Creation and Miracles, Past and Present...a Catholic video

[Tahlan]

Now that I have your attention...no really, on a more serious note...I don't recall how I stumbled onto the website "mostholyfamilymonastery" but I found a video entitled "Creation and Miracles, Past and Present" that I began watching to educate myself on what the Catholic Church had to say on creation. What began as a less than slick opening presentation devolved into a one hour rant by a young priest(?) brother Michael Diamond that allegedly "disproves evolution, shows evidence of a world-wide flood, covers Biblical miracles, modern day miracles, Eucharist miracles, incorrupt bodies of saints and the Shroud of Turin." What I actually learned was that there are rabid, dogmatic fundamentalists in the Catholic church, when I mistakenly thought that dogmatic fundamentalism was the sole realm of Protestants. Do not watch the video on my recommendation, because I do not recommend it unless you have a lot of time to burn and want to learn something about the Catholic faith, and I seriously wonder if this video is "authorized" by the church. And to my dismay, there's a whole page of these inane videos. Somebody, please save me from my own curiousity.

P.S. As I've gone exploring through this website, I can't believe it's in any way, shape, or form mainstream Catholicism. The stuff I've seen surely cannot be approved by the Catholic church. Will somebody with a good handle on mainstream Catholicism (who follows the Pope) please elucidate?

[CarsonPalmer]

That group is not a part of the Catholic Church. They call themselves Catholics, and they practice the classical Catholic spirituality (rosary and such), but they aren't recognized as part of the Church. They sprung off out of a monk by the name of Joseph Natale (although he never got to the point of actually taking his vows). Basically, its another group of Vatican II-rejectors who claim that communists and freemasons secretly took over the Council and the Church. They don't recognize the Pope as valid.

What makes them unique is that they don't actually have any priests (none of them are ordained), so they can't say any Masses. The leaders attend a Byzantine rite parish (sort of a church-within-the Church, they are autonomous but still under the Pope), but they don't have a parish of their own. A bunch of fringe nuts, really.

As to what the Church says, the Church has basically accepted evolution for a while now (even St. Augustine suggested that Genesis might not need to be taken literally, although he didn't have evolution to consider), but has not officially required Catholics to accept it. The vast majority of Catholics accept evolution, but you'll still find some creationists (although very, very rarely in the priesthood, and almost never once you start getting up the ladder towards bishop; the hierarchy of the Church is not friendly to young Earth creationism).

[Tahlan]

That group is not a part of the Catholic Church. They call themselves Catholics, and they practice the classical Catholic spirituality (rosary and such), but they aren't recognized as part of the Church. They sprung off out of a monk by the name of Joseph Natale (although he never got to the point of actually taking his vows). Basically, its another group of Vatican II-rejectors who claim that communists and freemasons secretly took over the Council and the Church. They don't recognize the Pope as valid.

What makes them unique is that they don't actually have any priests (none of them are ordained), so they can't say any Masses. The leaders attend a Byzantine rite parish (sort of a church-within-the Church, they are autonomous but still under the Pope), but they don't have a parish of their own. A bunch of fringe nuts, really.

As to what the Church says, the Church has basically accepted evolution for a while now (even St. Augustine suggested that Genesis might not need to be taken literally, although he didn't have evolution to consider), but has not officially required Catholics to accept it. The vast majority of Catholics accept evolution, but you'll still find some creationists (although very, very rarely in the priesthood, and almost never once you start getting up the ladder towards bishop; the hierarchy of the Church is not friendly to young Earth creationism).

Thanks for the information. And I thought Protestants had the lock on fanaticism. This website is as rabid as the worst fundamentalist Protestant site.