what part of following Christ did the Catholic church follow in murdering people of other faiths, whether they were the heritic reformers or the Islamic nations, NO WHERE IN SCRIPTURE ARE WE TO KILL ANYONE, this is the fruit that Catholicism has bore, along with the ever increasing child molestations by trusted clergy and covered up from top to bottom.
being close to Christ means being obedient to His law, the second most important law was to love your neighbor as yourself, Killing your neighbors is an abomination of the law of love, no matter how you spin it
Actually, you'll note that there is Scriptural support for defending one's nation from attack. And in regards to "heritic reformers" as it was pointed out in another thread, people who were executed for being heretics were usually condemned by the secular authorities. In a time when one's religion was a MAJOR part of keeping the people unified under a single ruler, heresy was considered treason against the state.
Does that make the execution of heretics by the state right? Nope, but one should understand the situation a bit more than "Those Catholics put people to death!" Nor can we ignore the fact that many Catholics were martyred by Protestants during those times as well.
And while it's always a tragedy when children are abused, the reported incidents of abuse are going down. There are many tragic cases dating back to the 70s, but the Catholic Church has taken many many steps to address this tragic situation and is now a worldwide leader in developing programs that protect the victims, and also protect those accused in case the accusations prove false.
There will always be wolves amongst the flock, sometimes even in the very leaders. But wrongfully slandering all Catholics because of the sins of a few would be akin to dismissing the Apostles because of Judas.
The Catholic Church is THE most Christ centred, Scripturally sound Church in the world. It has spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to the four corners of the world. It is the world's LARGEST charitable organization, bar none. It has provided the world with great advances in Science, technology, music, poetry, and authors. Countless men and women have been granted the crown of martyrdom from within it's ranks, even to this very day.
And even today, Our Lord calls all men and women to come ever closer to Him through His Church, the Catholic Church. Come! Do not be afraid of Christ! He only ever desires to bring you closer to Him.
