One often gets the disclaimer when investing that past performance is no guarantee for future performance. I think with the spread of democracy around the world as well with the advent of greater levels of education and access to information, people today EXPECT greater levels of openness and democracy in organizations they are part of.
Clearly, the catholic church has so far failed or refused to incorporate these changes into its own organization. Obviously depending upon which side you belong to, a case can be made for either strategy. The new Pope has made several good points for maintaining its conservative strategy such as on the perils of relativism, maintaining its center of gravity, consistency etc. Coversely, the reluctance to change and remain insular has resulted in the failure of the church to effectively deal with such issues as child molestation, AIDS, womens rights etc. The legal burdens resulting from the child molestation cases for example have resulted in a severe weakening of the church in N.America, not unlike what has happend to other organizations such as the KKK. WRT the other issues, it is reasonable to expect the Catholic church to continue to lose "market share" to the various other christian denominations. This is happening quite rapidly in Latin America and Africa. I get the feeling that the catholic church and its most ardent followers are not willing to compromise on its core values, customs and beliefs, even if it results in a gradual loss of its population base. The status of the catholic church viz Islam is also quite interesting. In many Islamic societies, the lack of separation of church and state has over the past millenia resulted in those societies being contrained by their slow moving religious intelligensia. In contrast, the decoupling of these two elements in the west has allowed the duality of their societies adapting to scientific enlightenment while allowing the church to maintain its core principles. The separation has been so drastic in Europe that the church is almost irrelevant to a large part of European society. Recent statistics from even so called "strongly catholic" nations such as Italy and Spain indicate sharply decreasing participation rates amongst its youth. The US is somewhere in between, though it is very disconcerting to see religion playing an increasing role in American politics and perhaps even in its foreign policy (eg. Israel and its biblical "right" to occupy the occupied territories). Marlon --- Mario Goveia <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Fred, > > I assume you were brought up a Catholic. You then > must know that Catholicism is an autocratic, > patriarchal, top down religion, with old and strict > doctrinal rules that are not responsive to > democratic > principles, and the rules are not about to change > any > time soon, if ever. > > Much of it is based on faith, and cannot be > explained > or understood based on normal human principles, > facts > and logic. For example, a virgin birth, a Holy > Trinity, the Body and Blood of Christ in Holy > Communion, a Resurection, an Ascension into Heaven > of > Jesus as well as Mary, life after death. You take > it > or leave it. > > When you ask for a convincing argument, you are > thinking in terms of a normal democratic social > organization, which this is not. So there is no > such > argument that will convince an unbeliever, and a > believer does not demand such an argument, knowing > that it would be an excercise in futility. > > As Viviana eloquently says, "If she were really and > truly interested in priesthood, and not just the > evening news, a woman can achieve that goal." > > But NOT within the Catholic Church.