Changes within the Faith and/or Church - Which are the ones Acceptable to God?

The M+G+R Foundation

Changes within the Faith and/or Church

Which are the ones Acceptable to God?

This document originally issued right after the passing on of John Paul II

However, its dissemination during the "Pontificate" of Francis is now more important than ever

PURPOSE

The purpose of this document is for miguel de Portugal to be on record as to what changes are possible in the Roman Catholic Faith and/or Church and which ones will not be accepted by God - even if man makes them.

miguel de Portugal will also clarify his position about the Catholic Faith which will explain why there is such discrepancy between the Application of the Faith by the Roman Catholic Church and the way God intended it to be.

DETAILS

We shall use key quotes of a news report by AP published ten years ago, on April 3, 2005, (1) as illustrations of the hopes and expectations held by the Faithful regarding the changes to be made in the Roman Catholic Church.

Key Quotes from News Report

Most Americans want the next pope to work for changes in Roman Catholic Church policies to allow priests to marry and women to join the priesthood. And they want more done to combat sexual abuse by priests, an AP-Ipsos poll found.

A solid majority of Americans, and Catholics in the country, are calling for the changes...

About two-thirds of those polled, 69 percent, said priests should be allowed to marry and almost that many, 64 percent, said they want women in the priesthood. Six in 10 Catholics supported each of those steps. More than four in five Americans - and about the same number of Catholics - said they want to see the next pope do more to address the problem of priests sexually abusing children.

miguel de Portugal Comments

Priests Allowed to Marry

In the Orthodox Church, under certain conditions, priests may be married. This is not against the teachings of the Holy Scriptures, where we find that even Bishops could be married (2) .

However, the problem lies in the fact that a priest is the "spiritual guide" of his flock. He is the "husband" of his flock. A priest who properly discharges his spiritual duties simply does not have the time for, nor can he give the needed attention to, a personal family. That would be possible only if the wife were just as committed as he is to the flock and would not demand anything individually of him. This requirement, on a universal basis, is short of impossible in the real world.

In addition - Should they have children, the priest-now-turned-into-a-biological-father could not be the father to his children that he should be. They would have to equally share him with the rest of his flock.

miguel de Portugal, only bound by the commitments he made directly to God, for the same reasons stated above, could not possibly sustain a regular personal and individual relationship with anyone - let alone a wife or simply a close friend. The very good personal friends that he has can only exist as such because they understand that m de P may share with them an hour or two of fellowship in a most irregular and unpredictable schedule - whenever his responsibilities allow it. It may be weeks or months before he can reestablish contact with what may be considered, utilizing world terms, a personal friend.

What about the sexual drive? This is something that a Consecrated soul has to work out with God and not by establishing illicit affairs to deal with it. The priestly life or a consecrated religious life is not "a job" or "a profession" - this kind of life is best explained as a "Marriage to Jesus and Mary". The priestly and religious life springs from a true vocation inspired by God - all other motives are human and mundane and will result in a catastrophe - starting with the sexual issue as it has become painfully evident on a worldwide scale.

Women in the Priesthood

The maternity of men? Are men less important than women because they cannot be mothers? Of course not! God created us in His image, male and female, and the fact that some are male and others female is for a reason.

Men and women are truly different and have different functions. Just like a man cannot be a mother, a woman was not intended to be for the priesthood. It is not a matter of better or worse; superior or inferior... although, when "all is said and done" and summing it up: The One who is the highest honor of our race is Mary (3)- a woman!

When we speak of the "motherhood" in a woman - we should not limit ourselves to the fact that they are biologically capable of being a mother by nurturing a fertilized ovum through birth. Women, blessedly, have a unique number of physical, psychological and spiritual characteristics which are only inherent to a female and which make them fully capable of being "a mother". The same applies with a male and the priesthood.

On the other hand, women as effective Church leaders is a completely different matter, and we are not talking about nuns cleaning toilets in the Apostolic Palace. We are talking about women being appointed Cardinals.

The key function of Cardinals is the Administration of the Church, which includes the election of the Pope. Therefore, the Roman Catholic Church could certainly have women at the highest possible non priestly, yet extremely influential, position in the Church. They could not become Pope but they could certainly vote in a Conclave to select a priest to be invested as Pope. If Mary gave birth to Jesus, what would be wrong with a few female Cardinals joining with male Cardinals in "giving birth" to the man who is considered by the Roman Catholic Church to be the Representative of Jesus on Earth? (4)

We understand that the "Cardinal concept" evolved from the custom that, until late in the Middle Ages, the title of cardinal was given to prominent priests of important churches. Therefore it is a man made tradition and not a Divine Requirement. Jesus taught us through Matthew 15:3, 15:6 and Mark 7:8-9, 7:13 what He thought of man made traditions which interfered with Divine Plans. In this particular case, the Divine Plan is not to keep the women cleaning toilets in the Apostolic Palace, but to bring women fully into the areas of Church leadership which may not be barred by the creative plan of God.

Prevention of Sexual Abuse

This is probably the easiest change to make. Any Bishop who, henceforth, shuffles a pedophile priest from one position to another thus, in effect, spreading the damage caused by the pedophile's psychological disorder, should be removed from office immediately and placed at the discretion of the local civil authorities. We understand that a Bishop is considered to be a descendant of the Apostles; but it is a fact that Judas Iscariot was also an Apostle - thus, those who claim to be descendants of the Apostle can also commit high treason, as Judas did.

On Divorce

We have already clearly spoken about this issue in our document regarding the validity of the Sacrament of Marriage (5). Summarizing the key point made in said document:

The Seven Sacraments of the Roman Catholic Church, with the possible exception of the Baptism of a newborn, have one common visible thread: Proper instruction before receiving the Sacrament. This conscious awareness of the commitment which we are about to make, and in which God is a real participant, is one of the necessary requirements for it to be valid.

Therefore, not only the Sacrament of Matrimony requires appropriate instruction, it requires a more extensive and intensive level of instruction than any other of the Sacraments except possibly that of the Holy Orders.

Therefore the resolution of the multitude of Sacramental Marriage anomalies lies in the hands of the local Bishops since a pronouncement of "Not Valid" identifies a faulty Sacramental act and harmoniously resolves the problem. What God has not joined together, may be separated by man, thus the Vatican approved annulment is not necessary. There is nothing to annul. The Church teachings remain intact and in perfect accordance to the very explicit Word of God on said matter.

On the Use of Artificial Birth Control Methods

Technically none should be used - including the so-called Rhythm Method and "Natural Family Planning," which we consider to be artificial birth control methods.

However, we have reached the situation that the world is in today - in which Sexual Intercourse has become a Pastime - as the result of the failed Evangelization effort of all Christian denominations.

Therefore, we cannot expect the world population to immediately abandon this practice. To achieve the utopian goal of "no artificial birth control", the proper Evangelization of the souls is necessary through prayer and spiritual education - not coercion or manipulation - a process that would take decades.

On the Utilization of Condoms (Within natural heterosexual context)

Saving lives is part of the effort to save souls; if this were not true, everyone on Earth should be killed immediately so that their souls would be saved. This, of course, is not correct -- but we have taken the concept to its extreme expression so that we may show the error in denying the emergency need for the use of condoms.

With the uncontrolled spread of AIDS, the first step to take is to issue a temporary reprieve on the use of condoms with the main intention of saving lives. This can be done just like we have stated above - without removing its label of "disordered behavior" but accompanied with the proper Evangelization of the souls through prayer and spiritual education - not coercion or manipulation.

Anyone who may think that a temporary reprieve (without justifying the sexual behavior) will only lead to more sin should consider the following: Have the efforts, so far, of the Roman Catholic Church been successful is turning the tide of sin in the world? No! They have not even slowed it down! On the contrary, sin has spiraled out of control. Obviously something is very wrong with the methods used by the Roman Catholic Church Administration because God does not fail.

How could there be "Just Wars" [Section 2309 of the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church] and not "Just utilization of condoms"?

On Homosexuality

We have amply covered this issue in another document (6) wherein we have placed homosexuality in its proper Scriptural perspective and taken it out of the fanatical perspective it is often viewed from within the churches. Summarizing from said document:

Not attempting to practice the teachings of Jesus Christ or violating the Ten Commandments clearly spelled out by God, is a more serious transgression than homosexual behavior, as previously defined in said document (6).

The evaluation of homosexual acts on religious grounds is of no consequence nor has any merit unless it is within the overall context of Divine Law and Tradition.

Within such valid context, any discussion of this issue must be made against the backdrop of what Jesus Christ taught us by means of the sinful woman who was to be stoned to death: "He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her". [John 8:7] and .... Jesus said: Neither will I condemn thee. Go, and now go and sin no more. [John 8:11]

In such an integrated context, the real problems which emerge appear to be: (a) The persecution of homosexuals, on the one hand; and (b) Actively seeking the proliferation of homosexual lifestyles, on the other hand..

On the Wanton Attack - Direct and or Implied - Upon Any Sinner by the Self Righteous

Only the Mother of Jesus, the Ever Virgin Mary, can cast the "first stone" [John 8:7]. All others who pretend to be in a position to do so are just hypocrites and not of God (7). To them we quote the so frequently glossed over words by our only Teacher, Lord and Master - Jesus Christ:

"And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell; for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee." [Matthew 11:23-24]

Love is the only answer to bring any sinner back to the House of the Father, a mechanism we have clearly and unequivocally shown, through the Grace of God, in yet another document (8) .

NOTES

(1) AP Poll: Next Pope Should Pursue Change

(2) Letter of Paul to Titus 1: 1-8 Qualifications of bishops:

1 Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;.... 5 For this cause left I thee in Crete, that thou shouldest set in order the things that are wanting, and ordain elders in every city, as I had appointed thee: 6 If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly. 7 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre; 8 But a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, just, holy, temperate;

(3) The highest honor of our race is Mary

(4) T he man who is considered by the Roman Catholic Church the' Representative of Jesus on Earth

(5) The Validity of the Sacrament of Marriage - How and When

(6) Homosexuality: Its proper Scriptural perspective

(7) How Heaven was betrayed by those who claim to serve it

(8) The Spiritual World - How it influences our behavior