I totally agree with your thoughts…GBY

As a catholic living in Scotland I was interested to see the coverage of Pope Benedicts visit to the White House. Did anybody else notices that the lady who sung the Lords Prayer sang the anglican version and not that of the catholic church. Bit ambarrasing is it not!

The event was like the ones Ronald Reagan held, brought back some great memories. what a great in our country to have this.

When I think of the uplifting spirit that is present in a ceremony like this and contrast it with the gaping divide that is present in America. I think America is in such a dilemma because God has been expelled from our schools throughout the land. From the time of infancy, going forward, the government teaches our children that there is no room in the American scene for God.

Until this changes, the angst that we see in the division in our nation will continue.

I just love the Pope is here and they are able to share such great values with the counry and I love how people who are not religious at all show him the utmost respect.

“Less than pretty”? Sorry, I missed the speech. Did he tell of how his religious convictions support his decision to get 4000 Americans and hundreds of thousands of Iraqis killed? Or did he instead pat himself on the back for not supporting life-saving science?

Sorry, I just can’t be nice about this.

As a born again Methodist I was proud of the President. There is much in common Methodists have with Catholics and the most important is that we are all Christians. John Wesley and Pope Benedict XVI would have much in common I feel and that is devotion to living the scriptures through their Christian discipleship and more importantly a love of Christ.

Dear Father,
It is such a grand day to be first a Roman Catholic and to be an American. I am a Pastoral Minister at a large mid western Roman Catholic Church. As the Holy Father began to speak this morning I was preparing for a funeral liturgy and was only able to see parts of the White house celebration. I did hear the Holy Father say GOD Bless AMERICA and my heart jumped for joy!!! Late this afternoon our brand new Bishop James Vann Johnston will address the Holp Father. I am not native to Springfield Missouri, I grow up accross the Hudson River from NYC. Living here has taught me to embrace my faith 1000 fold as many fundermentalist christians do not consider us Christians and I over the past 25 years have become a major apologist. God Bless you and I love listing to you on Fox and Friends I am very proud of your wonderful teaching manner!!!!!!

I’m not catholic and it concerns me that there is such a large group of people world wide that call this man, “Holy Father.” I heard the popes position referred to as a job and the spotlight is something that this pope does not necessarily appreciate about his role as pope. This writing is not meant to be hurtful, but a call to examine the Bible with regards to holding a man on a pedestal and having a mediator between us and God. Please give me your thoughts and please be respectful.

Fr. Jonathan,
You rock!! i love to read your blog. I pray for your good health and always be holy
I love you..

Father Jonathan

I can only wish that President Bush and other true conservatives would speak out more frequently and forcefully on the issues of morality, and not just when the Pope arrives for a visit. It unfortunately seems that our leaders are too timid on these issues for fear of “offending” someone.

Living in Boston I am curious as to where Cardinal Law is now residing and why he did not accompany The Pope on his visit?

Father Jonathan
with all due respect President George Bush has spoken against abortion but he has not met or supported the March for Life in his eight years of the presidency. And when you were on set and Pope Benedict genuflected to the Blessed Sacrament, you failed to say we as Catholics believe it is the body blood soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ.Lets not be pc as a Catholic in the south I have had to explain that many times but it is as you know the most wonderful part of our religion

I was very surprised, I think it was father Stephen making a comment about the Pope not going to the dinner tonight “because he doesn’t want it to appear that he is partisan”. I almost fell off my chair.
Father Stephen SHOULD know that the Pope does not eat in public.
This is a great day. I wish he had more to say to the President on Iraq and all those who have died,
have been injured, displaced, homeless etc. If he will not listen to his own people I can only pray he would listen to the Pope.

To all who are covering Pope Benidect’s visit. Thank you very much!!

Martin I have to go home soon so I don’t have much time but, in a nut shell we believe he is the successor to Peter the apostle whom Jesus gave authority. Not an authority to lord over, rather one of Pastor or Father to care for his flock here on earth. Therefor it is fitting to give him the title of Holy Father. I hope that helps. God bless you Martin.

I was able to see a good portion of the White House welcoming Ceremony, and lets remember he was greeted as a world leader. Again I remind everyone that Vatican City is a sovereign nation within the boarders of Italy. And with that in mind I appericated the small changes made to ceremony for a man who does embody the role of peace maker.

No millatery review the only soldiers present were the chorus and the fife and drum core.

Now as for placing the Pope on a pedastel over a Billion people have look to this one man as their leader…who was not elected by the general populace, but by an elite group of men…and yet he is universal accepted without hardly any question by that same populace. Now this one of two things I think blind faith (which in my opinion is a dangerous thing for give me Father..lol)or ultimate trust. Now I’m not a genius but Im not stupid either I know their are a certain few who are following blindly…but I hope their is more who are placing their trust in the man (and those who elected him)

Dear Fr. Jonathan,

What an exciting time! I am a new Catholic in Arizona who recently received my sacraments at our Easter Vigil. I am so happy the Pope has decided to visit the US. I was also glad to hear the Pope likes us as Americans, especially at a time when most of the world does not. Hopefully his kind words about us will last in the ears of other countries’ citizens as we look to repair our bridges with the world. I am looking forward to hearing the Pope’s message to us in the two masses he conducts while he is here. I only hope he will visit often, and make a trip to the western part of the country when he does.

Just to clarify for Stephen Nalley.

Your words “Now as for placing the Pope on a pedastel over a Billion people have look to this one man as their leader…who was not elected by the general populace, but by an elite group of men…and yet he is universal accepted without hardly any question by that same populace.”

If you step back and look at what this sounds like, minus the religous aspect, you basically have a Parlimentary form of government. The members of Parliment elect from within their own the Prime Minister of the country. The only real difference with Parliment and the Council of Bishops in the Roman Catholic Church is that the Bishops aren’t elected by the parishes they serve.

As for putting him on a pedastel as you say, I think Father Jonathan covered that in a response as well. And if you walk around and talk to Catholics, they don’t universally accept the Pope anymore than the average voter universally accepts the President, even though he is our leader of over 300 million people. Nevertheless, the Pope is the leader of the Roman Catholic Church and he is afforded the respect (as a President should be) that comes with his position. Even more so for the Pope when you follow the belief that he was ordained by God to follow in the line of leaders of the Church after Peter.

What a exciting time to be Catholic. I may not always agree with the Pope, but this is a truly joyous occasion. My prayers go to all the people who are angered by the presence of a man who came in peace. I hope you find happiness.

Father Jonathan is wonderful at articulating the Vatican’s sometimes cryptic and confusing messages. Thank God we have him.

I believe President Bush to be a man of God. Your comment about Iraq and the war brought to thought another war, World War II. We did not go to war until attacked, as in today’s war. We, with the help of the war weary Europeans, freed many from Hitler’s reign of terror. Many have discussed the Pope’s part in that war too, some not so kindly. War is always the last resort, but I would like one person to tell those who voted and marked themselves with purple ink that their freedom and lives are less important or valuable in the eyes of mankind, much less God. Although many sit in the judgement seat of our president, only God knows the future and the heart. I believe as history unfurls the truth, President Bush will be one of our greatest presidents. No media can erase the goodness of him, no matter how hard they try. It only dimishes them. Do not belittle any man of faith, they are trusting a much higher power than the polls and the media.

To Stephen Nalley above who wrote:

No millatery [sic] review the only soldiers present were the chorus and the fife and drum core.
The bands are also in the military (the Marine Band and the US Army Herald Trumpets).
–Ann

Father Jonathan, I am looking forward to seeing you in Tulsa, OK where my wife and I own the Catholic Book and Gift Store. I love this Pope and hope he continues to teach with such clarity on the lack of morality in the US and the world. Also, I hope he continues to call the cafeteria Catholics back to the fold rather than wanting everything in the Church changed to their level. Catholics need to practice and live their faith as taught by Jesus Christ, and not changed. I agree with you about the President. Any chance of a conversion there? Thanks for all you do in the media and again I look forward to seeing you on April 22. Jim Bryan, Tulsa, OK.

I think for many Americans it is difficult to understand why so many people throughout the world look to the Pope as their “Holy Father” since in the U.S. we have so many freedoms and a strong democracy. The power of the pope may seem insignificant to us. However, in so many developing countries (for centuries) the Catholic Church (its braves Priests, Nuns, missionaries and Popes) have been the ONLY hope for them. Not just spiritually, but to intervene and fight for human rights, disaster relief, etc..even laying down their lives for these rights. I think as Americans we should keep this in mind and at least listen to this voice of hope and reason as it comes from a man who leads such an important force of goodness in the world.

Hmmm… I’m an Augustinian and Jesuit by education and I was moved by Pope Benedict’s speech. I found him so eloquent: he is very much St. Augustine.

I’m sorry, but President Bush could have done a better speech.

-Myta Santiago
Manila, Philippines

To Jim Bryan, I am one of those “cafeteria” Catholics you decry. I don’t know where to start with your comment. But I will say this, when the Catholic Church becomes less concerned with Ritual and more concerned with SpiRitual I’ll attend more regularly. There is no substance to the Catholic Church anymore. There is no ministering or preaching, there is only recitation and memorization. The Church needs to recognize this and the Church does need to change.

As always, I enjoy your article Father Jonathan. While I’ll definitely disagree with you on many things, you are always enlightening. A rare thing these days in the Catholic Church. This Pope gives me some hope, if he can confront the corruption and the complacency of the Church he will go down as one of the greatest. He also needs to keep attacking those (mostly Muslim) countries that oppress and persecute Christians. I also believe that President Bush is a man of strong faith, God and history will judge him on Iraq, and I believe, ultimately he did the right thing. In this ‘instant gratification’ society we live people forget the amount of life lost during World War II and how long we occuppied Germany and Japan.

Great commentary on the event. When a U.S. President and the world’s foremost religious leader can both stand together in harmony for pro-life efforts, people can again find a small amount of hope in the U.S. God bless them both, for neither of them have an easy road to follow.

Father Jonathan,

i greatly enjoy reading your wok and appreciate what you do. i was hoping that you could explain what exactly relativism is to me. i think i have a general idea but since i’ve read about it twice today (once from you decrying it and an article defending it) i would like to gain a better understanding. thank you

the popes message has brought hope to me.the strength he shows us all .that is the way of the church.
we all want peace if u follow his teachings that u will find.i have every day of my life but it is the lords message he brings to us.
christine

I am also a non-catholic, but have been studying the Catholic faith for many years. I still find it surprising that people have questions about calling the Pope “Holy Father” or questions about veneration of the saints. I guess a lot of people were brought up like myself and were taught that the Catholic church was not a Christian church. As I have grown older and studied the faith for myself, I have found how uninformed many people in America are about the Catholic church. Like so many people in our society, many believe everything they are told about another church or religion without even looking for answers for themselves.

Even though I was raised a Protestant, I find it disturbing that so many people believe so many negative things about the Catholic church. Sure, it has problems like any other institution, but I challenge anyone to show me any church or religion that does not have problems that need to be addressed. It might be helpful if everyone remembered that the church is made of people and people will always have faults.

I hope and pray that the peopel in this country will listen to what the Pope has to say. His message is one that we all need to hear and take to heart. He is a man of God and his message is for everyone, regardless of their church affiliation. Our country has many problems that people alone cannot solve.

Father jonathan you make it easy to understand the. church.
i thank you!! I lost my faith .NOW I HAVE IT BACK
CHRISTINE

It has been spiritually uplifting for me to have followed Fr. J’s blog for the last few days. It is apparent that there is a lot of Love for the Pope that emanates from a variety of quarters. Yet, more moving for me has been the apparent repressed anger expressed by a few, and in response to these the open, accepting and gentle way the anger has been dealt with, not only by Fr. J, but by other contributors. This more peaceful approach, starting with the Holy Father and then rolling through so many of us Christians is itself a convincing message about the Church and the caring hearts of its members. It hope that the Papal activities of these next few days, as they are reported and discussed on blogs and around water coolers prove to be inspirational enough to help many to let go of their anger and to feel cared for and loved.

For one thing, I’d like to support Tom’s coment. I’ve grown up Protestant but the more I study Catholicism the more I realize that many of the traditional anti-Catholic prejudices are misplaced. As for Iraq, I would like to think that the Pope, as a intelligent and moral person realizes that the only final solution is for the people of Iraq to respond to each other with love instead of hate. Whether or not a continued US presence will help achieve this goal is uncertain, but those that suggest that the Iraq conflict is simply a matter or US versus the people of Iraq or that immediate US withdraw will solve everything (or at least get things out of the headlines until Americans don’t care about the mess we left behind) are being woefully misguided.

This is a great day! The media is covering a story that includes God, Jesus, moral values and the honorable and leader of the Catholic Church. Lets stand together as children of God and be grateful -despite our differences. Thank you Father Jonathan for the ability to share our thoughts and prayers for the popes and the presidents safety and well being during his stay in our great nation. Amen.

To Lapsed Catholic,

I am so sorry that you have not encountered any good preaching or substance when you were practicing the Catholic faith. I do know that many do not try very hard, however, there are many of us who do try our best to preach the Gospel with passion and power. The ritual is meant to touch a part of our being, but ritual is not meant to be all of our faith life. I pray that you will encounter Catholics, both clergy and lay, that witness to the faith more effectively. There are a lot of them out there.

Blessings,
Fr. Jim

Referencing the Anglican “Our Father” - I am a Catholic and a musician and used to play and sing for mass. We sang this version all the time. Not because its Anglican but because it is the most beautiful and heartfelt rendition out there and I top it with Schubert’s Ave Maria. Singing is the most wonderful praise of God and in the Church songs are often sung or played that are “non-Catholic”. It would be attitudes of this sort as to why “non-catholics” who are Christian don’t understand us. We need to embrace and debate differences, not shut them out.

Father - thanks for your writings on this. I attended the Welcoming Ceremony at the White House and I can truly say it was one of the most moving events of my life. It was so inspiring to see the Pope welcomed by so many, and you could truly feel the effect that his presence had on the crowd. This was no crowd at a football game- people were genuinely nice and caring and tried to be accomodating - no matter how many folks were packed in there!! It was a great time, and an extremely impressive ceremony. I’m glad and honored to have had the opportunity to be there for the Pope’s welcome.

Dear Father: why is George Bush the bad guy for removing Saddam? The world stood by and did nothing for 30 years as Saddam Hussein threatened his neighbors, murdered his people, raped his women, gass-ed the Kurds (literally), violated 17 UN Resolutions, shot at planes in the no fly zone, kicked out weapons inspectors, and strangled his own people from living free lives. How can you possibly conclude that Bush was wrong for confronting Saddam Hussein? I say this, because we watch Dafur, and we watch North Korea, and the horrors of the world, only to all turn our heads and nobody step up. Well, Bush stepped up, and now that nation (Iraq) is free. I do agree that the war has been terrible to watch and witness. Trust me, it turns my stomach. But the mass graves and rape and famine of 30 years also turned my stomach. I do believe Iraq will stabilize. I do believe the people there will now keep their freedom. They will vote on things. Their future looks great. Maybe not today, or 6 months from now, but 10, 20, 30 years down the road looks wonderful for them. Under Saddam, the whole world let him destroy those people for 30 years. If you looked out your bedroom window and saw a 35-year old man beating up a 4-year old child, I bet you would run out there and tackle the villan. Why would you get involved? Why would you not just mind your own business? You would act and fight the man because you cannot stand to watch an innocent person get trounced on. Bush did the right thing by acting.

I know I shouldn’t be as incredulous as I am, but I am, at the fact that so many people, including those with opposing views on a subject, can come to a forum like this and be so incredibly civil and loving to each other, even if they might question the other or even completely disagree. This just goes to show us all what an annointing from God, the Father Almighty, that the Pope has, and the incredibly positive effect it’s having on all of us who are even remotely touched by him.

GLORIA PATRI!

God bless you all.

Our priest at Saint Marys, Altoona, WI reminds us many Sundays after his serman, “thank God you are Catholic.” When I see the Pope and feel his true compassion and holiness I get tears in my eyes. I also look forward to your columns, also, Father Jonnathan. You always write from the heart. That is evident.

The ceremony on the lawn of the White House was magnificent. Two men of great faith shared it publicly. President Bush has been an outstanding champion for life despite liberal criticism of his policies. The Holy Father is a man of great compassion and intelligence. He and the President will be remembered by history as men of deep religious convictions. The Pope is truly a gift to us Catholics. He is the right man for our time. May God bless him and spare him for many years to come.

To ‘lapsed catholic’, It appears to me that your faith needs strengthening- it needs a tune-up :). Do you heed the ‘Greatest Commandment- loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength? Do you pray daily? If not, then I recommend that you tune in to EWTN for a spiritual boost. You want substance? Every word in the Liturgy was given to us by The Holy Spirit. The Holy Eucharist IS the Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. There is no greater Substance than that. But go to confession first. so as to not receive Him unworthily. I’ll remember you in my prayers and I ask our fellow bloggers to do the same. God will do the rest.
I agree with what you said in your second paragraph. It pains me to see President Bush, who has the same Christian core values that I have, pummeled by rabid Dems. and media pundits who don’t share those values, in that they’re either nominal Christians or outright secularists. They blame the Iraq war on the President and NEVER mention that it was faulty CIA intelligence regarding WMD’s that actually started it. BTW, last time I checked, secularism had no values of its own. I guess they just like to come out swinging at those who do have them. Well, Godspeed.

Dear Lapsed Catholic,

Please don’t wait for the Catholic Church to come to you - go in search of the richness and depth the Church has to offer. Read anything by C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, St. Augustine, Peter Kreeft. Watch Catholic DVDs (St. Luke Productions), listen to any of the many cds and tapes from Mary Foundation, and Lighthouse Catholic media, including Scott and Kimberly Hahn, Fr. Corapi, Fr. Larry Richards. The beauty of Christ’s teachings can be found in so many places. Sometimes you have to work - just a little bit- to find and understand them. Don’t give up - You will be richly rewarded.

God bless,
Jean

Let’s clarify something:

By the most pessimistic of estimates, Saddam killed 150,000 people in his 30 years of rule. That’s horrible.
By our own President’s estimate, the war has resulted in 30,000 Iraqi deaths. And the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health puts the figure at closer to 600,000, though we will never know the exact figure. Keep in mind that 1) We never stopped the air war on Iraq after the first Iraq war, thus keeping Saddam in his “box” quite effectively 2) Saddam had NO contacts with Al Qaeda, a group that actually HAD attacked us and was residing thousands of miles away (though now they’ve set up shop in Iraq–AFTER the chaos of the invasion) 3) We had weapons inspectors in the country, finding NOTHING, that the administration forced to leave, thus guaranteeing that we would have no UN support 4) Saddam had not attacked another country in more than a decade, and had no capability of doing so (see the air war) 5) Saddam was the ONLY secular leader in the middle east. Now radical Islam factions like Al-Sadr have risen to power and will almost certainly take power when we leave 6) Iran, a fundamentalist Muslim country, undoubtedly has gained power from our defeat of their biggest enemy in the region 7) the Iraq war has, according to our National Intelligence Estimate, become the single largest rallying cry for extremists worldwide. We are now MORE hated than we were before 9/11. And Al Qaeda, according to the same NIE, has regained the same attack capability as it had before 9/11, maybe because we are spending most of our military capability in Iraq instead of the area where we KNOW the leaderships is hiding…

Jeez I could go on but I’ve got other things to do. I have to say this when I see a group of people (nominally CHRISTIANS, which boggles the mind– who was it that said “turn the other cheek”?) using facile arguments about “beating up children” to justify the worst foreign policy mistake this country has ever made. To compare this war to WW2 is unbelievably inaccurate–like if we invade Brazil after Pearl Harbor. It’s time for Christians to stop talking about the Prince of Peace and then voting for the Prince of War.

To lapsed-catholic,

I understand where you are coming from and I know others that feel the same way. If I may offer the suggestion that if you are not happy with something about the church in your area then maybe you can do something to change it. Afterall, think of all those that feel as you do. God may be trying to use you in order to bring those people to the more spiritual catholocism that you hope for.

John Dietrich…..I would like to associate myself with your words. It couldn’t have been said any better and I believe history will judge George W. Bush as one of our greatest Presidents for what he did for the people of Iraq - giving them the freedom that they never had.

I love the Fox channel. I really want to give a big THANK YOU for giving all Amercans and the World the Popes visit live. I could not leave ,even to clean the snow 10 inches, from My porch. Tony Gazzola………COLORADO

I understand the pope will be speaking about the inconsistency of killing in God’s name. What is his feeling about the Crusades?

I feel deep regret for so many people who have blindly accepted Catholicism, as they were brainwashed from birth. There is a wonderful Christian faith available to all who will receive it without all the trappings and control from one world leader. Everything a person needs to know about our God and His Son Jesus are contained in the Scriptures and all who demonstrate a desire to know the truth can find it by asking God for guidance. We really don’t need a worldwide heirachy to tell us what they want us to know about God. The New Testament book of Hebrews tells us what we need to know about priests. God did not leave a man on this earth as religious leader, as Christianity is all about faith and not church law. Jesus in heaven alone is the correct Christian leader, and we have direct access to Him at any time and all heaven and earth rests with the God/man Jesus.

Catholicism and the democrat party offer about the same kind of psychology: people must be told how to live their lives by a person or group of people who can sell themselves that way.

I think the Pope would condemn any killing in the name of religion, even if it occurred a thousand years ago. Much like the good doctor would be aghast at the practice of medicine during the crusades.

Father, thank you for your words on our President and our Pope. I have been trying to get my children to understand how I feel President Bush looks at the work he is doing in this world. You have phased my thoughts so wonderfully that I am passing your words on to my adult children. Thank you for your words…….and your work.

How much value is a life? I would say invaluable… here in america it’s funny that the same anti war people are for abortion. They claim our soldiers lifes are above other lives including babies.

Another important point always overlooked is the fact that sadam has been perfoming genocide for years, the lives we spare to help Iraq and the people there are not wasted. Alas, with anything in life though we have great intentions but the results always are less then we hope for.

GOd Bless
Stacy

I thought that Father Jonathan’s comments about Bill Maher were right on. However, what Mr. Maher did goes way beyond what Imus said a while back. An apology? No way. HBO shoiuld dismiss him at once.

I believe the Pope rejects ALL killing in the name of religion even within the context of history over a thousand years ago. Much like the good doctor who would be aghast at the practice of medicine during the crusades or even a few hundred years ago.

Typical. As with my earlier comment, The churches view? Ignore it and it will go away

Father,
Do you like the Pope because he is a good leader or because he mirros the beliefs you already have?

Thanks.

Dear Father,
I completely understand of what the bad priests have done to our innocent children are unforgivable. However, people dwell on it..what about to those priests and nuns who works with the poorest of the poor. I have relatives are priests they work with people has leprosy and knowing that they might get it too. I have an aunt who is a nun and she works in an island people are soo poor during dry seasons no water, no food and no medical attention only these group of priests and nuns helps them out in time of hardships. No one give a blink of an eye to these priests/nuns.
So people let say Hurray!! to thousands of priests/ nuns who are deeply committed to our less fortunate brothrs and sisters in Christ.

Speaking from a converted point of view. I grew up Protestant, it took me awhile but I found the
faith. To all of you that are “cradle” Catholics, dig for substance. Just remember, what ever you put
in you get out many times more. Search and look, you will find. I’ve been converted for 121/2 years now, and I get more and more with every year that I follow my faith. Try RCIA, Rite of Christian Adults,
the program is fabulous. The more you give of yourself the more you will get.

Are we going to see a re-play of Pope’s celebration at the White House?

Abraham Lincoln also did what he thought was right without a lot of popular support.

To Lapsed Catholic,

I felt like you once upon a time….then I found a very small Catholic Church that has changed that. I admit, I too had to change and open myself up to truly “hearing” what was being said. I know there are very bad, boring, misplaced priests, but don’t let that come between you and God. I did that and regret the years I lost. Go to mass, listen with your heart….if it still doesn’t come to you, try another church. Trust me…I believe God led me to my new parish!!!!!!!

Diane

Where do you get the idea that being nice to terrorist is going to make the problem go away…there is no way that someone devoted to terrorism is simply going to fade away. In your dreams. Have we not learned anything from nuts like Hitler, Stalin; etc. They hate and thus they are determined to destroy. On the other hand, I can also see where our culture provokes the fear of the terrorists…the media portrays us as people without any sense of morality. No wonder they can recruit terrorist to fight the infidels.

I read all these comments and it seems that people believe that the Roman Catholic Church is The Church and the Pope is the leader of The Church. Nothing can be further from the Truth.
First the Roman Catholic Church is not The Church and the Pope is not the leader of The Church. This is according to the Bible and the words of the Leader of The Church who is the final Word in The Church. No where does it give this final Word to one single man except the Man Jesus Christ.
The truth of the Roman Catholic church is for anyone to see in it’s Roman Catholic church’s doctrine. It is a doctrine that is for the most part totally alien of the Bible. No where in the Bible does it give credience for the doctrines that the Roman Catholic church teaches. Deception and lies lie at the bottom of the doctrines of the Roman Catholic church. Many elite and poor are fooled into it’s counterfeit theology.
You won’t print this because it is the truth. The truth of the Roman Catholic church is like the truth about the Nazis. The Nazis hated the truth because it subjugated them to the truth and the Roman Catholic church hates the truth because it subjugates it to the Truth.
History has shown where Roman Catholicism has emerged from and where it wants to go. The terrorist of today wants everyone to bow down to their Allah and the Roman Catholic wants everyone to bow down to their Pope.
I challenge anyone to a debate in this I have written. All answers will be Biblically based.

danny
“The truth will set you free”

Fr. Jim,
I am an American (US) Catholic and find it very hard to find a church that makes me feel like a Catholic anymore in America (US). The United States Catholic Church has forgot why we attend mass. The only time I feel like I am in a Catholic churech is when I visit another country. I have visited over 60 countries and know exactly how to participate in mass regardless of the language spoken in the mass. In the US I don’t know what to do half the time because each parish priest is modifying the mass to his own liking often time leaving out very important parts. There is no respect for the eurcherest in many Catholic parishes in the US. US Catholics treat the church like a big social hall, talking, telling jokes, etc… In one church in NC the Eucharest is kept in a Tabernacle on the side of the chursh 2 feet away from the congregation. People walk by without even a minor recongnition of the body of Crist being present. They genuflect to a empty alter and bow to the parish priest but totally ignore the body of our lord. I say Catholics need to learn more about why we have the rituals, not do away with them. The disrespect for the body of Christ is unforgivable, especially by our own priest. What has happened to the universal church?

Dear Father,President Bush’s speak rang hollow for non americans. What is more moral relativism than torture to obtain informations, lies to justify a war, death penalty while pleading for saving babies’life, restricting civil liberties in favor of security….Your president launched a war which killed more than 500 000 Iraqis ,destroyed the country’s infrastructure, maimed an unknown number of poor innocent guys, made more than 2.5 millions displaced persons within Iraq but created more than 2 millions Iraqi refugees in neigbouring countries. Let’s pray God for all the victims and their families (american ones too) that they may forgive and teach their children forgiveness too. Let’s pray too for your president and your administration that the Holy Spirit bring them prudence and wisdom. Your country is violent and you have far more citizen in jail than any other developped country, let’s pray for your prisonners and their victims. Your political system is ill and is a mix of proud nationalism, corporatism and militarism. The world in WWII have seen the consequences of such political system in Europe. Let’s pray that God and teach your country humility doesn’t bring the same wrath on the US. GOD BLESS AMERICA
Amen

i’m watching the pope ride in his popemobile, it shows he really believes in a higher power! what does it show the younger croud? I don’t know about you ,but i watch history channel ,where religion has done nothing but kill in the name of the lord ,catholics ,christians,muslims,jewish,buddasts,any other religion,that have persecuted another human being in the name of there GOD.Our president doesn’t have a clue what he has done to our country, by the way where did the plane go that hit the pentagon????

With reference to Johnathan Morris’s denial stating that catholics do not worship the pope, he is wrong, there is idolatry worship in the catholic church (not the church of Christ). When we see people bowing down before another, whether in person or a picture of that person (which I have witnessed) that is idol worship, Exodus 20:3-5 also 23:24. I have seen men when before the pope on bended knee kissing the ring (a graven image) on the pope’s hand. I have seen many catholics on there knees in front of a Statue (representing Mary, a graven image) with heads bowed and before other statues of others “saints” and also at times a portrait (a graven image) of one of the popes. In just about all the homes of practicing catholics you will find statues, pictures and portraits of which they bow down to, all of it is idolatry worship and Johnathan Morris knows this too well which means he is not being truthful when state that catholics do not worship the pope and or others.
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Bruce / servant to King Jesus

PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE, LET US HEAR WHT THE HOLY FATHER AND FAITHFUL HAVE TO SAY. COMMENTARY WALK OVER IS DISTRACTING.

I wish you could tell the newscasters to hush. They talk over the youth presenting the Pope with gifts. Also can’t enjoy the singing do to the constant talking. They should show some respect to the young people participating in this great event.

Pope Benedict has truly shown both his pastor’s heart and his genius for “hitting the nail on the head” as regards what the church(es), and country, is needing to hear. Our prayers are with him as he continues to minister!

I’m a convert to Catholicism so I cannot speak for cradle Catholics, but I thought the Welcoming Ceremony on the White House lawn was magnificent, and thanks to Pope Benedict XVI &