My question in a nutshell is, can Catholics who become Protestants still be saved?
I know several people who were Catholic and became Protestant at various ages. My grandfather was being trained to be an altar boy back when Latin Mass was the standard, and when the priests refused to tell him what the Latin words he would be saying meant, he did not want to be part of a congregation where he had to say prayers and profess things that he did not know the meaning of. He went with his father to a Methodist church after that and became Protestant. He is one of the wisest, holiest men I know, who prays often and frequently cries when thinking about Godâs grace. Another family I know converted to Catholicism after being convinced of typical Protestant faith v. works, idolatry, etc. talking points. They are wise, kind, holy people dedicated to studying Godâs word, following his commandments, listening to the Holy Spirit, and living as he wants them to. My former pastor converted for the same reasons, and has a vibrant prayer life, loves God and others, and has been used by God in miraculous physical healings that even precipitated members if his family to rededicate themselves to Christ.
It is hard for me to believe that these men and women would be condemned for converting, especially when Iâve seen what seems to be the Holy Spirit working in and through them so beautifully. What us the Catholic Churchâs position on this?
Depends. If someone was Baptized Catholic, but, when they were fairly young, decided to be Methodist, thatâs not something that individual had any control over. They may be Catholic âon paperâ and via their baptism, but, they canât be judge as a Catholic, because they were not taught what being Catholic means.
I actually know quite a few people who fit that description for various reasons.
My Boss was baptized in the Catholic Church as were his siblings, but his parents left the Catholic Church when the kids were young and was later raised evangelical.
He is a devout Evangelical now-I was surprised when he told me heâd been baptized Catholic!
I have a good friend who was raised Catholic and attended Catholic Schools, she now is evangelical.
She disagrees with the Churchâs teachings. Oddly enough here I am studying Catholicism, and she is solidly Protestant. I always wondered if the RCC consider them to be saved.
I donât think the RCC considers the Pope to be saved. Tomorrow is promised to no one much less the decisions we freely make between now & eternity. Tomorrow thePope Francis may decide to give up, quit fighting & just walk out on the Church. If he doesnât repent before eternity begins for him, heâs done.
First, baptism is necessary to be saved, but the question of whether a person is baptized, even if they are not of the religion, is still in question because of baptism by desire. So with this, we cannot judge if someone is in heaven unless they have been proven and declared a Saint through the Catholic Churchâs rigorous process for canonization.
At the same time, the Catholic church will never be able to tell who is in hell, therefore, they cannot discern souls for condemnation.
In short, all Protestants can still be saved. The thing is that being Protestant is actively rejection a number of teachings and laws of the Catholic Church. As Paul teaches about the Body of Christ, those who are not in full communion with the Body of Christ, believing in everything His Church teaches, will have a harder time in judgement if they are actively rejecting the Churchâs teachings as it is considered a sin (from what I read about the applications of Mortal Sins in the CCC).
Example, if a Protestant rejects the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucherist, but they donât have full knowledge of the teaching because they have been misled for their entire life, this instance wouldnât be a Mortal Sin, but it probably is a venial sin because there is some negligence to finding the truth (lazy, sloth). If someone is actively rejecting it knowing everything the Church teaches, then it would definitely be a Mortal Sin.
Catholics who convert to Protestantism often mean well, but they make a serious mistake in rejecting the sacraments, especially Jesus in the Eucharist.
Presumably, God will take these cases into account individually when he judges people after death and decide the proper outcome for each person.
And it also doesnât depend on the perceived âholiness and goodnessâ of the individual in question. We donât âmeritâ heaven. If we live, truly, lives of love and service to God then we are cooperating with Him and we are doing our best to fit ourselves for eternity with Him, but we surely arenât capable through our actions of âearning Heaven.â
A lot of times we hear âtestimoniesâ from people about how âThe Churchâ did something wrong to them. They were denied knowledge of 'what the Latin words meant." They were denied Baptism as a 6 year old. The priest was mean and ârefused to absolve them.â The Mass was too loud, too quiet, too emotional, too rigid, too long, too short, too âhorizontalâ, too âverticalâ. Other Catholics were hypocrites. People were too intrusive. People were too standoffish. The doctrines were too hard.
All these and more are brought forth as âreasonsâ to deny or quit the Church. Not a one is a valid reason. Every single one is based on a rejection by the person of what he or she thinks is the Catholic Church/faith. However, God is merciful. Very often, the personâs rejection is not of the Church or faith but a mistaken idea of what the Church is, and therefore, since the person does not truly reject the True Church, he or she may be saved through Godâs grace.
Unfortunately, in our Internet age, people who hear about what happened to Uncle Joe or Aunt Sally arenât limited to a few friends and family . . . suddenly millions and millions of people, often poorly catechized and conditioned from birth to the idea of entitlement and individuality, are blasted with what seems like thousands and thousands of stories of kindly Uncle Joe and saintly Aunt Sally who were deceived and mistreated by those awful rigid anti-women mumbo-jumbo pedophile hiding Catholics. . .
I have a better question, why would any Catholic want to convert to another religion???
When you have experienced the best, why would anyone want to settle for anything less?
God bless all of my CAF brothers and sisters on this message board.
And for those Catholics who have left the church, I say, âCome On, Back! We miss you and would love to see you come home!â
Your question: It is hard for me to believe that these men and women would be condemned for converting, especially when Iâve seen what seems to be the Holy Spirit working in and through them so beautifully. What us the Catholic Churchâs position on this?
Answer: That God will be the supreme judge. Also, if anybody asks âare you saved?â Answer that " if I could save myself, God would have no work left in me!!!"
I can see why you would say this, but if you have fundamental beliefs that are at odds with what the RC church teaches, then you would not view that as the best.
As someone who left the RC Church 10 years ago, I continue to wrestle with questions about why I find myself where I am. Right now Iâm trying to reconcile why I am outside of the church that Christ founded. Can I be a sort of loyal opposition from within the Church? Part of me simply wants to surrender and say, this is Godâs church and 20 centuries after Christ these are teachings that have stood the test of time - who am I to argue? Then again, the church - albeit individuals - have made a mess of things and I feel wounded. Iâm still searching and open to being a revert.
All I really care about is God, Jesus, the Eucharist, the Sacraments, Mary, the saints.
Church teachings about the above things are important to me.
Church teachings about most everything else is way down my priority list. I donât go out violating the Church teachings at my age, but Iâm not going to be walking out over them either
âThere is one universal Church of the faithful, outside of which no one at all can be saved.â - Pope Innocent III, Fourth Lateran Council, 1215
âWe declare, say , define, and pronounce that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff.â - Pope Boniface VIII, Unam Sanctam, 1302
âThe Most Holy Roman Church firmly believes, professes and preaches that none of those existing outside the Catholic Church, not only pagans, also Jews, heretics, and schismatics can ever be partakers of eternal life, but that they are to go into the eternal fire âwhich was prepared for the devil and his angelsâ (Mt. 25:41) unless before death they are joined with Her⌠No one, let his almsgiving be as great as it may, no one, even if he pour out his blood for the Name of Christ can be saved unless they abide within the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church.â - Pope Eugene IV, Cantate Domino, 1441
Let others do as they will. This teaching is what keeps me in the Catholic Church.
I left the RC church in 2008 and joined the Anglicans. I was an âall-inâ Catholic - even went to seminary in the late 80âs. Got married and started using NFP - used it for seven years and timed the conception of 4 children (though first one miscarried).
Around 2005/6 I began to feel âemptyâ in my faith. As a Grand-Knight with the K of C I was subject to back stabbing and personal attacks that were very hurtful. My parish priest did not stand up for me. I felt abandoned.
Some deep-seeded animosities I had toward the church also came to a head. I was angry that the church did not accept any responsibility for clergy abuse of minors and that the RC church in Canada would not accept responsibility for abuse of first nations people. I was troubled by the way the church rejected people in same sex relationships as well.
In addition, my own experience of abuse in the seminary by a fellow seminarian still caused me pain. When I brought the abuse to the attention of the seminary rector he was dismissive - suggesting that because the activity didnât involve penetration that it wasnât really abuse. His exact words were âPatrick was just letting off a little steam.â I put the experience in a little box in my brain and forgot about it.
People in the church have let me down. And leaving the church has impaired relations with my father who claims I have âlost the faith.â I have not lost my faith. I go to church, am engaged in ministry, teach Christian ed. via Alpha, study and read the bible, pray, and try and bring my children up to be good Christians. I feel I am a better Christian now then when I was RC. And yet, I miss the RC church.
Every six months or so I get this nagging feeling of wanting to return. I miss the identity and the rigour. I miss having a church that actually stands for something. I love what the RC church represents even though people within the church have let me down. I love being âall inâ - totally immersed in the daily rhythm.
But each episode of wanting to return is followed by a reaffirmation of why I left and why I feel at home in the Anglican church.
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