Did CAF help to bring any atheists into the Church?

[NormalBeliever]

Do you happen to be Catholic yourself?

 

[Don_Ruggero]

Well…I have to say that you have succeeded in communicating the profound depth of your feelings about these matters.

You certainly could not be accused of being oblique.

I bid goodbye to you, too.

. . . .

Happy New Year and have a nice day!

 

[JohnStrachan]

I left the RC church in 2008 for the Anglican Church. I stumbled on CAF by chance in 2013 thinking perhaps is was providence during a “dark night” of the soul. There were times when I felt a strong yearning to return but I could never reconcile the difference i had with the official treachings of the church. In the end, the strident “towing of the line” was enough to convince that my move to the Anglican Church was the correct one.

I will miss CAF. I won’t miss all times I was blocked, banned and panned.

 

[Don_Ruggero]

In the end, the strident “towing of the line” was enough to convince that my move to the Anglican Church was the correct one.

Yes…as I tried to say an earlier post, it was not always the most attractive portrait of Catholicism that was painted on this forum.

I encountered people here, with considerable frequency, the likes of which I would see in a parish or lecture hall once a decade…if that.

I was endlessly astonished by the obsession some people would educe about rules and rubrics.

And never, away from this forum, would I encounter the terms bandied about here so blithely…schismatic, heretic. These are words we don’t even use anymore in either the classroom or in any other venue. Except perhaps as part of a seminarians skit that was comedic in nature.

When I would read these posts, which would be written with such seriousness, I would always smile as I remembered a closing line of wry humour in From Conflict to Communion. It is a great line:

The awareness is dawning on Lutherans and Catholics that the struggle of the sixteenth century is over. The reasons for mutually condemning each other’s faith have fallen by the wayside.

Dawning…after five centuries.

 

[JohnStrachan]

And never, away from this forum, would I encounter the terms bandied about here so blithely…schismatic, heretic.

The blatant lack of charity expressed by adherants here only helped reinforce my characterization of the church as intollerant.

I can’t count the times my arguments were dismissed with the line “because the church says so.” That line of argumentation won’t work on my teen kids and new generations of church attenders. It will likely turn them away.

The negative sentiment directed toward Francis is also troublesome. As “the pope” - the guy who supposedly holds the keys - to be on the receiving end of such vitriole is really disgusting. It’s as if the flock thinks they know better than the servant of servants.

 

[MNathaniel]

The awareness is dawning on Lutherans and Catholics that the struggle of the sixteenth century is over. The reasons for mutually condemning each other’s faith have fallen by the wayside.

With respect, Father, and I’m asking this honestly as a convert to Catholicism struggling with whether to become Protestant again… are you saying if I now choose to cease practicing Catholicism in favour of being Lutheran (or more likely, a different variant of Christian), that would be nothing the Catholic clergy would ‘condemn’?

I’m not asking if any mere human would presume to judge my soul as condemned to hell, because obviously we all know the bible and agree that none of us is qualified to judge the soul of another in that specific sense. But as an external action, leaving the external visible bounds of the Catholic Church – that’s something you’re saying Catholic clergy now agree shouldn’t be condemned?

Certainly helps make my decision easier, if that’s the case.

 

[Don_Ruggero]

With respect, Father, and I’m asking this honestly as a convert to Catholicism

I have responded to you via the personal messaging system as I feel this topic is too delicate to prudently discuss in the open forum.

I am very aware of how things published in the forum are debated and this is not a topic suitable to that since it is not a hypothetical or an academic exercise. It would be very unfair to you if that were to happen.

 

[whatistrue]

It actually did assist in my journey from agnostic to nonspecific “seeker after truth” to Catholic. So that makes one if anyone is counting.

Of course, now I would advise anyone searching to avoid this place like the plague it has become in the last few weeks if it were not shutting down already. The parent site is fine for answers to specific questions, but the forum has become a dumpster fire (and a restaurant dumpster at that).