Crippleman

Hello everyone, I am new to this whole religious business so please bear with me. I am in my early fifties and I have been searching for a sense of belonging and faith for years. I am a Roman Catholic from birth and am proud of that in as much as it was the faith given to me by my father. Explanation time: - My father, Pat O'Callaghan was a troubled man, he was a British Parachute Regiment Officer who saw and did some things that haunted his soul. He was captured in WWII and in POW camp he examined his faith and all World religions but decided that his faith is what worked for him. When I was born in 1961, he passed that faith on to me and the died when I was six months old. He had PTSD until the day he died so his name and faith is all he could give me. I find now that there are some great parts to being a Catholic but there are also to parts that I cannot in all good conscience adhere to. I feel that the leadership of the Church is becoming increasing isolated and out of touch with 21st Century Earth and the present Pope is not far short of a disappointing joke. I struggle to believe that I have written that. Many of the bible's teachings seem problematic to me but as a code to live by, it is a pretty good tool. I personally believe that one must accept that the bible was written for an audience of people who by and large had an extremely limited perspective on the World due entirely to their circumstances at the time. The various writers of the bible knew this and so tailored their lessons to be understandable to the audiences back then. How do you explain evolution and basic astronomy to people who only understand seasonal crop rotation and animal husbandry? You tell them in the simplest terms possible, highlighting the power of God. Hence the creation story. God is still everything to do with evolution it's just that the whole creation process is somewhat difficult to explain in one book of the bible! Because my first marriage failed (I am still on excellent terms with my ex-wife but we just realised we were not right for each other), I am not allowed to take a full part in Catholic mass and my second marriage is not recognised by the Church. Why should true love that has produced a beautiful and extremely gifted little girl into the World be regarded as null and void? I have never believed in heaven and hell because according to my faith, I was damned to hell when I was seven years old because I told a nun to f**k off after she slapped me for about the twentieth time in three days for incorrectly reciting some doctrine or other that at that age I didn't understand anyway. What I have heard the Bishop say so far has me excited, perhaps I have found a place to hang my spiritual hat? Is a man like me welcome here? Seán O'Callaghan PS I am wheelchair bound due to an automobile accident, hence the screen name