My little country is a deeply catholic one.
Cathedrals, monasteries and rituals have shaped communities over many centuries. Religious faith as well as superstitious beliefs are deeply engrained in the culture and daily life of the people living here. However, the rigidity of the Roman curia has left many frustrated, in particular after some scandals involving molestation and child abuse came to light. In the wake of that more than 150,000 Austrians left the Church in the past 2 years.
However almost everyone who grew up in this country feels a very curious sense of belonging to the sacraments, liturgical year and feast days. Even if many are critical or no longer go to church, traditions remain rooted firmly in the collective subconscious.
And so the split became more and more apparent. Of those who followed the rules and those who grudgingly found an unofficial compromise, which is also not uncommon even for those who officially left the Catholic Church.
Several years ago an initiative was started by a handful of courageous priests to defy the Catholic Church with calls for married clergy, women priests and other reforms. Three-quarters of the people backed the priests’ “Call to Disobedience,” a manifesto that Vienna Cardinal Schoenborn compares to a football team refusing to play by the rules.
Rev Helmut Schueller who is leading the initiative says many priests are already quietly breaking the rules anyway, often with the knowledge of their bishops, and his campaign aims to force the hierarchy to agree to change. About 8 percent of Austrian priests have supported his movement.
Rather than simply appealing for reforms, the dissidents declared they will break Church rules by giving communion to Protestants and remarried divorced Catholics or allowing lay people to preach and head parishes without a priest.
To me this initiative is giving much hope. Priests are standing up to change the structure so the system fits the people’s need and not vice versa. And for everyone being opposed to religious systems to begin with , I only can say – why throw out the baby with the bath water ? I much rather have a New Earth clergy having the guts to speak their truth than building a reformist movement based on a sense of having turned their back to the church and the community.
Because there are many ways to God.
The Living Room 
Posted for Michael / moreconnections:
The Church is slowly being forced to reconsider its dogma’s. It the non Western world this is still uncommon and since a majority of Catholics in the world are from non Western countries that accounts for the slow transition. By some estimates around one quarter of all Catholics live in Western countries.
Western countries exported the faith. They had a much longer time to consider the teachings and dogma’s associated with it. The high esteem once felt for the clergy has waned. People in the West are much more willing to call into question the church and its policies. So it should be of no surprise that those in Western countries are considering alternatives to the traditions of the church. Generally Western people have more access to information and a connection with others and due to that discuss and debate topics related to the church. The church to them is not sacrosanct like it once was.
Interesting! I had not heard about the big move of people away from the Catholic Church. Seems to me it’s a mecessary step in reform of the Church from within. So many changes needed, now they are all bubbling up to the surface!
A snap shot of where I live. The Vatican does not like change.
Peter Kennedy St Mary’s in Exile
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=21150
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-05-04/hundreds-praise-ousted-toowoomba-bishop-at-vigil/2702924
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/rebel-priest-peter-kennedy-gives-up-on-worshipping-god/story-e6freon6-1226102271330
Is Jesus God? – Michael Moorwood (Australian respected ex catholic priest)
http://www.morwood.org/pagetwo.html
“Why Christianity must change or die” – Bishop Spong
http://johnshelbyspong.com/store/why-christianity-must-change-or-die-a-bishop-speaks-to-believers-in-exile/
Thank you Pete. Indeed, its everywhere now.
The Jesus Mysteries: Was the “Original Jesus” a Pagan God? is a 1999 book by British authors Timothy Freke, a philosophy and religions scholar, and Peter Gandy a classics scholar.
http://atheism.about.com/library/books/full/aafprJesusMysteries.htm
The Laughing Jesus: by the same authors
Here is an interview :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxujsLOEWq
THIS INTERVIEW IS THE SIMPLISTIC COMPLICATED ANSWER WHICH WILL TAKE A LOT MORE SUFFERING BEFORE WE GET TO THAT PLACE – WHICH IN MY NIEVE OPINION WILL BE A HUGE PART OF THE NEW EARTH.
PEACE
Pete
Frankly I am not sure if it really will take much more suffering. I have a sense we are already at that place and somehow, if the veil gets lifted – we all will see it. All thats currently going on, including the strain and stresses are in a way preparing us for the embodiment. Well, lets see…
PEACE and great to see you