Forgiveness, former Catholics, the Pope and my opinions.

I've heard it said that the most vehement critics of Catholicism are former Catholics. Makes sense I guess, if you're small minded enough to believe whatever the slights you've suffered at the hands of a few jerks applies to all members of the Church in general then you'll very enthusiastically criticize us at the drop of a hat.

I know a bit of what I'm talking about here. For over thirty years I was outside the Church, having left due to the animosity expressed by various "devout" fools towards folks like myself, folks who believed as I did, came from similar backgrounds as I did and lived as I did. The details are unimportant. After the first several years I was able to adopt a "live and let live" attitude towards Catholicism. After all, it might have stuck in my craw but it worked for a lot of folks whom I respected. So I just let the resentment die. Once I got sober it was a lot easier too.

What brought me back is kind of strange. I read a lot of varied things, amongst them were the writings of a dissident theologian, Hans Kung. Now THERE is a man who has no problems with voicing his criticisms! Those griefs start from the time of St. Paul and extend into current times. A lot seem to be somewhat valid. So valid in fact that I was left with the question, "How does such a supposedly corrupt institution not only have a track record for doing a lot of good but also for surviving almost 2K years?".

The answer seemed to be what Sister Mary Tarantula and her cohort claimed back in my elementary school days, i.e.; "Man is imperfect and that imperfection will infect everything, even God's Church on this Earth."

Okay, I can live with that one. So I returned.

Maybe I'm in a minority. That "live and let live" attitude seems out of fashion for a lot of "Christian" folk who never pass up an opportunity to sling some mud. The same fools who advise taking what the MSM states with a grain of salt when it comes to negative reporting on anything politically conservative. Funny how they'll unquestioningly jump aboard the band wagon to criticize the present Pope. Ho-hum. Whatever. Just another group to add to my prayer intentions.

God bless\them and may He keep them.....far from me.

Amen.