Once a Catholic always a Catholic– Angus Wilson (English novelist and short story writer.
You have no idea how much nastier I would be if I was not a Catholic. Without supernatural aid I would hardly be a human being– Evelyn Waugh (English Novelist)
My God, what a daunting task it would be even to give introduction to something as sprawled and universal as Catholicism. But mind you one purpose of mentioning belief systems is that to portray my own personal experiences with them as part of my journey to explore and seek God. As always I would guide you to Wikipedia link to Roman Catholic church for introduction, history and other facts about Roman Catholicism. Also it is useful to mention some other links about Catholic faith.
1. ) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Catholic
Wikipedia Link on Roman Catholic church
2.) www.vatican.va
Yep as all of you know Catholic church has its own city state and headquarters in Vatican they also have internet domain ”va”:
3.) http://www.newadvent.org/
This is a very comprehensive website that also includes links to Catholic Encyclopedia (Yep, Catholics have their own encyclopedia, first published in 1907 according to Wikipedia link)
4.) http://www.masstimes.org/
In case you’re curious about Mass Times in your local Catholic church or anywhere else on the planet.
5.) http://www.catholic.org/index.php
A very comprehensive Catholic news and information website that also provides free email accounts! I may as well have one email here. Hmmm.
Ok, let me quickly mention my own impressions as about Catholicism. As an outsider to Christianity as a kid, to me Christianity was Catholicism: Big Cathedrals, Fathers, priests, nuns, Candles, Crucifixes, existence of demons, angels, possessions of humans by evil spirits, haunted houses, Cemetery, horror novels and movies like Exorcist. In my teens as a passionate shortwave radio listener, Catholicism (Like other Christian denominations) echoed through the speaker of my many shortwave radio sets. Two notable stations were: Radio Varitas Asia (broadcast from Philipines) and Radio Vatican.
In college, as a student of English literature Catholicism was always there be it in the works of Shakespeare or many greatest writers themselves being devout or lapsed Catholics: Alexander Pope, G.K. Chesterton, JRR Tolkien, Evelyn Wough, James Joyce, Oscar Wilde- just to name a few. And then both in ancient and modern times EVERYONE or at least every second person turns out to be a Catholic (devout, Agnostic or lapsed)- from Leonardo Da Vinci to Mel Gibson and Bono. Also is equally surprising to me to notice how many unlikely people today claim to be practicing Catholics for example star perky columnist of The New York Times Maureen Dowd (who mentioned that she is a practicing Catholic in her interview to C-Span maybe about 10 years ago) and also Michael Moore (Sensationalist documentary maker: Bowling for Columbine, Fahrenheit 9/11, Sicko) is supposedly a practicing Catholic. And then there are always high profile conversions to Catholicism like Tony Blair, former British Prime Minister. Here Read the list of famous Catholics from a secular website:
http://www.adherents.com/largecom/fam_catholic.html
As I grew older and later when I myself freely ventured into Christian faith I got better understanding of Catholicism and protestant Christianity. And yet, Catholic church not only stood out but has always fascinated me like no other religious belief system. It also excites my imagination- so much of art and literary works being associated by it from ancient times to modern day The Exorcist novel and Da Vinci code by Dan Brown.
Protestant churches continue to blast Catholicism which maybe in part due to their sheer envy for the continuous growth of Catholicism. Catholic church always features in fiery protestant (be it Baptist or Seventh Day Adventist or even Jehovah’s Witnesses) sermons as the Mystery Babylon etc. And then there are Catholic gangster movies with The Godfather trilogy being at the top of the game. I absolutely love all the three parts for the exploration of dark themes of human nature and the corruption in this world that exists everywhere. Then there are Catholic sex abuse and pedophilia scandals that continue to rock Roman Catholic Church.
I should probably mention something very personal that should give some credibility to this post. I myself tried to learn about Catholicism up and close by visiting a local Catholic church here in Christchurch, New Zealand. I asked the Father of the church several straightforward questions about Catholic views about other Christian denominations, marriage, divorce, status or Mary or Mary worship, Catholic church’s objections to contraceptives etc. I got elaborate and honest answers, if not always satisfactory.
After discussions Father of that church invited me to join soon to be started in his church the RCIA (Roman Catholic Initiation for Adults) program run by Catholic churches all over the world to instruct adults about Catholicism. It is something like Alpha course run by Protestant churches but is of very specialized nature, peculiar to Roman Catholic church. This initiation lasts for several months and at the end of it an individual may or may not get baptized. So I signed up.
I attended a few meetings for about 1 month that also included I being part of special church service in which they presented me a Catholic Bible amidst applause from the whole church (It was a very surreal but warm feeling- my name being announced, I walking down the aisle to the pulpit, priest saying a prayer and making crucifix gestures on my forehead and the applause….). I am afraid to say, at times RCIA meetings were very boring and I quit because: my own life was tumbling out of control, I was getting bored, I was not learning anything, I always asked tough questions which upset people leading the group, I had deep reservations about rosary, focus on Mary etc. Also, Catholic church only recently encouraged laity to read the Bible. And unlike my protestant friends Catholics did not really know their way through the Bible. Neither were they very good or thorough at Bible studies.
Just when I started writing this post I tried to remember, when it was that I attended those classes: 2007? No maybe 2006? …. then I opened the drawer and fished out the Bible that I still have. I just read hand written inscription at the beginning, the date reads: 17-10-04. I am just AMAZED that it has been such a long time. Apparently from that time to the beginning of this year life has been a nasty nightmare in a sense. I have no connections with Catholicism but I still have fondness for it. I have strong support for Catholic church’s focus on social justice all over the world and also its strong moral stances. But I disagree on many things: Rigid focus on celibacy of priests, no ordinations for women, very orthodox views on homosexuality, abortion, controlling AIDS and contraception.
Sadly, you can see the devastating effects of Catholic stance on contraceptives on a country like Philippines where Catholic church is the law of the land and government forbids abortion and strongly discourages contraceptives. Philippine’s population has grown at a breakneck speed leaving the whole country impoverished, famished and desperate. In other countries of Central and Latin America, Catholic church has often got mixed up in power struggles and corruption (how much those policies are run directly from Vatican is a matter of contention)
I can probably write hundreds of articles and posts on Roman Catholicism but I must wrap it up here and welcome any comments, feedback, suggestion or criticism. Also I might edit this piece later for clarity or correction.
I enjoyed what you’ve written, and understand your “biases.” I found your blog when looking for a literary agent interested in novels involving Catholicism, and the issues you bring up are the ones I explore in my own writing, including still believing in the United States. Here is the “query” letter for my book:
“Please consider “The Boots On The Ground,” my completed 65,000 word commercial fiction book.
A mouthy Boston Roman Catholic priest, Father Maxmillian Hoy is already at the end of his spiritual rope when he is exiled to Sacred Heart Cathedral in Seattle. And that’s exactly when the true fight for his heart, sanity, and faith begins. A burn victim named Kit Dublin brings Hoy face-to-face with her doctor: Morgan Dowling, the love of Hoy’s life in college over twenty years ago, but now a battle-scarred United States Army surgeon back from Iraq. Everything that Hoy thinks he knows and believes in will be blown to high heaven—and the truth about Kit will be the improvised explosive device. Improvised by God. The skeletons of identity, the architectures of faith, the natures of war—and the persistence and resilience of love—will torment and sustain all three of them. And when Kit decides she has a duty to tell the world their secret, the rest of humanity takes up arms—and Hoy has to decide how much he is willing to sacrifice at the altar.
I have the perfect background to write this story: experienced physician and author, passions honed at Brown University for undergraduate and medical degrees; a Boston Irish Catholic, then a cathedral chorister in Seattle; and mother of a son in the US Army. An excerpt from my self-published nonfiction book, “Sacred Trust: The Ten Rules of Life, Death, and Medicine,” is included in the Pacific Northwest Writers Association 50th Anniversary Anthology, “The Pen And The Key,” showcased in its Emerging Writers section, and reviewed as “alone worth the book’s purchase price.” “Sacred Trust” has been quoted by the keynote speaker at the December 2007 national forum of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement; on http://www.forbes.com and in the Los Angeles Times.
Thank you in advance for considering “The Boots On The Ground.” It is part of a “cathedral” series of novels, involving continuing characters and worldwide politics and religions; I am working on the second book at present. Please let me know if I may send you an excerpt, or the full manuscript.”
I am sending this to you in case you may know of someone interested in publishing my kind of book. Long shot, I know, but one has to keep sending one’s work out into the universe.
Thank you,
Phyllis Hollenbeck
I am very glad to hear from you Phyllis. Of course your comment and information are on here now, so at least it is some exposure!
I have only recently become determined to get published as a fiction writer. I wish to start by publishing short stories and am frequently sending them out in post and email (thank God for this method of submission as it saves expenses and trees).
I am also trying to get some material on online portals (apart from my blog) The only one that I found for amateur or new writers is http://www.e-stories.org. It is run by some folks in Germany and they have multi- language versions. Good, thing I noticed was that they have Bible Story section as well. There are many other such sites but they have rather seedy terms and conditions that I cannot agree to. This one does not seem manipulative.
And as for Literary agent search I may as well introduce you to this rogue writer’s roguish website: http://www.everyonewhosanyone.com/ He lists almost ALL Literary agents and major publishing houses in USA, Canada, UK etc. His personal story is amazing as well. Being rejected by all literary agents he started this website and finally got his novel published as well!
I sent many query letters to agents listed here but of course, they’re all being bogged by emails because of this website and are quick to ignore by automated polite rejection emails.
But good thing about you is that you’ve published one book already (though self- published) and you’ve been noticed by others. Some literary agent from that website might like to take you on. So, try them out! Emails cost nothing and you can send your general formatted one to all by changing ”To” field.
Good Luck.