I am a good and loyal Roman Catholic.  I believe all of the tenets of the Apostles' Creed and of the Nicene Creed.  I attend Mass every Sunday and on Holy Days and learn from the weekly readings taken from the Old Testament, the New Testament, the Letters of St. Paul, the Acts of the Apostles and other sources.  I have no problem understanding and accepting the central role of God through Jesus Christ in the entire workings of human life...and of my life.  And I try to keep up to date with "The World Seen From Rome". through the Internet publication Zenit (www.zenit.org), for which a link is provided on this web-site. 

But Church Megisterial pronouncements and commentary emanating from the Vatican are presented in such legalistic terms, particularly with reference to Canon Law, that they might just as well be written in Latin for whatever benefit can be derived by the Laity...The Body of the Church.    And they often "bloviate". 

One very recent example deals with "fifty years after the opening of the Second Vatican Council", on which so many of us placed so much hope.  (Cardinal Ouellet At International Theology Symposium, ZE12060702 - June 7, 2012).  As stated by the Cardinal: "Blessed John XXlll set two main goals for the Council: to bring the presentation of the Church's doctrine up to date; and to promote the unity of Christians".  As reflected only vaguely and tangentially in this opus, the major work of Vatican ll was immediately and has been persistently attacked and undermined by the "conservative" majority of the Hierarchy of the Church.  And why and how could a Church that calls itself "catholic and universal" and founded on immutable principles have  'conservative" and "liberal" components.  Shouldn't they all be one?  As a result of this situation, I would maintain that neither of the "two main goals" described above have been achieved. 

For the Hierarchy continues to give short shrift to the Laity.  It gives only lip service to grass-roots efforts of good Catholics in their attempts to inform the Hierarchy of their questions, their problems and their needs.  "Pray, Pay and Obey". 

And it continues to hold to teachings whose original foundations have crumbled under the weight of new knowledge.  How long did it take for the Church to "forgive" Galileo?  One example is the use of contraception by committed and sacramentally married couples in their expression of their sexuality between them and in the discharge of their responsibility regarding the number and spacing of their children.  Thus, the "Unitive Principle" should support the unity of the married couple in their dedication to each and in the discharge of their familial responsibilities...and not insist on the tortured teaching that any sexual act between them can only rightly be for procreative intent.  And what is the intent of those who practice "Natural Family Planning", based upon the same understanding of the biology of procreation the underlies means of "contraception"...excluding of course abortifacients.  One unintended consequence of these unnecessary self-inflicted wounds has been the alienation and even loss of very good Catholics from attention to the Church.  Another has been that the frequent conflation between contraception and abortion - always and in all circumstances an abomination - has resulted in a common acceptance of abortion.  What a Shame!

As we have had demonstrated to us and to the world all too many times in recent decades: GOD IS DIVINE.  THE CHURCH HIERARCHY IS HUMAN. 

Please remember this...and search with the Body of the Church for God's Intent.

GS