Can we really expect Atheists (and non-Catholics) to come to Catholicism

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Can we (and do we) expect people to come to Catholicism? I mean people are so busy these days they wouldn’t even have time to think about it. Also, how come such smart people don’t come to Catholicism if it is true? Wouldn’t it be easier to realise? and could someone really be morally responsible for not becoming Catholic?
 
I don’t think you can expect people to become Catholic. People are exposed to different religions and beliefs and they may come to different conclusions regarding what they believe is true or not true. Maybe some people don’t put time into finding out what religion is true or if any religion is true. They may have different reasons, but I think some find it to be a waste of time because they realize there is no way to KNOW for sure because you can’t just prove Gods existence or that the Bible or religious teachings are from God. And because God(if there is one) obviously didn’t make it clear what to follow(I mean who’s right? Is anyone right?Why should I trust the pope but not some evangelical or a Buddhist or a Muslim? What if they are all man made?)”…) then it probably doesn’t matter what religion you follow, if any, as long as you are a good virtuous person(at least be nice to people and help people and don’t hurt them and work hard). Why would God punish you for not following the right religion when it’s not clear which religion is true and there is no way to truly know in this life?
 
No we cannot expect it. Only the Holy Spirit can move them to the truth. The Lord knows his own.
 
I think some of the smartest people in the world are Catholic. Many scientists are , Supreme Court justices, leaders, etc. some people Come to the Church naturally. But no, we shouldn’t expect atheists and non Catholics to convert. Atheists hold a vastly inferior and minority position. To think they are somehow smart because of that is using a logic that is not necessary.
 
I converted from atheist to Protestant, and then to Catholic. I don’t believe there’s anyone God can’t reach. Even in the Middle East, people are being converted to Catholicism after having dreams or visions.
 
Not true that “smart” people aren’t Catholic. I’m one (at least I have a doctorate degree!). But seriously this is a strange comment because a quick look at history shows that God calls the rich, the poor, the smart, the ignorant–Catholicism cuts across all human types. And yes, the Holy Spirit is “wild” in that He can touch the hearts of any person at any time, and frequently does.
 
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Nik said:
People convert all the time.
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In both directions. A Lutheran lady I knew was rather shocked when I told her I had converted to the Catholic Church. She seemed to think it was only Catholics who converted to the Protestant churches, never the other way around.
 
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Plenty of intelligent people become Catholic. But I don’t think intelligence gives someone an advantage when it comes to spiritual things. Coming to God is not a purely intellectual process, because a person can know God exists but still refuse to worship him. Maybe if God were simply a concept, it would be an intellectual matter. But since God is a person, and God is love, then it’s also a matter of the heart.

Sin actually blinds us to truth, because sin involves choosing something that’s not true or not right. It’s like if someone fakes their credentials and becomes a doctor without being qualified. What do they think they have, and what do they really have? They blind themselves to the fact that they’re not really a doctor and haven’t accomplished anything good or worthy. They know it deep down, but they ignore it. So it’s not that they aren’t intelligent enough to realize it, but they choose to ignore it. That’s what I mean when I say that coming to God is not really a matter of intelligence.
 
I get what you mean but do you really think these atheists are just a bunch of people refusing to belive in God rather than have no reason to?
 
I think it’s a mix. People are separated from God by sin, many have things they wouldn’t want to give up or would be very hesitant to, so they have that working against them. But they’re also separated by a lack of knowledge, I think. This was something that really stood out to me when I had my conversion. I was so surprised because I had no idea what Christianity was like, I mean that God is actually real and that people can actually have a degree of interaction with him through prayer, I had never imagined it. I don’t think I had ever even heard the gospel before then. This is why it’s so important to share the faith, because I think people don’t know what they’re missing, they don’t know what they don’t know.
 
We have to hope and pray for God’s mercy and light upon us all. We should evangelize by word and deed, and all of our prayers and evangelization efforts should be bound by love.

So, let us hope, do penance and pray, and what happens, happens.
Peace!
 
Thank you for your answers they were quite helpful. I know this isn’t very related to the discussion but what made you convert out of curiosity?
 
QuietKarlos said:
Can we (and do we) expect people to come to Catholicism? I mean people are so busy these days they wouldn’t even have time to think about it.
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Sure they have the time. Cut the average person’s time spent on social media in half and suddenly they have hours a day to study it.
QuietKarlos said:
Also, how come such smart people don’t come to Catholicism if it is true?
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Plenty of intelligent people are Catholic. If anything, the average Catholic I encounter is more intelligent than the average atheist. Atheism is the default position in most Western countries, forced on nearly all children from a young age with a religious fervor that would make a 12th century crusader blush. It doesn’t require any effort to arrive at or maintain this belief.
QuietKarlos said:
Wouldn’t it be easier to realise? and could someone really be morally responsible for not becoming Catholic?
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It depends if the person is actually searching for the truth with an open mind or if they’re just another pseudointellectual who believes they know everything there is to know about the world. And yes, someone with an active rejection of Christ and His Church as a grown adult is responsible for doing so.
 
What would an active rejection exactly mean? And also I think everyone missed my point when I said about atheists being smart. I meant to say that if a smart atheist comes to the conclusion there is no God how can we expect people to believe. There being smart Catholics doesn’t really answer this.
 
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Can we really expect Atheists (and non-Catholics) to come to Catholicism Moral Theology
Thank you for your answers they were quite helpful. I know this isn’t very related to the discussion but what made you convert out of curiosity?
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Long story short, I contacted a spirit via occult means, out of bored curiosity and not knowing anything out of the ordinary would happen. This led me to learn that the supernatural is real. At the same time, God was reaching out to me, with a number of external signs that led me to him and ultimately, away from the spirit who was trying to deceive me.
 
Thanks for telling me that’s really interesting. I’d love to hear the long story but I’ll avoid asking at the risk of being nosy. The Occult is some weird stuff from what I’ve heard. I also heard Hitler was actually in the Occult which is also interesting, if that’s the right word. Anyway thanks and God Bless
 
We come to believe through faith AND reason faith is a gift from god and has to be prayed for reason can bring us all the way to the fullness of truth in catholicsm but doesn’t always, if for instance we read early church history as Cardinal Newman said ‘to be deep in history is to cease to be protestant’ but some never get to use that and other avenues of reason. There are many reasons why, lack of time can be one.
 
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