Tearful end for faithful Catholics

Insight into the actual workings of the Church of Rome, - Tearful end for faithful Catholics, a Sad Storey Repeated Many Times Over: More Proof that The Only Things the Roman Catholic Church cares about are : Money and Worldly Power, Not Souls    Inbox

Dan Everiss <oregdan@hotmail.com> Mon, May 30, 2016 at 2:26 PM Reply | Reply to all | Forward | Print | Delete | Show original Comment:  In America, with our huge Roman Catholic population, we see this story repeated over and over:  with the numerous Catholic church properties,  most of them lavish and large ornate churches, monastic buildings, hospitals, schools, shrines, colleges, seminaries, nursing homes, and other mostly large institutions -many of which are located on very valuable [ in money value], real estate,...we see the Catholic diocesan bishops,  with Rome's full backing and approval, -evicting the faithful Catholic people who built them, [usually by  force- by civil court and police actions!],  and then selling them off to the highest bidder, often not even caring as to what use [ religious or secular, even shameful purposes, as making them into taverns, etc.] they will then be utilized for!  The Catholic bishops, declare them: "De-sanctified!"...something unimaginable to we Orthodox. Often the poor bewildered local Catholic people are then told, piously, by those same arrogant diocesan bishops to: Go to some other nearby parishes, if you can find such.. When the people then take these cases to American civil court, to SUE their own bishops, the courts, almost always, base their decisions on 'Church Laws'. i.e ancient canons, [ which early universal canons  we Orthodox also must  deal with, somehow,  today],   giving... 'all..... diocesan properties..... as exclusively belonging  to the actual ownership of the current ruling diocesan bishop,  and which are IN HIS NAME'. And when he dies, then his episcopal successor, as bishop, gains that same ownership. (In modern American civil law: the 'diocesan bishop' is thus,  'the corporation sole'). Thus the poor homeless Catholic faithful, who built those churches and maintained them for years and years and who still pray in them and who WANT and need them, are thrown out on the street and they have no voice at all  in their being made homeless and without their parish homes,  by their own Church! And when these all-powerful and pompous local Catholic bishops give, to the news media,  as their reasons for this,  they always say the same lame excuses: 'That parish is poorly attended & is dying,  it does not bring in enough income per month to justify keeping it, it is too costly to keep the buildings in good repair, and we just do not have enough priests [ the 'priest shortage']  to  serve in it', etc,. etc., etc. Also regarding former huge Catholic institutions:  [mostly former Catholic parochial schools but also hospitals and colleges, etc.]  "We no longer have the [unpaid, free-labour] brothers or nuns to run them,"....the 'monks and nuns shortage'., 'not many going into those vocations'. Then there is one of the real  central economic reasons, which they usually do not publically address: Because of the many past or even recent  'sexual molestation' immoralities of their FORCED-celibate, Catholic clergy ...which in recent times [ in many countries] has been taken to civil courts,  and usually by born Roman Catholic males,  but also by some women too, who claim being molested or sexually otherwise used, by priests, even long ago,... and surely at least some  of them very likely have concocted  such  false claims in order to receive high monetary court settlements,   and in which the Catholic Church customarily usually looses- whole Catholic dioceses here in America, have had to declare bankruptcy, and to sell of much..or even ALL....  of their valuable properties [ usually, of course,  against the will of the local Catholic faithful], in order to PAY ENORMOUS COURT ORDERED LAWSUITS!. usually many millions of dollars in EACH lawsuit! ...and then be forced to officially, "CLOSE"... i.e. be erased and subsumed into other dioceses, with all of their diocesan properties gone, even their former diocesan administration buildings. What astounds me, as an Orthodox Christian,  is what numbers of parish members their bishops consider 'low numbers of church attenders' as a prime excuse for closing SO MANY of their local parishes, and also, 'insufficient monthly parish income', etc. In many of these 'condemned' Catholic parishes, we see those churches FULL of people, but...they do not yield 'enough monthly income' (set at very high rates by their bishops, and not in the control of their local parishes, AT ALL), to justify keeping them open. The Vatican is not getting what it demands. After-all, to build their mammoth  St. Peter's Basilica, in Rome,  they provoked the Protestant Reformation and caused enormous schisms in western Christianity, and wars and much bloodshed, ....all for the sake of MONEY and POWER. In an Orthodox context, we would be overjoyed to see so many local  faithful  praying in and filling our churches, and whatever their monthly parish income, we Orthodox simply  MAKE DO! with; (and as we Orthodox do not have to send to Rome our specified monthly Papal 'stipend' to support, 'The Sole Vicar of Christ'.) Also too, if we Orthodox do not have a resident  or regular priest, then we can do routine READER SERVICES, with a priest to serve Liturgy and giving us the sacraments, coming when he can. So what happens to these made-homeless-by-their-own church, poor Catholics? (for whom I feel much sympathy). Some go to some local Protestant churchs, others become church-less and even become anti-Catholic, some end as atheists, and then...some, others...become interested in Orthodoxy. But their impious Catholic church could care less what happens to them or their souls! Such is the sad state of the current and till heretical Roman Catholic Church, which cares only about its money and power, as it always has in the past. But, it is loosing  those riches and powers of this world, now, not gaining them,  even as whole formerly Catholic nations, as in South America, are becoming Protestants...or atheists. Even Catholic Ireland is turning against its Catholic roots. And yet, this is the  post-Christian mess, that our  foolish 'Orthodox Ecumenists' want us to join with??? Rd. Daniel Note: In  reports about this particular parish, it is mentioned that this church sits on 30 plus acres of very valuable coastal front land, which must be worth many millions of dollars,... many!  http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-36412806