I am writing in regards to Brad Erthal’s article, “All Catholics deserve better after Pope Benedict XVI’s reign.” He holds that the Catholic Church needs a better pope, one that will change its stance on homosexuality, women in the priesthood, abortion and birth control.
Mr. Erthal presents the fact that most Catholics disagree with the church’s teachings on many of these issues, and while this may be true, he neglects to mention an important fact. According to cara.georgetown.edu, of the 78.2 million people who identify themselves as Catholics in the U.S. only 24 percent say they go to mass once or more a week. So over a 3/4 of these Catholics don’t even practice their faith, hence it is no wonder they don’t agree with the Church.
Mr. Erthal accuses the Church of practically aiding the HIV/AIDS epidemic because it doesn’t condone the use of condoms. This would make sense if the Church was encouraging people to live promiscuously, but it isn’t. The church advocates abstinence until marriage, which is often a foreign concept to today’s society. The Church teaching on sexuality is hard to follow, I will be the first to admit that, but what it advocates for instead of birth control – abstinence – is far more effective at preventing STDs than a piece of rubber.
Mr. Erthal is upset because the Church is trying to metaphorically cure disease at the source rather than providing a pain pill to deaden the suffering. For 2000 years, the Church has opposed pre-marital sex. Wouldn’t handing out condoms be a hypocritical statement by the Church? It would be like giving a child a cool new toy and then telling him or her that they are under no circumstances to play with it.
Mr. Erthal complains that the Church is “bigoted toward LGBTQ members.” As a Catholic with gay family members, I find his comments extremely offensive and ignorant. The Church does not condemn homosexual individuals; it condemns the actual practice of acting upon homosexual desires, just as it condemns heterosexual people acting upon their sexual desires outside the confines of marriage.
Mr. Erthal also accuses the Church’s clergy of being “supposedly celibate.” If he is referring to the sex abuse scandals in the Church, it is worth noting that it involves less than 1 percent of all priests in the U.S., let alone the world. However, this does not excuse the actions of these priests, but Mr. Erthal makes it seem as though sex, particularly with minors, is a common occurrence among priests when it isn’t.
Mr. Erthal laments that the Church continues to testify in Congress against birth control. The Church has every right to testify since the federal government is trying to force Catholic organizations to violate their deeply held faith and pay for other people’s birth control and abortions.
Mr. Erthal is upset at the Catholic Church’s tax exemption in the U.S. but apparently not at Episcopal, Baptist and Methodist churches, not to mention synagogues and mosques, who all get tax exemptions because they’re religious institutions.
Perhaps he is upset because the Church takes an active role in advocating for social issues, but Catholicism is not the only religion to lobby politicians. According to the Washington Post, as of 2011 there are over 212 religious affiliated organizations on Capitol Hill that lobby for what they believe in.
Mr. Erthal wants the Church to change because most people disagree with it. Why is this a good reason for change? By his logic, if the majority of children wanted to eat desserts as meals then parents should change what they believe is best for their kids. Just because the majority of people believe something doesn’t make it true.
Understanding the history, tradition and natural law of Catholic theology is important in learning why Catholics believe what we believe. I challenge Mr. Erthal to look into why the Church preaches what it does rather than condemning it outright, without trying to understand both sides of the issue. But I won’t hold my breath.
Nathan Vrazel is a sophomore majoring in history.
