Catholicism, Hypocrisy and a lapsed catholic

Lately the Roman Catholic religion is featuring quite often in all media. And with good reason.
And it will be a long time yet before media outlets are tired of writing articles about the Roman catholic faith and all its  problems from years now long gone.

I am a lapsed catholic. And I will remain a lapsed catholic.
There are many of us around and like myself, many had deserted the faith before the stories of paedophilia had hit the news stands.

Myself and my sisters and brother attended a catholic primary school ,with only the eldest continuing on with a catholic secondary education.
As I have matured I realised that I faced many difficulties in my time at primary school, and in fact I hated it.
It was not a time of fun or laughter or a time where great friendships were formed. Mind you I did make one  long time friend ( Louise is her name ) who also  attended the same secondary school with me and  I am very pleased to say that we have  recently reconnected.

I know that school is not meant to be fun and just a place of learning but catholic schools, all those years ago were places where punishment was metered out on a regular basis

The majority of catholic primary schools in the 1950's or  1960's  would have been pretty much the same.
                    Why were the nuns so cruel. That was not Gods way!

They did not bat an eyelid when striking pupils with the wooden ruler or pointer. And it did not matter whether it was boy or girl: both were fair game.

The rules were strict at school. State schools and catholic schools had very similar rules but catholic schools added other rules which needed  to fit in with the catholic religion.
Numerous times you were asked on a Monday morning what the subject of the sermon was at Sunday mass. And whoa be tied if you did not know. And if you tried to make up a sermon from another church you would be caught out and punished
Yes primary school also meant you must attend  Sunday mass . And as children you were governed by your parents' actions so if they did not go, then neither did you. On very rare occasions we would make the long walk to mass without our parents.

My first Communion Day

When you completed grade six it was expected that you would continue on to a catholic secondary school. Well I defiantly chose to go to a state run secondary college across the road from our house. That choice caused much  upheaval amongst the school community. I would receive beatings by the head nun until I bowed to pressure to agree to attending a catholic secondary school. Which I never did ! I would not give in and I continued to stand up to her. It only stopped once the parish priest visited my father who also stood up for my decision.
So my choice of secondary education was set.

Hypocrisy  was on show constantly through out primary school.

If you were from one of the wealthy parish families who also happened to attend church on Sunday you were fine but the poorer families seemed to be looked down upon. We had kids in our grade who struggled to learn and some who also came from very poor households but help was never around.

The school fee system was an envelope that you needed to bring weekly  and containing a certain amount of money. I never knew how much but it was a rare occasion when we had money to contribute, so you were made an example of in front of the class.

So where did the part about looking after those less fortunate than others disappear to.

As an Altar Girl I never really thought about the value of the jewel encrusted garments that priests wore, or the golden chalices adorning the altar. But now I wonder why is all that necessary. The picture that I have in my head of Christ is him being adorned in brown robes and leather sandals. So why is there so much money in the Roman Catholic Religion. They have become a very wealthy entity
    So now , looking back the hypocrisy was rife.

The beatings, the discrimination of the poor, the show of great wealth all  go against what I was taught.

If we went for a walk to see our Aunt and Uncle and cousins some times we could take the longer way via an orphanage. We were always told by the nuns that they were naughty children who were locked up and we were forbidden to talk to them. Looking back ,how sad that was for those children, seeing us on the outside enjoying freedom. They would be peering through the locked gate and trying desperately to make has talk to them .The stories about life inside that orphanage that have now come to light are so very harrowing. Those poor kids. And they were cared for by a religious order.

      Hypocrisy at its finest again.

We did marry in the catholic church but I never put pressure on hubby to join the catholic faith. He had to attend lessons but the parish priest must have thought he was alright as they spent many hours just playing billiards.
So our wedding was never a problem and all catholic relatives were pleased that we were married in our local church.
I did not have much to do with the church for some time after our wedding

My parents had a very tumultuous relationship with moments of abuse constantly happening.
There was a time when the parish priest declared to my Mother that she must accept her husband and just forgive him. What the  !!!!. So it is okay for a man to beat his wife. Nothing said to him by the priest I might add. Yes the beatings continued until she left him.

The very difficult time we had was when our dear mother passed away. We knew we had to choose a place for the funeral so we settled on the local catholic church where we all went to primary school.
Being  either in our twenties or teenage years we were not skilled at  organising a funeral but looking back we got most things right. A funeral is a day of great sadness and most things just happen in a blur but one thing I can remember is a comment to the congregation by the priest.
                 "And we offer our sympathy to.... yes our dear Dad for the loss of his wife ! "
How dare that priest. My parents were divorced and he used to beat her when they were together.                 
                                          Hypocrisy at it again !

Why would I want to remain in a religion when abuse is acceptable !
My mother was worth more than the church to me so that finished it . I believed that by removing myself from the roman catholic religion that I would be  protecting my mothers memory.
I could not be a hypocrite  and pray with a religion that had such double standards

Our son ,who was born 12 months after  my mother died ,was never baptised even though our two daughters who arrived a few years earlier were.

                      I do not understand the hypocrisy of the catholic faith.

What makes a good catholic
Are you a good catholic if you go to church every Sunday or attend those special church services, like Easter or Christmas. Do you believe that these actions will get you through the pearly gates at judgement time.
Do you treat your family badly , or are you a business person who rips the public off. But then thinks that a visit to the confessional will clear all your sins.

I suppose in some ways religion has moved with the times but the damage has been done. And this can be proven by those Catholics who have now disowned the faith that they were brought up to honour.
The actions of a certain section of the priest hood that is now being told also is something that disgusts me. How cruel to all those children. Certainly not what religion is about.
I  cannot stand by a church where priests felt that it was alright to use children as their sexual objects. The amount of people who's lives have been destroyed is phenomenal and I feel a great deal of sorrow for all the victims.
I believe that if you want to follow a religion that there will be one out there that suits your beliefs and lifestyle.
I just find that there is way too much hypocrisy and I just keep thinking " Suffer the little children who come unto me "
And aren't they suffering. No one protected all those little children


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