Criticism of the Catholic Church

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Not to be confused with Anti-Catholicism.

Part of a series on the
Catholic Church
St. Peter's Basilica
St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City
Overview
Background
Organisation

God

  • Trinity
  • Consubstantialitas
  • Filioque
  • Divinum illud munus
    		•
    Divine law
    Realms beyond the States of the Church
    Paschal mystery
    Blessed Virgin Mary
    Salvation
    Ecclesiology
    Other teachings
    Texts
    • Official Bible
    Philosophy


    Schools

    Worship
    Rites
    Miscellaneous

    Relations with:

    Societal issues
    Links and resources
    icon Catholic Church portal

    During its long history, the

    Protestant Reformation. The Catholic Church has also been criticized for some of its historical actions, such as the church's promotion of the Crusades, and at various times by nationalist groups who feared the influence of Catholicism in undermining their regime. Furthermore, the Catholic Church has been criticized for not practicing ordination of women to the priesthood, its handling of incidents of sexual abuse
    , and various inter-faith interactions.

    Internal

    Liturgical reforms

    Main article: Mass of Paul VI

    Since 1970, the Mass has been celebrated in the local language of where it is celebrated, and the Mass in Latin less frequently. A minority of Catholics prefer the Mass to be celebrated in Latin, and eschew celebrations of the

    Benedict XVI loosened some restrictions on use of the Latin Mass with the aim of healing the rift that had come about between advocates of the Novus Ordo Mass and advocates of the Tridentine Mass.[1] Pope Francis rescinded many of the provisions of Summorum Pontificum with the promulgation of Traditionis custodes in 2021. [citation needed
    ]

    Ordination of women

    Main article: Ordination of women and the Catholic Church

    The teaching of the Catholic Church on ordination, as expressed in the Code of Canon Law, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the apostolic letter Ordinatio sacerdotalis, is that "only a baptized man validly receives sacred ordination".[2] According to Roman Catholic thinking, the priest is acting 'in persona Christi' (that is, in the Person of Christ). In 1979, Sister Theresa Kane, then president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, challenged Pope John Paul II from the podium at the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C., to include women "in all ministries of our Church".[3] In his Apostolic Letter Ordinatio sacerdotalis (1994), Pope John Paul II said the "Priestly ordination, … has in the Catholic Church from the beginning always been reserved to men alone."[4] He cited the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (under Pope Paul VI) Declaration Inter Insigniores on the question of the Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood,[5] and declared that "the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful."[4] The reasons given included: "the example recorded in the Sacred Scriptures of Christ choosing his Apostles only from among men; the constant practice of the Church, which has imitated Christ in choosing only men; and her living teaching authority which has consistently held that the exclusion of women from the priesthood is in accordance with God's plan for his Church."

    Several Catholic groups, nonetheless, say the matter should still be open for discussion, and dissenters do not regard Ordinatio sacerdotalis as definitive church teaching. But in June 2018

    Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments formally interpreted the 1983 Code of Canon Law, stating that women could assist at Mass as acolytes or altar servers. Women also serve as lectors and extraordinary ministers. Critics see the church's position on the ordination of women as a sign that women are not equal to men in the Catholic Church, though the church rejects this inference.[7] Pope Francis organized a Study Commission on the Women's Diaconate to review and study the history of women's service to the church, such as that of deaconesses. The Commission submitted its report to Pope Francis in January 2019.[8]

    Finances

    Concerns about usury included the 19th-century Rothschild loans to the Holy See and 16th-century objections over abuse of the zinskauf clause.[9] This was particularly problematic because the charging of interest (all interest, not just excessive interest) was a violation of doctrine at the time, such as that reflected in the 1745 encyclical Vix pervenit. As a result, work-arounds were employed. For example, in the 15th century, the Medici Bank lent money to the Vatican which was lax about repayment. Rather than charging interest, "the Medici overcharged the pope on the silks and brocades, the jewels and other commodities they supplied."[10] However, the 1917 Code of Canon Law switched position and allowed church monies to be used to accrue interest.[11]

    Italian priest Pino Puglisi refused money from Mafia members when offered it for the traditional feast day celebrations,[12] and also resisted the Mafia in other ways, for which he was martyred in 1993.

    In 2014, Pope Francis criticized the practice of charging altarage fees or honorariums for things like baptisms, blessings, and Mass intentions (such as Masses for the dead).[13]

    In 2018, Pope Francis criticized the selling of Masses for the dead, stating, "the Mass is not paid for, redemption is free, if I want to make an offering, well and good, but Mass is free."[14]

    Interfaith

    Main article: Christianity and other religions

    Judaism

    Main articles: Antisemitism in Christianity, Catholic Church and Judaism, Blood curse, and Medieval antisemitism

    In the

    responsible for the death of Jesus.[16] "Over the course of time, Christians began to accept ... that the Jewish people as a whole were responsible for killing Jesus. According to this interpretation, both the Jews present at Jesus' death and the Jewish people collectively and for all time, have committed the sin of deicide, or God-killing. For 1900 years of Christian-Jewish history, the charge of deicide has led to hatred, violence against and murder of Jews in Europe and America."[17]

    In 1998, Pope John Paul II apologized for the failure of Catholics to help Jews during the Holocaust and acknowledged that Christian antisemitism might have made easier Nazi persecution of the Jews, whom the Pope called "our elder brothers" in the faith.[18]

    The 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, allowing a wider use of the Tridentine Mass, raised concerns in the Jewish community regarding the Good Friday liturgy which contained a prayer "For the conversion of the Jews" referring to Jewish "blindness" and prays for them to be "delivered from their darkness."[19] The American Jewish Committee said that this raises "negative implications that some in the Jewish community and beyond have drawn concerning the motu proprio."[20] Pope Benedict XVI in 2008 replaced the prayer in the 1962 Missal with a newly composed prayer that makes no mention of blindness or darkness.

    Russian Orthodoxy

    Main articles: Catholic–Eastern Orthodox relations and Russian Orthodoxy

    In 2007, the then

    Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith rejected the characterization of "proselytizing" and said that respect towards non-Catholic Christians must not negate the possibility of conversion, if an individual should so choose.[21]

    Protestantism

    Main article: Catholic–Protestant relations

    Common factors that played a role during the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation included the rise of nationalism, simony, the appointment of Cardinal-nephews, the sale of indulgences, and other corruption in the Roman Curia and other ecclesiastical hierarchy, as well as the impact of humanism, the new learning of the Renaissance, the epistemological shift between the schola moderna and schola antiqua within scholasticism, and the Western Schism that eroded loyalty to the Papacy.

    Key events of the period include Martin Luther nailing the 95 theses (1517), the Council of Trent (1545–1563), the excommunication of Elizabeth I (1570), the Battle of Lepanto (1571), the adoption of the Gregorian calendar under Pope Gregory XIII, the French Wars of Religion, the Long Turkish War, the final phases of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), and the formation of the last Holy League by Innocent XI during the Great Turkish War.

    Protestants hold doctrinal differences with the Catholic Church in a number of areas, including the understanding of the meaning of the word "faith" and how it relates to "good works" in terms of salvation, and a difference of opinion regarding the concept of "justification"; also regarding the Catholic Church's belief in sacred tradition as a source of revelation complementary to sacred scripture.[22] Some scholars of Early Christianity are adherents of the New Perspective on Paul and so believe sola fide is a misinterpretation and that Paul was actually speaking about laws (such as circumcision, dietary laws, Sabbath, temple rituals, etc.) that were considered essential for the Jews of the time.[23]

    Islam

    Main article: Catholic Church and Islam

    In September 2006, Pope Benedict XVI delivered the Regensburg lecture at the University of Regensburg in Germany, where he had once served as a professor of theology. It was entitled "Faith, Reason and the University – Memories and Reflections". In his lecture, the Pope, speaking in German, quoted a passage about Islam made at the end of the 14th century by Byzantine (Eastern Roman) emperor Manuel II Palaiologos. As the English translation of the Pope's lecture was disseminated across the world, the quotation was taken out of context and many Islamic politicians and religious leaders protested against what they saw as an insulting mischaracterization of Islam.[24][25] Mass street protests were mounted in many Islamic countries. The Pope maintained that the comment he had quoted did not reflect his own views.

    Buddhism

    Main articles: Buddhism and Christianity and Crossing the Threshold of Hope

    In 1994,

    Theravada Buddhism scholar, published an essay "intended as a short corrective to the Pope's demeaning characterization of Buddhism" entitled Toward a Threshold of Understanding.[28]

    Historical

    Response to heresy

    Main articles: Inquisition and History of Christian thought on persecution and tolerance

    The development of doctrine, the position of orthodoxy, and the relationship between the early Church and early heretical groups is a matter of academic debate. Before the 12th century, Christianity gradually suppressed what it saw as heresy, usually through a system of ecclesiastical sanctions, excommunication, and anathema. Later, an accusation of heresy could be construed as treason against lawful civil rule, and therefore punishable by civil sanctions such as confiscation of property, imprisonment, or death, though the latter was not frequently imposed, as this form of punishment had many ecclesiastical opponents.[29][30] Within five years of the official 'criminalization' of heresy by the emperor, the first Christian heretic, Priscillian, was executed in 385 by Roman officials. For some years after the Protestant Reformation, Protestant denominations were also known to execute those whom they considered heretics.

    When John Paul II visited Prague in the 1990s, he apologized for the execution of Jan Hus on charges of heresy and requested experts in this matter "to define with greater clarity the position held by Jan Hus among the Church's reformers", and acknowledged that "independently of the theological convictions he defended, Hus cannot be denied integrity in his personal life and commitment to the nation's moral education."[31][32][33]

    In 2015, after visiting a

    Waldensian Temple in Turin, Pope Francis, in the name of the Catholic Church, asked Waldensian Christians for forgiveness for their persecution. The Pope apologized for the church's "un-Christian and even inhumane positions and actions".[34]

    Crusades

    Main article: Crusades

    The Crusades were a series of military conflicts, with a

    Cathars, Hussites and political enemies of the popes. The Crusaders made vows and were granted an indulgence.[35]

    Elements of the Crusades were criticized by some from the time of their inception in 1095. Roger Bacon believed that the Crusades were counter-productive because, "those who survive, together with their children, are more and more embittered against the Christian faith."[36] In spite of some criticism, the movement was still widely supported in Europe long after the fall of Acre in 1291. After that event, the Crusades to recover Jerusalem and the Christian East were unsuccessful. Eighteenth-century rationalists harshly criticized the Crusaders . In the 1950s, Sir Steven Runciman published a highly critical account of the Crusades in which he referred to the practice of Holy War as "a sin against the Holy Ghost".[36]

    Nationalist critique

    As early as the second century,

    Dom Justo Takayama, a Christian daimyō in western Japan. The San Felipe incident (1596) involved the Spanish captain of a shipwrecked trading vessel, who, in an attempt to recover his cargo, made the claim that the missionaries (many of whom had arrived with the Portuguese) were there to prepare Japan for conquest.[40] Hideyoshi was concerned that divided loyalties might lead to dangerous rebels like the Ikkō-ikki Sect of earlier years and issued an edict expelling missionaries.[41]

    The

    Mystici corporis Christi of Pope Pius XII which condemned forced conversions, the murder of disabled people, and the exclusion of people on the basis of race or nationality. The Nazis planned to eliminate the church's influence by restricting its organizations to purely religious activities.[45]

    In a series of sermons in the summer of 1941, Clemens August Graf von Galen, Bishop of Munster, denounced the Nazi regime for its Gestapo tactics and policies, including euthanasia, and attacked the Third Reich for undermining justice. He stated: "As a German, as a decent citizen, I demand justice".[46] In the view of SS General Jürgen Stroop, German patriotism "was tainted by Papist ideals, which have been harmful to Germany for centuries. Besides, the Archbishop's [Clemens August Graf von Galen] orders came from outside the Fatherland, a fact which disturbed us. We all know that despite its diverse factions, the Catholic Church is a world community, which sticks together when the chips are down."[47] "There is no doubt that in the long run Nazi leaders such as Hitler and Himmler intended to eradicate Christianity just as ruthlessly as any other rival ideology, even if in the short term they had to be content to make compromises with it."[48]

    Ustaše regime in Croatia during the Second World War.[49]

    Sexual abuse scandals

    Main article: Catholic Church sexual abuse cases

    In January 2002, cases in which priests were accused of

    worldwide summit of bishops in Rome to discuss the steps that can be taken to prevent the sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults.[51]

    Canadian Indigenous residential schools

    The Indian residential school system in Canada was a network of boarding schools for indigenous peoples. Children were removed from their parents' homes, often forcibly, and sent to the schools. In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission estimated that more than 4000 students have died due to this system.[52] About 60% of the Canadian Indian residential schools were operated by the Catholic church under federal and provincial government sponsorship and funding.[53] The commission says that students died due to lack of facilities,[clarification needed] disease, suicide, and abuse at the hands of those operating the schools.[citation needed][54]

    See also

    References

    1. ^ Israely, Jeff (7 July 2007). "Why the Pope is Boosting Latin Mass". Time. Archived from the original on 9 July 2007. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
    2. ^ Codex Iuris Canonici canon 1024
    3. ISSN 0027-8378. Archived from the original
      on 14 April 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
    4. ^ a b "Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (May 22, 1994) | John Paul II". w2.vatican.va. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
    5. ^ CDF, Declaration Inter Insigniores on the question of the Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood (15 October 1976): AAS 69 (1977), 98–116
    6. ^ "Excerpts from Pope Francis' interview with Reuters". Reuters. 20 June 2018 – via uk.reuters.com.
    7. ^ Rausch, Thomas P. Catholicism in the Third Millennium. Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 2003.[ISBN missing][page needed]
    8. ^ "Pope Francis says commission on women deacons did not reach agreement". America Magazine. 7 May 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
    9. ^ See Martin Luther's Sermon on Trading and Usury
    10. silver plate for an amount of more than 4,000 florins reveals at any rate that the Rome branch dealt more or less extensively in this product for which there was a demand among the high churchmen of the Curia who did a great deal of entertaining and liked to display their magnificence." p. 205, also see p. 199, de Roover, Raymond Adrien (1948), The Medici Bank: its organization, management, and decline, New York; London: New York University Press; Oxford University Press
      (respectively)
    11. ^ T.L. Bouscaren and A.C. Ellis. 1957. Canon Law: A Text and Commentary. p. 825.
    12. ^ Murder in Palermo: who killed Father Puglisi?, Commonweal, 11 October 2002
    13. ^ Pope Francis: Turning churches into 'businesses' is a scandal by Elise Harris Vatican City, 21 November 2014 / 10:33 am
    14. ^ Pope: 'You don't pay for Mass, 'Christ's redemption is free' Asia News 3 July 2018, 13.03 Vatican
    15. ^ The Jewish Critique of Christianity: In Search of a New Narrative
    16. ISBN 0-521-77308-3
      , p. 52.
    17. ^ Paley, Susan and Koesters, Adrian Gibbons, eds. "A Viewer's Guide to Contemporary Passion Plays". Retrieved 12 March 2006. Archived 1 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine
    18. ^ "A Pope for the World". BBC. 2005.
    19. ^ Westcott, Kathryn (27 April 2007). "Concerns over Pope's Latin Mass move". BBC News. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
    20. ^ "AJC Seeks Clarification on Latin Mass – AJC: Global Jewish Advocacy Legacy Site". Archived from the original on 7 August 2007. Retrieved 7 August 2007.
    21. ^ "Asia News". Archived from the original on 15 December 2007. Retrieved 17 December 2007.
    22. ^ "Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation – Dei Verbum". 31 May 2014. Archived from the original on 31 May 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
    23. ISBN 978-0-8028-4562-7.[page needed
      ]
    24. ^ "In quotes: Muslim reaction to Pope". BBC News. 16 September 2006. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
    25. ^ "Pope sorry for offending Muslims". BBC News. 17 September 2006. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
    26. ^ Thinley Norbu. Welcoming Flowers From Across the Cleansed Threshold of Hope: An Answer to the Pope's Criticism of Buddhism (Kindle Locations 34–35). Jewel Pub House.[ISBN missing]
    27. ^ "Welcoming Flowers from across the Cleansed Threshold of Hope". Shambhala.com. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
    28. ^ "Toward a Threshold of Understanding". Accesstoinsight.org. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
    29. ^ "Catholic Encyclopedia: Inquisition". Newadvent.org. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
    30. ^ "A History of the Inquisition In The Middle Ages. By Henry Charles Lea. Volume 1". Bulfinch.englishatheist.org. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
    31. ^ Caroll, Rory (13 March 2000). "Pope says sorry for sins of church". The Guardian. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
    32. ^ BBC News. "Pope issues apology". BBC. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
    33. ^ BBC News. "Pope apologises for Church sins". BBC News. Retrieved 14 January 2013.
    34. ^ "Pope Francis asks Waldensian Christians to forgive the Church". Catholic Herald. 22 June 2015. Archived from the original on 22 June 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
    35. ISBN 0-19-285364-3.[page needed
      ]
    36. ^
      ISBN 0-8160-2186-4.[page needed
      ]
    37. S2CID 221066544
      .
    38. ^ McGrath, Patrick (1967), Papists and Puritans under Elizabeth I, London: Blandford Press. p. 69
    39. ISBN 978-0-19-921356-6
    40. ISBN 978-0-8348-0319-0
    41. doi:10.18874/jjrs.20.1.1993.3-29
    42. ^ "Concordati e accordi della Santa Sede". www.vatican.va. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
    43. ^ Ian Kershaw; Hitler a Biography; 2008 Edn; WW Norton & Company; London p. 295[ISBN missing]
    44. ^ "Concordat Watch – Germany".
    45. ISBN 0-8132-0920-X
    46. ISBN 3-506-79840-5
    47. ^ Moczarski, Kazimierz. (1981), Conversations with an Executioner, Prentice Hall, pp. 56–57
    48. ^ Griffin, Roger. "Fascism's relation to religion in Blamires, Cyprian", World fascism: a historical encyclopedia, Volume 1, p. 10, ABC-CLIO, 2006
    49. ISBN 978-0253214713
      .
    50. ^ Grossman, Cathy Lynn. "Survey: More clergy abuse cases than previously thought." USA Today (10 February 2004). Retrieved 21 July 2007.
    51. ^ McElwee, Joshua J. (12 September 2018). "Francis summons world's bishop presidents to Rome for meeting on clergy abuse". National Catholic Reporter. Vatican City. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
    52. ^ "At least 4,000 aboriginal children died in residential schools, commission finds". National Post. 25 January 2015.
    53. ^ "Residential Schools in Canada". 1 June 2021.
    54. ^ Yun, Tom (6 June 2021). "Canadian archbishop says Trudeau comments on Church's role in residential schools 'unfair'". CTV News.

    External links

    Wikiquote has quotations related to Criticism of the Catholic Church.
    Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Criticism_of_the_Catholic_Church&oldid=1188275931"