Catholic Church is not a democracy

I wish people like the Splitts (Fence Post, May 26) would confine their letters to something they understand. First of all the Catholic Church (with all its strengths and weaknesses) is not a democracy. It is an authoritarian structure headed by the pope, and all priests, sisters and brothers take a vow of obedience to him before entering their vocation. If they don’t like it they don’t enter. A vow of obedience is just that — obey all commands of the church, not just the ones with which you agree.

If the Splitts don’t like the way the church is structured and the vows of obedience priests and sisters take, that is their privilege. But Christ gave Peter the duty to head the church in an authoritarian manner, and that is what the pope does. Unlike the U.S. government, where the executive branch is the equal of the legislative and judicial branches and none takes precedence, the church has an authoritarian head and only God is above him.

Of course, our current president thinks the executive branch is more powerful than the judicial branch, but he has been known to be wrong before.

Bob Lowth

Arlington Heights