Anglicans coming over

He may be a great physiotherapist, but Dr. P annoyed me.  Started Catholic-bashing, albeit carefully, as he was working on my upper right arm the other day.  "I've had a few Catholic girfriends and have gone to church with them, but I always feel bad when I leave," he said.  Well, maybe you have things to feel bad about?  He also brought up the abuse some priests visited upon the innocent. 

I completely agree that the abuse was criminal, but let's not tar all priests with the same brush.  Priests are human, with all the failings, weaknesses and evil the rest of us possess.  Doctors, lawyers, orthodontists (this I am personally acquainted with), teachers, plumbers, chiropractors, electricians...........you name it, sexual predators are found in all these professions.  Do we condemn everyone?  Of course not, but for some reason, the Catholic Church and priests are tarred forever.

And it particularly galls me that the people "Catholic-bashing" have no religious affiliation themselves. 

So it was heartening to pick up the latest 'Columbia' magazine (put out by the Knights of Columbus, of which B is a member) to read an article about the droves of Anglicans who are joining the Church -- encouraged and welcomed by Pope Benedict. 

"The Personal Ordinate of the Chair of St. Peter is part of a bigger movement of Anglicans seeking full communion with Rome, after becoming disillusioned by increasing disunity within the Anglican Communion," the article reads.  The pope has encouraged the continuation of "Anglican Use" as a "precious gift and a treasure to be shared".  He has also allowed married former Anglican priests to remain married within the Catholic Church. 

"When you realize you need to become a Catholic on the day of your ordination in the Episcopal Church, it kind of throws your whole future into question," said Father Matt Venuti, now a Catholic priest in Mobile, Ala.  He now leads an Anglican Use mission community.

"I had hoped my 'Roman Fever' would cure itself once I entered real-world ministry, but it didn't," he adds. 

Thousands of Anglicans and Episcopalians are joining the Catholic Church for one reason or another.  I remember a dinner-table conversation in Houston a couple of years ago with Episcopalians.  "Our church is exactly like the Catholic Church," pronounced the wife.  "No it isn't," I replied.  "The big difference between the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations is that Catholics have 'days of obligation'", I, a convert brought up in the Protestant faith, explained.  "We are obliged to do certain things, while you are not." 

Again, these were people who didn't set foot in a church criticizing Catholics. 

It kills me.