This is a contradictory topic, but a necessary one. It is very human that over the course of 2,000 years, even the world’s largest earthly church has adopted practices and beliefs that originate from the world. That is precisely what I intend to bring to light. Not to condemn anyone, or to throw an entire denomination into purgatory or hell. However, I have noticed Catholic priests speaking contradictorily. And for some reason, they themselves seem blind to these contradictions.
A Church Law
I want to emphasize right from the beginning that I love every member of the Catholic Church. The members of the Church do good work in supporting people in living out their faith and in teaching the Word. My criticism is directed solely and exclusively at things. Not at people.
I have been attending an introductory course on the Catholic faith since January. Because I am, in a way, a mixture of different Christian denominations, there are also Catholic influences in my everyday life. After all, over the past year I have discovered aspects of many other denominations within myself as well. It is no wonder. We are all united by the same Christ.
I have previously spoken about how following Christ and being part of His Body is the true Church. These earthly denominations exist only to support our life of faith in this world. You can read that article here: The Christian Earthly Denomination – Which One Is the True Church?
Yesterday’s topic in the course was confession. This session confirmed many things that I am now bringing forward for others to read as well. In May and June, I had already raised some of these issues in correspondence with one of the lecturers on the course. Unfortunately, he responded in the expected way: by referring to Church law. Which brings us to the actual subject.
Canon Law and the Burden of Religious Rules
In the law of the Catholic Church, the Code of Canon Law, there are more than 1,500 canons in the East and more than 1,700 in the West. This is almost absurd, because the apostles themselves understood after Jesus’ resurrection that Christ did not want to place the burden of the law on people’s shoulders. Peter himself stated that no yoke should be placed on the Gentiles that “neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear.” (Acts 15:10.) Peter specifically points out how such a burden would weigh upon God, because He carries our sins.
So, when I listened yesterday to, among other things, “how serious an offense it is if you do not go to confession at least once a year,” because then “you are not really pure enough to receive the Eucharist,” I was rather surprised. Instead of encouraging a person to come into the presence of Christ’s love regardless of their circumstances, the clergy place a millstone around their neck that weighs them down at least into purgatory, or even into hell.
Capitalism or Catholicism? When Faith Becomes a System
According to the Catholic Church’s understanding, in order for me to have the right to confess my sins to the person recognized by God as an authorized confessor — that is, a Catholic or Orthodox priest — I must, so to speak, purchase membership in the Church. Confessions are not heard from anyone other than a member of the Church, except in an extreme emergency, when you are dying.
Confession is the only way to obtain the right to participate in the Eucharist, because according to Catholic teaching, only those who are in a state of grace may receive Communion. And this, then, cannot be achieved except by confessing to either a Catholic or an Orthodox priest. Thus, everyone other than members of these particular churches is excluded from the Eucharist. To obtain this knowledge and understanding, you have to read and absorb several different sections of Church law.
Yesterday I pointed out that this pattern reminds me of the dark periods in the Church’s history. Membership is sold so that you can have access to confession, through which you can finally receive grace. The lecturer, a Catholic priest, thought I meant the selling of indulgences, which I was not directly referring to. The motivation, however, seems the same to me. The Church takes payment so that you can have the right to salvation. Without payment, there is no right. So what did I misunderstand?
The Catholic Church and Protestant Christians
Quite understandably, the lecture also raised the question of whether the Catholic Church therefore considers Lutheran believers, for example, to be outside heaven. The priest laughed and said, “Of course not!”
But as the lecture continued, it became clear that Catholic Church law, in practice, means exactly this. For the law itself defines confession as a sacrament that can only be performed by successors of the apostles. Everyone other than Catholics and Orthodox Christians is left outside them.
“According to the official position of the Catholic Church, the priesthood of Protestant churches is not recognized as sacramental priesthood, and therefore they are not considered to have apostolic succession or the authority to administer valid sacraments in the Catholic sense, such as the Eucharist.” This is how Google kindly summarized the matter.
When the Spirit of God Is Not Confined by Church Boundaries
As I have said, I have seen Christ pour His blood into the Eucharist even in a Lutheran service here in Finland. Because this article specifically addresses the Catholic Church, I therefore have to say again: apparently, the God of the Catholic Church is not all-powerful, but bound by human law to human actions. So the question becomes: whom are they following?
My question is deliberately provocative.
The teachings of the Catholic Church, confession, and the other sacraments do indeed originate with the first disciples. The Catholic Church speaks of the one true God. But they have become blind and failed to see how, through their worldly beliefs, they have, so to speak, castrated Him. No wonder there are no longer disciples in churches who are capable of healing. God’s power to act as God, Savior, and Redeemer has been taken away from Him. True faith has faded somewhere over the course of a couple of thousand years. Instead, worldly beliefs have unfortunately taken up far too much space.
When even the membership fee is no longer based on faith, trust, and voluntary giving, but on obligatory reciprocity, we have stepped into capitalism. We no longer trust in what God provides, but in what the eye sees and the hand can touch. The blessedness of righteousness has been stripped away, and faith has become conditional.
When we begin dictating where and through whom God may act, we have forgotten true heavenly love and mercy.
Pride and the Limits of Human Institutions
It would be remarkable if humanity did not fall into it from time to time. We have an entire Old Testament bearing witness to how even the most faithful generations stumble into pride.
As I said at the beginning, and as I have pointed out before, the Catholic community today is full of golden, righteous followers of Christ. When the father who was giving the lecture exclaimed, “Of course not!”, his voice carried the Spirit, and Love came through him. At the same time, however, I heard the structures creaking. This priest’s God is all-powerful. This priest too (as do many others) knows that he is only one man, an instrument of God.
Baptism, Church Membership, and Human Requirements
Earlier, I asked this same father how an adult can be baptized. I was shocked to hear that the process takes a year or even a year and a half in the Catholic Church. The requirement is specifically the completion of this year-long course. Only after that have you earned the right to be baptized, and these baptisms are held only a couple of times a year. Not when needed, but at predetermined times.
Once again, earthly practices have found their way into the way of the actual work. “We want to make sure that the person being baptized truly understands what Catholicism is.”
Exactly.
Children of the Spirit, Not of This World
Not “what it means to be a Christian.” Not “God has clearly called you.” Instead of the Catholic shepherd giving the lamb the gift of the Spirit in baptism and watching to see how God works in them, there is a desire to first make sure that they understand what kind of membership card they are obtaining.
Does it matter whether the baptized person remains a member of a particular earthly church after they have been received into the Body of Christ? Apparently, according to the Catholic Church, it matters very much. Their Church does not accept just anyone.
Forgive me, let me correct that: Of course they do accept people, but their endurance is tested first.
I already said in the spring that Catholicism is like a VIP club for Christians. I did not mean that as a compliment.
One Body in Christ
We can all rejoice over every new Christian. Wherever they have been baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
I know, for example, a Protestant priest who, one summer day, while on holiday, baptized a young woman on the spot in a nearby lake because she had asked him to. The situation ended with both of them experiencing the Father’s love to the very depths of their hearts.
In June, I asked a Catholic father whether he would do the same if the Spirit asked him to. He answered according to the law of the Catholic Church. I also asked who would bear such a judgment if this lamb were to be taken into the Lord’s care before the day of baptism. I have not received an answer.
If any of the shepherds are ever tested in such a way, I pray for the strength of the Spirit for them, and for the heavenly will and justice to be fulfilled.
What Is This Really About?
I do not condemn the Catholic Church. I do not condemn its members. My intention is to open a discussion about what has been brought along from the world on the journey, and what has come from God.
I pray that this article reaches precisely the readership it is meant to reach. I am publishing it at the prompting of the Spirit. This is the way the Lord has given me to do it.
Of Love, Joy, Happiness, and One God
I could also tell you how, at the end of the introductory course lecture, we had a smaller group discussion about what confession feels like. The discussion included only Protestants, all of whom had already been baptized in the name of the Triune God.
The conversation was filled with love and gratitude. The best side of earthly denominations came through at that moment. Everyone appreciates the background they come from. Everyone is happy for the guidance that has brought them into the understanding of this particular doctrine.
My heart was bursting with the amount of love in that room, and it practically sang praises to God.
Learning From Mistakes
Confession, however, is about pastoral care. Something from the past is brought into the light, and we learn whatever there is to learn from it. Eventually, we let it go, and the journey continues more lightly.
So, would it be time for the Catholic Church to go through its own internal process of releasing trauma? Could there be room there to open the tightly closed windows a little and let the light in again?
On Forgiveness and the Legacy of Church Law
These canons as well, which exclude Protestant traditions from Christ, are, as I understand it, rooted in the sixteenth century, when the separation of the Protestants took place. Are the decisions and resolutions made back then therefore still relevant today?
There is even a process for declaring someone a saint, in which the matter is brought forward and examined with the guidance of the Spirit. Could the same canonization process be repeated for the canons themselves?
As Christians, We Are One
We are part of one and the same Body of Christ. Let us not forget that.
Whatever emotions this writing may have stirred in you, I ask that you first bring them before God. Give them to Him and ask what He wants to teach you or say to you. This is, after all, only a collection of words formed by the hands of one woman. God is the One who gives these words meaning and breathes life into them.
I am among those followers of Christ who are waiting for the Lord’s righteous shepherds to awaken. Discipleship is not dead, and the ability to heal is still something the Lord can give.
In my opinion, we focus too much in our discussions on the signs of the end times, instead of asking, “What can I build now?”
It is through these questions that my Lord has guided me toward the subjects of this writing. I will remain here, watching His work of creation unfold in this matter.
Even while writing this article, I have prayed for the right words. I wrote only after reaching a place of peace and love.
The purpose of this text is to build, not to destroy.
“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.”
Jeremiah 29:11, NKJV
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