Dare To Ask Talk And News About Our Differences
I turned away from Catholicism for a number of reasons, some philosophical,others personal. I’ll deal with each briefly and should emphasise that these didn’t happen at a distinct moment- my preference changed over time. The God described by Catholics did not seem similar to my experiences of the spiritual- the ‘spirits’ I perceive to exist and that help me have a kinder, pragmatic quality that doesn’t align with what I was taught about the ‘jealous God’. When I tried meditation I became aware of a God-experience which can only be lessened by description. So the type of God I experienced turned out to be different to that of the religion I was raised in. I also like ritual and feel that it has a great impact on the psyche – the Catholic Church since Vatican II has jettisoned much of its ritual and magic. What was left of the ritual of the Mass seemed grey and uninspiring and I could see little point in attending every week. In a period in my state where decriminalising male homosexual acts was a hot issue, I was saddened to see at least one priest, who I knew to be gay, knuckle under pressure and call for the retention of the law ! At the same time the Catholic Church was being successfully sued by many people who’d been sexually abused due to its cover-ups and neglect. I hadn’t before believed the old mantra that the Church hierarchy were ‘out of touch’, but now it seemed very clear that the Church had a very poor understanding of sexuality and how to manage it, both within its own ranks and in the world. This was reinforced by a brief period where I boarded in a Catholic presbytery. The priest was a pedantic and rather cold young man, who seemed remote from his parishioners and treated me badly as his tenant. It got so I couldn’t take him seriously when he stepped onto the altar. For all these reasons, I gave Catholicism away.