Catholicism is morally sound and biblically correct

The resolution states that Catholicism is not only morally sound , but also biblically correct.For this statement to be proved, the word catholicism should be defined clearly.Catholicism refers to the doctrines and teachings of the catholic church which has been summarised in the dogmatic constitution of the church(Lumen Gentium) and the guidelines for faith outlined in the 'Catechism of the Catholic Church'.*Only* the current and official stand of the church should be considered. Inorder to avoid confusion, i will also enlist the what catholicism is *not*.Catholicism is *not* the private opinions of various members of the church, including the pope.The actions of the catholic clergy that has not been done under *official* orders of the church does not qualify also.It is not the beliefs of various members ,including catholic politicians as well as the government policies of various predominantly catholic countries,either now or in the past.Any attempt to highlight these things will be considered an attempt to sidetrack the debate.Being a catholic, I consider the catholic church to be my highest moral standard, but for the purposes of this debate, i realise another moral standard should be considered.These are the following standards i am willing to consider.1.If you are a christian, we could consider the will of God (Yahweh) as the moral standard.2.If you believe in God, but are not christian, we could consider the teachings of your religion and the moral standards used to judge your religion.3.If you are atheist,i am willing to argue that the church is moral due to the social,cultural and material benefit it has provided for mankind's progress since its beginning.If you wish to use another standard, please define it clearly in your opening statement.The bible is defined as the set of books considered as inspired by God by christians.Only the Douay-Rheims translation or the New International Version(NIV) translations will be considered.Others such as the King James Version(KJV) will not be considered.Standard Rules of Biblical hermaneutics apply.Now that the definitions are over, I state my case.The catholic church is both morally sound and biblically correct because it is the only church that was founded by Jesus Christ, the only son of the LORD.Historically it is one of the only two churches that have existed since the time of Jesus and the apostles and have an unbroken chain of succecssion from Peter(the other being the Orthodox Church). 3 Matthew 16:18And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Hence it is in accordance with the will of God.Even if one were not a christian, the teachings of christ have been widely respected and are comparable to the teachings of other religious teachers such as the Buddha as well as scriptures such as the Vedas(Certain interpretations)Many secular(*not* atheist) standards, such as the 'Golden Rule'("Do unto others what you expect them to do to you") claim to be inspired by christian teaching.Even from a completely atheistic veiwpoint,it can be considered moral due to the social,material and cultural benefits it has provided for mankind.Historically the church played a central role in restoring civilization to the whole of Europe after the collapse of the Roman Empire by converting the various barbaric tribes that destroyed it in the 1st place.During the Dark Ages, Monks preserved valuable manuscripts and were probably the only people interested in the promotion of art,culture and literature.Throughout history, the church has always funded and patronised the Arts as well as Scientific enquiry(yes! Scientific enquiry!).Even today the vatican has one of the largest and oldest observatories, and many of it's clergy make active contributions to science.Georges Le-Maitre,who proposed the Big Bang Theory and Gregor Mendel,who is considered the father of modern genetics,are 2 famous priests,not to mention the countless lay members of the church who are scientists.Many science colleges are run by catholic institutions and ambitious projects such as the LHC(Large Hadron Collider) are funded and supported by members of the catholic clergy.Also,probably no other organisation has done the amount of charity that the church has done.In the USA alone,it has more than 2,500 local agencies that serve 10 million people annually.St. Vincent De Paul societies, social justice committees, soup kitchens, food pantries, and other similar programs are organized independently by thousands of Catholic parishes each year. Politifact, a pulitzer prize winning site states that "In the United States, 50 percent of social services are provided by the Catholic church."Not to mention that the church has members in over 150 countries around the world.The church has also spearheaded humanitarian aid in remote locations such as sub-saharan africa.In order for Con to prove me wrong, he must not only show how the teachings mentioned in the Lumen Gentium and the Catechism are morally wrong according to the standard he uses, he must refute and tell my arguments are not valid.Biblically,One can see that God always wanted *one* church,with *one* head. Matthew 16:18 - Jesus promised to build His church - one, not many. Colossians 1:13 "Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love "Christians have been translated out of the power of darkness into the kingdom of God's Son - one kingdom, not many. Ephesians 5:22-25 "Let women be subject to their husbands, as to the Lord: Because the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ is the head of the church. He is the saviour of his body.Therefore as the church is subject to Christ, so also let the wives be to their husbands in all things.Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church, and delivered himself up for it: Christ is the head of His body, just as your head directs your body and just as a husband is head of his wife. But a head directs one body, not many bodies. A husband is head of only one wife (with God's approval), not many wives. And so Christ is head of one body. There are "many members, yet but one body" (1 Corinthians 12:20). If Jesus had many churches, He would be like a man with many wives. This would be spiritual adultery! John 17:20,21 "And not for them only do I pray, but for them also who through their word shall believe in me. That they all may be one, as thou, Father, in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one in us; that the world may believe that thou hast sent me." Jesus prayed for those who believe in Him to be one as He and His Father are one. Do He and His Father disagree and contradict one another about how people should worship, how people may be saved, or what church people should be members of? They do not, and neither should we, for we are to be one as they are one. In the New Testament, there were many local congregations of God's people, and there are also many today (Galatians 1:2; Acts 8:1; 1 Corinthians 1:2; Revelation 1:4,11; etc.). But these local churches should all believe and practice the same common faith (Ephesians 4:3-6; Jude 3; Titus 1:4). Thus only one church with an unbroken line of succession from Peter,the first pope can make the claim to be the true church, and no other church makes this claim.We see also that only this church was given the authority to decide the right interpretation of scripture.Considering that it is the church that decided which books are to be in the bible based on this authority.I don't see how other denominations can claim otherwise.Con must not only show how certain aspects of the Lumen Gentium and the Catechism are in direct violation of *explicit* statements in the Bible.But also undermine the authority given to the Church.Sources:1.http://www.politifact.com...-/2.http://www.drbo.org...;