Dear Editor,
I am amazed that Edwin James is in the USA and is unaware of the circumstances which give rise to the sex scandal or that chooses to disregard the facts in an effort to score points for his religious fraternity.
The circumstances are presented to the Unites States House Un-American Activities committee concerning the infiltration into the Catholic Church by ex-members of the Communist Party of the USA, Douglas Hyde and Bella Dodd, and detailed in the book "School of Darkness" by Bella Dodd. A portion of it is on the Internet.
It says ,"We (the communist party) put 1,100 deviant young men into the priesthood in order to destroy it from within; the idea is that over time they would be ordained and progress to positions of influence. Some of them did and those who were in charge of seminaries recruited others of their ilk to the exclusion of those who are not".
James disregards the fact that the same research report which said 1.5% of priests in the targeted areas were affected says 40.8% of non-Catholic clergy were guilty and they were not subjected to direct satanic infiltration. Although by our standards even one is one too many, there were 98.5% of holy priests who were living out their vocation in spite of the extraordinary circumstance and less than 60% of their Protestant counterparts.
James acknowledges that there was a small minority who were guilty of the offence, yet went on to blame celibacy, not taking into account that the Catholic Church is 2000 years old and it has never happened like this before. It should be obvious that some factor beyond the ordinary is at work.
He further went on to misrepresent the scriptures to suit himself as they always do. In Matthew 19, Jesus, in response to a comment from Peter, said: "Some men renounce marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven; whoever can accept ought to accept it." He is saying that celibacy is not for every man.
St Paul in 1Cor 7 said: "I wish every man could be as I am (celibate) but every man has a particular gift from God" and the explanatory note to that verse reads 'particular gifts or charisma suggests that marriage and celibacy may be viewed in the light of Paul's theology of spiritual gifts'.
So celibacy is scriptural and is not the cause of sexual misconduct; it is a direct satanic assault on the Church; it is an abnormal occurrence.
James went on to disagree with scripture and the church that Peter was the first leader of the Catholic Church. That is his right, but may I remind him that the Bible was compiled by the Catholic Church after 400 years in existence. In the next 1100 years, before printing was invented, it was Catholic monks, priests and nuns who hand-wrote the bible for teaching and distribution throughout the world. So the Church is in a much better position than he to correctly determine what the Bible says.
A James
alvalj@cwjamaica.com
The Church, marriage and celibacy
-->
I am amazed that Edwin James is in the USA and is unaware of the circumstances which give rise to the sex scandal or that chooses to disregard the facts in an effort to score points for his religious fraternity.
The circumstances are presented to the Unites States House Un-American Activities committee concerning the infiltration into the Catholic Church by ex-members of the Communist Party of the USA, Douglas Hyde and Bella Dodd, and detailed in the book "School of Darkness" by Bella Dodd. A portion of it is on the Internet.
It says ,"We (the communist party) put 1,100 deviant young men into the priesthood in order to destroy it from within; the idea is that over time they would be ordained and progress to positions of influence. Some of them did and those who were in charge of seminaries recruited others of their ilk to the exclusion of those who are not".
James disregards the fact that the same research report which said 1.5% of priests in the targeted areas were affected says 40.8% of non-Catholic clergy were guilty and they were not subjected to direct satanic infiltration. Although by our standards even one is one too many, there were 98.5% of holy priests who were living out their vocation in spite of the extraordinary circumstance and less than 60% of their Protestant counterparts.
James acknowledges that there was a small minority who were guilty of the offence, yet went on to blame celibacy, not taking into account that the Catholic Church is 2000 years old and it has never happened like this before. It should be obvious that some factor beyond the ordinary is at work.
He further went on to misrepresent the scriptures to suit himself as they always do. In Matthew 19, Jesus, in response to a comment from Peter, said: "Some men renounce marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven; whoever can accept ought to accept it." He is saying that celibacy is not for every man.
St Paul in 1Cor 7 said: "I wish every man could be as I am (celibate) but every man has a particular gift from God" and the explanatory note to that verse reads 'particular gifts or charisma suggests that marriage and celibacy may be viewed in the light of Paul's theology of spiritual gifts'.
So celibacy is scriptural and is not the cause of sexual misconduct; it is a direct satanic assault on the Church; it is an abnormal occurrence.
James went on to disagree with scripture and the church that Peter was the first leader of the Catholic Church. That is his right, but may I remind him that the Bible was compiled by the Catholic Church after 400 years in existence. In the next 1100 years, before printing was invented, it was Catholic monks, priests and nuns who hand-wrote the bible for teaching and distribution throughout the world. So the Church is in a much better position than he to correctly determine what the Bible says.
A James
alvalj@cwjamaica.com
The Church, marriage and celibacy
-->