Disappointed

Dear Editor,

I was deeply disappointed and saddened to read "Time to travel back in time" by Dawn Cribbs. The information given both slandered and misconstrued Catholic beliefs. 

I am proud to claim the title of "cradle Catholic." I was born a Catholic, have grown away from and then back into the faith, and with God's grace I will die a Catholic. As other Catholics and the world, I mourn the death of Pope John Paul II. It is not a worship; it is a love, deep and true. He was our Papa, our father. He led us, guided us, loved us.

As I would mourn my own father's loss, so I mourn the man who led my church as Our Heavenly Father asked. "And I say, also unto thee, that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church." Matthew 16: 18. From that moment until the present, the Catholic Church has been led by a pope, a spiritual descendant of Peter.

This man leads us according to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. A Catholic who is true to his/her faith follows this leadership and guidance. Is this man our "king?" No, just as the President of the United States is not the "king" of our country. He is a leader.

He has others who surround him to give him counsel, to pray and worship WITH him. Is this man our "God?" No, definitely not. The honor and glory is given to God for sending a man with such love and holiness to us. We thank God for this blessed man. He led all Catholics, cradle and converted to the truth. For this we are grateful, not worshipful.

I also am disappointed in the statements suggesting that most Catholics are hoping for change and "progress" in the church, including women priests and married priests. I live and work in a community of Catholics, I am related to and friends with Catholics across the United States. Not once have I seen or heard that a Catholic true to his/her faith was hoping for these things.

Why would the people mourning a Pope they love wish for a pope completely the opposite? That is senseless and untrue. 

My prayer, too, is for the return to the first century, where "all are one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28.) For in the 1st Century, there was only one Christian church. All were joined in faith and community. All worshiped together under the guidance of Peter, the Rock, the first great leader of the Catholic Church.

May Pope Benedict XVI continue the great tradition, may he continue to teach the truth of John Paul II and the previous Popes.

These important truths of salvation were given first and foremost, with love, from Jesus Christ, our Lord and King.

Tracy Adams

Culbertson, Nebraska