Seth wrote:The Catholic Church ain't a democracy. It's dogma is, according to those in charge, dictated by God. So until God comes along and amends his rules for being a member of the church, those in charge are perfectly justified in sticking with what the rules have been for 2000 years.
Seth wrote:Therefore, a Bishop who doesn't believe in church doctrine cannot be a Bishop in the church.
Behold the Seth in full bloom. Looks like you need to be corrected on a couple more of your flights of fancy. Celibacy is not a doctrine, let alone a 2000 year old one. Look at that:
"1 This is a faithful saying: If a man desires the position of a bishop,[a] he desires a good work. 2
A bishop then must be blameless,
the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; 3 not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; 4 one who rules his own house well,
having his children in submission with all reverence 5 (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?)" - I Timothy 3:1-5
From the
Wikipedia: "The earliest textual evidence of the forbidding of marriage to clerics and the duty of those already married to abstain from sexual contact with their wives is in the fourth-century decrees of the Council of Elvira and the later Council of Carthage." circa 305 and 390 respectively.
From the
Wikipedia again: "
Because the rule of celibacy is an ecclesiastical law and not a doctrine, it can, in principle, be changed at any time by the Pope. Nonetheless, both the present Pope, Benedict XVI, and his predecessors, have spoken clearly of their understanding that the traditional practice was not likely to change."
Seth wrote:llanyb wrote:'cept the catholic church does have married priests - so not a matter of dogma. Married RC priests are what you get when married priests in other sects (eg Lutherans, Church of England) decide to join the RCs and are accepted.
Interesting assertion. I'll check it out with my Catholic sources and get back to you.
From the
Wikipedia again: "Exceptions are sometimes made (including in Latin Rite Catholicism), granted by authority of the Pope, when married Protestant clergy become Catholic."
No matter, I am happy that the Vatican sees fit to sack a bishop for "
suggesting the church
consider ordaining women and married men" for the priesthood. If anything could increase the catholic church's alienation from its shrinking number of adherents, it would be that overreaction when contrasted with its systematic assistance to the paedophiles among its ranks in escaping detection and prosecution for their actual crimes.