“I hope you didn’t take that too personally; the fact is that the Catholic Church has been around longer than any other single organization in history. All organizations eventually become repressive to some extent—they pass a certain point in their existence where their function switches over to self-preservation rather than the administration of their original duty. I was speaking against the bureaucratic structure, not against individual Catholics.”
“I realized that. But we individual Catholics are brought up to believe that the Church can do no wrong, and being slapped down for that still stings. But that wasn’t my entire objection. As an ordained spokesman of God, I couldn’t help but feel that you left Him out of your calculations.”
“As an ordained agnostic,” Peter countered, “I coul
