The Catholic Church is Breaking Peoples' Hearts

[Act_of_Reparation]

New York Times

Pat Fitzgerald, 67, has long loved being a Catholic, and the part he loved maybe most of all, for the past quarter-century, was his role as a spiritual mentor at retreats for students at a church-affiliated high school in Indianapolis, where he lives.

But he has been told that he’s not wanted anymore. His crime? He publicly supported his daughter, a guidance counselor at the school, after its administrators moved to get rid of her because she’s married to a woman.

Pat Fitzgerald, uncomfortable with media attention, declined to speak with me, preferring to let his daughter do the talking. “His struggle comes from caring about Roncalli and being in conflict with what they’ve done to me,” Shelly told me. In October he attended a protest against the church’s treatment of L.G.B.T. people. His sign said, “Please treat my daughter Shelly kindly.”

I grew up in the Church. Most people I know have at least one story like this; a seemingly decent person kicked to the curb by insensate, sadistic clergy or laypeople acting with the authority of a cruel, medieval moral code no person in their right mind would say is appropriate for enlightened society.

[Major Nikon]

1. Those who claim to know the will of god will inevitably seek to make others conform to it

Instead of enlightenment it's really all about the control.

[MineralMan]

2. The Roman Catholic Church is dying because it is obsolete.

Obsolete, patriarchal, and hopelessly stuck in the 16th century. Good riddance to it.

[Act_of_Reparation]

3. Just don't get hit in the face when Frankie throws in the sponge.

He's still got a lot of money to throw around.