or do you think this time many or at some Roman Catholics will leave the rc church for protestant churches as a result.?

 

[Notthemama1984]

What do you think is the reason they stay?

Many believe that they will go to Hell without the RC church.

 

[Berean]

One copy of that same article included a link by a person who commented on the article. Going to the site, BishopAccountability.org, I was astounded to see the numbers of priests, nuns, and religious brothers who are on the various diocesan lists.

Priest Search

Check out the main page too. BishopAccountability.org - Documenting the Catholic Sexual Abuse and Financial Crisis - Data on bishops, priests, brothers, nuns, Lawrence Murphy, Pope Benedict, Ratzinger, Bertone, CDF, Brendan Smyth, Ireland

 

[dudley]

Out of curiosity I typed in the following question on Google this evening and received this revealing feed back...

How many Catholics leave the church because of the Priest sex abuse scandal?

Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life
27% - Clergy Sexual Abuse and the Catholic Church
While nearly a quarter of the U.S. identifies as Catholic (23.9%) according to the 2007 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, the Catholic Church has lost more members over the past few decades than any other major religion. Well before recent allegations of the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests and their coverup by the Catholic Church, roughly a quarter (27%) of former Catholics who no longer identify with a religion cited clergy sexual abuse scandals as a reason for leaving the Church. Among former Catholics who now identify as Protestant, 21% say the sexual abuse scandals were a reason for leaving the Catholic Church.

 

[JennyG]

I may be wrong but I always understood that one problem with the adding up of catholics was that you can only with great difficulty stop being counted as one if you ever were one.

 

[Notthemama1984]

I had a RC priest tell me once that a Catholic can never leave the church, rather the church leaves the member. He was saying this as a contrast to Protestants who can be Baptist one week, Lutheran the next, Presbyterian the next, and so on.

 

[Pilgrim]

A lot of Catholics, current and former, are so convinced that the Roman church is THE Christian church that the only option for them is Catholic or nothing.

To answer the priest that Boliver mentions, there are plenty of Catholics that for all practical purposes are RC one week and Baptist the next, or in some cases, in the same week!

 

[JennyG]

I had a RC priest tell me once that a Catholic can never leave the church, rather the church leaves the member.

yes - I've heard it said that while Protestant and other churches calculating their membership count those who actually show up in the pews,... the RCs do what you might call a blanket count

 

[Notthemama1984]

To answer the priest that Boliver mentions, there are plenty of Catholics that for all practical purposes are RC one week and Baptist the next, or in some cases, in the same week!

Oh I totally agree. The CC thinks differently and that way they can keep their numbers up.

 

[dudley]

I had a RC priest tell me once that a Catholic can never leave the church, rather the church leaves the member. He was saying this as a contrast to Protestants who can be Baptist one week, Lutheran the next, Presbyterian the next, and so on.

The above statement is exactly why I openly renounced the Roman catholic church, her pope and all her teachings that run contrary to the Gospel when I became a Protestant and a Presbyterian.

I was born again the day I became a Presbyterian, and I proclaim myself free of popery and all the rubbish of the Romish religion. I believe in a Heavenly Father who loves me and wants me to be free to live by His will but because I made a free choice after receiving his grace. I believe I am saved by placing my faith in Jesus Christ alone.

The catholic church as you stated above attempts to control one. In all his life….accordingly that same priest who would say I am still a Roman catholic would tell you that I was in grave sin for leaving the Roman catholic church. I am in sin according to Roman Catholicism every time I receive communion in a Protestant or Presbyterian church…they also would say I am a catholic who is excommunicated when I became a Protestant. The last statement is the only one I will agree with I am excommunicated from the Roman catholic church. I want to be excommunicated form a church which is apostate and is in its very nature ant- Christ. I proclaim myself a Protestant only now and a Presbyterian .I will be until I die. I am now in the true church Jesus founded , the Reformed Protestant faith. Our faith is one that sets you free , the Roman faith is one that places you in bondage. The Presbyterian church is there to guide and assist me not to control me as the RC church would attempt to. I have said in other papers ‘It took courage for me to sign up as a Protestant” that is partly what I meant when I made the statement……the RC church condemns me for this move…..I condemn and renounce her again…I am thankful to God I am now a Presbyterian. I am proud to be a Protestant.