That's exactly what 'conflicting information' is. ?????
Saying that something is a matter of prudential judgement and the Pope saying x is what I think the conclusion on that matter should be and here are my reasons is not conflicting information.
Wow, completely disagree. They completely try to stomp out ANY questioning or free thought. IMO alot of religions do but the RCC is the queen of that. It's all 'because THE LORD said so' and when 'His Word' didnt say or mean something they wanted, they deliberately misinterpreted the Bible OR invented stuff all on their own.
And when and where is it acknowledging it doesn't have all the answers? What are some examples of things they dont have answers on?
It's totally a religion of convenience with the goal of more influence and $$$$. Every thing they 'invented or misdirected' focused completely on that. The lifestyles of the upper hierarchy and their assets are about as hypocritical as can be. The opposite of what they demand of their regular clergy and nuns...and followers.
I don’t agree. The Catholic Church uses deep theological and philosophical analysis of the Bible to derive consistent answers for contemporary problems and questions that aren’t answered directly by it. That’s what things like the Just War Doctrine are. The evolution of that theology and of the Church at large is eerily parallel to the evolution of the God of the Bible. In the Old Testament, God was a nasty, selfish, angry, prejudiced, and violent being. In the new, God had evolved into a loving, compassionate, merciful, and selfless being. We see that same transition reflected by the Catholic Church as it reasoned through those problems and questions.
In terms of matters of prudential judgement - they are legion because relatively few things in life have moral absolutes. It can’t know every possible scenario and it is in those exceptions that the Church encourages prudential judgement. In reference to an earlier discussion, something like rape is not a matter of prudential judgement because there is no scenario in which it is not intrinsically evil. The use of contraceptives however are subject to prudential judgement because there are scenarios in which they can be used for a purpose and with an intent that is not sinful or evil such as preventing the spread of HIV or some other medical purpose.
As it relates to Church assets - yes, it has a lot of them. But having a lot of assets isn’t something it denies the laity. It’s also not something the hierarchy denies any member of the clergy. Only some religious orders require a vow of an austere existence and that is not something dictated by the Vatican. People choose to enter into a religious order on whatever terms are required of them by the person who founded the order and not all of them involve vows of silence or poverty. And let’s not forget that the Catholic Church is also the largest charitable organization in the world.
I believe in God's Word and it doesnt need any of the trappings and dressing up and ritual that the RCC has applied in order to sway and influence more impressionable, simple, less questioning, and/or less educated people. God's Word doesnt need any of that nor do I to appreciate and follow It.
As a kid, when attending Catholic mass with friends, the first thing that stood out to me was the up down up down up down (stand up sing, sit, stand up recite, sit, kneel and pray, sit, etc) constantly. And as I kid, I could clearly understand that that was done so that people couldnt fall asleep during the long services.
Why does God's Word need all that ritual and such trappings?
The God of the Bible, in both Testaments, is one of tremendous ritual and fancy trappings. There are all of the rituals and trappings required at the big fancy Temple in the Old and the massive melodramatic 33 year long plot involving impregnating a virgin and having a son who had to be crucified and visions of big fancy bejeweled gates and mansions in heaven etc in the New. Nothing God does in the Bible is done simply or without fanfare.
But the Catholic Church doesn’t teach that all of the pomp and circumstance and ritual of the ordinary mass are required. It’s just a traditional method of worship and certainly not the only one recognized as valid by the Church. You can go to a Catholic Church on a Sunday morning for a full choir, procession, all manner of symbolic ritual, the fancy things come out etc. You can go on a Wednesday night and what you’ll get is a simple a sermon and communion.
