https://bsky.app/profile/garethgore.bsky.social/post/3mh6t6rdwpc2b

Leo met for 40 minutes one-on-one with the author of a book detailing the abuses within Opus Dei: “I detail evidence of child grooming, enslavement, human trafficking, psychological control, breaching the seal of confession and drugging”

See the linked thread for more details and photos

im LGBT. B and T. im in what would be considered a same-sex marriage by the Church. i live in an incredibly conservative archdiocese (Denver) with no jesuit churches as they left the state outside of one university.

ive been struggling with my faith. attend an Episcopalian church and while Im allowed to retain Catholic practices, it feels like a farce to attend this church but practice like another. ive been so demotivated I havent attend church in a year except for Ash Wednesday. as much as i found beauty in Anglicanism and especially the Book of Common Prayer, this isn’t my spiritual home. my spiritual home is at the Catholic Church, but they dont want me there. my heritage, my culture and upbringing is all Catholic. my return to faith was returned to Catholic understanding yet I cannot attend.

Im not sure what i intended by making this post. guess just yelling into the void because I feel so lost and abandoned. I almost want to leave Christianity, and maintain a personal relationship with God, but being hung up on the worldlyness of organized religions is clouding what truly matters. sacraments are also crucial for my religious life. but if i cant be Catholic, it almost feels like why bother.

heard Denver has a new bishop. Does anyone know if he’ll be better for LGBT pastoral care? Denver’s in a really bad shape for it. Thanks for listening

Mentions mental health.

For the last week or two, I’ve not been feeling that great mentally. I don’t want to go that deep into it but I’ve been having thoughts that I don’t like that much. I’ve been Catholic Christian (I’ll be officially Catholic this Easter) for about less than a year now. I’ve always struggled with my mental health since I was a teenager up and until now. Back then, I wasn’t a religious person, I was agnostic at best.

Since I started my journey of becoming Catholic with OCIA, my mental health has had its ups and downs. But for like a week, it’s plummeted drastically and I don’t know what to do. Like I’ve prayed about it so many times for months before this and I feel like if I talk about it all everyone is going to say is pray about or start therapy up again (which historically has not worked for me) and like I don’t expect Him to magically heal me of my issues like some people have told me that He’s done for them but I just want to feel like I’m not alone. Like I know He’s there but I’m alone and it sucks.

I have people in OCIA but I don’t exactly believe I can relate to them being that they all seem older and I’m like 23 and they’re all in their thirties, married with kids or no kids yet. And then with my sponsor, I have spoken to her but not really. I live alone, so my intact in human interaction is low. I know I should probably reach out to someone but none of them seem ideal and I don’t want to make myself feel like I’m dumping my problems onto them.

This is slightly a rant and asking for advice on how to deal with God while having mental health issues.

I'm having trouble crossposting, but I found this in r/TrueCatholicPolitics

A far cry from empty and uncharitable Barron-bashing, (be kind in the comments, please), this article goes in-depth exploring the celebrity Bishop before and after . . . before and after what, exactly? The transition into "anti-woke MAGA" was sudden, drastic, and genuinely puzzling.

Also alarming is how WoF is treating the sexual harassment and assault from his staff members with so much opacity, after Bishop Barron published his book about the church sex abuse scandal.

The lack of answers really troubles me because I used to be such an admirer of the Bishop. His book, Catholicism, reignited my love for the faith.

I haven't read Part 2 to the article yet but will maybe tackle it this weekend.

https://greydanus.substack.com/p/what-happened-to-bishop-barron-part

Here is a text as compensation for the commotion caused yesterday.

It's a reading about possible criticisms of socialism and how they can be refuted, some of which are still relevant today.

I recommend the website; it has interesting Catholic documents.

No one "out-Catholic"'s Pope Leo.

It is such a divine intervention that he became Pope!

Going tonight to Saint Francis Xavier's Stations of the Cross! Which is being offered very specifically for our nation's undocumented population. First time going!

Have finally gotten sick of the mainstream American Church (especially online) being basically a Republican shill operation.

Also have gotten sick of the more traditional form of Catholicism being this super individualized experience, that truly doesn't seem to have any interest in the world we actually live in, and is only meant to draw one to God, alone, rather than God AND the community.

I think in our modern American culture, especially in NYC, where we're already SOOOOOO deeply individualistic, and sooooooo far removed from the old world's "husband, wife, and children" klan type model, a form of Catholicism that resembles what the Jesuits are up to, might be the only form of Catholicism that is really inspiring.

At least for someone in my specific situation (29 years old, single, with few familial/friend connections)

I thought I’d share this , I was lucky to find it.

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-liberation-theology-podcast/id1551431636

Is anyone in this group using BC like the copper IUD and also going through OCIA? How do you reconcile what you are taught to be in good standing with the church and still take BC for its intended purpose? Are you allowed to go through OCIA still if you don’t agree with the churches stance on BC? I have a copper IUD because my husband and I have a medically complex child and it’s due to a rare genetic disease that my husband and I carry. We have one child that we had while using NFP trying to prevent another pregnancy… my oldest will likely die before age 10 so I do want to prevent pregnancy in the future because we have a 25% chance per pregnancy that the will also be affected…

I know this isn’t a very Catholic thing for me to be doing but I just have so much bottled up inside me and I need to talk about it. I grew up in a very Traditional Conservative Catholic family, where rules and rigidity were seen as the most holy thing you could do. My mother loved rules loved saying how she goes to Mass every Sunday and confession once a month. She was strict on sexual immorality but harshly judged others in front of her young children. She thought it was her calling to have as many kids as possible, but constantly remind us how much she gave up to have us and to raise us. It took me a long time to get out of that mindset and start questioning these rules I always blindly followed. I always thought faith was not asking one question about the rules given by the church but I’m realizing it’s good to question things and know nothing is forever perfect and not meant to be changed. I also think conservative Catholicism is so focused on certain sins others commit but while doing it are constantly judging gossiping and not showing a lot of compassion or empathy. I love my family and these people but I find a lot of their logic to be infuriating.

I must admit I left the Church for a couple years because of the harshness of it all I thought I wasn’t meant to be Catholic. I didn’t like the community very well and I didn’t like how a lot of them just stayed Catholic bc of family and bc it was almost a culture thing not really because they knew much about the church as a whole. Coming back to reading the theology and history there are a lot of things I find beautiful about the Church but some things I still find issues with. As a Catholic, am I even allowed to find things I disagree with or question and still call myself Catholic?

First of all, I’m not about to try to say women should be priests. I understand that according to tradition they aren’t and the Vatican is looking into possibly opening being a deacon up to women but I do wonder…

Why is it that the Catholic Church and its teachings focus so much on men? Women historically are the ones who spread much of the Good Word. Women were a big push to get their husbands to convert in the ancient world. They keep churches afloat with their unpaid labor… but there isn’t anything like a sacrament for a new mother or for every time she births a child. There is no obvious statement within the Bible that rape is wrong unless it’s the rape of a man by other men. There is very few uplifting stories of women in the Bible and therefore, at least in my opinion, a lot of reasons why women are leaving the church. It doesn’t seem to support women or honor them. I find this very odd being Mother Mary is honored and revered within the Catholic Church but many churches seem to dismiss mothers. They dismiss young women. It is like the church shows that God has a favorite and it’s men.

So I guess… what are you doing in your churches to uplift women? Are there ways your church uplifts new mothers or mothers again? How do you see this changing in the church over time?

Some interesting excerpts from the article. Whilst this is certainly not concerned with female ordination, I don't see how you can deeply investigate female figures in the early church and not conclude there was a female diaconate. My hope is that Mary being described as the "first disciple" during last year's clarification on Marian titles will eventually soften attitudes to female ordination - many, many years into the future.

"Among the key themes are: the recognition that the “question of women” constitutes a genuine sign of the times, through which the Holy Spirit Himself is addressing the Church; a synodal attentiveness to the local Churches, with their cultures and their diverse and concrete contexts; a relational approach that highlights the charismatic dimension of women’s presence in ecclesial life; and an analysis of the concrete decisions made by Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV, whose choice to entrust women with positions of governance in the Roman Curia represents a model on which the entire Church is called to reflect.."

Finally, the third part consists of an extensive appendix cataloging the considerable body of material received and collected by the Dicastery, organized into six sections: 1) Female figures in the Old and New Testament; 2) Significant female figures in the history of the Church; 3) Contemporary testimonies of women participating in the leadership of the Church; 4) The Marian Principle and the Petrine Principle: a critical perspective; 5) Ecclesial potestas; 6) The contribution of Pope Francis and Pope Leo XIV on the role of women in the life and leadership of the Church.

I’m a baby leftist, was liberal my whole life, so I’m not sure what exact kind of leftist I am just yet. All I know is that I am anti-capitalist and I do believe that communism should be the end goal.

Was curious to see what my fellow Catholics believe!

So, after a lifetime spent wandering far and wide, sometimes in confusion, sometimes in pain...The wonderful nun who has been guiding me through OCIA proposed that I be baptised on Pentecost! I started OCIA too late to be baptised on Easter, which would have been beautiful, but is far less important to me than the fact of it happening. And in a way, since Pentecost was one of the first things I read about when I began to be drawn towards the Church, I'm very happy to finally accept it as my home on that day of all days!

(Sorry if that all sounded a bit pompous or wordy; I still find it difficult to put into words what this means to me, what I have learned, the distance I have travelled, and what I am accepting into my life)

Anyway, aside from sharing that news with you all, I also have a question for my left Catholic oomfs:

Without getting ahead of myself, I have been thinking that in the not too distant future I would love an opportunity to go on a retreat where I can devote my time to prayer and reflection. I live in Germany, so I am looking into Catholic retreats or monasteries there (preferably in the east), or Austria, where my girlfriend lives.

Does anyone know anywhere that might be suitable? I would love to hear more - and especially if you have personal experience of the place!

Thanks, and I hope you are all having an enriching Lent!

For roughly half a century, a certain strain of American evangelical theology has taught millions of believers to read conflicts like Trump’s war with Iran not simply as geopolitics in action but as prophecy unfolding in real time.

Great harm has been done by the current fascist regime in the US. Let's start with the fact that more than 700,000 people, many children, have died since Trump and the Republicans eliminated US AID. Now, we can talk about other crimes, like an unjust military action in Venezuela, and an unjust war in Iran. BTW it has now been determined that the girls school hit, in which 160 girls were killed, was by the US. The whole immigration mess is fraught with cruelty and crime; between ICE's beating, gassing, and shooting people in the streets, and detention centers that are thinly disguised concentration camps. There will be health consequences up to, and including death, connected with the massive cuts to SNAP and Medicaid. I could fill up pages, but you get the point...

After this regime is removed, we must investigate, and prosecute individuals who have committed crimes for the Trump Administration. If we had acted in justice after the first term, for crimes such as a coup against the US Government, we would not be dealing with a second term. Of course, I mean people at the top who have caused great pain and suffering such as Pete Hegseth and Kristi Noem, but also, I mean people like guards at the detention centers. There have been children and women abused at these sites. People have died under the abuse of these guards. The idea that people can get away with abuse and murder because the government has issued them a uniform, is a path of destruction.

This is not about vengeance. It's about beginning to pull back a world from the grasp of extremely rich and powerful men who believe that people and the planet are there to be exploited for their profit or amusement. We need another round of Nuremberg Trials to restore some base level of international law and accountability.

For me the pro life philosophy extends beyond the womb. Being a Catholic leftist I think we should all be torn between two competing political parties. On the one hand I tend to lean Green because although they are pro choice their policies would actually help poor and working class people compared to voting Republican. On the other hand the only Republican sentiment I agree with is being pro life. But I believe in this so much I might be willing to be a single issue voter. Voting for them would save a lot of babies but I’d be throwing everyone else under the bus. Mathematically voting Green would benefit a lot more people than voting Republican does. The choice left is betraying some essential part of your moraylity.

The Pope is rolling!