One major problem I have come across here in Italy is centered around the Catholic Church.  I experienced it the first day I came here.  My mom and I had flown over together, and of course she wanted to see Saint Peter's basilica.  As we walked up, we were met by a gigantic line of people winding across Saint Peter's square.  Since we were exhausted from jetlag and didn't have much time before we needed to catch our shuttle bus, we decided we couldn't go in.  My mom was pretty disappointed.  Being very religious and a devout Catholic, Saint Peter's was pretty much "the site" she wanted to see here in Rome.  But she couldn't go in.  She was saying on the way back that it's wrong to make people, even practicing Catholics, wait in line to get into the church that is said to be at the heart of the faith.  Now I'm not going to ignore the fact that there are safety precautions to consider - the sheer number of tourists that visit Saint Peter's is probably enough to require a line.

But then there's the other side of the issue.  When we went to Northern Italy, we actually had to pay to get into some of the churches.  I have never encountered a church that required an entrance fee in my life.  The idea of it irks me.  Sure the church has free entrance for mass, but that shouldn't matter.  Shouldn't I be able to walk into any Catholic church in any place in the world free of charge and pray?  When I start to feel unwelcome in what I deem my own church, I feel there's something intrinsically wrong.  I really don't think that the architects of these great churches wanted them used in this way.  A church isn't a museum.  It isn't the movies.  A church is a holy place.

I have to think that there is a disparity between the Church and the faith.  It was men that put these entrance fees in place.  It wasn't God.  They can say the money goes to restoration of the churches and missionaries, but isn't that what the money we give during the collection is for?  Men using some of the most beautiful and sacred churches as a way to profit monetarily.  It's things like this that stir up a sense of disgust in me for the Catholic Church.  I'll admit I am disillusioned with it all.  I call myself Catholic, but am I?  The Church seems to be going backward when the world is going forward.  I'm stuck trying to figure out how I fit into it.