This statement might be a bit misleading. Protestants who baptize using the Trinitarian form are in fact members of the Body of Christ. While Protestants do not have the fullness of truth, seven sacraments, etc, they are nevertheless imperfectly joined as brother and sister to the Catholic faith.
Yes, but you can only be a member of one body. Being Catholic it is as close as one can go.
We can never know the mind of God. Perhaps, a walk away from the Church to a protestant environment may be exactly what is needed spiritually for a soul to grow closer to Christ. The important factor is the passion for truth. If one is truely seeking Christ, there is a very good chance they will one day be drawn back to the Catholic faith.
I am of two minds here. One is that it is objectively gravely sinful to leave the Body of Christ, the Catholic Church. Yes, baptized protestants are members too, but imperfect members (at least while on Earth). One can objectively be a perfect member of the Body of Christ by following the sacraments of the church. One need only trust that Christ knew what he was doing when he established the Church - little understanding of the nuts and bolts is required with the aid of the sacraments.
Subjectively, one may not understand why the Catholic Church is unique, and may not be held fully accountable for his objectively sinful action of leaving the Church. This could be called “perspective”, but what one risks finding is that protestantism or even secularism is full of many empty rituals of little actual value. He may then conclude that nothing is of value and live accordingly. He may also latch on to these empty gestures and be objectively, if not subjectively guilty of idolatry.
One could arguable find his way back to the Church, but without a proper understanding to begin with, there are far too many dead ends and short piers to take a long drive off of to risk leaving the Church.
As we witness to others, it is important that we do not assume a stance that suggests that there is only one way to Christ. Some will take a detour or a longer way around. Hopefully, through the grace of God, we all find our way to the beatific vision.
So far, I only spoken in terse theoretical prose - let me do some witnessing of my first hand encounters with this subject.
A few years ago while in college, I got heavily involved in a protestant organization because the people were friendly and there was little to no pressure to convert. As a Catholic with a strong faith and solid understanding, I felt it would be a good learning experience to see the protestant perspective. There was also a cute girl or two… but lets stay on subject
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Anyways, my best friend and I started becoming frequent attenders, and it was great. I also attended mass every Sunday, many times as an EMHC and Lector. I even had the support of the campus priests for my attendance at the protestant thing. I even upheld Catholic doctrine in debates, and did nothing to hide it. So I was a good Catholic (and still am a good Catholic).
Two important things I realized, to keep it brief, is (1) Protestants babble a lot in prayer. I can’t blame them, prayer is really all they have following Baptism, and they end up doing a lot of it. There is unfortunately not much material substance to protestantism.
But seriously, there were also a lot of beautiful prayers, and extremely sincere people, and I it pained me that they were not in full communion with the Body of Christ. They were so full of spirit, they might burst over if given the actual Body of Christ in the Eucharist, and Holy Spirit at Confirmation. The Catholic Church is harmed by their absence from full communion.
(2) Being a Catholic attending a Protestant club meeting sets a bad example. My best friend, whom I mentioned, kind of picked up a mixture of the nothing really matters, and the feely-goody trappings of some of prayer activities. One of the cute girls I also mentioned, herself Catholic, I know feels guilty about leading him into the organization. She, a former nominal Catholic, became increasingly devout as she saw the contradictions of Protestantism. She is now actively serving as a Catholic campus missionary, leading students closer, authentic relationship to God.
I too feel a bit guilty, or at least chastised for my involvement, because I’ve seen some of the impacts its had on his decisions regarding relationships with woman. I’ve spent many hours in deep conversation about this with him, and am prepared to continue as needed.
But my bottom line point is that indifference to the objective nature of the Catholic Church as the true Body of Christ is not something that should be taken lightly. Leaving the Church causes real damage, and only time, penance and repentance can repair it.
