Catholics and Methodists can learn from one another, pope says

[Emperor_Markus]

A shame the Counter-Reformation had to end too soon…

 

[Eric_Hyom]

If the Catholic Church contains the fullness of truth, and is the repository of that truth, what exactly are we to learn from protestants who seperated themselves from that fullness to go off and do their own thing?

Ok this is just about the town I live in, the Anglicans have set up a home for homeless youngsters. The Salvation army have been doing meals for people living on their own for many years, the Methodist church has been doing boys and girls brigade, the Baptist church gets involved with orphanages, and job clubs. The local Anglican Church set up Street Pastors, the basics food bank, and is now setting up CAP, (Christians Against Poverty.)

There are many more activities they do that keep them in touch with non Christians. I have just come back from a Churches Together Ministers meeting, I often feel embarrassed being a member of the Catholic Church at these meetings, as Catholics seem to sit on the side-lines, and not get so involved in community projects together with other churches. I think we have much to learn from them.

 

[ringil]

I do not see what can be learned from Methodists (or any Protestants, for that matter). They are not on equal footing with the Catholic church.

Well the Pope believes differently. Maybe listen to what he has to say and you can be informed.

 

[OraLabora]

If Protestants are better at practicing their Christian faith, why not help those in your own Church who do not practice it as well as the Protestants you know who are on a much “higher footing” instead of going outside the Church to get advice?

I wonder about all these people so anxious to learn from the Protestants. are they not getting enough from their own Catholic religion and want to experience the faith in a Protestant way, or do they not agree with all the Catholic beliefs and teachings and want to adopt some of theirs? I think we should focus on improving from within the Church and not go outside it for advice. I believe it will only weakened us. We must remain strong.

My wife is Protestant and has inspired me with her faith in many ways. Her prayer and gentle persuasion was instrumental in my return to the Church nearly 20 years ago.

My father was Protestant. He married my Catholic mother in 1955, with proper dispensations, in the rectory because in those days a mixed marriage could not be done inside the church and only reluctantly outside of it. He signed an agreement that the kids would be raised Catholic. He took his duty so seriously that the only time I ever set foot in an Anglican church while he was alive, was when my step-sister was married (my dad was a widower when he met my mother). When my mother wasn’t feeling well, which was often, my father would take me to my parish church for Mass. He would sit in the pew as I went for communion when I had reached that age.

My father’s faith, and sense honour, duty and respecting his commitments, inspired me. Once, as a kid, I skipped out of a church activity organized by my school (it was a Catholic school). When my father found out about it, there was hell to pay.

You could say that the two people most responsible for me being Catholic today are Protestants. I have a great deal of admiration for anybody whose love of Christ shows up in their acts.

 

[christofirst]

My wife is Protestant and has inspired me with her faith in many ways. Her prayer and gentle persuasion was instrumental in my return to the Church nearly 20 years ago.

My father was Protestant. He married my Catholic mother in 1955, with proper dispensations, in the rectory because in those days a mixed marriage could not be done inside the church and only reluctantly outside of it. He signed an agreement that the kids would be raised Catholic. He took his duty so seriously that the only time I ever set foot in an Anglican church while he was alive, was when my step-sister was married (my dad was a widower when he met my mother). When my mother wasn’t feeling well, which was often, my father would take me to my parish church for Mass. He would sit in the pew as I went for communion when I had reached that age.

My father’s faith, and sense honour, duty and respecting his commitments, inspired me. Once, as a kid, I skipped out of a church activity organized by my school (it was a Catholic school). When my father found out about it, there was hell to pay.

You could say that the two people most responsible for me being Catholic today are Protestants. I have a great deal of admiration for anybody whose love of Christ shows up in their acts.

Agreed! My experience is quite similar. My dad was raised Methodist and my mom is Catholic. I learned a lot from both of them.

 

[JosieN]

My wife is Protestant and has inspired me with her faith in many ways. Her prayer and gentle persuasion was instrumental in my return to the Church nearly 20 years ago.

My father was Protestant. He married my Catholic mother in 1955, with proper dispensations, in the rectory because in those days a mixed marriage could not be done inside the church and only reluctantly outside of it. He signed an agreement that the kids would be raised Catholic. He took his duty so seriously that the only time I ever set foot in an Anglican church while he was alive, was when my step-sister was married (my dad was a widower when he met my mother). When my mother wasn’t feeling well, which was often, my father would take me to my parish church for Mass. He would sit in the pew as I went for communion when I had reached that age.

My father’s faith, and sense honour, duty and respecting his commitments, inspired me. Once, as a kid, I skipped out of a church activity organized by my school (it was a Catholic school). When my father found out about it, there was hell to pay.

You could say that the two people most responsible for me being Catholic today are Protestants. I have a great deal of admiration for anybody whose love of Christ shows up in their acts.

My parents were both Catholic and I learned everything from them. My husband and his family are Protestant. My husband supports me in raising our family as Catholic. What I have learned from his Protestant family is that church is for weddings and funerals as this is the only time they step into a church.

 

[OraLabora]

My parents were both Catholic and I learned everything from them. My husband and his family are Protestant. My husband supports me in raising our family as Catholic. What I have learned from his Protestant family is that church is for weddings and funerals as this is the only time they step into a church.

My wife is a practicing Anglican, however unlike your husband’s family she takes her faith very seriously and goes to church every Sunday; sometimes she comes with me to Mass, at other times, if I’ve already fulfilled my obligation on Saturday evening (which I do often because I sing in a choir and we do Saturday evening Masses), I will go to church with her on Sunday morning. We also go to two services at Christmas and easter; usually the 4 pm Christmas service at her church, and midnight Mass at the Benedictine abbey, and the Easter Vigil at the abbey and morning services at her church. Except this year I sang Lauds on Holy Saturday and was up at 4:30 am to drive the hour to the cathedral for the 7 am rehearsal, and I was too tired to go to the Vigil so I went to Easter morning Mass instead and my wife elected to accompany me rather than go to her church.

I know my wife’s pastor fairly well. When I first met him, he was fairly anti-Catholic. I suggested he go to the abbey if only for the beautiful liturgy, which he did. And he now includes bits of Church (as in Catholic!) teaching in his sermons. He also loves Pope Francis very much. Pray for him, as I truly think the Holy Spirit is working on him.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

My parents were both Catholic and I learned everything from them. My husband and his family are Protestant. My husband supports me in raising our family as Catholic. What I have learned from his Protestant family is that church is for weddings and funerals as this is the only time they step into a church.

Not all protestant denominations are the same.

Anglicans are closer to Catholicism than Congregationalist

Jim

 

[otjm]

If Protestants are better at practicing their Christian faith, why not help those in your own Church who do not practice it as well as the Protestants you know who are on a much “higher footing” instead of going outside the Church to get advice?

I wonder about all these people so anxious to learn from the Protestants. are they not getting enough from their own Catholic religion and want to experience the faith in a Protestant way, or do they not agree with all the Catholic beliefs and teachings and want to adopt some of theirs? I think we should focus on improving from within the Church and not go outside it for advice. I believe it will only weakened us. We must remain strong.

Okay, so I guess the Pope is not getting enough from his Catholic religion?

Or do you think it just might be possible - even a teeny weeny possibility - that he may be trying to tell all of us something?

And what in heavens name makes you think that learning something from Methodists prevents us from “focus(ing) on improving from within the Church”

Are those two things impossible to do at the same time?

 

[otjm]

I am happy for them, but I am even more happy for those individuals who have the courage to stick with the teachings and guidance of the Traditional Catholic Church. Jesus Christ built this Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.

Did anyone - the Pope included - make such a suggestion? Where are you getting this stuff from?

 

[otjm]

A shame the Counter-Reformation had to end too soon…

/sometimes it is more important to fight the battles that are in front of us on a daily basis, than it is to fight 500 years ago battles.

No truth has been lost by Vatican 2 documents; and instead of standing there and throwing condemnations at each other, we are trying to heal divisions, and support one another in our daily walk with Christ, and support one another against our common enemies - secularism being a major one.

There is nothing so putting off as an attitude of “i’m right and you are wrong”. It is much more effective to say “We both agree on…” and in charity, work on what we disagree about.

Given the impact that divorce has had, and continues to have on the family, it is not surprising that if we cannot get along with our spouses and heal wounds, that we will have even more troubles working with our neighbor. The domestic Church - the family - is ground zero in most of our lives. The Church, in a much larger context, seeks to heal the wounds which have occurred over history. I remember the outrage of some alleged Catholics when John Paul 2 made apologies for our past. It seems the attitudes are still the same. We seem to forget that Christ’s admonishment of forgiving applies to all of us.

 

[otjm]

My parents were both Catholic and I learned everything from them. My husband and his family are Protestant. My husband supports me in raising our family as Catholic. What I have learned from his Protestant family is that church is for weddings and funerals as this is the only time they step into a church.

The same could be said for an untold number of Catholics. You need to look beyond the in-laws.

 

[JosieN]

Did anyone - the Pope included - make such a suggestion? Where are you getting this stuff from?

He asked a question and I did my best to answer it.

The last part I got from the Bible.

Matthew

16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

16:19 And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

 

[Maximilan_Kolbe]

Did anyone - the Pope included - make such a suggestion? Where are you getting this stuff from?

My question was what specifically from the Methodists can we learn (that we cannot learn from all zealous Protestants?

I get that we can learn from Protestants themselves (the people, not the faith per se), but to call out Methodists implies there is something unique about them. That is what I was curious about.

 

[Peebo]

My question was what specifically from the Methodists can we learn (that we cannot learn from all zealous Protestants?

I get that we can learn from Protestants themselves (the people, not the faith per se), but to call out Methodists implies there is something unique about them. That is what I was curious about.

You could almost be tempted to believe it had something to do with the fact he was meeting with the World Methodist Council…the Methodist Council of Europe and the Methodist Church in Emgland

 

[Maximilan_Kolbe]

You could almost be tempted to believe it had something to do with the fact he was meeting with the World Methodist Council…the Methodist Council of Europe and the Methodist Church in Emgland

And if that was the case, we would hear the same thing about each unique group he meets with, all the while never being told what specifically we could learn from each group. Deep stuff…

If that’s the case, it kind of renders the statement meaningless in terms of there being anything special we could learn from Methodists that we couldn’t just learn from any other fervent Christian out of 33000+ denominations.

 

[Peebo]

And if that was the case, we would hear the same thing about each unique group he meets with, all the while never being told what specifically we could learn from each group. Deep stuff…

If that’s the case, it kind of renders the statement meaningless in terms of there being anything special we could learn from Methodists that we couldn’t just learn from any other fervent Christian out of 33000+ denominations.

Well…I guess it’s what you stated in your previous post…that it’s not from Methodism …but from Methodists that we might learn…as could apply to any denomination…I suspect the Pope was being diplomatic as he wouldn’t tell a delegation of Methodists that we could learn from Baptists…as Catholics we can also learn from other Catholics…that’s where we have an advantage in having saints from which we can draw spiritual strength from them

 

[Maximilan_Kolbe]

Well…I guess it’s what you stated in your previous post…that it’s not from Methodism …but from Methodists that we might learn…as could apply to any denomination…I suspect the Pope was being diplomatic as he wouldn’t tell a delegation of Methodists that we could learn from Baptists…as Catholics we can also learn from other Catholics…that’s where we have an advantage in having saints from which we can draw spiritual strength from them

Probably being diplomatic, and I get that. But makes the deep theological musings on his words in this topic a bit of a dud.

 

[otjm]

He asked a question and I did my best to answer it.

The last part I got from the Bible.

And I gave a response too. The Pope has not said we need to go adopt their theology where they part company from the Church, but that implication seems to be at the heart of your response. And I don’t think anyone else here is suggesting that any Catholic do that either.

I am a bit amazed at some of the comments made in this thread.

While I might, for example, not agree entirely with some things Eric Bonhoeffer said or wrote, We all have a lot to learn from him. And that is just one example.

Then, again, some on this thread might not want to waste their time reading him; if one reads only to try to find error, rather than to be open to what one can learn, then it is a waste of time.

What some don’t seem to get is that there is a difference between doctrine and faith. On doctrine, the Methodists and we have parted company. But faith is in essence following Jesus; for those who think they have nothing to learn, I suggest removing blinders.

 

[otjm]

My question was what specifically from the Methodists can we learn (that we cannot learn from all zealous Protestants?

I get that we can learn from Protestants themselves (the people, not the faith per se), but to call out Methodists implies there is something unique about them. That is what I was curious about.

The comment was made as the Methodists are opening an Ecumenical Office in Rome. It was in the first post.