An Account of the Suffering of Becoming Catholic Given by Friends and Family

[mdgspencer]

This account tells of the grief and loss he experienced when he and his wife became Catholic. They lost all their friends and their family relationships were challenged too. At the end he offers some suggestions about how to deal with such an experience well.
see www.integratedcatholiclife.org/2016/03/lowry-the-pain-of-conversion/

 

[roseofshannon]

So ironic. I hear so many stories about people who leave the Catholic faith and also lose their friends/families in the process.

I wish this person would have given some detail beyond 2 vague sentences as to *why *their friends and family keep a distance or vice versa. None of that comes thru here.
It’s possible this couple tried to evangelize friends and family too zealously–I’ve seen that happen and it can really strain relationships.

.

DaddyGirl, you may not be familiar with how anti-Catholic Evangelical and other Protestant Christians can be. Many even believe Catholics are not Christian and are going to Hell.

My friends and I have experienced this and the author of the article said this was true in his case.

While it is true that some people try to evangelize too zealously, I don’t think it’s fair to jump to that conclusion. The author indicated that he was just responding to the “more obtuse anti-Catholic comments that were occasionally made in our bible study,” and was “read the riot act.”

Those who have been living a more secular life (not the case here but worth discussing nonetheless) can be bullied and ostracized as well.

Protestants and atheists can also evangelize too zealously.

 

[mikekle]

So ironic. I hear so many stories about people who leave the Catholic faith and also lose their friends/families in the process.

I wish this person would have given some detail beyond 2 vague sentences as to *why *their friends and family keep a distance or vice versa. None of that comes thru here.
It’s possible this couple tried to evangelize friends and family too zealously–I’ve seen that happen and it can really strain relationships.

.

IDK, I would tend to think otherwise, after all, God told us living in this world as true christians would never be an easy thing, and maybe if christians are finding their lives a little too comfortable or ‘easy’, it may be for the wrong reason?

 

[Della]

So ironic. I hear so many stories about people who leave the Catholic faith and also lose their friends/families in the process.

I wish this person would have given some detail beyond 2 vague sentences as to *why *their friends and family keep a distance or vice versa. None of that comes thru here.
It’s possible this couple tried to evangelize friends and family too zealously–I’ve seen that happen and it can really strain relationships.

.

While anyone who makes a radical change in his life may face opposition, still for Christians to castigate other Christians is not acceptable. The Church does not teach persecuting others will bring them to conversion, even if some individuals may think that way. I think you missed this statement from the article:

But it was even worse: my wife was counseled to divorce me, since I was supposedly leading our family to hell.

For a Christian body to tell someone they need to divorce their spouse over their beliefs is unconscionable, and yet it happens when people, in their ignorance, think they are giving good advice. The key is that some of our Protestant brethren truly believe Catholics are all hell-bound. It’s what drives their hatred for the Church–at least that’s what they think. Only God knows anyone’s true motivations. The Holy Spirit certainly doesn’t urge people to act like this–that’s all I can say.