Anyone know of a progressive Catholic priest?

The last progressive Catholic priest I can think of was burned at the stake about 400 years ago.

Pommy bastard said :

If they are only doing it “to please family, which in itself shows a great deal of moral cowardice, why does it matter which catholic cult place they get it done in, and which child molester priest they get to throw water on the kid?

If it’s only being done “to please the family” any bloody place should be as good as any other for this silly ritual.

Ahh, vilification of the Christian/Catholic church, the last frontier!

georgesgenitals said :

Alternately, get the baby baptised by Anglicans or Uniting church, both of which have plenty of progressive clergy to choose from.

Sigh, tried that, I suggested the Uniting Church, particularly the one in Curtin. My friends are still strangely tribal Catholic, more so than I expected. Screaming banshee – they aren’t alternative really – pretty suburban.

As much as I think the idea of infant baptism to be ridiculous, the point of it – to make a commitment to bring the child up nicely and according to the faith the parents claim to hold – is a really good thing.

It is only a silly ritual to those foolish enough to do when they won’t be keeping any such commitment, or to those who don’t understand faith and therefore vilify everyone who has some (while claiming tolerance).

If they are only doing it “to please family, which in itself shows a great deal of moral cowardice, why does it matter which catholic cult place they get it done in, and which child molester priest they get to throw water on the kid?

If it’s only being done “to please the family” any bloody place should be as good as any other for this silly ritual.

Grrrr said :

Father Bob, South Melbourne?

georgesgenitals said :

Alternately, get the baby baptised by Anglicans or Uniting church, both of which have plenty of progressive clergy to choose from.

Er, that’s probably going to equate to non-baptism to the Catholic grandparents.

You’re probably right.

I work for a Catholic parish and would consider my boss progressive but I know that he too would ask “why” if the family were just not interested. It kinda devalues Baptism for those of us that consider it important. He too would ask the family if it mattered to them and if they said no, he couldn’t in all conscience baptise their child. They could of course lie if which case it would be up to the grace of God… The other thing is, they are welcome to go to any parish but they still need to get the priest from whatever parish they live in to sign off on the paperwork for an “out of parish” baptism and to say they have attended a pre-baptism course in their parish which most (but not all) parishes require these days – usually a one hour session in an evening so they may have to encounter the unhelpful priest anyway! Good luck to them.

Progressive Catholic … oxymoron

I’d check out the local Catholic Church in Narrabundah. This parish (St. Benedict’s) is served by members of the Missionaries of God’s Love and may be accommodating.

(I’m curious as to which parish you visited in the Northside…)

I couldn’t believe it when friends decided to baptise their children in the Catholic Church. I don’t think they’ve ever been to church in their lives but they got it done at the one in Curtin and the ceremony was surprisingly pleasant, not too painful at all and all families concerned were very happy.