catholic debochary

The problem with religion is that it isn’t always used for good. Most Americans can recall the recent problems with Islamic Fascists and the destruction these people caused on September 11, 2001. But not to say that only the extreme cases of religion cause problems.

An atheist or agnostic could say that religion is an institution of man, in reality no different from any other man-made organization. It doesn’t shock them or bother them that religious leaders sin just as a corporate executive might. All it does is reaffirm their beliefs and give them grounds to wag

e war against the religious people of the world. To me this poses a serious question. People who give their life to the service of God should have the guidance to do God’s work. Take me for example, I make mistakes and sin all the time. My sins, although no worse or better than anyone else’s are the sins of a layperson. I am not a representative of God. So, if these people constantly ask for God’s guidance and are in an environment that should have God’s will as their priority, how do these crimes occur? One has only to look at one of the oldest religions, that of the Catholic Religion, and the problems it has caused and dealt with from its early inception to the modern era.

One of the darkest times of the Catholic Church was immediately prior to the Reformation of Martin Luther. This occurred during what is known as the Dark Ages of Europe and there are multiple reasons for how the Catholic Religion helped give this period in history its’ name. During the time the Catholic clergy fell into depths of evil and darkness that will never be truly known. This falter wasn’t in only one aspect of the church but in many ranging in financial, social, and political corruption. These areas of corruption didn’t just apply to the way the church ran but was applied to the daily lives of the Pope down to the common nun or priest. A good way to sum up the Catholic church around 1454 was given by Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini, later Pope Pius II, when he said, “ I prefer to be silent and I could wish that my opinion may prove entirely wrong and that I may be called a liar rather than a true prophet… For I have no hope that what I should like to see will be realized; I cannot persuade myself that there is anything good in prospect… Christianity has no head whom all will obey. Neither the pope nor the emperor is accorded his rights. There is no reverence and no obedience; we look on pope and emperor as figureheads and empty titles. Every city state has its king and there are as many princes as there are households” (Bokenkotter 194). This was not from an outside person but from the future Pope. If things were so bad for him, imagine how bad they were for the common peasant in Europe.

The problems within the church were many. Of these problems against the church “the first and sorest was that she loved money, and had too much of it for her own good” wrote author Will Durant (17). There is no documentation that exists today to give the exact wealth of the church during the Dark Ages but historians have speculated about the total wealth of the Catholic Church around the 1500’s. “Documents have been found that may suggest that the Church’s share of the wealth made up anywhere from a fifth to three-quarters in each country of England, France, and Germany. In Italy, of course, one third of the peninsula belonged to the church as the Papal States and she owned rich properties in the rest” (Durant 17). Historians have shown that the church was notorious for sucking money out of the people any way they could. “They were known to have sold false relics to unsuspecting believers, passing animal bones and bits of torn cloak as those of Jesus Christ. Often priests charged a mite too much for burial services” said historian Charles Mee (151). Why would the church allow this unless the corruption went all the way to the top? Not only did the church sell false relics they also would “overcharge the peasants with taxes since they often acted as local officials” (Clifford 7). Now maybe one could ponder the question if those in charge knew about the corruption. That would be a valid question but it doesn’t seem likely to me that it was the case. With all of the corruption that started at the top it makes sense to me that those who wielded that power saw no problem in allowing the corruption to trickle down. I don’t think that the reason the corruption was allowed had anything to do with a lack of leadership or co

Some topics in this essay:
Catholic Church, Strayer Vol, II Leo, Geoffrey Chaucer, According Strayer, Pius II, Islamic Fascists, Charles Mee, Catholic Religion, Richard McBrien, catholic church, vol 3, “the privilege, catholic religion, 3 445, strayer vol 3, strayer vol, vol 3 445, exemption “the privilege, “alexander vi, religion world, lay court tried, privilege competency, common peasant, vol 3 446,