Misguided or Misunderstood?

I've been giving the Catholic Church some stick of late, and warranted or not, I'm beginning to wonder if I should retract some of my comments.

I've likened the Catholic Church to Pharisees, although we all have a bit of that about us (we're only human), I've called them idolaters, heretics, and stated categorically that they just aren't Christians.

Interestingly, in my reflections over the last day or so, I've been somewhat more reserved in my "judgement" of the Catholic Church, only because I doubt very much if we'd be here today without them. I disagree with much of Catholicism and I believe we owe a lot to Henry VIII, who opened the door for something incredible.... with entirely the wrong motives. Having said that, without the Catholic Church, the church itself may well have dissipated over the ages into an underground minority that was rarely seen in the open world.

I wonder if our values would be different today? I wonder if much of our way of life would be different without the Catholic Church.

I wonder if they're misguided... or simply misunderstood.

To be perfectly frank, I stand by my earlier comments regarding Catholicism; however, I don't say these things out of spite or anything like that. I say these things out of love for them. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees on many occasions, but not because he despised them, but because he loved them. He died for them, but they didn't even realise it. He was teaching them about what it means to be a Follower of God, unfortunately many didn't listen. They were too caught up in their traditions and rules. They lost their way, putting their traditions and own ideas on the same standing as God's own Word.

Unfortunately, I see the Catholic Church as doing the very same thing and it pains me to see. The recent news about Mary MacKillop having performed "a second miracle" putting her in line for "sainthood" is about as heretical as it gets in my humble opinion. No person can perform a miracle, in life or death. God performs miracles.

To claim that a person has performed a miracle and then put them on a pedestal for that is heresy. Unfortunately, the Catholic Church do so, and it remains a long standing tradition.

Of course, this is just one small part of Catholicism and just the tip of my issue with the Catholic Church. I would love to see them turn from these heretical ways and return to Jesus' message.

But my question remains, are they misguided or simply misunderstood?