If the church isn't about patriarchy then it's really odd that all the positions of power in the church are occupied by men. It's also lovely that women get to participate and 'run' churches...yet it is the priest who wields spiritual power and holds the homily. I'm being sarcastic here. It sounds like women are being used as slaves, grateful for the 'reward' of getting to work for a master that is 'kind' enough not to whip them.
That's a gross exaggeration to put it mildly. The Church is not stupid, they see the winds of change, some are bucking at it, others are embracing it fully. I doubt that there is a church with as much diversity as the catholic church. Compared to other denominations we are incredibly lenient and understanding.
Dude, you contradict yourself...
I did, I'm glad you caught me, I noticed it after posting it, but I had to run to work, didn't have time to expand on it.
You are absolutely right. Let me explain. The church has been constantly debating issues and defining itself and it's believes. There was a time when celibacy wasn't mandatory for priests (it's always been for Bishops and up), but one day, after a nice council, BAM... it is and since the 800's and to this day it has been so. It is something that gets debated CONSTANTLY and CONSISTENTLY gets upheld. Why do I bring the issue of celibacy? Because I don't see it as a core issue. If priest were allowed to marry tomorrow, nobody would care, except maybe a handful of priests.
I brought up the example of Civil Rights and desegregation. The church is not institutionally racist. It is not in its core believes to HATE or think less of a group due to the color of their skin. On the other hand it was a HUGE deal for the Mormon church, it took a federal order to desegregate Utah well AFTER the civil rights movement in the 1970s.
Things like condoms, ordaining women, etc. That is going to take a little longer. You're right, the pope COULD just say, "do it." But he can't act on a whim, he is responsible for a BILLION Catholics, he can't just say things out of his ass, to use another american president as an example, he is not George W. Bush.
The Church has ALWAYS been a bit behind the curb, but when they get it they go all out. The church once held Galileo under house arrest, now the Vatican RUNS numerous telescopes around the world, one of them in my back yard not even 20 miles from Tucson.
A quick look at the number of ecumenical councils the church has held, some are 20-30 years apart, and sometimes 200. Look at the last THREE. The council of Trent was in 1545 and lasted TWENTY years. after that the first Vatican council was in 1870 and the second Vatican council 90 years later. In these councils earth shattering changes take place, and it takes ALL the bishops and cardinals to come together and talk it out, usually by order of the Pope. It was John XXIII that brought on Vatican II. A Pope that was supposed to keep St. Pete's chair warm for the next guy (like Benedict XVI), was the catalyst for some of the most radical changes in the Catholic church.
Will Pope Francis be another Gregory The Great? Gregory VII? Innocent III? John XXIII? We'll we be happy if he's merely another John Paul II? Or what if he carves his own niche and surprises everyone as he ALREADY HAS? Picking an original Pope name, kissing grotesquely deformed individuals, washing the feet of not just women, but MUSLIM women in PRISON, escaping the vatican at night to feed and clothe the homeless, etc....
It is easy to say he hasn't done shit, hell he hasn't been at it for that long, he's got until he dies, which hopefully is another 20 years to keep this up and then some.