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Original poster

Can we have a positive thread about Catholicism?

547 replies

PadgettsDream · 01/08/2023 23:55

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?

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Whiskyinajar · 02/08/2023 16:26

Catholic here and came to Catholicism via paganism. I think it's the ritual aspect, the Holy Mother, candles and it's organised unlike much of the pagan community. However, I have great respect for pagan friends doing spirituality their own way.

Also had a great priest who is still a personal friend and who doesn't have much positive to say about the organisation of the church (I get him pissed and the truth comes out).

However, he and every other priest I have come into contact with has been human and humane.

fenora · 02/08/2023 16:29

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heartbunny · 02/08/2023 16:29

PadgettsDream · 02/08/2023 14:13

@DismantledKing I think on aibu that is fine to say, I was hoping for more respect on this forum but perhaps that was too much to ask for. I am not on the current anti-Catholic thread because telling them all not to speak because it's a free country and I do believe in free speech but that thread is like it or not full of bigotry with people declaring themselves "proudly anti-Catholic" it wouldn't be tolerated of any other faith or minority.

Very well said.
You are correct. If the same "proudly anti-..." comments were being posted about Muslim, Sikh, Buddhist, Spirutualist or any other faith you can bet nobody would be saying it's perfectly fine.
People seem to feel it's acceptable to tear into Catholicism yet most wouldn't dream of tearing into any of the faiths I've mentioned above.

Original poster
PadgettsDream · 02/08/2023 16:34

@heartbunny Absolutely, it really is the last acceptable bigotry as the video I posted suggests. Its so sad to see these people with so much hate in their hearts.

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Gingersnapsandtea · 02/08/2023 16:43

@heartbunny I totally agree with you, I deeply regret not returning to my faith years ago but then I think I wasn't ready and now I have so much more understanding. I also agree with your other comments Catholicism and Christianity itself is seen as an acceptable bigotry.

Toddlerteaplease · 02/08/2023 16:47

I am a convert from the Anglican Church. Best thing I've ever done. I love the structure and the feeling of the world wide church. Just got back from a week in Lourdes and it's just wonderful.

Gingersnapsandtea · 02/08/2023 16:49

@Toddlerteaplease I love to go to Lourdes and the other Marion sites, definitely on my to do list.

isadoradancing123 · 02/08/2023 16:49

There is nothing positive to say about Catholocism, in my opinion

Hoppinggreen · 02/08/2023 16:51

Iwasafool · 02/08/2023 15:13

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.

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All those wonderful things you describe were done by individuals, not The Church and I would hope they acted out of bravery and compassion rather than because a mythical being would have approved

Gingersnapsandtea · 02/08/2023 16:53

They acted out of bravery, compassion and their faith.

CrazyCatLady42 · 02/08/2023 16:54

Tulpenkavalier · 02/08/2023 12:37

For me to accept Catholicism as a positive force, 4 things need to happen:

Take full responsibility and make amends for past abuses
Accept homosexuality as equally valid as heterosexuality
Admit women to the priesthood
Allow priests to marry

That is essentially what the Protestant church is. Go there instead.

Hoppinggreen · 02/08/2023 16:56

Gingersnapsandtea · 02/08/2023 16:53

They acted out of bravery, compassion and their faith.

The first 2 were necessary, the last one not so much

CrazyCatLady42 · 02/08/2023 16:58

Positive about the Catholic Church - it is the one religion founded by Jesus Christ Himself...no other.

MakeMineADouble81 · 02/08/2023 17:07

PadgettsDream · 02/08/2023 14:07

Nobody here I would think is opposed to calling out the Church for abuse or the cover up of that abuse but that thread goes well over the line and demonises Catholics in general simply for being Catholic, it is rife with bigotry and if you cannot see that then you are indeed a bigot. This is not the place for it so take it elsewhere.

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I think you are being very unfair. I'm Irish and was raised Catholic and I have seen first hand the hurt that the religion has caused. To call that out is not being a bigot it's stating a sad fact. I think all organised religions are harmful in their own way though, especially for women, not just Catholicism.

Psyclops · 02/08/2023 17:08

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Mercurial123 · 02/08/2023 17:11

Tulpenkavalier · 02/08/2023 12:37

For me to accept Catholicism as a positive force, 4 things need to happen:

Take full responsibility and make amends for past abuses
Accept homosexuality as equally valid as heterosexuality
Admit women to the priesthood
Allow priests to marry

It's never going to happen.

Gingersnapsandtea · 02/08/2023 17:12

@Hoppinggreen for me having faith has made me more compassionate and braver. I'm not saying it is necessary but it gave me a deeper compassion for others. A lot of the brave Catholics who sacrificed themselves or went out of their way to help others had a very deep faith and love of God. It was this love that made them sacrifice themselves or risk their lives for others. You might not believe but they did and in most cases that is why they acted the way they did, because they believed no matter what they went through God was with them.

Original poster
PadgettsDream · 02/08/2023 17:17

@MakeMineADouble81 There is a difference between calling out wrong doing by the Catholic Church such as the cover up of the abuse by some Priests and some Nun's and organisations run by the Church, which is fair and necessary and the blatant hatred of Catholics generally seen here and elsewhere on this site and in society. See above, where a poster says their is nothing positive about Catholicism or on the other thread where people crow about being "proudly anti-Catholic".

I do appreciate that being raised in Ireland when the Catholic Church was a dominating and unquestionable force in society is different to being raised Catholic in the UK where often being Catholic made you an abused minority depending on where you lived, its a very different experience so what for an Irish person might have felt oppressive for me felt like a refuge but I am sensitive to that difference. I do think religion should be a personal matter although I think it is also right that religious leaders are free to speak out and criticize the state when it feels the need to.

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OscarsAmmonite2 · 02/08/2023 17:17

Thanks for starting the thread OP. I'm Irish living in Scotland. Had a really good convent education and the school filled many gaps that were missing at home. I don't like attending Mass in my parish here - much prefer being more anonymous in the local cathedral.

Hoppinggreen · 02/08/2023 17:18

Gingersnapsandtea · 02/08/2023 17:12

@Hoppinggreen for me having faith has made me more compassionate and braver. I'm not saying it is necessary but it gave me a deeper compassion for others. A lot of the brave Catholics who sacrificed themselves or went out of their way to help others had a very deep faith and love of God. It was this love that made them sacrifice themselves or risk their lives for others. You might not believe but they did and in most cases that is why they acted the way they did, because they believed no matter what they went through God was with them.

I am sorry but I have more respect for people who are brave and compassionate due to their love of humanity than their love of a God (who may or may not exist).
I find atheists committing selfless acts much more admirable because they are doing the right thing rather than what they think a mythical being wants them to.
I appreciate that believing in God can give people strength and a belief in an afterlife can make risking your mortal life easier but again I respect people who risk their lives for others without that belief more.

SiegmeyerOfCatarina · 02/08/2023 17:26

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MrsTerryPratchett · 02/08/2023 17:26

PadgettsDream · 02/08/2023 13:39

@Tulpenkavalier and @SiegmeyerOfCatarina This thread isn't an "AIBU" and it isn't for people to come and air their grievances with the Catholic Church, there are is a current thread running where it apparently fine to say whatever you like about Catholics and the Church so why not post on there? This thread for people to talk about their own positive experiences of their faith and the Catholic Church. Like it or not the Catholic Church is and remains a huge positive force in many peoples lives across the world. Change in some area's is coming but it is a very large Church that cannot be changed over night and the criticisms people have of Catholic Church are hardly limited to Catholicism but it does seem that open distain for Catholicism is far more easily tolerated that other faiths. Please take it elsewhere.

I think there's two issues.

One is that people are conflating Catholicism, the Catholic Church and Catholics. Personally don't like the first, hate the second, like and love many of the third. I attended Catholic Church for a few years and had no issues. But many others are dead now because of their relationship with the Church.

The second is that the Catholic Church has specific issues, not hand-waveable away, which are uniquely awful. Loading the Supreme Court in the US for example. Just one example.

Censoring discussion of that under a veil of 'everyone does it' or 'it's hateful to point it out' isn't great.

OscarsAmmonite2 · 02/08/2023 17:28

Waves to Mathanxiety and Toddlertea - I've often spotted you on MN!

Original poster
PadgettsDream · 02/08/2023 17:31

OscarsAmmonite2 · 02/08/2023 17:17

Thanks for starting the thread OP. I'm Irish living in Scotland. Had a really good convent education and the school filled many gaps that were missing at home. I don't like attending Mass in my parish here - much prefer being more anonymous in the local cathedral.

Thanks @OscarsAmmonite2 I can appreciate your preferring to be anonymous given the attitudes about Catholics you may encounter here. Nice to hear you enjoyed a good convent education as did I they are not all awful as many would have you believe.

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OscarsAmmonite2 · 02/08/2023 17:31

Anyone like to say their confirmation name and why they chose it? I chose Teresa as in Teresa of Avila and can't remember if why now! Over thirty five years ago now...