I believe in one holy, catholic and apostolic church.

A friend asked me, “I am sure you have been asked before, but have you ever thought of turning Anglican?” Yes, I have been asked many times, and I would like to share the essence of my reply so you don’t need to ask me again.

Did you know that during an Anglican service or a Catholic Mass they both pray the same “profession of faith”? And some are surprised to hear that we both say, “I believe in one holy, catholic and apostolic church”. Yes we were one church for a long time, right up to 1536 when King Henry VIII disputed the authority of the Pope in Rome. But the Church of England was not officially structured as a separate denomination until 1562 under Queen Elizabeth I. You can read the history of the split on the web but I will tell you the short version of the separation here.  

If you trace the origins of Anglicanism (Church of England) it was founded on a selfish motive of the monarch and flawed logical reasoning. King Henry VIII of England was a Catholic and sought to divorce his lawful wife and marry another woman and the priests and bishops of his Church opposed it as un-Scriptural and against the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. So he just started his own Church and put himself as its head. That is what the Church of England still believes: the monarch is the head of the church, regardless of his/her theology or practice. What would it be like if Catholicism allowed priests to marry and we passed on the Papacy to the Pope’s son?

And this form of Protestantism (protesting) teaches that if you don’t like some of the tenets of what Jesus taught you can merely dispense with them and start your own church (which many have done since).

But if you do look more deeply into it, Anglicans have discounted a number of the teachings of Jesus & Paul and therefore significantly altered the beliefs of Jesus. I still also hold the Eucharistic Presence of Jesus to be vital to my faith as well as the relationship I have with Jesus' Mother Mary, while most “protestants” and the Anglicans think she is not significant, just a case of God needed a virgin in Palestine and went, “Eeny, meenie, miney, moe! You will do Mary of Nazareth..”

Just because I don’t agree with certain practices of the Catholic Church, I am not going to leave my religion and start another one or join another ‘protestant’ faith. I am going to try and purify the religion I am part of.  I totally believe that Jesus Christ gave authority to St Peter to be the head of the Church, but as far as insisting that every other successive Pope voted in by a group of his peers inheriting that authority, I strongly doubt it. It is laughable to suggest also that this man is infallible as Catholics are expected to believe of the elected Pope.

I am optimistic that Pope Francis will be a true man of God, but if he turns out to another fraud like Benedict, then I will not lose my religion. That is because its my religion, not the Pope’s or any priests.

Oh and why do I say Benedict is a fraud? Well, when I was in the seminary we used to study the writings of a certain Archbishop Joseph Ratzinger. He taught some things which were quite radical in his earlier years but when he was elected Cardinal, things changed and he recanted some of his earlier theological positions. He then became very fundamentalist in his views and doctrinally quite rigid. He was right hand man to Pope John Paul II and naturally got elected as his successor taking on the name of Pope Benedict XVI. If you read my book Unholy Silence (available at www.unholysilence.com) you will read my other contentious writings about what he failed to do as Pope. He is also rumoured to be in love with his secretary and personal assistant, a good looking German priest called Father Georg Gänswein whom he appointed as “Monsignor”, a rumour strengthened by the fact that he didn’t return to Germany when he resigned as Pope but instead chose to co-habit in a unit made for him and “Gorgeous Georg” as he is nicknamed amongst the curia who are in on the charade.

Read more: http://www.queerty.com/andrew-sullivan-pope-gay-living-with-his-sexetary-20130228/

Anyway, despite the bad popes or priests or even naughty nuns for that matter, I am still a Catholic. I can have problems with my own family, but I am still going to remain a member. I am not going to leave my family even if we have a falling out over my persistence in persecuting the pretenders in the Church.

I have been wishing I could find a combination of Catholicism's mystery and antiquity & true religious' sacrificial living with the charismatic charm of "pentecostal" styled praise and worship but can't find it. When I attempted to offer it (in the Masses I prayed) I found people complaining I was trying to be too trendy (‘a modernist’ to use their term?) and some others criticised me for 'acting too pious'. It seems people want one or the other.. they want a full on robotic man who follows the rubrics like a Benedict XVI clone or they want Pastor Heuston from Hillsong!

I am sure there is some Church somewhere where the priest is preaching a relevant Faith-filled message, true to the Gospel and also reverently inspirational and in touch with where people need the Holy Spirit. I have been to many Masses where I feel uplifted and have been to a few "protestant" services where I felt inspired to tears but inevitably one will start spruiking the virtues of “tithing” (giving a tenth of your gross income to his church) or charitable giving to the collections..

I can never see how giving cash to a man equates with giving yourself heart and soul to God, or loving Him with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.

I know its rare these days to find anyone ‘popular’, a celebrity for instance, who is publicly giving thanks to God for their blessings - who regularly worships anywhere - but my prayer and hope is that one day we will have restored our confidence in organized religion and will truly believe that our ministers have been called and chosen to help lead us to live better lives and give our gifts and talents to the service of God. 

Maybe we have reached a time in human history where we need to work for the formation of ONE CHURCH and ONE RELIGION where people can worship together the ONE GOD.