Do protestants have to become catholic?

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Little Mary:
Also the coming home network www.chnetwork.com was started by a former presbyterian minister who became a Catholic and he provides a lot support. His name is Marcus Grodi and he has a show on EWTN called The Journey Home

God bless you and keep praying! 🙂
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scotthahn.com/
star.ucl.ac.uk/~vgg/rc/aplgtc/hahn/m1/sctcnv.html
Both these sites are about Scott Hahn’s conversion story! It is such a great story. He had to convert with his wife who was also a Prysbetrian paster along with him. He converted, she followed and his other friends did too! Good luck nad I will pray for you and your family!
 
Little Mary:
You may find support from others - such as some of the posts here - who have converted to Catholicism and had to deal with opposition from family and friends. Might want to start a thread with that topic

Also the coming home network www.chnetwork.com was started by a former presbyterian minister who became a Catholic and he provides a lot support. His name is Marcus Grodi and he has a show on EWTN called The Journey Home

God bless you and keep praying! 🙂
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Just want to correct the link to the Coming Home Network mentioned above. It’s not a “dot com” it’s a “dot org”. Here’s the correct link:

www.chnetwork.org

Thanks, trailblazer!
 
riverman said:
scotthahn.com/
star.ucl.ac.uk/~vgg/rc/aplgtc/hahn/m1/sctcnv.html
Both these sites are about Scott Hahn’s conversion story! It is such a great story. He had to convert with his wife who was also a Prysbetrian paster along with him. He converted, she followed and his other friends did too! Good luck nad I will pray for you and your family!
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Actually Kimberly, Scott’s wife, wasn’t a pastor. While growing up, she had ambitions of being a pastor, following in her fathers footsteps, but as she studied in college, she came to her understanding of scripture that women were not meant to be pastors. She met Scott and she quickly realized that being a pastors wife was what she wanted, as he was headed to the ministry.

When Scott converted to Catholicism, his wife was NOT ready to even consider becoming Catholic. This created a great rift in their marriage, which nearly resulted in a divorce. Several years later, after finally deciding to follow her husband, at least enough to begin studying what the Church teaches, did she herself come into the faith. She now is an excellent speaker on scripture as applied to the lives of women and her faith in all the Catholic Church teaches.

DoctorJ and Curious, please know that God loves you very much and that what ever trials or fears you face as you enter the Church will be met by a most wonderful God who is all powerful and all loving. There are times when we must face our fears and accept our challenges. We do so knowing that in His infinite wisdom we will grow through them.

He has left on earth a visible Church so that we might know the narrow path that leads to his kingdom. I encourage you to travel it with us. We each take it one day at a time, hoping to stay the course until we have finished the race.

God Bless,

CARose
 
I understand your feelings and I have gone thru the exact same thing as you have. My family members are ex-Catholics (now Baptists) and they frown upon the church in a horrible way. I went thru RCIA several years ago and now I have 2 children who were Batised 2 weeks ago without any God Parents because no one would volunteer. I know that I hae made the right decision to becaome Catholic and I htink that it is a personal issue between one and God. I was raised in the Baptist church and I study the bible quite a bit. I personally believe in John 3:16 as the foundation of all Christian belief (no matter what your denomination is). That’s what saves you and gets you into heaven! I chose to become Catholic because it is the universal church and the “original” church, not some off-shoot. Congrats to you and stand up for your beliefs. I know that they talked about Jesus back in the day, so I know they are gonna talk about me. Sometimes you have to stand up for what you know is right and sometimes you have to stand alone, but at least I have Jesus on my side!
 
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doctorj:
I was raised a Baptist, and have found many errors in their doctrine and philosophies through studying catholic doctrine. My family is very adamant about being Baptist and becoming Catholic would cause a huge rift. I’m not sure what to do. Do I have to formally join the church?
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My wife is a former fundamentalist Baptist who converted to Catholicism. It was a painful road for all of us and it did cause a huge rift that still exists even 17 years later.

The short of it is this… For you to “keep the peace” in your family means having to believe in something you no longer hold true and not to believe in what you know to be true. If you see the truth of Catholicism let nothing stand in your way to possess it. The question is what are you willing to live with? Hyprocity to “keep the peace” or honesty and cause a family rift?

In my wife’s case the “rift” was more of a threat – “you’ll be disowned”, “you’re no longer our daughter”, and “now you have no family”. A very ugly time, but ask yourself just how Christian is that? Does there have to be a rift?
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doctorj:
Do catholics consider protestants who are in agreement with the ECT document to be ok spiritually?
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The Catholic Church views all validly baptized persons as part of the Catholic Church although separated by varying degrees. Why settle for spiritually “ok” when you can be spiritually complete?
 
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tpillip:
sir, your soul is in grave danger–if you were to die tonite, which God forbid, you may very well end up in hell.–Jesus loves you and died for you4and wants you to come home–so do it!!!
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Stop judging his eternal fate tpillip. Are you saying that someone who is BEGINING to be drawn to God’s Church of FULL Truth but has not yet converted until he has fully investegated it or understood it will go to hell if he suddenly dies. As if God would say “You were too late kid even though you accepted me as your Saviour and believed I was the Christ and even was on the right track of coming to my full truth, but you never made it to my full truth so sorry, be cast into hell forever.” I mean no dis-respect but that’s just totaly ridiculous to me.

Your on the right path doctorj. I am also a convert from Protestantism and I have indeed found such a wonderful Truth in the Catholic Church. Keep praying and learning and if you do finaly believe it is the Truth, then follow Christ and not the concerns of your family. But God bless them too:)
 
J.W.B.:
Stop judging his eternal fate tpillip. Are you saying that someone who is BEGINING to be drawn to God’s Church of FULL Truth but has not yet converted until he has fully investegated it or understood it will go to hell if he suddenly dies. As if God would say “You were too late kid even though you accepted me as your Saviour and believed I was the Christ and even was on the right track of coming to my full truth, but you never made it to my full truth so sorry, be cast into hell forever.” I mean no dis-respect but that’s just totaly ridiculous to me.

Your on the right path doctorj. I am also a convert from Protestantism and I have indeed found such a wonderful Truth in the Catholic Church. Keep praying and learning and if you do finaly believe it is the Truth, then follow Christ and not the concerns of your family. But God bless them too:)
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I, too, would not have put it quite the way tpillip put it. For one thing, we aren’t just admitted to the Communion of the Church will-nilly. Rarely does one go on Monday to join the Church and get in that day, or even a week from Monday. Usually, it’s the Easter AFTER the Monday you went in!!! There is, however, something very serious to consider here. The Catechism, which has gone a great, huge, long way to clarify our understanding of our relationship with our Protestant and Orthodox brothers and sisters, says this, quoting Lumen Gentium: “Hence, they could not be saved who, KNOWING that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ, would refuse to enter it or to remain in it.” (CCC, #846 and the emphasis is mine). I’ve always taken “knowing” to mean “is/are convinced.” If someone is convinced, yet in the face of opposition refuses to act on that conviction, it would be very sketchy, in my opinion, esp. in light of the Catechism. Of course, if one were in process (much the way you mention), that might mitigate things. I, too, was raised Baptist and converted. I was blessed, however, to have grown up in a somewhat ecumenical family, with a Catholic great-uncle here, a Methodist aunt there. No one freaked out, though I cannot say my grandparents were exactly pleased.
 
Doctorj:
Code: 
 Radio Replies, Vol 1

Conditions for salvation for a good Protestant. 

In order for a protestant to be saved, he must have Baptism at least of desire; he must be ignorant of the fact that the CC is the only true Church; he must not be responsible for that ignorance by deliberately neglecting  to inquire when doubts have perhaps come to him about his position; and must  die with perfect contrition for his sins, and with sincere love of God. But such good dispositions are an implicit will to be a Catholic. For the will to do God's will is the will to fulfill all that He commands. Such a man would join the CC did he realize that that was part of God's will. In this sense the CC is the only road to heaven, all who are saved belonging her either implicitly or actually.  

Perhaps you would benefit with a talk with a priest. On being rediculed, join the saints of the past, starting from Christ. It's not the nicely paved road of democratic Protestantism, willing to bend to every whim of our modern days. But if your looking for a true Apostolic Church, one where dogma is the original and unchanging, set up by it's Founder, and not one set up by a person later who disagreed with Christ, then you can't go wrong with the CC.

Good luck.

Andy
 
What comes to mind are Jesus’ own words: “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and he who does not take up his cross and follow me is not worthy of me.” (Matt 10:37)

You’re in my prayers, and I hope that you follow truth where it leads you.
 
Acts
Chapter 7

51 “You stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always oppose the holy Spirit; you are just like your ancestors.
52 Which of the prophets did your ancestors not persecute? They put to death those who foretold the coming of the righteous one, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become.
53 You received the law as transmitted by angels, but you did not observe it.”
54 When they heard this, they were infuriated, and they ground their teeth at him.
55 But he, filled with the holy Spirit, looked up intently to heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God,
56 and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
57 But they cried out in a loud voice, covered their ears, and rushed upon him together.
58 They threw him out of the city, and began to stone him. The witnesses laid down their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul.
59 As they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”
60 Then he fell to his knees and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them”; and when he said this, he fell asleep.
 
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