Amusing reply

It was with some amusement that I read Mr Nauss’s response to my recent letter; it would be quite difficult to answer his litany of misinformation and dis-information in these pages. I would suggest that anyone who is really interested in facts and the truth regarding the teachings of the Catholic Church should read the  Catechism of the Catholic Church, where the actual teachings of the Church are clearly laid out. I am well aware that one does not have to look on the internet alone to find lies and criticism regarding Church teachings – there are thousands of opportunities for this, many of the earliest heresies go back to biblical times and I can find no modern heresies; they are all repeats of age old ones. For those who would be interested, there is a book titled Four Witnesses, The Early Church in her own Words, by Rod Bennett. It is an easy and interesting read. The Witnesses, are from the first century to the third.
One regularly hears people stating that this or that subject is not in the bible – sola scriptura. I wonder if these people are aware as to who compiled the New Testament books. There was no bible for the early Church to follow and it wasn’t until the fourth century that the Bishops of the Catholic Church (earliest mention of the Church as Catholic is by St Ignatius of Antioch in the second century) decided which of the early writings were genuine; there were a number of books that were not included, and there are Old Testament books that were part of the bible until the Reformation that are not in Protestant bibles today, though they were included in the earliest editions of the King James bible, but were dropped later on as they were against certain Protestant teachings. The Catholic Church teaches from tradition also, and it is mentioned in the New Testament that not all of what Christ said was written down; that is the justification.
As to William Morris suffering injustice at the hands of the Church – he failed to uphold the Doctrine of the Church which he had sworn to do when he was anointed bishop, and after being given several years to correct this failure, he has rightly been dismissed. Those many people who are taking his side, against the Holy See and the Supreme Magisterium might well take a closer look at their own situation and ask if,in denying, it is tenable to do so and remain loyal to the true teachings of the Catholic Church. It is quite untrue and in fact ridiculous to suggest that 99 per cent  of Catholics back William Morris; I myself have had nine people congratulate me on my letter, both by telephone and otherwise, and if that is so, then there must be a great many others who are silent, but agree.
Over the past 14 years there have been over 1800 Protestant Clergy who have converted to the Catholic Church in America alone, many of them like Professor Scott Hahn, Gerry Matatics and others were great haters of Catholicism, and even denied that Catholics were Christians: In their serious search for the truth, reading the Father’s of the Church seems to have been their downfall; this also applied to John Henry Newman (later Cardinal Newman) in the middle of the nineteenth century. For those who hate the Catholic Church – without knowing its teachings, of course – there is great danger if they read the Father’s of the Church, so don’t be tempted Mr Nauss.
With regard to those who think that clergy ought to be allowed to marry, this is quite acceptable as it is not against the Doctrine of the Church. There were married clergy until the twelfth century, and in the Orthodox Church married men may still become priests, though once a priest, they may not marry, and married men cannot become bishops. There are quite a number of married men, converts largely from the Anglican Church, who are now Catholic priests, and with the Anglican Ordinariate now in existence, there are five Anglican Bishops who are part of it, as well as a great many Anglican clergy in the U.K. alone, most of whom will remain priests after a little retraining, and some of them are married.
Finally, I have had some mail as a result of my first letter, some kind, some otherwise: One small book plus several comics full of misinformation helped to keep our fire going. Thank you, and God bless you!
Charles Shann,
Warwick