The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 6 of 18)

I, as you, have been following the liberal critics of JPII with some amusement. Thomas Cahill and his ilk do have a valid point. Attendance in Catholic churches is declining and aging. This cannot be denied. However, to claim that it can be reverse by loosening the church's standards is patently absurd.

If one were to "shop around" looking at ways for a church to become popular, one would quickly see that liberalizing morality is not the way to go. The so-called mainstream churches have been going that route for years. Where has it got them? They are in worse shape than Catholicism. So how is loosening Catholic standards going to "save" the Catholic Church? It isn't. It can't. It won't.

The only churches gaining in membership are those that do make firm stands. If anything, the Roman Catholic Church isn't firm enough. It needs to demand more of its members.

Take a look at the most successful church of all, the Mormon Church. It is growing by leaps and bounds. They can't build chapels fast enough, and those that hey do build are generally filled with multiple congregations by the time they are dedicated.

Are they loosening their stances on morality? No. Are they ordaining women? No.

What they are doing is demanding a great deal of their members. They have no paid clergy. Everything is done by the lay-people.

p>So if the papal critics were intellectually honest, shouldn't they be calling for the Catholic Church to toughen their moral stance and to demand more of their members, not less? br> -- Mark Hammer br> Bellevue, Washington /p> p> PAVED WITH GOOD INTENTIONS br> Re: Shawn Macomber's Adventures in Harvard America

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