Newspapers recently ran a story on Cardinal Pell,'Pell's blast for defiant politicians'.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad-application/pells-blast-for-defiant-politicians/story-fn6bfmgc-1225980210199

I am so pleased that Cardinal Pell has spoken out and told us what we should be thinking and doing.

As he says, "I'm not telling people how to vote."

"I'm telling people how I think they should vote. I'm an Australian citizen and I have as much right to do that as any other citizen," he said.


Of course he does but the Cardinal forgets that he is no mere 'plonker', plucked from the streets to answer a simplistic media voxpop question. He is the Cardinal of the largest church in Australia, whose members have secured spots in all our parliaments and in all our political parties who sit therein.

But what his 'thoughts' do show us, is that this man may actually hanker for the dark ages of the Catholic church.

Pell appears to be in denial of the more secular approach to life that many Catholics have happily adopted.

Pell's words tell us he has no time for 'secularity' impinging on rigid Christian (or at least Roman Catholic) thinking.

Does Pell want a return to denominational schisms in Australian society?

Should Australians forget the hate, bile, and the damage his church has inflicted on so many people here?

But, he is right to challenge Catholic women who seek female priests and Catholic homosexuals who seek equality within his church,or the disloyal Catholics who practise contraception not to mention those who seek changes in the Marriage Act, to reflect on exactly why they remain in such a 'backwoods' organisation.

Pell would no doubt deny any similarity between his calls for a return to strict adherence to every demand from Rome being in anyway comparable to Taliban or Saudi hopes for a 'reformed' world under their benighted and obsidian benevolence, but to someone who regards all religion with intense suspicion, particularly when high church officials enter the public square to 'advise' politicians how to vote, the similarity is striking.

OMG - TBC I nearly choked when I first read your cleverly chosen heading...lol Well done!

You make a very reasonable case.

The link you posted alleges that Cardinal Pell states, "But it's incongruous for somebody to be a Captain Catholic one minute, saying they're as good a Catholic as the Pope, then regularly voting against the established Christian traditions."

Well I agree with him... If what the following links allege are true... are average Catholics probably far superior Catholics to the Pope?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/02/world/europe/02pope.html?_r=2

Or This

http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/28/pope-reprimands-cardinal-over-sex-abuse-criticism/?hpt=T2

Are the Pope, Pell and his companions "the New Neros", seeming to be fiddling whilst Rome burns, if all the horrors that have been alleged are true?

How do people assess Pell's alleged actions here?

http://brokenrites.alphalink.com.au/

Could these lines apply to many in the hierarchy of the churches?

Matthew 24:4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

I think I will just accept Jesus' warning, and I suggest Christians do the same when listening to the leaders of churches.

Could this also be related to Church rulings and opinions?

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/03/16/vatican.exorcist.devil/index.html

IN what ways is the Devil at work within the Churches?

Christians BEWARE!

Opinionated2, checked your urls, a good selection.

The claims that auld Nick lurks in every corner of our lives is a very Juju Magic approach to personal responsibilities, and just a little too glib an opt-out for unacceptable behaviour.

One would have thought that those church men who Nick takes advantage of might have been better equipped than most to see, resist and overcome such 'tempting'.

Apparently not.

So, if the Cone of Morals these people wear cannot help the faithful against Nick, what can?

Time to take a more rational and responsible approach to 'sinning', and drop all the Mumbo while adopting 'personal responsibility'?

Clerics often lie

Credulous sheep lap it up

Faith was ever thus

Dr Paul Collins in his book "Believers: Does Australian Catholicism Have a Future?" tells us that the way that Catholics respond to contemporary challenges will depend on which part of the theological spectrum they inhabit. He describes Catholics, (like Cardinal Pell), who will tell others who disagree with them to "get out and found your own church if you can't accept the doctrines and rules of the club!" Collins tell us that such people believe that their very narrow definition of Catholicism is the only one that is valid: everyone else is a "heretic" and beyond the pale. He tells us that these people tend to focus on the world as a sinful place and humankind as a fallen race tained with original sin. However, he confirms that there are Catholics who have a more positive, optimistic view of the world. They, like John XXIII, can perceive what is worthwhile in modern culture, and they feel that in order to achieve its goal the church must be part of culture, that it must emphasise those aspects of its teaching that best respond to the particular needs of the time and place.There are people who feel that while maintaining an open stance toward the contemporary world, the church must also offer a direct and honest critique, derived from the Scriptures, of modern culture and values. But it must also be willing to participate in the world, to learn from it and to co-operate with other people of good will in building the structures of love, mercy, and justice. Sadly, Cardinal Pell belongs to the conservative side of the spectrum -and the tragedy is that there is at present an enormous amount of antagonism between the two camps. Many Catholics have moved beyond these divisions, and I dare say, many more will be doing the same in the future. The church faces many challenges, however, Cardinal Pell is not the kind of leader capable of overcoming any of them. He like so many before him will end up on the dust pile of history.

Lexi,
I have dibs on the monolithic format,
I’ll have you know!
……………

I can't see that Pel's done anything amiss.
The Catholic version of Christianity is
surely not endlessly malleable, is it?

I’d have thought Pel was a defender of the
faith rather than a “dust pile of history”?

Does Pel subscribe to evolution theory,
btw? I believe the Pope’s Vatican does,
according to PR.

One wonders what part of the gospel is not
gospel. If God didn’t create the world, how
can we be sure he impregnated Mary?

It’s all well and good to have a fungible
faith for the purposes of keeping up the
membership, but at what point is God’s word
not to be gainsaid?

How are us evil atheists to interpret
Catholic back-flips and “populism” as
anything but marketeering?

I say, stand by your guns, Pel! One should
not covet one’s neighbour’s ass etc (my
neighbour has a beautiful ass, so glad I’m
not a Catholic!)