Catholicism’s Present Crisis

I. Introduction

A. I welcome everyone tonight. We are here to worship God and to study from His Word and to learn truth. Everyone is welcome whatever your religious background. I hope you will listen with an open heart and mind. I do not speak tonight with any animosity or ill feeling in my heart toward anyone. I will speak plainly and with conviction but be assured that the things I speak tonight I speak out of love and concern for the souls of all men and women. This is a very controversial topic and I want to try to be fair, honest and truthful in dealing with it. I pray you will listen with the same intent.

B. Article in Tampa Tribune - Sunday 9/29-02 - “Soul Survivors” Baylife section, p.1.

C. The Roman Catholic church is awash in a sea of scandal - sexual misconduct among the priests. Primarily focused on inappropriate sexual abuse between priests young boys. Probably not true pedophilia - but homosexual conduct with older children.

D. The scandal involves not only abuse but a scandalous cover-up - a cover-up the Roman Catholic church has gone to great lengths to accomplish.

1. New Book by Michael S. Rose - noted Catholic writer - Goodbye Good Men. He says it is a scandal of untold proportions. At least 100 times worse than what the media has uncovered in the US.

2. Still, it would be a grievous injustice to believe that sexual abuse is confined to Roman Catholic church. Has touched all demons. and even churches of Christ on occasion. But the extent in RC is astonishing because of the size of the problem and the extraordinary lengths the RC church has gone to cover it up.

E. I take no delight in this. It is not a joking matter. It is a tragedy. But there are lessons to be learned from these events that every church should take to heart. As I said, I don’t want to leave the impression that this problem is confined to the RCC but the size and scope of the problem is unprecedented in modern times.

F. My intent tonight is to examine the problem and Roman Catholicism’s failure to address it and why such was true. Then we want to see how this illustrates how true NT Christianity can be corrupted and then to see what true NT Christianity was meant to be according to God’s Holy Word - the Bible.

II. The Root of the Problem

A. Many believe that this sexual misconduct in the Catholic priesthood can be traced to the practice of forced celibacy of the priesthood. And it certainly can be a major contributing factor.

1. But I believe that forced celibacy is a result, not a cause, of an even deeper problem that is part of Roman Catholic belief.

2. RC has traditionally held an unhealthy and decidedly unbiblical view of sex.

i. Early in the development of Mariology (the elevation and worship of Mary), an unbiblical and unhealthy view of sex began to be taught. Instead of just believing what the Bible says and accepting the fact that the Lord was born of a virgin in fulfillment of prophecy Isa. 7:14; Mt. 1:18-25), certain uninspired men felt the need to give additional and extra biblical explanations of what happened there.

a. 390 AD. Synod of Milan - They rejected a view that stated that “a virgin did conceive but a virgin did not bring forth.” What they were condemning was the idea that the womb of Mary was opened up as naturally occurs in initial intercourse, or, in her case at the time of Jesus' birth. They were already teaching the idea of the perpetual virginity of Mary,

1) The Bible plainly teaches that Mary had other children and that Jesus had brothers and sisters. (See Matt. 12:46; Mark 6:3) But these passages of scripture would be given conflicting explanations in order to avoid saying that Mary ever had marital relations with a man or had other children.

b. About 100 years later the famed RC theologian Augustine would describe this in his classic explanation: “As a virgin she conceived, as a virgin she gave birth, as a virgin she remained.”

c. The explanation of how this occurred was compared by some writers to light passing through glass. The light passes through the glass, comes out on the other side but the glass remains intact. Thus, Jesus was born leaving Mary's womb virginally intact.

d. St.Siricius - 334 AD Claimed as an early pope.

1) A deacon under Popes Liberius and Damasus I, Pope/St. Siricius was born in Rome c. 334 and was elected to the papacy in 384. Opposed briefly by Ursinus, he was the first pope to issue decretals, directives written in the style of edicts and carrying the force of law. In 386, he issued a decretal calling for clerical celibacy and threatening sanctions against the unchaste. Siricius presided at the synod that excommunicated Jovinian in 392/93 for saying that the Theotokos lost her virginity when she bore Jesus. Siricius also condemned Bonosus of Niassus for saying that the Theotokos and St. Joseph had children together after the birth of Jesus. Siricius died in 399, and his tomb was a popular pilgrim's destination in the VII Century.

2) (From http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=914 - a Catholic Website.

e. Siricius wrote in an early letter - “We surely cannot deny that you were right in correcting the doctrines about children of Mary and your holiness was right in rejecting the idea that another offspring could come from the same virginal womb from which Christ was born according to the flesh. For the Lord Jesus would not have chosen to be born of a virgin if He had judged that she would be so incontinent as to taint the birthplace of the body of the Lord with the seed of human intercourse."

1) He wrote this in response to someone contending what the Bible plainly states - that Mary did not remain a virgin, that she was not a perpetual virgin. She had other children! She had normal physical relations with her husband Joseph after the birth of Jesus Christ.

f. This is still a view held by the Catholic church. Just last year Luigi and Maria Quattrocchi were beatified, i.e, declared saints. Many reasons were listed for this but among the things they listed as honorable about this couple was that for 26 years of their marriage they did not sleep together. That was something they honored as if disregarding one of the primary purposes of marriage made them holier than those who didn’t.

g. Bible students know that the relationship between a husband and wife is ordained of God and described in scripture as holy and pure.

1) In fact, so much so, that it was used by Paul to describe the relationship between Christ and His church in Eph. 5.

2) Cf. Heb. 13 - marriage is honorable and the bed undefiled.

3) There is nothing unholy, incontinent or tainted in any way in normal marital relations which God designed as a part of the human relationship before sin ever entered the world.

B. I point this out to show how, very early in Catholicism, the biblical view of human sexuality began to be distorted by the Roman church and the foundation was laid for the attitude that has given rise to the sexual immorality that is rampant among in the Roman Catholic clergy today. If, as a priest or nun, you think that marrying and engaging in normal God-approved marital relations would somehow lower your standing before God and make you less holy or pure, then the pressure is on you not to give in to God-given and God ordained desires for the rest of your life! It that what God’s word teaches?

III. What about clerical celibacy?

A. A topic that is clearly getting a lot of attention today. I believe orced celibacy is clearly a problem but it is not the root cause.

B. Why was it enjoined on the Catholic clergy in the first place? When we answer that, then we will understand the present problem much better. We will see why the unhealthy and unbiblical view of sex is prevalent in Catholicism today.

C. The RC church has long held that celibacy is inherently better than marriage - that celibacy is a holier, more spiritual state.

1. Catholic Encyclopedia Vol. 3, page 481 - "Although we do not find in the NT any indication of celibacy being made compulsory either upon the apostles or on those they ordained, we have ample warrant in the language of our Saviour and of St. Paul for looking upon virginity as the higher call and, by inference, as the condition befitting those who are set apart for the work of the ministry."

i. The Catholic. Encyclopedia makes reference to Paul's words in 1st Cor. 7::7 "Yet I wish that all men were even as I myself am." But makes no mention to a vs. 26 where he mentions the present distress which colors the meaning of vs. 7.

2. One paragraph later it says, "From the earliest period of the church it (the church) was personified and conceived of by her disciples as the virgin bride and as the pure body of Christ or again as the virgin mother. It was plainly fitting that this virgin church should be served by a virgin priesthood." (It never ceases to amaze me that entire major doctrines of the RC church are founded on no other authority than "it certainly seems fitting.")....The conviction that virginity possesses a higher sanctity and clearer spiritual intuition seems to be an instinct planted deep in the heart of man. "

i. Is that your instinct? This idea that virginity is somehow more holy, more pure and more righteous gave rise to the unnatural practice of forced celibacy. It is unnatural because God's Word says "it is not good for man to be alone." He also said that "because of fornication let each man have his own wife and let each woman have her own husband." To demand celibacy is unnatural and unbiblical. And Paul condemned such human doctrines in 1st Tim. 4:1-3 by saying that doing such was giving into doctrines of demons.

D. Voluntary celibacy in not wrong. But it is unbiblical and sinful to demand it of someone.

1. Even as early as the 3rd century we are beginning to see some suggest that to live a hermitic lifestyle coupled with celibacy was to choose a higher spirituality than others. And in history as we see more and more people drift away from simple new Testament teaching and we see the development of the Roman Catholic denomination we see finally this church requiring this life of forced celibacy upon all its "clergy."

2. There are many references to this practice throughout the centuries in writings of the Roman Catholic church. But finally we come to the Roman Catholic church's response to the Protestant Reformation - the Council of Trent - we find this stated in 1563:

i. "Whoever shall affirm that the conjugal state is to be preferred to a life of virginity or celibacy and that it is not better and more conducive to happiness to remain in virginity or celibacy than to be married, let him be accursed."

3. Today, in the new code of canon law, the Latin-English edition which was published in 1983 under the auspices of Pope John Paul II, this is how it is stated:

i. Canon 277 - "Clerics are obliged to observe perfect and perpetual continence for the sake of the kingdom of heaven and therefore are obliged to observe celibacy which is a sacred gift of God by which sacred ministers can adhere more easily to Christ with an undivided heart and can more freely dedicate themselves to the service of God and humankind."

ii. There is a lot of talk that this will be changed. Don't count on it. You will not see a married clergy in our lifetime in Roman Catholicism. In the meantime, this Roman doctrine of forced celibacy rooted in the erroneous belief that such a state is more holy, spiritual and righteous than the marriage bed is having an incredibly detrimental and dangerous effect upon members of the Catholic church today. This unbiblical view of celibacy and virginity has led to this unhealthy view of sex.

iii. Amazingly, these men who are deprived of a natural and holy life of marriage and sex, who believe that those who are married and engage in sexual relations lead a less spiritual and less holy life, are the very ones who are called upon to counsel their parishioners who are married! And these parishioners are also called to come to these men who are deprived of a normal sexual relationship and to confess to them their most personal and private sins, including those of a sexual nature. These men are called upon to counsel and to give absolution to those who discuss and confess such sins to them and we have to ask ourselves how are these celibate men prepared to deal with such things? And what we are seeing now makes it very clear that they are not prepared to deal with them.

a. Example of two nuns leaving because of continued improprieties of the priests toward them and others.

IV. Roman Catholicism has been hiding their knowledge of this illicit and immoral activity for years.

A. This is what takes this story from being simply tragic and sad and moves it into the arena of the scandalous.

B. They have not only kept these matters secret, they have failed to abide by our country's laws that pertain to such criminal acts. The priests who committed those acts are criminals. The way the RC church handled these matters is to take offending priests and send them to a RC facility for treatment, then, in most cases, assign them to another parish where their criminal conduct did not take place nor was known to any of the parishioners.

C. I want you to see that such flaunting of the laws of our land is a direct result of the Roman Catholic church's belief that their church is above the laws of any human government and that it is answerable to no one on this earth.

1. Now I realize a true Christian understands that his first obligation is to God. And should a civil govt. ever require of us something that violates the Law of God, we must obey God rather than man. But Paul also makes it clear we are to submit to the civil govt. and its laws in all other cases (Rom. 13). And our country has laws that are for the good of us as a people and certainly the laws enacted by our gov't regarding the practice of pedophilia is for the good of this nation and are not in contradiction to God's ordained laws revealed in His Word.

2. There is no justifiable explanation for what the RC church has done. There is an explanation but no justifiable explanation.

D. Let’s briefly look at Catholic teaching on the relationship of the Roman Catholic church and civil governments.

1. In Roman Catholicism there are things called Ecclesiastical Privileges - The Catholic Encyclopedia says these exceptions to the law are made in favor of the clergy or in favor of consecrated and sacred objects or places.

2. One of these privileges is known as the Privilegium Fori. The Catholic Encyclopedia describes this privilege thusly: "This secures the clergy a special tribunal in civil and criminal causes before an ecclesiastical judge. The civil causes of clerics pertain by nature to the secular court as much as those of the laity. But the thought that it was unseemly that fathers and teachers of the faithful should be brought before laymen as judges and also the experience that many laymen were greatly inclined to oppress the clergy led the church to withdraw her servants even in civil matters from the secular courts and to bring them entirely under her own jurisdiction. From early times, however, this privilege met with great opposition from the state. With the growing ascendancy of the state over the church the privilege was more and more limited and was finally everywhere abrogated... Today, according to secular law, the civil and criminal causes of clerics belong to the lay court. Only with respect to the purely spiritual conditions of their station and office are the clerics subject to their bishops and then, not without certain state limitations especially with respect to certain practical punishments... However, the Church maintains in principle the privilegium fori, even for those in minor orders, provided that they have the tonsure and wear clerical garb, and either already serve in a church or are preparing in a seminary or university for the reception of higher orders.”

3. It is not hard to see that the attitude of the Catholic church in hiding for decades the sordid moral crimes of its clerics and, instead, dealing with them themselves, is manifested in this principle of this privilege. Although, the Catholic church maintains it submits to the civil courts of the government, they do so only as a practical matter and do not believe in principle the civil courts actually possess a higher law than the one the Catholic church maintains. The Roman Catholic hierarchy believes, and it is easily documented, that it is the supreme and final authority on earth both civil and ecclesiastical.

4. Such is also clear from many other Catholic documents. One is which is clearly stated is the 1864 Syllabus of Errors released by the Pope Pius IX. It states clearly that ecclesiastical law overrules civil law and that church and state should be united - Error No. 42

i. Error 54 - Kings princes, including presidents and prime ministers are not only not exempt from the jurisdiction of the church but to be subordinate to the jurisdiction of the church in litigated questions of jurisdiction.

ii. Error 55 - The church ought to be in union with the state and the state with the church.

iii. Error 57 - Philosophical principles, moral science and civil laws may and must be adjusted and made to bend to divine and ecclesiastical authority.

iv. Pages 368-369 of the Catholic Encyclopedia confirms that even today that "all Catholics are bound to accept the syllabus."

5. It is clear that the Roman Catholic church did not reveal the untold number of moral crimes committed by its clerics because they believed that church law was above civil law and that to reveal such sordid misconduct was not in the church's best interest. The only reason these things have been revealed is because the victims have become to come forward and the media has uncovered the offenses. But the Roman Catholic hierarchy ultimately believes it is above the laws of any country.

V. Lessons for us to learn

A. This is what happens when human beings abrogate to themselves the right to make laws for the Lord’s people. What Roman Catholic hierarchy has done over the centuries is to assume the role of determining religious truth and requiring its followers to obey whatever they decide whether it is in harmony with the Bible or not.

1. Not the first time this has happened It is very similar to the problem Jesus repeatedly addressed in His day. The Jewish religious leaders had built up a great number of religious traditions that they bound upon the people. These traditions were not found in the law. Some even contradicted the Law of Moses which they lived under (see. Matt. 15:1-9). But the religious leaders taught that any who violated the traditions were guilty of sin.

2. Jesus condemned their traditions with great vigor, calling such who would bind them, “hypocrites, blind leaders of the blind, a generation of snakes” who would convert someone and “make them twofold more a son of hell than themselves.” See Matthew 23.

3. Roman Catholicism does almost exactly the same thing. They have added to, changed and revised the Law of Christ to suit their own desires. Forced Celibacy is not biblical. It is harmful!! It is in direct contradiction to the teaching of God. But, according to the Catholic church for me to say that means I will be accursed!

B. Quite frankly, Roman Catholicism has been a constantly changing body whose beliefs change from century to century. It took about 500 years for the Roman church to reach a point of having a universal organization with a universal head called the pope. Despite the claims of Catholicism, any competent religious historian will tell you that the first Roman Bishop to be recognized as “pope” or as the official representative of Christ on earth and the head of the Universal church was Boniface 3rd in 606 AD That’s 500 years after the time of the apostles. And that’s how long it took for men to corrupt the simple organization or the New Testament church and for modern Catholicism to develop. Peter was never called a pope in scripture nor is he pictured therein as the head of the church on earth. In fact, he was withstood to the face by the apostle Paul for his hypocrisy on one occasion (See Galatians 2:11ff).

C. Catholicism’s modern form and its modern practices are the result of almost 2000 years of changing and adapting clear biblical teaching into something far removed from what was revealed. No religious body today stands to lose more from its members reading the Bible on their own than does the Roman Catholic church. If its followers read and studied the Bible on their own I have little doubt its numbers would deplete rapidly. Catholicism’s continued existence depends upon its followers accepting the infallibility of the church and blindly following whatever the Roman hierarchy says.

D. This is also a lesson in what absolute power will do to corrupt a religious organization.

1. The classic statement - “Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

2. As the power of the Roman church grew, its leaders became less and less concerned with holiness and godliness and more concerned with power, wealth and self-indulgence. The history of Romanism in the Middle Ages is a torrid tale, of corruption, lust for power, greed & covetousness and immorality on a grand scale.

i. Wm. Manchester’s book - A World Lit Only by Fire. A vivid account of European history which includes some of the unbelievable corruption that existed in Rome and among the cardinals and priests of the church.

ii. The present scandal pales in significance to what they were doing then. Much of it is too lurid to even discuss in this forum but includes tales of fornication, homosexuality, incest, assassination among the religious leaders including the popes. What do you think caused the Protestant Reformation? It was a rebellion against the unholy and corrupt religious leadership that had dominated Europe for centuries - the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic church.

iii. The Protestant Reformation finally forced what has been called the Catholic Counterreformation. But the effect of the Counterreformation was mainly to clean up the moral excesses so prevalent in the Catholic hierarchy, not to change its views on its authority and right to determine doctrine for its followers and that it is the final authority in all matter civil and religious.

E. But lets be honest here. The problem of not recognizing the final authority of the Holy Scriptures is not a problem limited to Roman Catholicism. Any church that does not follow the NT teaching in how it organizes, worships, works, etc., is guilty of the same sin - not submitting to the will of Christ.

1. No matter what church or denomination of which you may be a member, I would challenge you to go to the scriptures and see if what your church believes and teaches on such fundamental matters as: how one becomes a Christian; how we are to worship God; how we organize the church; etc., is in accordance with Biblical teaching. Do you know from your own study what the Bible teaches on these fundamental doctrines or do you just take the word of your church “hierarchy?”

2. We, of the Univ. church of Christ are committed to giving book, chapter and verse for all we believe, teach and practice. That is what God wants. We are an independent, autonomous congregation functioning under the oversight of our local elders just as Christians did in the New Testament. We have no earthly headquarters or regional, national or worldwide organization, just like the New Testament church. We worship just as they did in the NT., simply and to honor God, not to please ourselves. By doing so we believe we will be able to avoid the problems you see in many churches today that come from following doctrines and teachings of men and not the teachings of Christ.

i. Here is Paul’s warning - Colossians 2:8,9.

F. This present problem in Catholicism also illustrates where changing God’s Word can lead. Once you leave the confines of God’s revealed will there is no limit to what man can devise and practice in the name of religion. Let me illustrate with a few examples of how Roman hierarchy has changed the simple and pure Word of God to suit their own desires.

1. The Bible does not teach the adoration of Mary. Luke 11:27-28 says, "And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, 'Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!' But He said, 'More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!'"

2. It shows that all Christians are priests. 1 Pet. 2:5,9 says, "...You also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ...But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light..."

3. It condemns the observance of special days. Gal. 4:9-11 says, "But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain."

4. It teaches that all Christians are saints. 1 Cor. 1:2 says, "To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours..."

5. It forbids us to address religious leaders as "father." Matt. 23:9 says, "Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven."

6. It addresses only God Himself as the "Holy Father." John 17:11 says, "Now I am no longer in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to You. Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are."

7. It opposes unmarried bishops. 1 Tim. 3:2-5 says, "A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, temperate, sober-minded, of good behavior, hospitable, able to teach; not given to wine, not violent, not greedy for money, but gentle, not quarrelsome, not covetous; one who rules his own house well, having his children in submission with all reverence (for if a man does not know how to rule his own house, how will he take care of the church of God?)..."

8. It shows that a great apostasy would forbid marriage. 1 Tim. 4:1-3 says, "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth."

9. It teaches that baptism is immersion instead of pouring. Rom. 6:4 says; "Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." Col. 2:12 says, "Buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead."

G. It is clear that the Roman Catholic church does not follow biblical teaching, and its hierarchy does not believe it has to.

H. But before we amen that statement, I again, challenge anyone here to examine the church of which you are a member. Can you confidently say that the doctrines taught by the church of which you are a member are biblical? Let me illustrate.

1. Most denominations today teach baptism plays no part in one’s salvation. Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, etc. all mainstream denominational teaches this.

i. Bible says: 1st Peter 3:21; Acts 22:16; Acts 2:38.

2. Most denominational. teach once you are saved, you can never be lost.

i. Bible says Gal. 5:4; Heb. 6:3,4.

3. The list could go on. But the point is this. If you believe the Catholic church is wrong in what it has done, can you point the accusing finger when the church of which you are a member, in principle does the same thing, that is, teach and practice things that are not found in the Bible?

I. Conclusion:

A. We need to give the Bible its due. It is the final revelation of the mind of Christ.

1. It was “once for all time delivered unto the saints” -Jude 3.

2. It will “furnish us completely unto every good work” - 2nd Tim. 3:16,17.

B. My plea tonight:

1. If you are a Catholic - my words tonight have not been directed against you, but against a man-made institution - the Roman Catholic hierarchy, that no longer follows the teachings of Christ but the teachings of men. I plead with you to open your eyes to truth and to further study. Be a truth seeker, no matter where it leads, because that is what will lead you to heaven.

2. If you are a member of some other religious body, I challenge you to examine its teachings to see if they are in the Bible. Be open and honest to further study. Make sure your beliefs are biblical not those set forth by men in some discipline, catechism, confession of faith or any other book than the Bible. You be a truth seeker, too, and be willing to go wherever biblical truth leads.

Steve Patton

sapatton@aol.com

813.971.3179

(Much of this material is based on an excellent lecture delivered by Greg Litmer at the High School Rd. Church of Christ lectureship, Indianapolis, IN, in July 2002.)