Criticism of the Catholic Church: Difference between revisions
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Elements of the Crusades were criticized by some from the time of their inception in 1095. [[Roger Bacon]] felt the Crusades were counter-productive because, "those who survive, together with their children, are more and more embittered against the Christian faith."<ref name="AC">Riley-Smith, Jonathan. ''The Atlas of the Crusades'' New York: Facts on File, 1990. {{ISBN|0-8160-2186-4}}.</ref> In spite of some criticism, the movement was still widely supported in Europe long after the fall of Acre in 1291. After that, the Crusades to recover [[Kingdom of Jerusalem|Jerusalem]] and the Christian East were unsuccessful. [[Age of Enlightenment|18th century rationalists]] judged the Crusaders harshly. In the 1950s, Sir [[Steven Runciman]] published a highly critical account of the Crusades which referred to Holy War as "a sin against the Holy Ghost".<ref name="AC"/> |
Elements of the Crusades were criticized by some from the time of their inception in 1095. [[Roger Bacon]] felt the Crusades were counter-productive because, "those who survive, together with their children, are more and more embittered against the Christian faith."<ref name="AC">Riley-Smith, Jonathan. ''The Atlas of the Crusades'' New York: Facts on File, 1990. {{ISBN|0-8160-2186-4}}.</ref> In spite of some criticism, the movement was still widely supported in Europe long after the fall of Acre in 1291. After that, the Crusades to recover [[Kingdom of Jerusalem|Jerusalem]] and the Christian East were unsuccessful. [[Age of Enlightenment|18th century rationalists]] judged the Crusaders harshly. In the 1950s, Sir [[Steven Runciman]] published a highly critical account of the Crusades which referred to Holy War as "a sin against the Holy Ghost".<ref name="AC"/> |
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===Magdalene laundries=== |
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{{Main|Magdalene asylum}} |
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{{See|Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Bombay#Controversy}} |
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Magdalene laundries, also known as Magdalene's asylums, were Protestant but later in Ireland largely Roman Catholic institutions that operated from the 18th to the late 20th centuries, to house "[[Fallen woman|fallen women]]". The term implied [[Female promiscuity|female sexual promiscuity]] or work in [[prostitution]]; young women who became pregnant outside of marriage, or whose male family members complained about their behavior were committed here. They were required to work as part of their board, and the institutions operated large commercial laundries, serving customers outside their church bases. Many of these "laundries" were effectively operated as penitentiary work-houses. Laundries such as this operated throughout Europe and North America for much of the nineteenth and well into the twentieth century, the last one closing in 1996.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/last-days-of-a-laundry-1.89388|title=LAST DAYS OF A LAUNDRY|first=Gary|last=Culliton|website=The Irish Times|accessdate=10 December 2018}}</ref> The institutions were named after the Biblical figure [[Mary Magdalene]], in earlier centuries characterised as a reformed prostitute. |
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{{#section-h:Sanal Edamaruku|2012 blasphemy case}} |
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===Miles Jesu=== |
===Miles Jesu=== |
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Revision as of 04:13, 2 May 2019
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Criticism of the Catholic Church includes the observations made about the current or historical Catholic Church, in its actions, teachings, omissions, structure, or nature. Criticisms may regard the concepts of papal primacy and supremacy, or aspects of church structure, governance, and particular practices. Since the Catholic Church is the largest Christian church representing over half of all Christians[1] and one sixth of the world's population,[2] these criticisms may not necessarily represent the majority view of all Christians and non-Christians.
Criticism of the Catholic Church in previous centuries was more closely related to theological and ecclesiological disputes. The Protestant Reformation (16th-century Europe) came about due to abuses of church practices by corrupt clergy in addition to these same theological disputes.[3] Political disputes compounded the theological grievances between Protestants and Catholics and to this day the debate begun at the Reformation has been reflected in the diversity of Christian denominations. Some contemporary criticisms of the Catholic Church relate to philosophy and culture e.g., Christianity vs. humanism.
Internal
Use of Latin
Before the reforms from Vatican II in the late 1960s the Catholic Church was best-known outside the church for the Tridentine Mass, said mostly in Latin with a few sentences in Ancient Greek and Hebrew.[4] Since 1970, the Mass has been celebrated in the local language of where it is celebrated and the Mass in Latin less frequently. A minority of Roman Catholics however prefer the Mass to be celebrated in Latin, generally arguing that the Latin text is more authentic, and truer to scripture and doctrine than the Mass of Paul VI. However, in 2007, Pope Benedict XVI loosened some restrictions on its use with the aim of healing the rift that had come about between advocates of the Novus Ordo Mass and those of the Tridentine Mass.[5]
The 2007 motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, allowing a wider use of the Tridentine Mass raised concerns in the Jewish community regarding a prayer in the Good Friday liturgy which contained a prayer "For the conversion of the Jews" referring to Jewish "blindness" and prays for them to be "delivered from their darkness."[6] The American Jewish Committee pointed out that this raises "negative implications that some in the Jewish community and beyond have drawn concerning the motu proprio."[7] In response to such complaints, Pope Benedict XVI in 2008 replaced the prayer in the 1962 Missal with a newly composed prayer that makes no mention of blindness or darkness.
Traditionalist Catholics
Traditionalist Catholics see the Church's recent efforts at reformed teaching and (liturgical) practice (known as "aggiornamento"), in particular the Second Vatican Council, as not benefitting the advancement of the Church. Some groups, such as the Society of St. Pius X, saying the Church has betrayed the core values of Catholicism, have rejected some of the decisions of the Holy See that they see harmful to the faith.
Clerical celibacy
In the Catholic Church priestly celibacy is seen as a charism bestowed by the Holy Spirit, enabling one to make a total commitment of oneself in service of the kingdom of God.[8] The scriptural basis for this is found in Matthew 19:12 and 1 Corinthians 7:32-35.
Married men can be ordained to the permanent diaconate, but only unmarried men may be ordained priests. As celibacy is a discipline rather than doctrine, it can be abrogated in particular situations, as when, for example, married Anglican priests are ordained to the Catholic priesthood to minister in personal ordinariates. (Members of the Anglican hierarchy found the creation of the personal ordinariate "insensitive".)[9]
Some Eastern Rite Catholic Churches, such as the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church allow the ordination of married men as priests. Only unmarried men may be ordained to the episcopate. Priestly celibacy continues to be the subject of a good deal of discussion. Proponents who view this as something that should be revisited say that it precludes otherwise qualified candidates from the priesthood, noting a shortage of priests in some areas.
Ordination of women
The teaching of the Catholic Church on ordination, as expressed in the Code of Canon Law, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the apostolic letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, is that "only a baptized man validly receives sacred ordination"[10] According to Roman Catholic thinking, the Priest is acting 'in persona Christi' (that is, in the Person of Christ). In 1979, Sister Theresa Kane, then president of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious challenged Pope John Paul II from the podium at Washington, DC’s Shrine of the Immaculate Conception to include women “in all ministries of our Church.”[11]
In his Apostolic Letter Ordinatio sacerdotalis (1994), Pope John Paul II, said the "Priestly ordination, ...has in the Catholic Church from the beginning always been reserved to men alone."[12] He cited the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith's, (under Pope Paul VI) Declaration Inter Insigniores on the question of the Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood,[13] and declared that “the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Church's faithful.”[14] The reasons given included: "the example recorded in the Sacred Scriptures of Christ choosing his Apostles only from among men; the constant practice of the Church, which has imitated Christ in choosing only men; and her living teaching authority which has consistently held that the exclusion of women from the priesthood is in accordance with God's plan for his Church."
Some groups, nonetheless, say the matter should still be open for discussion. Dissenters do not regard Ordinatio sacerdotalis as definitive Church teaching. In June 2018 Pope Francis said, "We cannot do this with Holy Orders (women priests) because dogmatically we cannot. Pope John Paul II was clear and closed the door and I'm not going to go back on that. It [John Paul's decision] was serious, it was not a capricious thing."[15]
Since Vatican II, women have taken an increased role in the Church. In 1994, the Vatican Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments formally interpreted the 1983 Code of Canon Law, stating that women could assist at Mass as acolytes or altar servers. Women also serve as lectors and extraordinary ministers. Still many people see the Church's position on the ordination of women as a sign that women are not equal to men in the Catholic Church, though the Church rejects this inference.[16] In a separate but related issue, Pope Francis set up the Pontifical Commission for the Study of the Diaconate of Women to study women deacons in the early church, to help answer the question of whether women could also serve as deacons today. The Commission submitted its report to Pope Francis in January 2019.
Interfaith
Judaism
In the Middle Ages, religion played a major role in driving antisemitism. Adversus Judaeos ("against the Judeans") are a series of fourth century homilies by John Chrysostom directed to members of the church of Antioch of his time, who continued to observe Jewish feasts and fasts. Critical of this, he cast Judaism and the synagogues in his city in a critical and negative light. The use of hyperbole and other rhetorical devices painted a harsh and negative picture of the Jews. This was largely ignored until the Jewish anti-Christian teachings began to surface in Muslim Andalusia in the 11th and 12th centuries.[17] According to historian William I. Brustein, his sermons against Jews gave further momentum to the idea that Jews are collectively responsible for the death of Jesus.[18] "Over the course of time, Christians began to accept... that the Jewish people as a whole were responsible for killing Jesus. According to this interpretation, both the Jews present at Jesus’ death and the Jewish people collectively and for all time, have committed the sin of deicide, or God-killing. For 1900 years of Christian-Jewish history, the charge of deicide has led to hatred, violence against and murder of Jews in Europe and America."[19]
Russian Orthodoxy
In 2007, then Orthodox Patriarch Alexei II of Moscow objected to what he termed "proselytizing" by clerics of the Eastern Rite of the Catholic Church. Catholic officials replied that their efforts in Russia were not aimed at Orthodox believers, but were reaching out to the vast majority of Russians who are not churchgoers. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith rejected the characterization of "proselytizing" and said that respect towards non Catholic Christians must not negate the possibility of conversion, if an individual should so chose.[20]
Protestantism
Common factors that played a role during the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation included the rise of nationalism, simony, the appointment of Cardinal-nephews, and other corruption of the Roman Curia and other ecclesiastical hierarchy, the impact of humanism, the new learning of the Renaissance, the epistemological shift between the schola moderna and schola antiqua within scholasticism, and the Western Schism that eroded loyalty to the Papacy.
Key events of the period include: the Council of Trent (1545–1563); the excommunication of Elizabeth I (1570) and the Battle of Lepanto (1571); the adoption of the Gregorian calendar under Pope Gregory XIII; the French Wars of Religion; the Long Turkish War; the final phases of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648); and the formation of the last Holy League by Innocent XI during the Great Turkish War.
Protestants hold doctrinal differences with the Catholic Church in a number of areas, including the understanding of the meaning of the word "faith" and how it relates to "good works" in terms of salvation, and a difference of opinion regarding the concept of "justification", and Catholic Church's belief in Sacred Tradition as a source of revelation complementary to Sacred Scripture.[21] Some scholars of Early Christianity are adherents of the New Perspective on Paul and so believe "sola fide" is a misinterpretation on the part of Lutherans and that Paul was actually speaking about laws (such as Circumcision, Dietary laws, Sabbath, Temple rituals, etc.) that were considered essential for the Jews of the time.[22]
Islam
In September 2006, Pope Benedict XVI delivered the Regensburg lecture at the University of Regensburg in Germany, where he had once served as a professor of theology. It was entitled "Faith, Reason and the University — Memories and Reflections". In his lecture, the Pope, speaking in German, quoted a passage about Islam made at the end of the 14th century by Byzantine (Eastern Roman) emperor Manuel II Palaiologos. As the English translation of the Pope's lecture was disseminated across the world, the quotation was taken out of context and many Islamic politicians and religious leaders protested against what they saw as an insulting mischaracterization of Islam.[23][24] Mass street protests were mounted in many Islamic countries. The Pope maintained that the comment he had quoted did not reflect his own views.
Titular Roman Catholic Archbishop of Kuala Lumpur v. Menteri Dalam Negeri is a 2009 court decision by the High Court of Malaya holding that Christians do not have the constitutional right to use the word "Allah" in church newspapers.[25]
Buddhism
In 1994, Pope John Paul II wrote Crossing the Threshold of Hope, in which he discussed various non-Christian religions, including Buddhism. The book prompted widespread criticism from the Buddhist community, and the pope's statements were characterized as misunderstanding and offending Buddhism. Thinley Norbu Rinpoche, a Tibetan Buddhist lama, wrote a book to address the "serious, gratuitous misrepresentations of Buddhist doctrine which seemed to be based on misunderstandings" contained within Crossing the Threshold of Hope.[26][27] Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi, a Theravada Buddhism scholar, published an essay "intended as a short corrective to the Pope's demeaning characterization of Buddhism" entitled Toward a Threshold of Understanding.[28]
Historical
Response to Heresy
The development of doctrine, the position of orthodoxy, and the relationship between the early Church and early heretical groups is a matter of academic debate. Before the 12th century, Christianity gradually suppressed what it saw as heresy usually through a system of ecclesiastical sanctionsexcommunication, and anathema. Later, an accusation of heresy could be construed as treason against lawful civil rule, and therefore punishable by civil sanctions, such as confiscation of property, imprisonment, or death, though the latter was not frequently imposed, as this form of punishment had many ecclesiastical opponents.[29][30] Within five years of the official 'criminalization' of heresy by the emperor, the first Christian heretic, Priscillian, was executed in 385 by Roman officials. For some years after the Protestant Reformation, Protestant denominations were also known to execute those whom they considered heretics.
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of military conflicts with a religious, as well as socio-political character waged by much of Christian Europe against external and internal threats. Crusades were fought against Muslims, Slavs, Orthodox Christians, Mongols, Cathars, Hussites and political enemies of the popes. Crusaders took vows and were granted an indulgence.[31]
Elements of the Crusades were criticized by some from the time of their inception in 1095. Roger Bacon felt the Crusades were counter-productive because, "those who survive, together with their children, are more and more embittered against the Christian faith."[32] In spite of some criticism, the movement was still widely supported in Europe long after the fall of Acre in 1291. After that, the Crusades to recover Jerusalem and the Christian East were unsuccessful. 18th century rationalists judged the Crusaders harshly. In the 1950s, Sir Steven Runciman published a highly critical account of the Crusades which referred to Holy War as "a sin against the Holy Ghost".[32]
Magdalene laundries
Magdalene laundries, also known as Magdalene's asylums, were Protestant but later in Ireland largely Roman Catholic institutions that operated from the 18th to the late 20th centuries, to house "fallen women". The term implied female sexual promiscuity or work in prostitution; young women who became pregnant outside of marriage, or whose male family members complained about their behavior were committed here. They were required to work as part of their board, and the institutions operated large commercial laundries, serving customers outside their church bases. Many of these "laundries" were effectively operated as penitentiary work-houses. Laundries such as this operated throughout Europe and North America for much of the nineteenth and well into the twentieth century, the last one closing in 1996.[33] The institutions were named after the Biblical figure Mary Magdalene, in earlier centuries characterised as a reformed prostitute.
Miles Jesu
Finance
Concerns about usury included the 19th century Rothschild loans to the Holy See and 16th century objections over abuse of the zinskauf clause.[34] This was particularly problematic because the charging of interest (all interest, not just excessive interest) was a violation of doctrine at the time, such as that reflected in the 1745 encyclical Vix pervenit. As a result, work-arounds were employed. For example, in the 15th century, the Medici Bank lent money to the Vatican, which was lax about repayment. Rather than charging interest, "the Medici overcharged the pope on the silks and brocades, the jewels and other commodities they supplied."[35] However, the 1917 Code of Canon Law switched position and allowed church monies to be used to accrue interest.[36]
Italian priest Pino Puglisi refused money from Mafia members when offered it for the traditional feast day celebrations,[37] and also resisted the Mafia in other ways, for which he was martyred in 1993.
In 2014, Pope Francis criticized the practice of charging altarage fees or honorariums for things like baptisms, blessings, and Mass intentions (such as Masses for the dead).[38]
In 2015, the Bishop of Oslo was charged with fraud for inflating membership rolls for the Catholic Church in Norway and the diocese had to repay some of its subsidy.[39]
In 2018, Pope Francis criticized the selling of masses for the dead, stating, "the Mass is not paid for, redemption is free, if I want to make an offering, well and good, but Mass is free."[40] In response, Archbishop Julian Leow Beng Kim and two bishops put out a press release reminding Catholics that according to canon law, "any priest celebrating or concelebrating is permitted to receive an offering to apply the Mass for a specific intention."[41]
Although the granting of indulgences for money went back to the 6th century, in 1567 Pope Pius V banned the sale of indulgences for money.[42]
Sexual abuse controversy
In January 2002, allegations of priests sexually abusing children were widely reported in the news media. A survey of the 10 largest U.S. dioceses found 234 priests from a total 25,616 in those dioceses, have had allegations of sexual abuse made against them in the last 50 years. The report does not state how many of these have been proven in court.[43] Victims of such abuse filed lawsuits against a number of dioceses, resulting in multi-million dollar settlements in some cases. In response, in June 2002, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops initiated strict new guidelines ("zero tolerance") for the protection of children and youth in Catholic institutions across the country.
When John Paul II visited Prague in 1990s, he apologized for Hus's execution and requested experts in this matter "to define with greater clarity the position held by Jan Hus among the Church's reformers, and acknowledged that "independently of the theological convictions he defended, Hus cannot be denied integrity in his personal life and commitment to the nation's moral education."[44][45][46]
In 2015, after visiting a Waldensian Temple in Turin, Pope Francis, in the name of the Catholic Church, asked Waldensian Christians for forgiveness for their persecution. The Pope apologized for the Church's "un-Christian and even inhumane positions and actions".[47]
See also
- Anti-Catholicism
- Anti-clericalism
- Clergy removed from office
- WELS -holds the pope to be the anti-Christ
References
- ^ Marty, Martin E.; Chadwick, Henry; Pelikan, Jaroslav Jan (2000). "Christianity" in the Encyclopædia Britannica Millennium Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica Inc.
The Roman Catholics in the world outnumber all other Christians combined.
- ^ "Number of Catholics and Priests Rises". Zenit News Agency. 2007-02-12. Archived from the original on 2008-02-25. Retrieved 2008-02-21.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Multiple Authors (2003) [2003]. "One". Medieval Times to Today. Pearson Prentice Hall. pp. 11, 93, 106, 112, 174, 140, 141. ISBN 978-0-13-062995-1.
- ^ "Ordinary of the Tridentine Mass, 1962 Edition". Retrieved 2012-07-23.
- ^ Israely, Jeff (2007-07-07). "Why the Pope is Boosting Latin Mass". Time. Retrieved 2012-07-23.
- ^ Westcott, Kathryn (2007-04-27). "Concerns over Pope's Latin Mass move BBC World". BBC News. Retrieved 2012-07-23.
- ^ "AJC Seeks Clarification on Latin Mass - AJC: Global Jewish Advocacy Legacy Site". Archived from the original on 2007-08-07. Retrieved 2007-08-07.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|dead-url=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Emeka, Aroh Prudentius (2014-05-19). Priestly celibacy: a gift and a commitment (can. 277 § 1). Gregorian Biblical BookShop. p. 26. ISBN 9788878392830.
- ^ Wynne-Jones, Jonathan (23 January 2011). "Pope's offer was an 'insensitive takeover bid', say senior Anglicans". Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 25 January 2011.
- ^ Codex Iuris Canonici canon 1024
- ^ Bonavoglia, Angela. "American Nuns: Guilty as Charged?", The Nation, May 21, 2012
- ^ Pope John Paul II, Ordinatio sacerdotalis, §1, May 22, 1994, Libreria Editrice Vaticana
- ^ CDF, Declaration Inter Insigniores on the question of the Admission of Women to the Ministerial Priesthood (October 15, 1976): AAS 69 (1977), 98-116
- ^ Ordinatio sacerdotalis, §4.
- ^ "Excerpts from Pope Francis' interview with Reuters". 20 June 2018 – via uk.reuters.com.
- ^ Rausch, Thomas P. Catholicism in the Third Millennium. Collegeville, Minnesota: The Liturgical Press, 2003.
- ^ The Jewish Critique of Christianity: In Search of a New Narrative
- ^ William I. Brustein, Roots of Hate: Anti-Semitism in Europe before the Holocaust, (Cambridge University Press:2003) ISBN 0-521-77308-3, p. 52.
- ^ Paley, Susan and Koesters, Adrian Gibbons, eds. "A Viewer's Guide to Contemporary Passion Plays". Retrieved March 12, 2006. Archived December 1, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Asia News". Archived from the original on 2007-12-15. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|dead-url=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ Pope Paul VI, Dei Verbum, §7, November 18, 1965
- ^ Dunn, James D. G. (2005). The New Perspective on Paul. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans Publishing Co. ISBN 978-0-8028-4562-7.
- ^ BBC Article. In quotes: Muslim reaction to Pope last accessed 17 September 2006
- ^ BBC News Article:Pope sorry for offending Muslims, last accessed 17 September 2006
- ^ "Top Malaysian court dismisses 'Allah' case", Al Jazeera, June 23, 2014
- ^ Thinley Norbu. Welcoming Flowers From Across the Cleansed Threshold of Hope: An Answer to the Pope's Criticism of Buddhism (Kindle Locations 34-35). Jewel Pub House.
- ^ "Welcoming Flowers from across the Cleansed Threshold of Hope". Shambhala.com. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
- ^ "Toward a Threshold of Understanding". Accesstoinsight.org. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
- ^ "Catholic Encyclopedia: Inquisition". Newadvent.org. Retrieved 2012-07-23.
- ^ "A History of the Inquisition In The Middle Ages. By Henry Charles Lea. Volume 1". Bulfinch.englishatheist.org. Retrieved 2012-07-23.
- ^ Riley-Smith, Jonathan. The Oxford History of the Crusades New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. ISBN 0-19-285364-3.
- ^ a b Riley-Smith, Jonathan. The Atlas of the Crusades New York: Facts on File, 1990. ISBN 0-8160-2186-4.
- ^ Culliton, Gary. "LAST DAYS OF A LAUNDRY". The Irish Times. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
- ^ See Martin Luther's Sermon on Trading and Usury
- ^ "The presence among the assets of silver plate for an amount of more than 4,000 florins reveals at any rate that the Rome branch dealt more or less extensively in this product for which there was a demand among the high churchmen of the Curia who did a great deal of entertaining and liked to display their magnificence." p. 205, also see p. 199, de Roover, Raymond Adrien (1948), The Medici Bank: its organization, management, and decline, New York; London: New York University Press; Oxford University Press (respectively)
- ^ T.L. Bouscaren and A.C. Ellis. 1957. Canon Law: A Text and Commentary. p. 825.
- ^ Murder in Palermo: who killed Father Puglisi?, Commonweal, 11 October 2002
- ^ Pope Francis: Turning churches into 'businesses' is a scandal by Elise Harris Vatican City, Nov 21, 2014 / 10:33 am
- ^ Gaffey, Conor (2 July 2015). "Catholic Church accused of defrauding Norway of €5.7m". Newsweek. Retrieved 4 July 2015.
- ^ Pope: 'You don’t pay for Mass, 'Christ's redemption is free' Asia News 03/07/2018, 13.03 Vatican
- ^ Clarification of Mass Offerings Apr 15, 2018
- ^ "CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Indulgences". www.newadvent.org.
- ^ Grossman, Cathy Lynn. "Survey: More clergy abuse cases than previously thought." USA Today (February 10, 2004). Retrieved July 21, 2007.
- ^ Caroll, Rory (2000-03-13). "Pope says sorry for sins of church". The Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
- ^ BBC News. "Pope issues apology". BBC. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
- ^ BBC News. "Pope apologises for Church sins". BBC News. Retrieved January 14, 2013.
- ^ "Pope Francis asks Waldensian Christians to forgive the Church". Catholic Herald. 22 June 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
External links
- Denominational Differences - Roman Catholicism, FAQs by Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, archived by Internet Archive
- The Catholic Guide – A comprehensive source on the Roman Catholic Church.
- Catholic Wiki, archived by Internet Archive