For better or for worse, the Catholic Church is a rock, not a stone

It seems like the biggest obvious difference between the Catholic Church and all the other churches we've seen is the way the Church takes a definite stance on most issues, and expects all Catholics around the world to follow the official Church stance. When the Pope speaks ex cathedra, it is understood that what he says is infallable. This obviously differs from the protestant denominations that we've seen, where God alone is lord of the conscience. The word catholic literally means universal, and that is the best word to describe the Church. It is a highly institutionalized, universal Church.

Presbyterianism simliarly values institution, as we talked about in our presenation, but treats it more as a guide to the conscience, as opposed to the Catholic Church, which treats the insitutional stance as if it's law. There are positives and negatives to each system. It seems that the Presbyterians have a more direct relationship with God, and understand, for all that they value institution, that institutions are run by people, and people are fallable. The Presbyterian way allows people to be more free, and does not force them to take a stance that they do not truly believe in. On the other hand, the ambiguity of the Presbyterian Church on some hot button issues, and the way it ultimately lets the decision fall on the conscience of the individual, can make it seem wishy-washy. The fact that you know where the Catholic Church stands on an issue is, I feel, in and of itself something to be admired, especially as it takes a lot of heat for this. Regardless of the lack of popularity of many Catholic Church stances, the Church holds their ground. Personally, I am attracted to that characteristic of "sticking to your guns," regardless of what the current general concensus is, and I think it's a cop-out on the part of the Presbyterian Church that they wash their hands of some tough issues such as abortion. I think it can be seen as a positive that the Catholic Church does not change according to the constantly changing fads and opinions of the time--the Catholic Church is a rock, not a stone.
Don't get me wrong--the other side of that coin is that they are often overly stubborn, and change with the times much slower than they should. I don't agree with several of their stances; one that makes no sense to me is that they consider it a sin to practice homosexuality. It is a simple fact that a homosexual person does not choose to be so--s/he is born such that s/he will be attracted to people of the same gender. To say that a heterosexual person can act on their sexual orientation, but that a homosexual person cannot is just not fair, and I feel, a flaw on the part of the Church.
Another stance that I don't agree with is that men alone are given the privelidge to be priests, bishops, archbishops, cardinals, and pope. The greatest extent of the woman's role in the Church is to be a nun. This again, is an instance where the Church should change with the times. Women are obviously equal to men, contrary to popular belief at the turn of the last century, and while I get the argument that women and men are different and therefore have different roles in the Church, those different roles are clearly not equal.
In sticking so fervently to tradition, the Catholic Church can at times seem to abandon common sense and simple logic. This is a weakness in comparison to the Presbyterian Church.

p.s. props to Liz for goin this one alone ;-)