@Hun200kmh, I read your Logical thought paragraph, and I wonder what brought you to those beliefs about Jesus Christ and the Catholic Church? You have said it's not based on any scientific proof, but I'm wondering how these beliefs got into your head?
I hope this doesn't come across as rude. I
know how Jesus Christ got into
my head, and I'm wondering if this is a shared experience or you had a different path to belief?
My path to belief is not something I am able to explain clearly. I was born and raised within a catholic family in a predominantly catholic country so that obviously influenced me ... a lot in my childhood. However, my faith degraded thruogh my adolescent years up to a point when (about 17 to 18 years old) I considered myself as an atheist. I didn't believe in "any of it".
Now, the old guys here will probably drop their jaws in incredulity, or indeed roll in your own floors laughing with what comes up next, but the thought of God reentered my mind watching the modern american TV series that, in the good old "Hill Street Blues" tradition, featured urban societies where mostly lonely people lived meaningless lives that nobody would ever care to remember after their deaths. I knew, of course, all that was fiction, but fiction is based on reality and many times tries to portray it, although - granted - with a "big saturation of colors" on what sells most ( be it violence, be it sex, it rarely is anything good)
It will be more simple to say that the thought of God came from the search of "The Meaning of Life". And Monty Python's view on that particular subject was also taken into account, especially the song Eric Idle, out of a refrigerator, sings about the vastness of the Universe. And also with the joke on the Catholics at the beggining, with the song "Every drop of sperm is sacred". Maybe my thought process is both antagonistic and binary, but the short sighted nature of those jokes, disguised with a supposed modernity and freedom of thought, was interesting food for thought.
From a re-belief in God to the rereading of the New Testament came a re-belief in Christ. About the Catholic Church, it was of course the easy way to reconcile myself with a way to an established religion. In any case, where mainstream media only sees wrongdoings (paedophilia and whatever else is trendy to say about the catholic church) what I mostly see is a world network, mostly silent and humble, working for the good of the less favoured. If there's one human institution I truly admire it is the Catholic Church. And I'll underline
Human Institution, because that's what the Catholic Church is. With many sins, sure, but the Good being done everyday in all the continents fof this Earth by their priests, their nuns, their missionaries, their volunteers, is unequalled.
So, it was easy to "get back in" to this church. I feel good there, no reason to pick another. And no, I don't think that by being a catholic I have better odds in "Heaven" entry
. I only think belonging to this church may help my personal, spiritual journey towards being a good person
A very sincere thanks to you, then.
Logical thought should tell you that the particular doctrine that you subscribe to is no more or less valid than any other religion, no? How does that fit in to your views?
I don't consider that by being a Catholic or even a Christian I'm superior to other believers of other religions, with one or several Gods, from anywhere in the world. I feel "at home" with Christ and I do believe he was God in human form. But as long as the core values are the same I will respect any following and I will also think that God inspired those other beliefs.
That's rather binary, don't you think? What if there is another non-death possibility, just not the one that Catholicism describes? You wouldn't change your views then?
R: After the physical death you mean? Yes, of course, depending on what, if anything, I find on the "other side". I'm quite curious about what will happen after the death of my body. I have a close relative that won't probably last more than a few months now. He is a very clever person, although his body is failing him his mind is thankfully still sharp as a knife. And he knows his days are numbered (our days are too, of course, but you understand). When he told me that the other day, very "matter-of-factly", I asked "Are you afraid?" and his reply was "Not really. Either I am mistaken and it'll be lights out, the end, or indeed my spirit will survive. I'm a bit nervous about what's next, but not really afraid. And very, very curious."
I then told him something like "don't forget to call or send a postcard" and he laughed and said "Don't want to be a ghost. If I'm leaving I'm leaving, but when your time comes I will try to be at the station to receive you on the other side". "Deal" I said, and that was it.
So, yes, there are many possibilities. Including a date with Venus, if she exists
I'm curious about this. What exactly did Christ say about the papacy in order for this to be the case?
Nothing. He did however, set Peter as "primus inter pares" among his followers, and Peter, historically, has been credited as being the first leader of the roman christians. This is disputed, I know, and I will leave it to scholars, it's not of much interest to me. The Catholic Church itself grants to both the Orthodox Churches and their patriarchs, and also to the Protestant Churches that come from a secession during the reformation, equal status in religious terms.
This means any protestant or orthodox priest is a priest for the catholics too. Because all come, in a direct line of succession (in ordonance) from Christ.
(not sure what happens with the women priests and bishops some protestant churches now have though ...
)
) Pope 
