Churches have dominated the religious and social landscape for centuries. From the absolute power of the papacy in Medieval Times, the conflicts of the Protestant Reformation, and even our religious divides today. Today the power of the church is unraveling in their hands. The once powerful hand is now merely symbolic. The Information Age has led to a massive freeflow of information unprecedented in the church’s history. Churches should be become more transparent and adaptive because of the rise of the internet and sexual abuse scandals of priests. The Internet has led to the massive freeflow of information and a huge blow to the closed mindedness of organized religion. According to Valerie Tarico a psychologist and writer, “A traditional …show more content…
According to Peter Steinfels a columnist for the New York Times, “I suspect that many of the extraordinarily large percentage of priests (56 percent) with only one allegation against them in church records were in fact guilty of one or several others that went unreported.” Many cases are likely not reported, whether the victim is too afraid to speak out against the large clergy body. “Between 1950 and 2002,” states Steinfels, “more than 4 percent of the Catholic priests and deacons in ministry were the objects of allegations of sexually abusing minors that church officials considered substantiated.” When you think about the about immense amount of people in the Catholic clergy, the number is substantial. This doesn’t even include those that church officials did not think of as substantial. “Clerical secrecy was second nature and avoiding scandal the first priority.” according to Steinfels, “Bishops dragged their feet even after being alerted to the problem in 1985.” The clergy have prioritized covering up the truth and protecting their allies rather than delivering justice. The closed door operations of the church are outdated. Today is a time of more openness and transparency. The church is too worried about protecting their members over getting justice and protecting the youth. The church can drag its feet. Hide the truth. But no one can do anything otherwise because of the church’s influence to stop
The contemporary Church is so often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch-supporter of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the presence of the Church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the Church's silent and often vocal sanction of things as they are.”
The size of the Christian megachurch is manifested in its title, which demonstrates that this typically prodigious and resplendent edifice sustains a weekly attendance of at least two thousand congregants; and that the majority of the mega churches are of the Protestant persuasion, of which its doctrine is basically the antithesis of Catholicism’s authoritarian structures, as well as the other major religions of Islam, Hinduism and Old Testament Judaism (The Hartford Seminary). Over the years, there has not only been an enormous emergence of mega churches here in the US, but also of many disparaging remarks from the public, comedians, books and the news media, about this institution. Some assert that these types of churches are not really concerned about the souls of the people, and they are prodigious only because of the avarice, a misrepresentation of Jesus Christ and a manipulation of the hearts of people, in conjunction with a gross negligence of spiritual leadership. The truth is, that in some instances there is malfeasance, but in others, the church is led by the Spirit of God with vigor and integrity.
At the beginning of the sixteenth century church theologian, Martin Luther, wrote the 95 Theses questioning the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church. In this essay I will discuss: the practices of the Roman Catholic Church Martin Luther wanted to reform, what Martin’s specific criticism of the pope was, and the current practices Pope Francis I is interested in refining in the Roman Catholic Church today.
Roles of the Catholic Church in Western civilization has been scrambled with the times past and development of Western society. Regardless of the fact that the West is no longer entirely Catholic, the Catholic tradition is still strong in Western countries. The church has been a very important foundation of public facilities like schooling, Western art, culture and philosophy; and influential player in religion. In many ways it has wanted to have an impact on Western approaches to pros and cons in numerous areas. It has over many periods of time, spread the teachings of Jesus within the Western World and remains a foundation of continuousness connecting recent Western culture to old Western culture.-
Are we bothered by the fact that in the current social climate, the rights of convicted pedophiles are routinely violated and nobody cares. Rules of evidence are stretched, and terms of punishment are increased. The danger of this precedent is impossible to ignore.
The Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved February 21, 2010 from New Advent: http://www.newadvent.org
There are several issues at play as this scandal continues. In this paper I hope to look at the actual scandals involving retired priest Paul Shanley and defrocked priest John Geoghan. These two men served as priests in the Boston community for over 20 years under the leadership of three different Cardinals. Throughout their years of service they had sexual relationships with males ranging from the age of 4 to 26. Only within the past year were legal steps taken against them. John Geoghan was tried and convicted and Paul Shanley’s case is still under investigation.
In over a period of years, an increasing amount of attention has been shed to the problem of child sexual abuse in the church. While churches, and other facilities which care for children, have had their experience of this problem, most attention has been brought to the abuse in the Catholic Church. Around the world, case after case has been seen in the press of clergy and members of religious orders being charged with sex offenses against children. Some of these cases go back decades. The issue has certainly brought attention around the world. The reason why, is the question that ponders in everyone mind.
Are Christians not allowed to hang out with people who do not believe in God? God tells Christians we need to be leaders and to be disciples to all nations (Matthew 28:19). God tells us to be fishers of men. This means we cannot disregard anyone including the nonbelievers in this world. God uses anyone in our life to help us learn a lesson and learn new things. This means even unbelievers, not just believers. If Christians just hung out with Christians no one else would get saved. The nonbelievers would not be reached and God wants us to bring nonbelievers to Him. So Christians should hang out and talk to nonbelievers to help the Kingdom of God grow and be in all nations (Matthew 28:19). And being friends with non-believers, we are able to pray for them and actually get to know them and help them (James
The Roman Catholic Church had complete influence over the lives of everyone in medieval society, including their beliefs and values. The Church’s fame in power and wealth had provided them with the ability to make their own laws and follow their own social hierarchy. With strong political strength in hand, the Church could even determine holidays and festivals. It gained significant force in the arts, education, religion, politics as well as their capability to alter the feudal structure through their wealth and power. The Church was organised into a hierarchical system that sustained the Church’s stability and control over the people and lower clergy, by organising them into different groups.
Throughout this paper, we will look into the disappointing church corruption of the middle ages, more specifically, the unbiblical practices, serious problems, hypocritical popes, and finally, the people trying to fight the corruption!
The United States is a country that punishes severely sex offenders regardless who you are or how young you are. This slogan that says “no one is above the lord” is very true and applicable in the united. But with the case of Bill Cosby, the women who came out and claimed that they were raped or sexually assaulted waited for a long time before bringing the case to court. Therefore, their memory cannot keep up with the incident exactly how it happened which creates inconsistency in their statement. For example, Andrea Constand who said to the police that the incident took place at his house in the month of March and later said it happened approximately in January 2004 (Lounsberry,1).This inconsistency shows that there is some made up story and the jury will not take you by your word.
Have you ever considered the topic of Christianity in public schools? Do have have an opinion on it? If you do, you may be interested in this essay. You will read about my opinion on Christianity in public schools and why I think students should express it more often, and how that could benefit public schools today. There are many point of views of this, some schools aren’t even allowed to say the pledge of allegiance in schools anymore because of the ‘Under God’ part.
...Catholic Church authorities had known about the many abuse cases, but sought to deal with the many problems they presented by moving the
Catholic parishioners felt betrayed; the thought that hundreds of children could have been protected from abuse infuriated many Americans and brought the topic to the forefront of the national conversation for years. Overall, clerical sexual abuse of children is a problem because it is widespread, affects a large, vulnerable population, and can be