ForumGarden

(New thread in respect to Robin Williams)

Mark Aspam;1461799 wrote: 1. "Wait a minute, doesn't the Bible say that suicides go to Hell?"

2. "But does it? Or is that just another invention created by the Church? There are so many things that the Church has laid down as Religious Credo, claiming that such & such is forbidden by the Bible, when it actually says nothing of the sort.

3. Curiously enough even Pope Francis has recently admitted that there is nothing in the Bible that says that Priests should remain celibate or not be allowed to marry, and is proposing to bring things up to date & permit it."

I know that the thread is about Mr. Williams, but please let me first comment on the remarks above.

1. Not that I'm aware of.

2. The Catholic Church does not invent things - its teachings are all based on Scripture and ancient traditions. Previously the Church did not perform funerals for suicides, but that is no longer the case. The decision of who - if anyone - goes to hell belongs to God alone, always has, always will.

3. That is hardly 'curious', and I doubt that he made any such statement. The Church has always had a married clergy, going all the way back to Peter. The celibate clergy, which is restricted to the Western or "Latin" Rite, is relatively recent, going back only to the 10th or 11th century. The various Eastern rites have always had a married clergy as they have today. It is quite possible that the Western rite will eventually - perhaps even during Francis' pontificate - ordain more married men, but they would have to be married first. Allowing ordained priests to marry is, as far as I know, not on the table, nor is it likely to be in anytime in the near future.


Then you should read the recent reports from the past couple of weeks. This is just one of them. It seems that Pope Francis is quite a radical thinker. I'm totally anti religious, but he does, at least, have my respect for his views.

Is Pope Francis Going To Let Priests Get Married? | ThinkProgress

FourPart;1461806 wrote: (New thread in respect to Robin Williams)



Then you should read the recent reports from the past couple of weeks. This is just one of them. It seems that Pope Francis is quite a radical thinker. I'm totally anti religious, but he does, at least, have my respect for his views.

Is Pope Francis Going To Let Priests Get Married? | ThinkProgressThanks! It's a very interesting article, mainly for non-Catholics, because it explains what most American non-Catholics are not aware of:

[W]hile the Roman Catholic Church constitutes the vast majority of the world’s 1.2 billion Catholics, it is only one of 23 “rites, or religious sub-groups, within the church. These rites are broken down into two categorical chunks, one “Western (the Latin/Roman Catholic rite) and 22 “Eastern (everyone else), all of whom answer to the pope but harbor their own theological and liturgical eccentricities. Of these, most Eastern Catholics ordain married men to the priesthood, and while many of these Catholics have been reluctant to do so in the West for fear of attracting unnecessary attention, last year the U.S. Maronite Catholic Church ordained its first married priest in America. What’s more, the Roman church recently expanded and streamlined the process allowing married (male) Lutheran and Anglican/Episcopalian priests to enter into the Catholic fold — with wives in tow.

But, as I said in the earlier post, there is a big difference between ordaining married men to the priesthood and allowing men who are already priests to marry. I doubt that the latter will happen anytime soon. But ya never know, this pope seems determined to bring the Church into, if not the 21st, at least the 19th or 20th century, a transition that is long overdue!

I'm not sure what this has to do with Robin Williams.

Mark Aspam;1461815 wrote: I'm not sure what this has to do with Robin Williams.
The original thread was specifically about the suicide of Robin Williams & it was stating to diversify, to the various interpretations of Catholic Dogma regarding suicide et al, so I thought it best to nip it in the bud.

FourPart;1461817 wrote: The original thread was specifically about the suicide of Robin Williams & it was stating to diversify, to the various interpretations of Catholic Dogma regarding suicide et al, so I thought it best to nip it in the bud.Got it! Forgive me, I'm a little slow getting started this morning.

I hope that Francis has a long pontificate and is able to bring the Church much further into modern times.

No problems. I know I'm far from perfect & that I have a tendency to wander off on a tangent, but when I noticed that I was doing just that, I took steps to avoid it - which makes a change - normally I don't even realise I'm doing it.

Eek - I'm doing it again.