domgrief: All churches in the history of the Christian religion, even the Jewish Synagogues, also provided a place to have the holy texts explained, whether or not people could read them (many parts of the Bible, especially the Hebrew Bible, are poetic, prophetic and/or hyperbolic). They also served as a mechanism for providing news, support, and fellowship between believers. This is as relevant to Catholics as it is to people of any other faith.
I overlooked that because I didn't want to be more damning of the Catholic Church's impact upon Christianity than was strictly necessary. After all, I don't have a problem with most Christians, but the fact that their religion was left in the hands of the Vatican for centuries clearly shows.
The Catholic Church was, as I said, massively corrupt on what would be today an absolutely incomprehensibly ludicrous level. About the closest comparison today would be Scientology and that's being very generous.
As a result, Biblical texts have been 'mistranslated'. We probably never will know the full extent of this, but much of it seems to be in order to make the Bible seem infinitely more damning of 'sins', and of different sins than was originally intended. One example would be homosexuality. Originally it was actually paedophilia that was condemned in the Priestly Code (I guess it has always been a problem).
There are also other extremely dodgy interpretations of Biblical texts that make the Church an unreliable source. Such as their basis for condemning contraceptives.
In short, it's pretty clear that those who actually believe in God in the Vatican have been in the minority. Religion has been more of a tool to those people. A means of control and income. But clearly not something to be respected and followed.
domgrief: The Catholic Church also supports the doctrine of continuous revelation, where the papacy continues to offer new information, rulings or answers by way of divine revelation. To continue to receive instruction and advice that accurately reflects the Catholic faith, it is more important for the Catholic than any other Christian to continue to attend Church and receive advice and information. Ceremonial activities like Mass, the Eucharist and confession are also held in high significance and must be undertaken regularly.
None of which would have the slightest significance to anyone outside the Catholic faith. To them it offers nothing. Just because the Catholic Church wraps up their faith in a wealth of ceremony doesn't make it any more essential for those who merely wish to accept Jesus. In fact, given that the Vatican wrote most of the Bible off as fiction when they bowed down to the theory of evolution it's difficult to see what leg the Vatican is leaving itself to stand on. Both seem to have been swept away.
domgrief: There are massive differences between the Catholic and Protestant/Reformed/Orthodox Christian faiths, and boiling it down to "they only went there because there was no other way to read the bible" is just wrong.
I should probably point out that I meant there is no longer any
need. Christians can follow Christ on their own and research and interpret the Bible themselves. Many already do after all.
The Church will of course make it seem like there's a need, but even Jesus encouraged private prayer as he considered public prayer (as in say, a Church) to be more of an empty public display of devotion (Matthew 6:5-7). So even Jesus didn't like the Church even before it came into existence. :P
