A Righteous Power Struggle

A nice example of the Catholic Church's power over its congregations, this article in today's WaPo brings to light a question that I haven't seen discussed publicly in a while. "Who's church is it?"

Whether or not the allegations being made by parishoners at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Anacostia are indeed true, the overall argument being made by the priests at the church are fact. Church's are administered as "benevolent dictatorships" with their authority being handed down from God to the Vatican and so on down the line. No matter how much parishoners may dislike the way things are run in their particular church, those decisions are not up to them. Catholics are to do as they are told.

Yet again, one of the many reasons I left the faith a long time ago. It will be interesting to see if this "revolt" by parishoners gathers any steam. If the congregation decides to leave the Catholic Church (highly unlikely) there will be a very real property dispute between the local descendants of the church's founders and the Washington Diocese who claim ownership of the land and structure.