Can we have a positive thread about Catholicism?

[PadgettsDream]

There is currently a thread running where there is a lot of criticism of the Catholic Church which is in many cases fair enough and it needs to be discussed but that thread in my opinion often strays into outright anti-Catholic sentiment and even bigotry against Catholics and Catholicism in general.

So I wonder if anyone would like a space to talk about the positives of the Church? I myself was raised Catholic, went to a convent School and it was wonderful really. I did not have any bad experiences and the Church has always been a source of strength and comfort for me. It doesn't dominate my life, I'm not brainwashed by it but its been an important foundation for me and I am thankful for it. In my own family history the Church stepped in and helped when nobody else would.

Any other positive stories?

@RedRosesPinkLilies Many Priests are so wonderful to talk to, people imagine they are judgemental but really they have seen it all and are often the least judgemental people of all. I've been very lucky to some wonderful Priests over the years some of whom have worked all over the world, some who are writes and academics and knowing them has really enriched my life and world view.

It is amazing how if you have that relationship that faith builds that God does come to you when you need him most and gives you the strength to go on. I do think that all faiths can bring people this comfort and I am certainly not about setting Catholics above anyone else but like you it what I know and love.

I really hope that your faith continues to give you all the peace and support you need now that you have cancer. I will remember you in my prayers.

There isn't one truth about the church. For many on here only the Catholic Church can be criticised, fair enough to say abuse in religions is wrong but it isn't right to say it only happens in the Catholic Church and ignore it happening in other denominations and religions.

Child abuse has been reported in the Anglican church, Jehovah's witnesses, Judaism, Islam and no doubt many more. Didn't a Sikh woman write a play about her experiences? It is wrong in all of those places as well as the Catholic church but by pretending it only happens in the Catholic church you actually make other places more dangerous for vulnerable children.

The Catholic church is blamed for mother and baby homes, many years ago I lived close to a Salvation Army home for mothers and babies. I used to see the girls crying and phoning home and begging parents to get them. We don't hear much about that do we.

Maybe acknowledge that the church has done much good work or you will come across as a bigot. Maybe read about some outstanding Catholics, some clergy some lay, Father Damien of Molokai who gave his life to minister to the lepers who had been abandoned, he built them shelters and a hospital and he died a leper. Father Kapaun who refused to leave the wounded in the Korean war and was taken prisoner, shared his starvation rations to help others and died a painful death. Father Maximilian Kolbe who was arrested by the Nazis and taken to Auschwitz for hiding Jews and who died when he took the place of a Jewish prisoner who pleaded for his life. Or Sister Denise Bergon who at great risk hid over 80 Jewish children from the Nazis and undoubtedly saved their lives.

The good doesn't excuse the bad but the good exists and also deserves to be acknowledged.

@Iwasafool Fantastic post, thank you! Sadly I am not sure how much they want to actually think about it or learn but I hope I am wrong.

Every member of every belief system say the same thing on here: ‘why is only my belief system that can be criticised on here?’.
it’s patent nonsense and special pleading.

People can share whatever they want, but not on this thread.

Please take your negativity elsewhere.

Just because you have a deep-seated problem with Catholicism doesn't give you the right to derail and divert positive threads.

You seem to have an issue with Catholics actually being happy in their faith, and rather than address your own issues around this you'd rather try and spoil it for others.

"There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate The Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be.”
Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

@DismantledKing but why do you care? The op asked for positives about the Catholic church. Many people do have a lot of good things to say. So you think by coming on here posting negatively that it will change any posters mind? Why try and derail a thread, why don't you just hide it if you don't like what you are reading? It is a public forum you're right but why use up your time and energy if you totally disagree with the post, normally if I don't agree with a post I just ignore it, nothing you will say will change anyone's opinion, the same way I'm sure ours won't change yours.

This Fulton Sheen? Lovely fella.

’There are sob sisters; there are the social slobberers who insist on compassion being shown to the muggers, to the dope fiends, to the throat slashers, to the beatniks, to the prostitutes, to the homosexuals, to the punks, so that today the decent man is practically off the reservation.’

Follow your own advice. If you don’t like my posts, ignore them and scroll right past. That’s what you said, right?

So you mind is closed, you don't want to see or think about anything else? I think that sums up bigotry doesn't it?

My grandmother was RC, and my positive memories of it (I was raised atheist) is the beautiful art, the incense, the comfort in the rituals. Of all the religions, it seems mystical and in magical to me.

My grandmother took great comfort from the Madonna, and I can see why.

Is confession a RC thing, or is it Christian more generally? If it’s RC, then I believe this too can be a positive form of “off loading”, re-setting, and beginning a new week afresh.

A lot of the UK’s disdain against RC comes from the reformation, of course, and so we forget the good things that the monasteries also did (such as serving as a form of social support to the poor). Here I am focussing on the positives of RC since this is the purpose of this thread.

Plus, I rather like the idea of living in a monastery…

Right back atcha

@Gingerbreadandtea & @Iwasafool Their minds are closed, they are bigots and have no interest in learning more or taking a more nuanced view. All we can do is rise above them, forgive them their ignorance and focus on what this thread was made for, our shared positive experience of Catholicism.

I agree.
I would never criticise an individual for being a Catholic (or any other religion)
Its The Catholic Church as an institution that I loathe

Going back to the original point of the thread...

I was raised Catholic, and while I am somewhat lapsed, I look back on that part of my life fondly. I went to Catholic schools, I went to mass every Sunday with my grandparents (only one of my parents was Catholic), I did my Holy Communion and Confirmation and still have my dress, my bibles, all the presents I was bought. My rosary beads that my great-grandmother bought are next to my bed.

I haven't been to church in years but I haven't ruled out a return one day, I find it calming and I enjoy the rituals. My DH knows that it would be important for me to have the last rites if there was opportunity.

I’m with Sinead O’Connor.

What have I said that is bigoted? I see good and bad in my church, I see the same in other denominations and faiths and people with no faith. Have you ever heard of Desmond Doss, a Seventh Day Adventist who was a WWII hero? My kids used to go to youth club at a Seventh Day Adventist church, I found them to be very welcoming people. I'm always struck by the kindness of Sikhs and how they will go to any disaster to offer support and their langas will always feed anyone. There are also many great charities with no religious connections that do wonderful work, the ones I support most are MSF and UNICEF.

Please do point out my bigotry.

@Debopo Thanks for posting in the spirit intended! I do think the rituals are powerful and very human given that ritual is something people engaged in since forever. Like other posters have said I love the way the Sacraments mark your path through life.

I think some denominations have confession to god directly though prayer and that the Orthodox Church also has confession to a Priest. I find it very helpful myself.

Yes I agree that the anti-Catholic sentiment we see on here is an echo of the reformation and deep in the DNA of the UK and won't be wiped out any time soon sadly.

@CornishGem1975 I think that is beautiful that you have lovely memories of your time in the Church and you are always welcome back at anytime even just for a visit! I too keep my Grandmothers rosary on my night stand.

Hi, I became at the age of 40 nearly three years ago.
I would encourage anyone with any doubts or questions (especially people with a rant about "why don't they xyz...") to attend RCIA classes to find the answers they are asking for.
I realise this isn't what you were doing so apologies for tagging you- but for you I wanted to say I too had reservations about papal infallibility. But did you know papal infallibility has actually only been used once during Vatican II? It's not that we believe the pope can do no wrong, it's that we believe specifically the pope cannot be wrong when defining a Christian doctrine.
I love my faith and I love that we are encouraged to question and deepen our understanding. It is a beautiful faith and I wish I had joined years ago, but as someone else said I wouldn't have been ready at that stage in my life.