Catholic Answers Forums Closing

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Sad news, especially since I only joined so recently. I think this is a great resource and I’m sorry that I’ll not have much longer to enjoy it.
 
porthos11 said:
Been here sixteen years (2004). If I had a baby back then, I would be teaching that kid to drive by now.

Back in the day, CAF was good. It had good apologetics and faith discussions.

Not so anymore. CAF is a shadow of its former self. I am quite frankly not sorry to see it go.
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I am very saddened…you are right.
 
I decided to migrate oceans to the Catholicism reddit, I’ll see how it goes, better than nothing!

I’m CatholicDolphin there since I figure they also need some aquatic animals 🐬
 
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vz71 said:
Looking back at 16 years, I can truthfully say that these forums have been a significant part of my life.

With the forum gone, things will be…different.
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Same here

Fifteen solid years of exclusively CAF…been that kind of year …2020.
 
So my plan…

I have spent 16 years on this forum comfortably anonymous.

I am probably going to scan my profile and pick the top five people that liked the most of my posts and reach out to them to see if they wish to continue some correspondence on social media.

It’s a short list, apparently I am not very popular.

Anyone else have thoughts as to how they will proceed afterwards?
 
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I will probably do something similar, as well as inviting people I see a lot on here but don’t have much interaction with. I am so very sad. I really relied on this place for advice, prayer, company, and interesting information. Another blow from 2020.
 
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The reddit has a Catholicism discord too I just found and has some priests on it as well as Catholic lay people with some non-Catholics as well. Might be a nice option
 
Another option is to round up everyone who is active and wants to continue interacting with each other and create a Slack group. You can have numerous sub groups on slack to organize discussion that way. I have used slack for sports chats with 30+ people and its been great
 
Shadow_of_Caravaggio said:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Catholicism/ is a good community of Catholics for those wanting to continue conversations with likeminded people.
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I will second this suggestion. Most of Reddit is a cesspool, and it trends heavily liberal and atheist, but this is a very good subreddit for faithful Catholics. It is very active, the mods are fair and efficient as far as I’ve seen, and there are numerous active deacons, priests, and even a bishop that posts fairly regularly on there (clergy are identified with flair next to their usernames on there).

Most of the posters on there seem to be orthodox and faithful Catholics from what I’ve seen and I would even say it is probably more traditional/conservative than CAF overall based on my experience.
 
Dolphin said:
Another option is to round up everyone who is active and wants to continue interacting with each other and create a Slack group. You can have numerous sub groups on slack to organize discussion that way. I have used slack for sports chats with 30+ people and its been great
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I wouldn’t mind getting something like that going. I haven’t heard of slack though.

Also thinking of the possibility of starting a “new CAF” subreddit or something.
 
AdamP88 said:
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Salli05:
Do these people even have any empathy or those who met their spouses here, those who are here because of loneliness, those who cam’t share their faith due to persecution??? I’m shocked. Sorry if i’m uncharitable.
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As I say above, it seems their calculation of the value is not really taking into account the value to the community.
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I read their message differently. It sounds to me that they factored in both finances, and overall value provided by the forums (they mention how it’s a mixed bag: while some experience CAF as “helpful”, others experience CAF as “contentious”, “addictive”, and with much of the content “not suited to an apologetics apostolate”).

So it sounds to me like if they thought CAF was totally aligned with CA’s core mission of apologetics (rather than inadvertently veering into other spheres), and/or if CAF had a clearly net positive effect (rather than, arguably, being too significantly a place of contention, and inadvertently a reinforcer of unhealthy addictive online behaviours)… they might have continued to redirect donor money in this direction.

As it is, and with respect for everyone here who does experience CAF as having benefitted their own lives positively (I’m especially delighted to hear about the marriages made! What a wonderful legacy – and the site shutting down can’t take away from that: your marriages are permanent fruit!), I honestly think CA is making the right decision here. When I heard the news, my immediate reaction was that this is genuinely a good thing, and the right call (balancing all factors) for them to have made.

As others have noted: the internet is a wide place! And CA has given folks over a month’s notice about this forum shutting down. If so many people here are keen to carry forward with a similar online community, someone can create one and notify others! There’s plenty of time for folks to provide links to other online communities (including communities only just created), or otherwise exchange online handles or (if you really trust each other or make an anonymized contact account) contact info.

My appreciation to CAF for every way it’s helped me grow. At the same time, I’m among those who struggled with the contentious and addictive nature of CAF (and my growth, recently, involved voluntarily withdrawing from CAF). I still love CA dearly and will continue to support their primary apostolate. They have a good, holy, humble, charitable team of apologists, and I’m happy to see them trim their tree to focus the nutrients towards those branches bearing the best fruit.

May everyone here find what’s best for them moving forward, whether that’s another online community – or something else.
 
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My last comment. Lots of forums closed down this year. Freedom of speech being shut down globally. New World Order coming? Difficult times ahead. Be strong. Peace be with you.
 
Lou2U said:
Right, but what about all those who don’t have a community around them? To give an example, I’m agnostic and I live in a country which is not particularly religious. The reason I joined CAF is because I had no idea what Catholics believed and I didn’t know anyone who was Catholic to ask.
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Hi friend 🙂

I was in your shoes several years ago. I didn’t know any Catholics, but I wanted to learn what Catholics believed! I didn’t find CAF back then: I found CA.


This is the primary Catholic Answers apostolate, and it won’t go away when the forums go. Benefit: instead of casual laypeople who might (accidentally!) give you an incorrect answer to your question… CA is staffed by professional apologists who teach the official Catholic answers! And they’re so friendly and charitable. I primarily watched/listened to their live radio show recordings on YouTube:


And their charity and patience impressed me as much as the content of their words. They have apologists who know their stuff: this is where I go when I want to learn what Catholicism really teaches! I hope you’ll check them out (you can use the search bar on their website to look up specific topics you want to know about, or just go to their YouTube channel and start clicking around based on topics that interest you. Or if you don’t know where to start, just watch one video at random, and see if a question forms in your mind from there, and then you can pursue the answers further through this resource.

Beyond that, it’s hard in the pandemic depending on lockdown status where you are right now; but at some point, reaching out to your local parish and asking them about a community-based opportunity to learn more, could be a really important step. That could be how you meet Catholics in person, and can then grow in your relationship with the Church from there!

But in the meantime, if you’re looking for answers to the question of what Catholics believe: CA is the resource I always recommend, top of my list.
 
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I think you’re missing the point a bit. Nobody is doubting that CA is a good resource. But the users of this forum have been a unique community and many of us will miss that when it goes.
 
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