A bit off topic, but...
I went to Junior high at a Catholic boarding school. The priests there were willing to discuss things
like the gritty parts of the history of the Catholic church and creationism vs darwinism and why a
literal reading of Genesis was problematic. Some of what we were taught was not completely
flattering to the Catholic Church. When it diverged from the official church line, it was generally
identified as such...
They're not allowed to do that any more. There's been a crackdown at the Vatican. Read On the Vocation of the Theologian [vatican.va], by Cardinal Ratzinger, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. (One the official titles that goes with that job is Grand Inquisitor.) Teachers must follow the official line, or else. "The freedom of the act of faith cannot justify a right to dissent. In fact this freedom does not
indicate at all freedom with regard to the truth but signifies the free self-determination of the person in
conformity with his moral obligation to accept the truth". This reads like something Orwell might have written in 1984. But it is real, and is enforced against teachers employed by the Catholic church. Cardinal Ratzinger has signed excommunications based on this rule.
On the Vocation of the Theologian (Score:3)
I went to Junior high at a Catholic boarding school. The priests there were willing to discuss things like the gritty parts of the history of the Catholic church and creationism vs darwinism and why a literal reading of Genesis was problematic. Some of what we were taught was not completely flattering to the Catholic Church. When it diverged from the official church line, it was generally identified as such...
They're not allowed to do that any more. There's been a crackdown at the Vatican. Read On the Vocation of the Theologian [vatican.va], by Cardinal Ratzinger, the Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. (One the official titles that goes with that job is Grand Inquisitor.) Teachers must follow the official line, or else. "The freedom of the act of faith cannot justify a right to dissent. In fact this freedom does not indicate at all freedom with regard to the truth but signifies the free self-determination of the person in conformity with his moral obligation to accept the truth". This reads like something Orwell might have written in 1984. But it is real, and is enforced against teachers employed by the Catholic church. Cardinal Ratzinger has signed excommunications based on this rule.