Catholics, how often do you pray for the conversion of Protestants to Catholicism?

[Mannyfit75]

To my fellow Catholics,

How often you pray for the conversion of all Protestants to the Catholic Church?

I pray for it all the time, so there won’t be anymore silly debates…and that we can fulfills Jesus’ prayer for Christian unity.

 

[water]

I had done in the past and now doing it even more ever since I’ve become a member of this site.

Yesterday, at our rosary praying group at the church, we have a friend who is a protestant coming to pray with us. Wow, his first time praying the Rosary and I could say he put all his thoughts and mind into it. He’s coming again next Friday.

He said that at his current church, he thinks he hasn’t got enough and he’s opened to other churches and that is including the Catholic.

 

[rtconstant]

I don’t guess I’ve thought about it in across the board terms like that. However, I would love to see my family convert. That would make me very happey.

 

[blessedtoo]

I’m too busy praying for the conversion of Catholics to Catholicism.

 

[water]

I’m too busy praying for the conversion of Catholics to Catholicism.

Why not praying for others as well It doesn’t take you all day, does it?

 

[Mannyfit75]

Why not praying for others as well It doesn’t take you all day, does it?

The prayer of the faithful during Mass does it as well as your own personal prayer either in your own words, use the rosary, the divine mercy chaplet, etc.

 

[Pax]

Simply read John chapter 17 and you will quickly decide to pray for our non-Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ. We are called to unity.

 

[Della]

I don’t target any particular group of people when I pray that everyone be united in the faith. There are so many who aren’t it would take all day to name all the groups, let alone all those I personally know. But, I often think of this person or that in particular when I pray for this intention.

 

[siothrun]

i don’t. why pray for protestants, they’ve already found Christ. personally, i hate brand names when it comes to Christianity. we’re all on the same team when you get down to it. better to pray for those who don’t know Him at all and for those who’ve drifted.

 

[puzzleannie]

every morning, the petition for the unity of all Christians is part of the morning offering. It is also included in the petitions of the LOTH at least once a week.

 

[chris_molter]

Depends… for a particular protestant or two (my ALMOST Catholic mother and an evangelical friend), I pray daily that they be led into the fullness of communion with the Church.

For general conversion I usually just pray weekly for them.

 

[MrS]

everyday… for both my family members to come home

and for some Catholics I know, to realize they are home… and start living it.

 

[El_Paulo]

I wouldn’t pray for protestants to become Catholic in-spite of themselves - I’m not sure God works like that. I feel that God honours a person’s sincerely held beliefs (in this circumstance). I believe God works with our humanity and not against it.

With regard to unity, I think that we first need to accept and love one another with our differences, because only then can we consider unity of any other sort. It’s pretty poor if we envision unity as simple conformity; there are hundreds of other things I would try before resorting to praying for everyone to become Catholic.

Peace.

 

[Genesis315]

Every night I pray for the conversion of all sinners and especiually those outside the Church

 

[Genesis315]

I wouldn’t pray for protestants to become Catholic in-spite of themselves - I’m not sure God works like that. I feel that God honours a person’s sincerely held beliefs (in this circumstance). I believe God works with our humanity and not against it.

God works against our concupiscences–which war against the Spirit–and the works of the flesh–of which, according to St. Paul, sects and dissensions are a result (Gal., chapter 5). He works to raise us to our full potential so that we may walk according to the Spirit.

With regard to unity, I think that we first need to accept and love one another with our differences, because only then can we consider unity of any other sort.

It depends what you mean by “accept and love.” Do you mean in the hippie sense of false tolerance, or do you mean that we should desire the absolute best for all people? If you mean true love, desiring the absolute best for all people–and the absolute best is Heaven and the absolute best way to get there is being in full communion with Christ’s Church, conforming oneself to the will of God who wills the Church, and embracing all the heavenly gifts and helps found here–then I agree.

It’s pretty poor if we envision unity as simple conformity; there are hundreds of other things I would try before resorting to praying for everyone to become Catholic.

John Paul II would disagree with you, from Ut Unum Sint (my emphasis):

1. Jesus himself, at the hour of his Passion, prayed “that they may all be one” (Jn 17:21). This unity, which the Lord has bestowed on his Church and in which he wishes to embrace all people, is not something added on, but stands at the very heart of Christ’s mission. Nor is it some secondary attribute of the community of his disciples. Rather, it belongs to the very essence of this community. God wills the Church, because he wills unity, and unity is an expression of the whole depth of his agape.**

In effect, this unity bestowed by the Holy Spirit does not merely consist in the gathering of people as a collection of individuals. It is a unity constituted by the bonds of the profession of faith, the sacraments and hierarchical communion. The faithful are one because, in the Spirit, they are in* communion* with the Son and, in him, share in his communion with the Father: "Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ" (1 Jn 1:3). For the Catholic Church, then, the communion of Christians is none other than the manifestation in them of the grace by which God makes them sharers in his own communion, which is his eternal life. Christ’s words “that they may be one” are thus his prayer to the Father that the Father’s plan may be fully accomplished, in such a way that everyone may clearly see “what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God who created all things” (Eph 3:9). To believe in Christ means to desire unity; to desire unity means to desire the Church; to desire the Church means to desire the communion of grace which corresponds to the Father’s plan from all eternity. Such is the meaning of Christ’s prayer: "Ut unum sint".​

The unity willed by God can be attained only by the adherence of all to the content of revealed faith in its entirety. In matters of faith, compromise is in contradiction with God who is Truth. In the Body of Christ, “the way, and the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6), who could consider legitimate a reconciliation brought about at the expense of the truth? The Council’s Declaration on Religious Freedom Dignitatis Humanae attributes to human dignity the quest for truth, “especially in what concerns God and his Church”,and adherence to truth’s demands.** A “being together” which betrayed the truth would thus be opposed both to the nature of God who offers his communion and to the need for truth found in the depths of every human heart.**

 

[El_Paulo]

Hi Genesis!

God works against our concupiscences–which war against the Spirit–and the works of the flesh–of which, according to St. Paul, sects and dissensions are a result (Gal., chapter 5). He works to raise us to our full potential so that we may walk according to the Spirit.

Are you suggesting that someone who holds a protestant faith is equivalent to a person who resists the Spirit? Please clarify.

It depends what you mean by “accept and love.” Do you mean in the hippie sense of false tolerance, or do you mean that we should desire the absolute best for all people? If you mean true love, desiring the absolute best for all people–and the absolute best is Heaven and the absolute best way to get there is being in full communion with Christ’s Church, conforming oneself to the will of God who wills the Church, and embracing all the heavenly gifts and helps found here–then I agree.

Yea, that hippie one…!
In all seriousness, I think it is important to accept someone where they are FIRST. Anything less is not love. If my initial desire when I meet someone is to change them, then I think I need to re-evaluate my Christianity. However, the question about how we move on from this point, is where I would concur with the above.

John Paul II would disagree with you…

I think my point was that there are people who will die without becoming part of the Catholic Church - through choice, lack of opportunity or ignorance. It’s not sinful to accept this - my approach is one of working with where someone is and not where I want them to be.

As a larger point, I’d be interested to actually see what people’s prayers look like…

do people pray,

“Lord, please convert everyone to the Cathoic faith”

, or

“Lord, change this person”

, or

“help this person to follow your Spirit”?

Are all these prayers prayers for unity?