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{"id":22160,"date":"2016-12-31T09:36:09","date_gmt":"2016-12-31T14:36:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/?p=22160"},"modified":"2017-11-09T10:13:22","modified_gmt":"2017-11-09T15:13:22","slug":"where-are-all-the-rigid-catholics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/standingonmyhead\/2016\/12\/where-are-all-the-rigid-catholics.html","title":{"rendered":"Where Are All the Rigid Catholics?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"q\"$ The Holy Father\u2019s favorite scold is against Catholics who are \u201crigid\u201d.<\/p>\n

In this he is echoing Jesus and the gospels. Jesus\u2019 big problems were the Scribes and Pharisees. Legalists without mercy, they famously sweated the small stuff\u2013always taking the splinter out of someone else\u2019s eye while ignoring the plank in their own. They burdened people with little laws, great guilt and notorious negativity.<\/p>\n

In the end they are the ones who plotted to kill Jesus. Definitely bad news.<\/p>\n

The Pope\u2019s criticism of similarly rigid religious folks in the Catholic Church is necessary. Certainly we have our share of unsmiling, legalistic, backward looking, negative, hyper critical Catholics. We have our share of Pharisaical, judgmental, hide bound, angry conservatives. Francis is right. They\u2019re a brood of vipers.<\/p>\n

Just try it. Poke at them and they\u2019ll strike, and they\u2019re not harmless. Their fangs have venom.<\/p>\n

While I support the Pope\u2019s criticism of Pharisaical Catholics, \u00a0I don\u2019t actually think they are that big a problem. Here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n

They are a minority. Perhaps it would be easy to tar\u00a0all traditionalist Catholics with this brush, but we know its not so. While there are definitely a few\u00a0vindictive, paranoid, legalistic nut cases among them, most traditionalist Catholics are good, solid, sensible folks who simply love the old Mass and all that goes with it.<\/p>\n

Are there harsh, legalistic and judgmental priests? I\u2019ve been a Catholic for over twenty years and I\u2019ve only heard complaints about a priest being harsh in the confessional twice\u2013and both times it was about the same priest.<\/p>\n

Two complaints in over twenty years and only about one priest?<\/p>\n

Maybe Pope Francis\u2019 experience in Argentina is different than mine in England and the USA, but my experience is that our primary problem is not rigid, legalistic Catholics, but exactly the opposite.<\/p>\n

The complaints I hear about priests in the confessional are along these lines,<\/p>\n

\u201cI went to Fr Whoever\u00a0for confession and all he did was tell me that the things I confessed weren\u2019t really sins.\u201d or<\/p>\n

\u201cThe priest just said, \u00a0\u2018Remember Jesus Loves You. Go in Peace.\u2019 I had to ask him to say the words of absolution three times, and even then I had to remind him what to say!\u201d or<\/p>\n

\u201cOur priest doesn\u2019t have set times for confession. He says we should just confess our sins to God and if we need counseling to make an appointment.\u201d or<\/p>\n

\u201cI confessed that I had slept with a woman before marriage and the priest told me that \u2018I probably had an emotional need\u2019 and it as long as she consented it wasn\u2019t really a sin.\u201d or<\/p>\n

\u201cThe priest spent fifteen minutes explaining my psychological problems to me, and then never said the words of absolution.\u201d<\/p>\n

In America and the UK the problems of the Catholic Church are not down to overly rigid Catholics. The problems are due to overly flaccid Catholics. We\u2019re not too stiff. We\u2019re too limp. Continue Reading<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Image Creative Commons via Bing<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"