WHY I AM STILL A CATHOLIC?

I was both troubled and grateful for having visited the „Listening‰ forum where so many individuals express their reasons for leaving the Catholic Church or their love for her. Among many reasons for leaving the church, I could identify lack of catechesis, problems with understanding dogmas or recent sex abuse scandal. They are all significant issues that have hit at the heart of the Catholic Church‚s mission.

I was born and raised Roman Catholic. This includes my baptism as an infant, confirmation and first Holy Communion. I was fortunate enough to have been raised spiritually by a priest whose words matched his life. He was a simple farmer-priest who always looking out for his flock. Many times he suffered because of his stand, especially during the communist regime, but like Christ, he loved his people to the end. Later in life, I was blessed enough to study both theology and philosophy giving me some backbone in understanding why the church believes and therefore practices what it does.

Due to space limits and the vast area of the topic at hand, I decided not to argue over issues like why do Catholics baptize infants, pray to Mary and the saints. I might do that on other occasions. I will also leave that to the expertise of the apologetics. I simply decided to say why I am still a Catholic, despite my personal share of pain from some of her „shepherds.‰

When I write these words, I am almost thirty years old. As far as my faith life is concerned, I am somewhat uncomfortable because not too many people in my workplace share my views about morality and how one ought to live in this world. I am still a practicing Catholic not because I have a degree in religious studies. I do not believe because I want to make my parents proud. I have no doubt, that, I would have more friends, less work with character, and definitely more money if I decided to leave my spiritual home. You might be asking now, what is it exactly that would keep me in this ancient institution? I will try to answer below.

While I was still in college, my theology professor gave us an unusual assignment. We were to buy a cheap copy of the New Testament and cut out all the uncomfortable passages. When I got to the end of this project, I was left with just a bunch of pages. The reality terrified me, but deep inside I was convinced that there is no other way of life besides following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. Maybe the reason crucified Christ never leaves the walls of Catholic churches around the world is because we are to be reminded about the cost of discipleship and the „narrow gate‰ one must pass before seeing God face to face. In other words, „without pain there is no gain.„

As a Roman Catholic, I try to keep in mind that the Catholic Church is both human and divine. It is deeply rooted in both Revelation and Tradition. Christ continues to be the head of the church, but shares his authority with priests, bishops and the pope who act in his name. The church can make changes to her particular laws or customs. It cannot be so with God‚s law which is to be carried throughout all ages. That‚s why the Church cannot invent morality, it can only keep it. Most importantly, the One we should seek the Church the most is Christ Jesus and our brothers and sisters with whom Jesus identified himself. No one who builds his life on Jesus Christ will ever be disappointed. No priestly infidelity will keep one from attending Church services since it is Christ that he is seeking after not men.

As I said above, I was blessed with growing up with a holy priest in my native country. It was not the case always. To once again quote my college professor, there are priests and there are priests. Some of them inspired me, some made angry. Recently, one of them whom I have known for eight years have been put on administrative leave due to allegations of sexual abuse. A year ago, I met a priest who left me unemployed, with no resources to live while he continued to live a secret live in two luxurious residences. With due anger and inevitable period of disappointment with God, I am still a Catholic and like the popular singer Dido says „I will go down with the ship, I will not put my arm in surrender.‰

When Jesus spoke profoundly about himself as the Bread of Life many responded by leaving him since they found that talk to hard to embrace. I do not the full significance of the mission of the Catholic Church , her rituals and practices. Not a day goes by that I am not challenged to grow in my relationship with Jesus. As much as the knowledge of the dogma is something to be desired, it is the training in the way of love that Jesus would like me to pursue better. St. Paul the Apostole explains it very well in the famous Hymn of Love. It is those few pages of the Bible I was left with from the college project that speak about the school of love. The best example of that love is the death of Jesus on the cross. I pray this image never gets removed from our walls.

I have mentioned several reasons already why I am a Catholic. I will conclude this article with some more. To me, despite its 2000 history, it is young and alive. Protestants can say whatever they want, but Jesus is truly present in the tabernacle and every time Holy Mass is celebrated around the world. It is not Catholics who are crazy for thinking that, it is God who is crazy in his love for human hearts. Can anyone who accepts that God-Man died on the cross for our sins explain to me why God could not stay with us in the Blessed Sacrament? I do not worry whether the church fulfills my expectations since it is I that need to conform to the gospel not vice versa. There are numerous examples of people from all walks of life who found their spiritual home in the Catholic Church. Among them are also those who previously fought against it, but lost the battle to the grace of God working in them. Catholic Church is not perfect, it is precisely intended for imperfect !
people. Jesus came to heal the sick, not the healthy. Sick as I am, I know I am in the right place and intend to stay until my death bed.

MARIUSZ

This is the first time I have been on this site. I am just guessing that when the term "Cradle Catholic" is used, it refers to someone born into the Catholic Church. If this is the case, then I was a Cradle Catholic also. I was baptised and received all the sacraments in the Catholic Church, as did my oldest son. My grandson was also baptised there. I have since moved on to become a Born Again Christian in a Southern Baptist Church. I cannot begin to express my growth in my faith and relationship with Jesus Christ. Years ago, in the Catholic church, we were not encouraged to read our Bibles; we were baptised before we even understood it's meaning. No one can tell me that a small child would go to hell if he were to die before he was baptised. Where does it say that in the Bible ? We made our Confirmation because our parents told us to! I have taken a personal, informal survey with many Catholics I know, and if you ask them are they going to Heaven when they di!
e and why, they will tell you "Yes, I have been a nice person and done good things" I'm sorry, wrong answer. I now know and understand that I am going to Heaven because I have a personal Savior in Jesus, who died and rose again for me. Since becoming a Baptist, I have been baptised (full immersion) and read my Bible each day. I'm not sure how they teach now, but I can only pray that the main focus in all denominations is that Jesus Christ died for us so that we may have a relationship with Him to get to the Father in Heaven. There is too much emphasis put on "religion". Religion is only the way you choose to practice your faith. The problem I have with the Catholic religion is that many of the rituals and traditions they practice are not in the Bible. My Bible is basically the same as theirs, American Standard, NIV. Let's not clutter up our relationship with Christ with rituals. It's a very basic thing, faith. You believe that Jesus died on the cross for our sins so!
that we may go to Heaven. How much simpler can that get ? I was a s
inner and still am, yet God loved me enough to send His son to die for me.
"But God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Ro 5:8
The least I can do, is live an uncluttered, un-ritualistic, Christian life and spread the good news of the Bible. I pray I have not offended anyone, I just wanted to say, lose the rituals and traditions that are not mentioned in the Bible and concentrate on your relationship with Christ. Love in Christ
 

I was not a Cradle Catholic. In fact, I attended a store-front Protestant Sunday School until they moved across the street from my Parish Church. All my life I had this yearning for truth and I found Truth only in the Church.When I was very young I found booklets put out by the Catholic Truth Society very helpful.

I went to public school where I challenged my teachers. They could not answer my questions but the Sisters of St. Joseph did have the answers! I am 71 years old and I thank God for my Catholic faith. I just wish I could attend an old-fashioned quiet Mass. However, being home-bound, I lead an active prayer life. I pray for all of us!
 
 

I was a church going Catholic and although I didn't believe and follow all of the manmade doctrines, I feel that I got a lot out of mass. I was absolutely devastated when the scandals of the church hit the newspapers. I felt as if I had been " cheated on" by people that I held the utmost trust. Not only was there criminal behavior, it was covered up. I can see that in any organization there will be a few bad apples and it shouldn't ruin the whole bunch. But didn't anybody realize that the Catholic Church would lose a tremendous amount of credibility when the coverup scheme was revealed? I am not able to listen to priests encourage a congregation to come to confession when the people we held in such high esteem have sinned and destroyed so many lives. I only wanted to hear our pastor say "I'm sorry for those who have committed such heinous crimes. Please have faith in me that I will protect your children for they will always come first." Of course we never h!
eard that. I see the church now as more of a political party that is trying desperately to cover up all of its sins. How can I possibly turn to the Catholic Church when it is obvious that my family values and morals are so different than the people who are in control of the church?
 
 

I was one of those cradle Catholics who left the Church because it didn't meet my expectations. However, when I left, I was surprised at the scriptual disagreements and confusion that exists among the various denominations --it was very unsettling for me -- surely, the Holy Spirit cannot be the author of that confusion. There are literally thousands of denominations out there, each with its own interpretation of scripture. When I came back, I started reading the "Cathecism of the Catholic Church", watched Catholic programs on EWTN (Journey Home - excellent)and The Prayer Channel (Focus - excellent), asked my priest questions, searched Catholic websites for answers to my questions, started to really pay attend during Mass and read my Catholic bible. Unsurprisingly, the confusion and spiritual dryness left. Also inspiring were the many conversion stories of individuals who joined the Catholic Church after reading/studying the history of the early fathers of the Church and determining that the Catholic Church is the true church (Read Scott Hahn's story - amazing). Some of these men and women left their congregations, family, friends and financial security to join the Catholic Church. In sum, we must also take responsibility for building and nurturing our faith. All those things I did when I came back, I should have done before I left. Nevetheless, now I appreciate my Church, it teachings, rich history and Traditions; and my family and I are closer than ever to Jesus Christ. God bless you all.
 
 

I look at the Church as a sort of parent. And by the nature of it's parental role I guess it has to be authoritarian. But where I think the Church fails miserably is in explaining clearly to everybody why it teaches what it does. I think that's the main reason people have so many problems with a lot of what the church teaches....they don't understand.
 
 

We beat back people who teach a strong but challenging message...no one covers the hard issues at Mass, and the Church doesn't support the orthodox, conservative-minded ministries who are willing to cover them. It's no wonder there's a failure to educate in this Church; the only ones willing to teach are given a hard time, and forced to run into brick walls. While ones who are in the position to teach don't have the guts to do it because God forbid we should say something the people don't like! I recall the words of St. Paul "We do not falsify the word of God!!"
 
 

As much as I try not to respond to genuine catholic bashing I could not let this go. First of all, history proves that the Catholic Church was established by Jesus. Secular Archeology proves this. It's an indisputable fact; the Catholic Church is the only church that is 100% traceable directly to Christ Himself. Period. Hey, even atheist archeologists believe that. You can hold your own opinions, of course. But if you want fact, then there it is. Christ didn't come to establish a Christian/Jewish church, as you put it. He came to fulfill the covenant God had with the Jews, only now it included gentiles. In a sense, he came to "revise" the Jewish faith. Many Jews took to it and many did not. But what came about from it was basically a unique church that seemed very much like Judaism. In fact it still does seem very much like Judaism even today. I wasn't there when Jesus walked the earth but I have a lot of reasons to be Catholic. The least of which is that the Catholic church can trace its routes to Jesus. That says something to me. As far as what you said about Mary, I say this:
Mary is the mother of God, because Jesus IS God. It is not sacrilege, and if you think it is you may want to pick a fight with the early church fathers (the ones whom even protestants recognize as legitimate) because the term "mother of God" came from them. But I DO see where you may be getting confused or upset so I just want to clarify. When we say "mother of God" we do not mean "The mother of the supreme being; the first source of God, the creator of God" etc. We don't mean "mother" in that sense. We only mean "Mother" in the sense of her role in God's plan for humanity; her role in the life of Christ. She was his mother. That was her role. She was a mother to Jesus; she gave birth to him, raised him, cared for him, taught him, etc. Mary WAS the mother of Jesus. And since Jesus was God incarnate as man, born into flesh through Mary, it is quite accurate to call her "Mother of God" I think you may have mistaken our meaning of that term. Maybe you should have asked someone before just getting upset over it and calling it a sacrilege. In the end, where did your misconception lead except to your being upset? And your being upset only hurts yourself. Finally, I don't know anything about the cult you mentioned which worshiped Mary. I'm pretty good with Catholic history but there's still a whole lot I don't know. So maybe there was such a cult, maybe there wasn't. But the sins of a particular group cannot be shared by the entire Catholic Church. Don't put the wrongs of a few on the heads of the many. But when you say the catholic church "is to blame"...well that can't be true because if we were teaching sacrilege then the Mary-worshiping cult wouldn't be a part of our history, it would be a part of our present.

You seem like a mighty angry former catholic to me. And I am very sorry that you had reason to leave the Church and I'm even more sorry if those reasons lead to your anger. But I hope you are not beyond coming back because the Church is always here waiting for you. Don't let confusion over the Faith lead you to leave it behind.

 

Reasons?
Man made doctrine
Praying to Mary ( a wonderful person for whom I have great respect)BUT.... where does the bible say that she hears our prayers.....where does the bible say that she is "Queen of Heaven" Teachings like this and praying to sainta is a complete and utter waste of time and faith. It is better to trust in GOD than Man. Hebrew chapter 4 " Let us come with BOLDNESS to the throne of mercy that we may find grace an help in time of need. Friends that is what the Bible says (i.e, God's word) We can approach the THrone of MERCY not the throne of Mary! My preciour friend please read you Bible and ask The Holy Spirit to lead you.
Your friend in Him. Davi

Thank you for your recent thoughts on our Forum. I would like to offer this brief response to your posting. You say that praying to Mary and the Saints is an 'utter waste of time and faith." Do not the Scriptures themselves attest that the 'prayers of the righteous availeth much?" Catholics believe that the Blessed Mother (Mary) (cf. Luke 1:48) whom the Angel Gabriel greeted as "full of grace" (Luke 1:28) is certainly counted among the righteous -- Is she not? And when her earthly life had ended where did she go? If to Heaven, does she have no more concern for the Church her Son died for? Does her sway over her Son as seen at the Wedding Feast of Cana (John 2) no longer exist? If Mary is utterly 'dead' as if she dosen't exist than the prayers of those who ask for her help would be futile. If however, she is gone as far as her earthly life is considered yet fully 'alive' in heaven, then we may ask the favors of the one who certainly holds such a dear place in the heart of her Son Jesus.
Who will save Catholics and all of humanity? Only one person - the one mediatior between Heaven and Earth - Jesus Christ. When we honor and ask His Mother for 'intercession', simply her prayers, we only imitate the Love and Respect with which Jesus held for the one who bore him. We are the family of God, the communion of Saints, not only with those who physically exist with us at this moment in history but with the whole family of God including those who have gone before us.
As regarding your comment of 'where does the Bible say…..' may I offer that you take a look at our response to that concept currently under 'Church' on the Q&A section of our 'Listening' site under the title "Scripture and Tradition" We look forward to hearing from you again and welcome your thoughts and may we continue to pray for one another.

Whenever I hear that someone has "given up" the church because of the scandal, birth control, role of women, etc. I seriously discount their statements. If they had accepted the church into their lives, then the church's "troubles" aren't reason to leave but to stay and help remedy the problems(just as we would care for our children when they become ill, not abandon them because they have a problem.) By the way I attended Catholic elementary and high school and I remember almost everything because it is important to me, I made it that way. When people say they don't remember anything good, I think its just an excuse. If they have a favorite baseball or football team and that team has a bad season, do the "forget" about the team-I think not-next season they are anticipating better times. Let's face it, most people just don't really care enough about the church, and they make excuses blaming the church for their negative attitude. You have got to invest in the church if you want to get something out of it.
I disagree with the church on many, many matters-but I love the church

There are many reason i left, as i have not the time to list them, im sure you have not the time to write them. You only think the apostiles were the begining of the church, they were Jesus' students, but later they had diferent views & split up. Isn't it at all possible that is what Christ intended? Even if you can't agree to that, you will to this, Jesus & God would have known the church would split, & therfore it had to be his plan for there to many branches of Christianity. some people are not in need, or tolerance of dogma, that is what makes the chatholic church, & so many others, different from being just Christian.

If, you would have believed you would have never left the church. I am sorry that some members including the priests and nuns are using the church and facilities to do evil, but one thing we have to remember Jesus said, not even the gates of hell will prevail his church.
When you say could it be all possible that Jesus meant it to be the way that, you are thinking, well, we cannot place our thoughts to be like Our Heavenly Father; We are not fit to even wear his scandals. I do not mean to be right I just want you to have an open mind. And could you forgive us for all the times someone in the church hurt you? I love you, because Jesus Loves You.

As a cradle Catholic myself and an arm-chair apologist, my first question to you is where is your support to show that the apostles split up? Does it not talk about unity throughout the bible and 1 family, 1 body of Christ? Ask yourself among all the the different christian denominations out there today, which one ONLY speaks of 1 teaching, 1 church, and 1 family. At some point logic and common sense has to be considered. Not too mention a thorough knowledge of history, not an argument or belief based on rumor and hear-say.

There are many reason i left, as i have not the time to list them, im sure you have not the time to write them. You only think the apostiles were the begining of the church, they were Jesus' students, but later they had diferent views & split up. Isn't it at all possible that is what Christ intended? Even if you can't agree to that, you will to this, Jesus & God would have known the church would split, & therfore it had to be his plan for there to many branches of Christianity. some people are not in need, or tolerance of dogma, that is what makes the chatholic church, & so many others, different from being just Christian.

 

Is there one in yr parish? If not get yr Pastor to start one. It is just beautiful and welearn so much since Father is so educated.

 

i went to catholic school for 5 yrs and don't remember alot of the teachings and i'm ashamed of that but most vivid in my mind i don't remember ever being educated about the lives of saints and i would like to know more about saints before they became saints and how they lived their lives. i would appreciate some feedback on this subject and where i can get some literature besides the bible i find it very hard understanding the bible i bought so many and still can't understand the writings they should put out a bible that speaks in our language i am very interested in these things and i shouldn't have to be discouraged by this.thank you

We are all saints, as the Bible so clearly communicates. If you belive in Jesus Christ as your Savior, accept him as Lord of your life, and repent of your sins, you are a saint.

Message: Amen !! Again, it was the Catholic church I believe who started "sainting" and "canonizing" people. The Bible clearly says, we are ALL saints. And the only one you should pray to is Jesus Christ, who takes our prayers to The Father. The only way to The Father, is through THe Son. "Saints" can do nothing for us.

There's a book called "Lives of the Saints" that pretty much is what you're looking for. It's a good index on the lives of many saints (before they were saints). I'm not sure who wrote it but it's pretty easy to find in almost any place that sells or lends books. Also, you can find a lot of information online without going to a bookstore/library. Just run a search on Lives of Catholic Saints or something like that. If you're looking for inspiration, it's great to read up on the lives of the saints because you see that they were regular people before they started living for God. You also see what it was that inspired them to become so holy, etc. So you're on the right track. Good luck. Hope this helped.

 

"If, you would have believed you would have never left the church."That is true, in the sense that I did not understand the views that make one specifically catholic. Believing in the Christina faith is a whole nother thing.

I was not around at the time of the apostile's not were you, so who knows how it came to be multiple churches. All we know is hearsay from people with ego. Fact is the only true way is belief, and that is what was intended.

Message: Elvia,I think you are trying to stay because it seems the easier thing to do. If you stay, make sure it is because you like and feel comfortable here. You need to take a step back and look at things. As long you have faith in the lord, it is OK. And family is familily, like god they love you for you heart, not where you pray.

I too have been thinking of leaving the Church, but I can't. I have been raised a Catholic from childhood. My family are Catholics. i love the Catholic Church but in my search for finding the Lord, I don't feel like I can do it in the Catholic church. i am learning so much by listening to the Televangelist like the Rev. Billy Graham, Charles Stanley, Joel Olsteen etc. I go to church everyday. Everyday it feels like a ritual that I am performing faithfully, not getting closer to God. I decided not to do my best not to leave the Church but to try to find ways to change the church. That is a tall order for the church do not like change. I found out a lot of things we as Catholics are doing are wrong. Like calling a priest father. I read in the Bible only God should be called "Father". We as Catholics should use our Bibles in church but we don't. We use missalettes just to keep the Mass an hour long. I think the church would have more money if everyone came to church with their own bibles
instead of the church purchasing missalettes. The only book in church should be the Hymnals. And I also believe that some of the good old songs should be sung more often. I would like to see a discussion on your show on this subject. I am anxious to hear some of the responses. I also believe the altar should be taken back by the priests. Keep laypeople off the altar. The Altar is Sacred ground. I also believe only an ordained person should administer the Body of
Christ.

Elvia, I felt the same way when I left. We were given the Bible to read God's word. Why the Missiles ? The Holy Spirit inspired 4 common men to write the words of God, yet the church will not let anyone who is not a priest, read the Gospels out loud. Why can we read them to ourselves, yet not aloud. Makes no sense. I went to a Catholic fund raiser dinner, and they had liquor and champagne. I do not have a problem with people imbiding on a limit, but one of the women commented how she would have a hangover next day (Sunday). I found out, she was a Eucharistic Minister !!
The Catholic church needs to get down to the basics and start making people realize that when Christ does come back for his church, they won't be ready. They will still be making rules and regs like the Pharisees.
 

I was raised catholic, & I have left he faith. I have not left because i didn't understand the faith; i left because i understood. The truth is i wasn't meant to be catholic, god knows this, & still loves me, your way is not meant for me. Acept it!

Message: In reading your comment about why you decided to leave the Catholic Church I would like to ask the following if I may. You say you left the Catholic Church not because you didn't understand but rather because you did. Would you be willing to elaborate on this? I would be interested in hearing your reason(s). Also, if I may, when we say we weren't meant to be 'Catholic' I would disagree. We may choose not to be Catholic, and certainly if we look solely at the humanity of the Church we could see why one may feel this way, however when we try to look from the divine perspective we must ask - Did Jesus in fact, establish the Catholic Church? If He did we should work each in his/her own capacity to help rebuild it, in holiness, from within. If Jesus, did not in fact establish the Catholic Church which did he found? This Church MUST be able to trace itself back to the Apostles themselves. To my knowledge known save the Catholic Church can make this humbling claim. For if God did not spare the 'natural' branches He will not spare the 'Wild' ones (cf. Romans) Please consider this thought and I would be interested in hearing your comments if you wish to share them. God Bless!

A lot of my own family have left the church for similar reasons. It boils down to one large-scale reason, though; they feel they can't find the Lord in the Catholic Church. I never understood that myself. I mean when you receive communion you ARE finding the Lord. But I know it can be hard to feel God's presence in the Church when the things that make us Catholic seem so commonplace. That's why I try to find other ways to live out my faith and keep variety in my life. Retreats (my favorite), prayer meetings, bible study, parish councils, things like that. I'm not saying those things will work for everybody though.
As far as calling priests "Father" I think Jesus was talking about using the term "Father" as a source of life, supreme provider and the pillar of our existence...that sort of thing (like how fathers were thought of in Jesus time) Only God is all of those things. Obviously no one objects to calling our male parents "Father". But we can't regard our male parents as our source of life. God is our source of life. Our earthly fathers (and mothers of course) are more like our caretakers, teachers, guides, etc. Priests are like our own fathers in that way because they teach and guide us on our spiritual journey much like the apostles did when the Church was new. They are our spiritual fathers in a sense. I'm personally glad we don't use the bible directly at mass. The misselette breaks down the readings and correlates them logically so they are easier to understand. I mean as long as we get the scriptures during mass it doesn't matter to me how we get it. Especially since we go through the entire bible over the course of 3 years.
I also believe only ordained priests should administer communion. I've always believed that. I think, if nothing else, it encourages a more mindful awareness of the sanctity of the eucharist. How we regard the eucharist depends HIGHLY on how it is treated. How can we recard something as being special or sacred if we treat it like it's just bread or if we let anyone handle it any way they want to?? And speaking of handling the eucharist, to see how some eucharistic ministers give out communion infuriates me. And I say the same about the altar...when I was an altar boy we weren't allowed to even touch the altar. Now people treat it like it's just another table. What has happened to our Catholic identity? Why have we swept sanctity and mysticism under the carpet? But I think the Church can change and has changed a lot over 2000 years. I think we as lay people can help the Church to change for the better in a lot of ways. But should we treat the church as OURS and change it however we see fit? I don't know. I look at the church more as my "faith community" It's GOD's church. He established it. He guides it. That's the only reason we've lasted 2000 years. We've outlived entire empires. Because God guides his church. And that gives me a lot of security because I have faith that the things that are wrong with the church WILL be made right since God wants His Church to be right.
Be careful what you learn from evangelists. Their interpretations of scripture can be really misleading and sometimes completely wrong. Like the thing about calling only God "Father" Did I type too much here? Sorry.

Yes, we must be careful what evagilists teach us. As we do with anything that any bozo might say, this includes priests too. I do think retreats are good though, we all need some time away to think.