3rd time's a charm...

During class a few people mentioned how the Catholic Church during the 15-1600's was extremely corrupt. I also believe that to be true. It is hard to disagree that the church, at the time, held complete power over the public. The appeal of the Catholic Church had to do with the fact that everyone was a part of it and everyone openly believed in what the clergymen said, because there were no other options. When Copernicus flagrantly admitted his contradicting views in 1543 (on the day of his death), the Catholic Church did not immediately proclaim his ideas as false. The church waited until 1616 to openly denounce the ideas of Copernicus. In my opinion, they waited those 73 years for a reason... When the people of the Catholic Church found out about Copernicus' new theory they realized that it conflicted with their beliefs. Most likely, it took 73 years for a scientist with loyalty to the Church to find out that Copernicus' ideas are valid and consequently proved the notion of divine creation to be false. I know that sounds far fetched... so what do you guys think? I am a Roman Catholic and I have heard about confirmed corruption in a Westfield Parish five years ago. Last summer I closely followed the articles regarding the Catholic Church rape scandals and other serious allegations surrounding the Church. If we think of the Catholic Church as a profitable company with the priceless Vatican collections, it is difficult to comprehend why the Church does not spend more money on feeding the poor and educating our youth. They should embrace progress and science represents progress.

This is an article I found this summer about Sister Mary Margaret—what are your takes on it?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/27/opinion/27kristof.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=sister%20margaret’s%20choice&st=cse