The Silliest Aspect of Catholicism

Originally posted by reader1107
Some did, and became part of the American Catholic movement. Others are trying to work within the system. Others are seriously considering simply walking away.

Do American Catholics have female priests and male nuns?

Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
Do American Catholics have female priests and male nuns?

I know they have married priests. I know that women have been ordained priests somewhere, but I think that was Belgium or something. I do have a vague recollection of women being ordained here (US) as well. There are male brothers in religious orders -- a true equivalent of female sisters in religious orders. They aren't priests.

Originally posted by reader1107
I know they have married priests. I know that women have been ordained priests somewhere, but I think that was Belgium or something. I do have a vague recollection of women being ordained here (US) as well. There are male brothers in religious orders -- a true equivalent of female sisters in religious orders. They aren't priests.

Praise Jesus.

Would a member of the American Catholic laity or clergy be denied Holy Communion in a Roman Catholic church in virtue of being American Catholic?

Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
Praise Jesus.

Would a member of the American Catholic laity or clergy be denied Holy Communion in a Roman Catholic church in virtue of being American Catholic?

Quite possibly. One of the teachers at my Catholic school -- her husband is an American Catholic priest. As far as I know ... she doesn't take communion because they don't want her to. But if she went to a Catholic church where she was unknown, such as for a wedding or funeral, I think she would go up and receive communion.

A family member of mine belonged to a Lutheran church and their church bulletin in the pew was very clear that it is God who does or doesn't call you to receive communion and if you feel called, then go up and receive on communion Sundays. I did so every time I went to church with them. In the Catholic church, the missalette makes equally clear that if you're not Catholic, stay put. They write that it's a form of unity and if you belong to a different faith you're not united yet, etc.

Originally posted by Conrau K
7) I personally do not accept the encyclical, "huminae vitae" and will agree that its stipulation of the impermissability of contraception constitutes one of the most problematic parts of Catholic morality. I don't think I am in a minority of Catholics either.

I do not believe that being Roman Catholic means that you can elect to reject an encyclical. That
is, you cannot simultaneously be a Roman Catholic and, knowing the content of said encyclical,
utilize contraception. To be Roman Catholic is to accept the encyclical (and others, of course).

Otherwise, you are explicitly denying the authority of the Magesterium and the authority of the Pope
to express, on behalf of God, what is and is not moral.

And, if you can do it on but a single item within the corpus of moral pronouncements, it undermines
any claim of authority that you might ascribe to the Church; that is, if you can reject this particular
tenet, then why would you consider it incongruous for another so-called Roman Catholic to clamor
for female priests, gay marriage, abortions, or any other matter upon which Rome has expressed a
moral opinion?

Nemesio

Originally posted by reader1107
I know they have married priests. I know that women have been ordained priests somewhere, but I think that was Belgium or something. I do have a vague recollection of women being ordained here (US) as well. There are male brothers in religious orders -- a true equivalent of female sisters in religious orders. They aren't priests.

There were a number (four?) of women who were ordained by a female bishop, who herself was
ordained by some renegade Roman Catholic bishop, right here in Pittsburgh (this past summer, I
believe). Naturally, the Church has pronounced these ordinations as invalid in a number of ways.

Nemesio

Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
What do you think it is?

7) Impermissibility of contraception

Only artificial means of contraception are not allowed. Birth control on the basis of the woman's monthly infertile period is perfectly acceptable.

Originally posted by DoctorScribbles

Seeing that you think that the doctrine of infallibility entitles the pope to declare that women cannot be priests because Jesus chose all non-women, while also believing that it is possible to have Chinese priests even though Jesus chose all non-Chinese, I think it is you who is incoherent.

Sometimes ignorance can be so funny ..... 😵

Originally posted by ivanhoe
Only artificial means of contraception are not allowed. Birth control on the basis of the woman's monthly infertile period is perfectly acceptable.

Help me understand this. Let's take the issue of cancer. While different from conception, it is a biological process at work. I don't think the Catholic church has any prohibitions against "artificial" treatments of cancer like chemotherapy or radiation. Perhaps I am comparing apples to pecans.

Originally posted by kirksey957
Help me understand this. Let's take the issue of cancer. While different from conception, it is a biological process at work. I don't think the Catholic church has any prohibitions against "artificial" treatments of cancer like chemotherapy or radiation. Perhaps I am comparing apples to pecans.

My understanding is that it comes from centuries of "sex is evil unless it includes the possibility of children." I had a nun once say to me (because she was so furious about it) that in the heirarchy of sins, then, a man raping a woman was a lesser sin than two men or two women who loved each other having sex because the former included the possibility of a pregnancy!

Originally posted by reader1107
My understanding is that it comes from centuries of "sex is evil unless it includes the possibility of children." I had a nun once say to me (because she was so furious about it) that in the heirarchy of sins, then, a man raping a woman was a lesser sin than two men or two women who loved each other having sex because the former included the possibility of a pregnancy!

Say a child is artificially conceived, do they make a conscious decision to change their view of that after the child is born or conceived. I'm sure they don't like the "method", but is there some understanding that this is still a child of God no matter how the method brought this about?

Originally posted by DoctorScribbles
You don't understand incoherence.

Seeing that you think that the doctrine of infallibility entitles the pope to declare that women cannot be priests because Jesus chose all non-women, while also believing that it is possible to have Chinese priests even though Jesus chose all non-Chinese, I think it is you who is incoherent.

That is not the only reason. There is the fact that the Church fathers Augustine, Epiphanius, Hippolytus Irenaeus andTertullian, also repudiated female ordination. Catholics also understand the Eucharist as a nuptial mystery that would conflict with a female priest.

Originally posted by no1marauder
You can't hold to papal infallibility and reject ex cathedra papal pronouncements like those regarding the impermissibility of contraception. You are undoubtedly correct that most lay Catholics (at least in "Western" countries) reject 7, but they also reject 1.

It is ambiguous as to whether this teaching constitutes an ex cathedra. Paul VI left a huge inconsistency when he allowed the papal commission to continue review of the teaching after he had proclaimed it. I would think that if he taught it to be infallible he would cease discussion over it.

Originally posted by Conrau K
That is not the only reason. There is the fact that the Church fathers Augustine, Epiphanius, Hippolytus Irenaeus andTertullian, also repudiated female ordination. Catholics also understand the Eucharist as a nuptial mystery that would conflict with a female priest.

Say some more. What do you mean it is a nuptial mystery?

Originally posted by reader1107
That is Australia. In the US, women religious only go to a university for theology if that is the wishes of their community. Formation is determined by the community. They may take courses with someone within the community. They may also only take those university courses necessary for a degree in their field of work and not necessarily theology. The ...[text shortened]... ey don't go to university elsewhere. http://consortium.villanova.edu/statements/seminaries.htm

As I stated before, I wasn't aware of this. It has always been my assumption that women receive the same education as men. This is at least true in my country. I wonder why America is different.