The Catholic Church’s rules regarding priesthood are against Christ’s intentions:
The Church says it cannot change the rules banning women from the priesthood because Christ chose only men as his apostles.
I’m guessing they use the same reasoning to justify their prohibition against priests marrying, too.
As I’m sure has been said before, if they follow Christ’s decisions so strictly only Jewish men over 1,950 years old or so should be eligible.
As far as Jesus is concerned his life was pretty much a testament to message over medium. That is, of course, the exact opposite of the Catholic Church (and don’t worry Protestants, you commit many of the same sins as your brethren do).
Jesus was all about the message. Love thy neighbor and all that jazz.
But that got turned into an institution. It’s like people who take charades too seriously. God bless them, with their fancy rules and the tazers they use if you “accidentally” mouth a word to someone. They’re so darn cute, but they’re also assholes. They’re cute if you’re nowhere near them.
No, seriously. Read about the Scientologists as if they were a device in some novel and it’s got some real intrigue. The fact that they, president Bush, et al. actually exist is the shame of it.
Back to the subject, Catholicism.
All I’ve really got to say to the adherents of any formalized religious system is that it’s all about the message. It’s not about rules. If you can’t hear that, then I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t know it if your God was throwing ice cream cones at you. And that’s sad, because maybe he is and maybe you like ice cream.