I am interested in why former Catholics would never return back to the Catholic church. Here are three things that will keep me from returning:
- The manditory belief in the infallibility of the magisterium.
- The belief that Mary is a co-redemptrix with Christ.
- The unwillingness of the RC to acknowledge that God is wholly in other churches besides the RC.
Wow, ready for a response that will infuriate some and confuse others???
I am not active in the RCC because I could not (in good conscience) continue going to Holy Communion. After all, doing so implies that I am in full union with the Bishop of Rome and fully believe all things that are taught by the Magisterium of the RCC. I am now attending an Anglo-Catholic (Anglican/Episcopalian) parish. Yes, I called it Catholic (though not ROMAN Catholic), don’t get hung up on that or you will miss the point of this post.
Interestingly, the only point you mention that caused me any angst is #1. I am still grappling with infallibility, and may never come to accept it completely. However, the Marian doctrines have never caused me any sleepless nights. How can we say that the Blessed Mother was truly the Mother of God (the channel that God used to bring Himself into the world) and then claim that she has absolutely no part in the redemtion of Humanity? Is that not a contradiction? By totally sacrificing her own will to the will of God, she became the means by which grace and salvation were possible for humankind. Don’t get stuck on the term itself, it sounds confusing!! If the term
Co-redemptrix meant equal to Christ in the power to save us, then your objections would be warranted. However, the term actually means that she was Christ’s partner inasmuch as she enabled him to be brought into this world in human form.
Point #3 is false as it is worded. The ROMAN Catholic Church has never stated that God is not “wholly present” in other parts of the Church. It teaches that God is not wholly present in NON-Catholic churches. The RCC teaches that God is just as present in the Eastern uniate churches, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and even the schismatic churches like the Old Catholic Church, and the various schismatic groups (SSPX, SSPV, etc.) [Too bad they don’t add certain groups within Anglicanism. For instance, the more liturgically conservative Anglo-Catholics, who have ensured the integrity of our Sacraments (by ensuring ordination by an Eastern Orthodox bishop in response to the critiques of His Holiness Pope Leo XIII), but I am getting ahead of myself here…]