Originally posted by ParanoidAndroid
I refer to laws such as Confession, which was instituted at this point in English history. What better way to have control over the new converts than to know every dirty secret that they've told the priest in Confession.
Celibacy in the priesthood was also instituted at this time. According to English law at this time, when a patriarch dies the ...[text shortened]... s, I'm rambling. I hope I've made sense.
Comments, queries?
~ the Android
Well actually, confession has existed for longer than that. The ritual of confession has changed signficantly, though. Originally, one confessed to their entire community. But the picture of confession you paint is erroneous. Confession asks that the confessor reveal their sins, such as the sin of pride, the sin of sloth, not the circumstances of the sin, such as where, to whom, how the sin occured. Though I'm not if that's how it's practised even now. Even still, since priests have always been bound to confidence, they cannot discuss the confession to anyone else.
Clerical celibacy was introduced in the eleventh century, however, celibacy has been a requirement for beoming a bishop, and before then, celibacy was demanded heavily in the Eastern Churches and in many religious Orders. The Pope at the moment is considering re-admitting priests and semninarians who left their Holy Orders to become married.
Celibacy and Confession are called disciplinary rules. They do not form the identity of the Church but rather the dogma (which they refer to as the depository of faith). Dogma is theological, not disciplinary.
It is not held by Catholics that Mary is God. She is not "deified". The strict term they use is "venerated", meaning that she had attained sanctifying grace. We consequently pray to her as a model of faith and as an intercessor.
The Catholic Church doesn't use the word "universal" to mean "encompassing, all alone". They mean it in the sense that they welcome all universally and they will offer statistics of how many of each nationality are part of the Church.