Remember? "what ever you bind on earth, is bound in heaven".
"O you of little faith".

HELLO!!! This is 2009, or did some of you, forget that? Whenever men feel that they are loosing POWER AND CONTROL over women, they want to go back in history. Those days are G-0-N-E. I can speak from experience, having been taught by 'nuns in habits', for 8 years. I have never seen a larger group of unhappy women, in one place, in my life.

To john darrah: Where in the world did you get the idea that you have the right to 'put nuns in habits or take them out'. They can make that decision for themselves, thank you very much.

You don't have to be a priest to proclaim "the Good News."

Women were the first proclaimers of The Good News. The women were Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James. They were the first to find the empty tomb after Jesus had risen. They are the ones that went and told the disciples.

When Jesus appeared in the upper room, although it is not mentioned in Scripture, there would have been women there also. Jesus told them, "Go therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)

We are baptized as infants, in the name of the Father, the Son Jesus and the Holy Spirit. When anointed with blessed oil (frankincense and myrrh), the priest tells us we are priests, prophets and kings. Priests of the laity, we can proclaim the Good News; prophets, some Christians have that gift; Kings, because we are all children of the most high God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

We grow up learning what all that means, then when we reach our teens, at Confirmation, we confirm all that was said to us at Baptism.

I am a "lay minister," proclaiming the Good News to the youths in Juvenile Hall. I had to be a member in good standing of a Catholic Church, get a security clearance, and take some days of instruction. I had already been in a class studying Scripture.

We hold a Catholic/Christian service reading the Sunday Scriptures and explaining them. Lead the youths in singing hymns, and prayer. Pray for their requests and give them a blessing.

As Catholics, we don't all have to be ordained, however, we are all called to "proclaim the Good News." Praise God!

In reference to the word "Church," it is not a building or a denomination. To me, Church is God's Christian people, those that accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour, regardless of which denomination, or which building they go to for Church services. Some may have different teaching or rules, but as long as they follow God's Word--Scripture, they are His Church.

I also attended a Catholic school, but I don't remember being taught that the Catholic Church was the only way to salvation.

In reference to nuns not wearing habits, I don't have a problem with that. It's not what they wear that's important. It's what is in their heart and what they teach about our God.

The nuns did tell us that we were not to read the Bible, as we would not understand it. They were correct.

My father had a Bible, and he would read it daily. On Sunday evenings, after dinner, the table was cleared, and the family would sit around the table and Dad would read to us from Scripture and explain it to us.

It was years later that I got interested in reading the Bible, but had difficulty understanding it. It wasn't until I accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Saviour, and I received "the Baptism of The Holy Spirit," that I began to understand what God was saying to me through his word. From that time on, God began to lead me and work through me. Praise God!

I was brought up Catholic. When I went to Catholic school (early 70s), we were NOT allowed to read the Bible for ourselves. We were expected to get our religious instruction from the priest, and the priest alone. We were taught that non-Catholics were going to Hell unless they repented of their sins and became Catholics.

I'm still trying to figure out the paradox of how Jesus could found the Catholic Church, yet, according to the catechism in use when I was growing up, Mary, when she found out she was pregnant with Jesus, consulted her BISHOP about what to do. The Immaculate Conception, the Assumption of Mary, and papal infallibility are not in the Bible, but they are major doctrines of Catholic belief, so the Catholic Church isn't teaching the Bible. One Catholic friend told me "tradition" -- but the Bible says Rev. 22:18-20. When I told him this, he got enraged, and hasn't spoken to me since. Is rage the only answer for Catholics when these inconsistencies are pointed out?

Even so, the Catholics I know (not the institutional Church) are good people who want to do good by their fellow man. On a day to day basis, for most people, the ethic is more important than the doctrine.

John Darrah your comments are exactly right! I agree 100% .

To aohjeff: Wasn't it the paper that reported the investigation charged the nuns weren't teaching that the Catholic Church was the only way to salvation?

"Cardinal William Levada, head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, told the conference it has failed to promote church teaching on homosexuality, the men-only priesthood and holding the Catholic church to be the only means to salvation, the newspaper said."

I am a Protestant, but honestly have never heard the Catholic Church teaching the bit about salvation. I do think, though that it is long past the time that the Catholic Church ordain the dedicated and selfless women who have served for centuries.

I think the worst thing that has happened is to take the nuns out of habits. They have lost their admiration and respect from students and peers. To me the catholic church has totally changed from the way I was taught by catholic nuns in the 1950's. Why do you think it is so hard to get women to be nuns today whereas before they had more than needed. Catholic children are NOT getting the education from lay teachers that they did from the nuns and that is a fact.

Please consult someone knowledgeable about the Catholic Church, preferably a priest or bishop, before you pass along incorrect "teachings". The Catholic Church has NEVER taught, and never will teach that it is the ONLY was to salvation, a very popular misconception of non-Catholics. It teaches that it is the one true Church founded by Jesus Christ, the Son of God, but that does not mean it is the "only way to salvation".

The Church is NOT promoting false doctrines nor does it teach any. The Bible has always been and will continue to be the CORE of the Catholic Church. Jesus said in the Bible to Peter that you are Rock and upon this Rock I will build My Church. Come anytime to a Catholic parish and learn.

It is very clear why the Catholic church is losing members and pastors. Many people who have been Catholics are finding that their church is more interested in promoting Rome and many of their false doctrines. When Catholic people attend evangelical churches that teach the truth of the Bible they are amazed of how wrong Rome has been for centuries. It is a clear sign that God is opposed to the pope and what Rome has been saying. Praise God, His truth is in the Bible and can be found in many of the evangelical churchs is our country and around the world.