Author: caryn elizabeth mallard (---.swbell.net)
Date: 01-31-2002 02:46
First of all, the Catholic Church is not just an "old-fashioned" version of the protestant faiths. To say that the Church exists as a touchstone for Catholics, as a way to keep up morale, is to gravely misunderstand the uses and power of the Catholic Church. To say that no one believs in miracles anymore, or in the idea of God sspeaking directly yo a single person, is to allow your own beliefs to be superimposed over those of the Church, and to accept silence as agreement. That the Church no longer emphasises the Sacred nature of the See of Saint Paul, does not in any way mean they no longer believe in its sacred nature. In the Catholic faith, it is not "pick and choose"; one must take the faith in its entirety, inclduing the "magic".
The central drama of the Sacrement of Communion is the Priest, invoking the Power Christ delegated to his Apostles, with the intercession of Christ Himself, to transubstantiate the Wine and Bread into the Blood and Body of Christ. To claim that no one believes transubstantiation is "for real", is to ignore fundemental Catholicism.
The idea that Priests (and Bishops, Cardinals, the Pope) are fallible and sinful, and so the Catholic Church is a human institution with human failings, also ignores Catholic Doctrine. Before any Sacrament, before and during convocations, and at similar times, the Catholic clergy are shriven of the sins, and by ritual ablution they are made receptive to the Holy Spirit, so that the Divine Will can be made known to them, and they act accordningly.
The Doctrine of Papal infallibility is based on these ideas, and on the Catholic belief that the Pope is Christ's Vicar on Earth; his words are the words of Jesus Christ, who was perfect (except for being born, which conundrum was neatly solved by John the baptist).
Magic is alive and well in the Catholic Church. No wonder it's so much fun in RPGs!
caryn
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