bhokuto - consider that we are all human.  As such heresy , and untruthfulness has always lived side by side with the light of christ even as it does in our own human bodies.

I would that the kingdom of heaven were fullfilled and the church purfied, but we wait for the second comming where the people of God as a whole will say 'it is finished'.

as a side note.... variance withing parishes and the extent to which it exists is a function of your bishop.  If it really bothers you , talk to him.

bhokuto - i understand.

I also believe we only now just begining to  recover from this ( it may take a while):

( exert from the larger story:

http://www.catholicherald.com/saunders/03ws/ws031002.htm)

As Catholics, we have remembered through our liturgical rites the important role of St. Michael in defending us against Satan and the powers of evil.

For the greater part of this century, the faithful recited the prayer to St. Michael at the end of the Mass. Pope Leo XIII (d. 1903) had a prophetic vision of the coming century of sorrow and war. After celebrating Mass, the Holy Father was conferring with his cardinals. Suddenly, he fell to the floor. The cardinals immediately called for a doctor. No pulse was detected, and the Holy Father was feared dead. Just as suddenly, Pope Leo awoke and said, "What a horrible picture I was permitted to see!" In this vision, God gave Satan the choice of one century in which to do his worst work against the Church. The devil chose the 20th century.

So moved was the Holy Father from this vision that he composed the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel: "St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle! Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into Hell, Satan, and all the other evil spirits who roam about the world seeking the ruin of souls." Pope Leo ordered this prayer said at the conclusion of Mass in 1886. (When Pope Paul VI issued the Novus Ordo of the Mass in 1968, the prayer to St. Michael and the reading of the "last gospel" at the end of the Mass were suppressed.)

I thank God I'm not a Protestant. I would end up starting a new denomination.

I concure as well... ( the church of fishman has a nice ring ;)

I was referring to the Rites that are in union with Rome when I talked about visiting with my kids.  If they are not in union with Rome then I say "Major bummer!"  I am thinking Pope Benedict will do his best to get us all back together.  It probably all wont happen during his papacy but I sense that eventually it will.  Heck for the sake of Christ, I think people will move toward unity.  Through prayer and grace of course.

A priest told me that evey church should have a book called "Parish Directory" that lists all the Catholic Churches in America.  Kind of like a yellow pages.  It has all the Churches that are in union with Rome.  So, you can ask to see it and look that parish up.

Rites in union with Rome: Maronite, Syro-Malabar, Armenian Catholic, Ethiopian, Byzantine Russian, Byzantine Ruthenian, Byzantine Ukrainian, Byzantine Syriac, Melkite Byzantine and Romanian Byzantine.  There may be more.  But, before assuming a parish is in union with Rome, check or ask.  All roads should lead to Rome but they don't.  Dang it!

GK - God is good!