Catholic teachings challenge increasingly progressive world: A Book Review

Author predicts Catholicism will not and should not change despite calls for acceptance of same sex marriage, female priests and an end to celibacy. [Iglesia ni Cristo cult members should note this!]

By Thomas Maupin Published: January 19, 2014 from NewsOK.com [all highlights are mine]

The Catholic Church has been around for roughly 2,000 years. With more than 1 billion members, it is one of the largest institutions — if not the largest institution — in the world. It has survived persecutions, heresies, the Great Schism and the Protestant Reformation. But what is its future?

Canadian writer Michael Coren, a 1985 convert to Catholicism, takes a look at his faith's future.

In the introduction, Coren looks back to the March 2013 papal election of Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio and the questions of how the new Pope Francis would shape the church. Coren says the church might change some things but cannot and will not change its teachings.

Coren write, “The book is called ‘The Future of Catholicism,' not ‘How to Make Failed Catholics Feel Good About Themselves,' or ‘A Handbook for Catholics Who Want a More Protestant Church.'”

He reminds us the church “does not exist to change the faith to reflect the world but to change the world to reflect the faith.”

Coren believes the church's stand on traditional marriage will be “a point of persecution” for Catholics.

Some other faiths allow same-sex marriage, and Coren says many Protestants have converted to Catholicism because of its defense of traditional marriage. As more faiths and governments support same-sex marriage, Coren predicts the future Catholic Church “will be as countercultural as it was in its earliest days.”

You can't write about the church and avoid abortion and birth control. Coren covers the church's position on those issues and stresses the faith will not change its teachings just because the same old arguments are brought up by the opposition. He says the church's teaching is not about denying a woman's rights; it is about “expanding life.” On these issues, he advises the church “needs to explain not what its critics think it believes but it actually believes about this so personal and delicate an issue.” He warns that misunderstanding, abuse and anger will face the church because of the issues.

McLean: Beware of the celebrity priesthood

Written by Dorothy Cummings McLean

Dorothy Cummings McLean is a Canadian writer living abroad. She recently published her book "Seraphic Singles".

Dorothy has an MA in English literature from the University of Toronto, an M.Div./STB from Regis College and spent two years in doctoral studies in theology at Boston College.

Checking the headlines of Catholic Internet media every day has its down side. The stories are often sad. Catholic journalists, paid and unpaid, professional or amateur, report everything that might be of interest to other Catholics, and thus not a week goes by in which some scandal, minor or major, is presented to the public worldwide. These scandals, I hasten to add, rarely have anything to do with the Gospel. These scandals, more often than not, detail sins of commission or omission committed by priests, bishops or other Catholic leaders. Not only do they disgust and depress Catholics, they erode our trust in God’s ministers and messengers.

Three cases in particular have troubled my thoughts in recent months. One, coming out of Australia, is so vile I dare not discuss it in a family newspaper. The others are merely distasteful and disappointing, so I will confine my thoughts to them.