Question about Catholic schools and churches in and around Portland area (Rome: luxury, living in)

[AcadianIrish]

I was just wondering if anyone has any experiences with the Catholic Schools in Portland?
Do they tend to be more conservative or liberal? What about the churches?

There is a "movement" around Canada in some of the Catholic churches that is similar to what is happening to the Angelican Church and trying to divide it. Does anyone notice a "division" of Traditional Catholics and Liberal Catholics happening in Portland area and if so, is it a big issue?

[Coaster]

I'm not familiar with a breakaway Catholic movement here in Maine, although there have always been a few (dwindling all the time) who yearn for the old days of the Latin Mass. We sent our daughters to McAuley High School in Portland and were very pleased with the experience.

[AcadianIrish]

That's good. Trust me, if there was a breakway movement going on there, you would be aware of it. It kinda feels like you have to go back out to the sign of the church to make sure you stepped into a Catholic Church and not a Protestant one. LOL
Not that there is anything wrong with Protestant Churches, but when I step foot in a Catholic Church, I would expect it to be Catholic.......If I wanted Protestant, I would go to that church.
Thanks for your input!

[Maineah]

The last time I went to a Catholic Mass it WAS in latin if that will tell you anything.
It may be interesting to note the entire fiasco with the deviant sexual practices of the Catholic Priests can be traced to the complaints of two students of Cheverus High School in Portland, Maine. These two complaints opened the flood gates of complaints that followed and led to dismissals of many priests on a world wide level, suicides and even the murder of a priest in who went to jail in Massachusetts. The scope of this has yet to be determined and has rattled confessionals all the way to the Vatican. I'd have to think that the "cleansing process" that followed this tragic exposure has made these schools safer places for the attendees. I know personally the man who lodged the initial complaint against the first preist at Cheverus. He and his family have dropped off the radar since this whole thing started. They now live in fear from angry church members for not toeing the line like so many victims had done over the years thus sparing the "good name" of the Catholic Church. I won't go back to a Catholic Church after the exposure of that break of trust and cover-up that followed. Others may be more forgiving.

[dmyankee]

I am a practicing "Cafeteria Catholic,"

and I'll pick through the clutter to see my own way. If I wanted a break away religion, I'd just go join the Calvinists.

I defiantly recommend Parochial School, however.

[AcadianIrish]

I'm so sorry to hear about your experience with some evil people who have infiltrated the Catholic Church. It always saddens me to see this because being human......a lot of people tend to "Throw the baby out with the bath water" so to speak. I don't blame them. There is a lot of hurt involved and I can't even imagine what an awful process of healing that must be.

I'm sure I'm going to get lots of backlash for this but here goes anyways......(LOL)

I don't deny this is a VERY complicated matter but perhaps I can give a different perpective on this.

I believe in the true teachings of the UNIVERSAL Catholic church. The priesthood is a vocation, like marriage is a vocation. It's not a job. It's a life calling. There have been many, many, many sick individuals who have entered the priesthood in hopes to hide behind the fact that as Christians we are called to forgive, etc. These sick individuals may feel that if they get caught......it would be easier to have support by this "forgiving" instutition so they seek out the priesthood.

This puts the Universal Church in a very tough position. They try to filter this people out but it is almost impossible. Just like it is impossible to guarantee your children's hockey coach isn't a child molester or your next door neighbour isn't, etc.
You can't. The world is riddled with sick people in all organizations. Why would an insitution such as the Catholic Church be any different? It's not the church's fault. All they can do is try to deal with these sick people in the best humanly and Christian (key word here) way possible. The media really exposes these sickos (and they should) however, it is perceived as a large number of pedophiles in one instution. In reality, look at the size of the instution!!
It's a matter of numbers. Of course it will appear like more.......It's the largest universal instution in the world and the oldest! lf you look at the percentage of priests in the world COMPARED to the pedophiles......the number doesn't look so high anymore. A person has to compare apples-to-apples when passing these types of judgement.
If Boys Scouts of America had as many Scout Leaders as there were priests in the world you would think that was a large amount too. Compared to the priesthood........the Scouts and Hockey Associations seem to have way more pedophiles when doing a percentage per members!

The way in which the "secular" world handles these people and how the church needs to handle them is the same when it comes to the laws of the land but there is an added pressure for the church.
In a court of law when someone commits a sin.......like rape/murder, etc........they are still human under the law and have a right to a fair trial. You can imagine the added pressure then that the church has in dealing with these people. Not only do they need to do what is fair but they have the added obiligation to "practice what they preach" and somehow deal with this person in a Christian manner.
"He who is without sin cast the first stone....." So if the church started throwing stones at these sickos........wouldn't that make them a bunch of hypocritcs?
The church is in a lose/lose situation.
They know they have to lead by example, and have to try and show some sort of empathy for these molesters.

That doesn't mean that you have to be stupid and trust your children with them.......and I certainly don't want them working with kids.......but......you don't know what happened to them growing up to turn them into this "mess of a person". It would be like blaming the person you know who was affected by these priests for any damage he causes as a result of his abuse. The person committing these awful acts needs to be held accountable and every measure should be taken to keep them away from children, but we are all products of our environment and it's not so black and white. Prior abuse, mental illness, sexual deviations, etc.......

It's unfortunate that some of these so called "Christians" that went to the church made your friend feel so bad that he had to go into "hiding" for exposing an evil that needs to be exposed. Unfortunately.........not everyone who calls themselves a Catholic practices what they preach. The bottom line is......the Church does not endorse, support or excuse this behaviour.
They may not have "public lashings" when dealing with these sickos but that doesn't mean they are ingoring the problem. It is unfair to expect that anyone running ANY insitution could have ALL knowledge of it's members actions every second of the day. The Pope made a public statement about this matter. THAT is the voice of the church....not the local priest or church members. They are simply members. The Pope is the voice and is responsible for clearing up any misconceptions on what the TRUE teachings SHOULD be UNIVERSALLY. That is why we are united to Rome, so there won't be any misconceptions about teachings.

On a final note, Just because the Boys Scouts and the Minor Hockey League had it's share of molesters exposed also........doesn't make me give up on hockey or scouts. I certainly don't allow my children to be "alone" with the coaches like we would have done in the old days. Parents just need to be smarter about trusting their children alone with ANY adults.

*******A priest does not become a pedophile...........a PEDOPHILE becomes a priest. **********

Please just think about that.
I do not know of any normal man who if he wasn't having sexual relations with a woman would turn to a child. These people were sick to begin with. They find places in society to try to hide out and to be closer to children.........schools, sporting events, churches.......etc.......

[AcadianIrish]

Yikes! Sorry for the length of my letter above! Guess I didn't realize how long it was before hitting submit! LOL

[maggiekate]

to teach in a Catholic education place-the rule is you need to follow the rules-Chatholic-
to go to the school it is open to all-therefore, with religion, that choice is up to you.

[AcadianIrish]

Forgive me maggiekate, but I'm not quite sure what you are trying to say? Could you please rephrase that? Thanks!

[dmyankee]

What is the "Universal Catholic Church?" I always thought it was the Holy Roman Catholic and Apostolic Church.

There was several classes of priests in the '50's and 60's that were basically a network of pedophiles. One of their greatest enablers, Cardinal Law, now lives comfortably after being recalled to the Vatican...living in luxury amid the thousands of broken lives and decades of lies.