{"id":168,"date":"2011-02-09T04:44:21","date_gmt":"2011-02-09T04:44:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2011\/02\/anne-rice-has-a-point-but-there-is-also-another-side.html"},"modified":"2011-02-09T04:44:21","modified_gmt":"2011-02-09T04:44:21","slug":"anne-rice-has-a-point-but-there-is-also-another-side","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/catholicsmediaandculture\/2011\/02\/anne-rice-has-a-point-but-there-is-also-another-side.html","title":{"rendered":"Anne Rice has a point but there is also another side"},"content":{"rendered":"

Anne Rice and the Catholic Church.<\/b> Yesterday’s post<\/a> on Christopher Rice<\/a>‘s interview with his mother<\/a> at Advocate.com<\/a> in which she called the Catholic Church “immoral” brought in some reader comments, including one from a woman who movingly tells of being a daughter of a survivor of the infamous Magdalene Laundries<\/a>. “Culchiewoman” writes “I find it interesting that you deign to post Anne and Paul’s opinions on
\n‘organised’ religion. It proves that their voices are being heard.”<\/i> And they should be heard. (Paul, BTW, is Paul Haggis<\/a>, the  Academy Award-winning writer who in 2009 broke with the Church of Scientology.) <\/p>\n

I’d like to make it clear that I like and respect Anne Rice. I believe her decision to leave the Church was a personal one based on heartfelt conviction. While I wouldn’t label the Church itself as “immoral,” I think its fair to say the Church dismisses her real concerns at the risk of driving away other followers. Certainly, many devout and believing Catholics are not happy with the Church’s handling of the clergy sex abuse scandals.<\/p>\n

Still, while its very important to recognize and grapple with the Church’s scandals (hopefully, leading to needed reforms), I would also point out that the Christian principles<\/a> the Church stands on remain as valid today as they were two millennia ago when Jesus Christ first taught them.   <\/p>\n

Of course, people can serve Christ outside the structure of the Catholic Church, but many people do work within its structure to live out their faith as individuals and through organizations like Catholic Relief Services<\/a>.  Founded in 1943 by the Catholic Bishops of the United States to
\nserve World War II survivors in Europe, the organization has since expanded to provide assistance to people in over 100 million people in more than 100 countries on
\nfive continents. <\/p>\n

As a former producer of a morning radio show on SiriusXM’s Catholic Channel<\/a>, I can tell you I came in contact with many CRS members and other Catholics involved in selfless work on behalf of others — living out the Christian values they were brought up to believe. (Anne Rice, BTW, was one of our guests, talking about her Christ the Lord<\/i><\/a> book series.)<\/p>\n

While the Church (like the government and many man-administered institutions) has certainly had its share of scandals, I think its also important to note those instances when it does strive to live up to its creed. <\/p>\n

Here’s some of the good work done by CRS as compiled by Wikipedia<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Overseas<\/span>
<\/h3>\n

Overseas work is done in partnership with local church agencies,
\nother faith-based partners, non-governmental organizations and local
\ngovernments. CRS emphasizes the empowerment of partners and
\nbeneficiaries in programming decisions. Program examples include:<\/p>\n