The Gates of Hell SHALL NOT Prevail...

Recently I have been reading and hearing all of these comments about how the Roman Catholic Church will fall soon because of all the scandal it has gone through in very recent times.

Last night I heard a report from a, what I have come to recognize, conspiracy news network, that the Pope, the Queen of England and the Prime Minister of Canada, have all been summoned to appear in an International court for the crimes committed by their people.  The ITCCS, which claims that they are a common law court, has put it upon themselves to run trial on the Pope, the Queen of England and the Prime Minister of Canada for "crimes of genocide".  However, I have yet to find anything that even assures them of having any kind of political or juridical power outside of their organization.  As a matter of fact, the themselves are breaking the laws like their founder Kevin D. Annett says, " with enough resolve, and numbers, and by not playing by their rules."  So, not playing by the rules?  What makes your crime less culpable than the "crimes" of the ones you persecute?

They also claim that there have been many cardinals that have left the church because of these proceedings, however, I have yet to find any proof of this, except for the the Scottish Cardinal who resigned recently and Pope Benedict retiring.  Of course, people and organizations that are against our church will always find reasons to try to attack it and will try to convince people that our church is going down.

But, Jesus Christ said, "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it" (Matthew 16:18 NAB).  I think I will always go with Jesus' words over any "earthly power" that has always, throughout the life of the church, tried to condemn her according to man's laws and have always tried to suppress her.  But, she still lives and still functions and Christ still loves her.

I do not condone the actions of those who caused great harm to the innocent people that were hurt through the misbehavior of a few, but I do not condemn the entire church for their errors.  Throughout history, and I mean history of the world, not just the church, there have been many, many, wrong doings in the world.  Many errors have been committed against the people of God by leaders of all realms of society.  But humanity persevered and eventually was able to flourish from these hardships.  The church is no different.  We do believe that she is divine because she was instituted by Christ, but we also know that she is human, because weak humans run her and they themselves recognize that they are limited by their own human nature.  For this reason, the church has never condemned anyone to hell. She only proclaims the message of salvation for mankind, if they choose to accept it.  Wrong is wrong, and for this reason, the hierarchy of the church has moved to make corrections to those wrongs.   I for one, stand by my Bishop and his brother Bishops as they continue to guide and lead the church.  St. Teresa of Avila famously said, "This too shall pass", this persecution and purging of Holy Mother Church will pass and she will continue to stand.

For over 2000 years, she has gone to periods of penance and purging, and afterwards "the gates of hell" have not prevailed over her.  She has survived the rise and fall of many nations.  God is absolutely with her, if not she would have fallen many centuries ago.

Just to back up what I am saying, let us take a look at statistics of our faith...
The Diocese of Austin
in 2005, it reported that the population of Catholics was 402,000, that is 18% of the population.
Today, as of 2012, the number has increased by 108,000 Catholics.  That means that is has risen to 19% of the population.
The Archdiocese of Atlanta, GA
in 2005, it reported the populations of Catholics a at 371,000, that is 6.29% of the population.
Today, as of 2012, the number has increased by 629,000.  That means that the population has risen to 14% of the population.  

In Texas 24% of the population is Catholic.  In Louisiana 28%, Florida 26%, New Jersey 42%, New York 39%, California 31%, Nebraska 31%.  From all across the country we can see that the Catholic faith is doing well.  It continues to grow

In 2011 in the Diocese of Austin we had a total of 9,760 Baptisms and 4,291 Confirmations.  In that year we had a total of 44 seminarians.  This seems to be the phenomena throughout the country in large dioceses.

Brothers and Sisters, let us not become discouraged by the words of those who simply live to attack the church.  LET US INSTEAD, join together in prayer and supplication for our Church and for those who persecute her.  REMEMBER! Jesus will be with us until the ends of days and the Holy Spirit will always remain with us.  The gates of Hell WILL NOT prevail against Holy Mother Church, but we, her children, must remain united with her in constant prayer.


Blessed John Paul II, Pray for us!
St. Thomas Moore, Pray for us!
St. Jude, Pray for us!
Blessed John XXIII, Pray for us!
MOTHER MARY, Intercede for us!

AMEN