Ex-Catholics Who Are Now Protestants

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Hi Everyone,

I converted to Catholicism at Easter Vigil this year.

While I was taking RCIA classes and investigating the faith, a number of ex-Catholics who are now strong Christians in the Protestant faith advised me not to convert – including my pastor who almost became a deacon before leaving the Catholic Church. I was Missouri Lutheran, a conservative denomination that is close to Catholicism with its sacramental beliefs in the Eucharist and infant baptism, although Lutherans obviously do not have the Apostolic succession.

I am understanding that the Church states salvation comes through the Catholic faith, but Protestants are also Christian who may not be willing to consider Catholicism from prejudice etc. (I was here for a long time myself). My family are all Protestant and I’m at peace about them, just trying to set a quiet example. But I’m wondering about my pastor and the several other ex-Catholics I talked with. They are devoted to their faith, and I don’t doubt they truly love Christ and are saved (in Protestant lingo) as far as any person can tell… obviously only God knows for sure. But how does this work if salvation is through the Catholic Church?

This is very confusing for me. I am learning as much as I can. This whole experience of converting for me has truly been a mind shift, a sudden clarity of vision. But there’s so much I don’t understand. Any thoughts? Thank you.

Elaine
 
Hi Elaine

Welcome to Catholic Answers Forum and thanks for your inquiry. Interestingly, there seem to be several Lutherans [especially LCMS] on this forum.

I do want to state one point. You may not have noticed but considerable attention is given to apostolic succession. Most Lutherans follow the episcopal form of church governance and many are in the apostolic succession [ie. ELCA].

I will weigh in later on some of your other points.
 
There is a portion of the Catechism that address salvation for those who are not Catholic.
It’s probably in the section “I believe in the holy catholic Church.” ???
If you don’t have a Catechism, I know one is available online. Just type in Catholic Catechism.

As far as Ex-Catholics, I just often wonder how well they were catechized. Many of the ex-Catholics I know were not. Perhaps their parents were CEO’s (Christmas, Easter and Other Special Occasion attenders). So they got baptized, didn’t see them again until Confirmation, and then out. Or even if they attended mass regularly as a child, they didn’t know why and never bothered to learn. It’ was “boring” to them and someone invites them to a church that plays all that praise music with passionate speakers which only affirm their belief that they had been “missing out.”

I think converts probably know and appreciate more about the Church than some of us cradle Catholics do. They know more about the rich history, the sacraments, especially the Eucharist. All of the richness rather than just the week to week trodging along.
 
The Catechism like it has been pointed out.

Also, I’d like to suggest you read Dominus Iesus, it might help you understand better the interaction of the Catholic Church on Earth.
 
Check out CCC #'s 818, 819, 836, 837 & 838

All baptized are Catholic in a broad sense. All who accept the Gospel are Catholic. But not all are in full communion. And even in the other direction, we can say not all Catholics are in “true” communion with the Lord. I mean, only the Lord knows the hearts of men, wheather they are doing the Father’s will.

Nevertheless, the Catholic Church proffesses a true and full Gospel. I think its a lighter load to just be a simple bible believing Christian. With much awareness is much responsibility.
 
EvangelCatholic said:
Hi Elaine

Welcome to Catholic Answers Forum and thanks for your inquiry. Interestingly, there seem to be several Lutherans [especially LCMS] on this forum.

I do want to state one point. You may not have noticed but considerable attention is given to apostolic succession. Most Lutherans follow the episcopal form of church governance and many are in the apostolic succession [ie. ELCA].

I will weigh in later on some of your other points.
Click to expand...
 
could you please explain to me how it is that some Lutherans can be in Apostolic succession /
 
EvangelCatholic said:
Hi Elaine

Welcome to Catholic Answers Forum and thanks for your inquiry. Interestingly, there seem to be several Lutherans [especially LCMS] on this forum.

I do want to state one point. You may not have noticed but considerable attention is given to apostolic succession. Most Lutherans follow the episcopal form of church governance and many are in the apostolic succession [ie. ELCA].

I will weigh in later on some of your other points.
Click to expand...
EvangelCatholic, but do not many Catholics here reject that ELCA are in apostolic succession? I know TEC believes they are in apostolic succession but Roman Catholics say no.
 
In my opinion, the most common reasons for Catholics leaving the Church are sex and Marriage.
When I was a boy, in the 1940’s, divorce was not as common as it is today, and divorce for Catholics was unthinkable. In those days in the US, Church annulments were all but unknown except for the “rich and famous”. Many priests and Pastors would withhold the Sacraments from a divorced person, regardless of the reason for the divorce… Then, in the 1950’s and '60’s divorce became quite common in the US, and the Church became a bit more liberal and accepted divorced persons as long as they were not re-married or “living in sin”. Those divorced Catholics who re-married outside of the Church, often joined what ever church their new spouse belonged to. If both were Catholic, they often joined the Episcopalians. This was also true for priests who left the faith to marry.
The other category of those who left the faith were the so-called Cradle Catholics who were born of non-practising Catholics, were Baptised in the Church but were never chatecised (educated in the Faith). They would meet and fall in love with a Protestant and marry outside of the Church. Quite often, these nominal Catholics would join whatever church their spouse belonged to.
There is an interesting connection between Jews and Catholics: The most virulent Anti-Semitics in the world are apostate Jews; and, the most virulent anti-catholics are not Fundamentalist or Pentacostal Protestants - they are ex-Catholics!
 
casey_cates said:
…

As far as Ex-Catholics, I just often wonder how well they were catechized. …
Click to expand...
extremely well, much better than most catholics ever are.

after a couple of years with the anglicans, I decided to return to the major leagues. called back up, you might say.
 
casey_cates said:
As far as Ex-Catholics, I just often wonder how well they were catechized. Many of the ex-Catholics I know were not. Perhaps their parents were CEO’s (Christmas, Easter and Other Special Occasion attenders). So they got baptized, didn’t see them again until Confirmation, and then out. Or even if they attended mass regularly as a child, they didn’t know why and never bothered to learn.
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I’m curious how they could receive the Catholic Sacraments of Eucharist, Reconciliation and Confirmation without learning and being catechized? And for those who also attended weekly, I would think they also were catechized. Some perhaps even properly. What if there were 2 people. Both catechized in the same classes by the same instructors. 1 remained faithful. The other did not. How could it be said the former was properly catechized but the latter was not? Do Catholics just reject the possibility that even properly catechized persons might simply have had a change in beliefs later in life?
 
LeftyDisciple said:
EvangelCatholic, but do not many Catholics here reject that ELCA are in apostolic succession? I know TEC believes they are in apostolic succession but Roman Catholics say no.
Click to expand...
Not confirmed by Rome so it doesn’t hold water. Plus from that Wiki article:
As a national church, the Church of Sweden succeeded in bringing together medieval Swedish tradition with the rediscovery of the gospel which the Reformation brought with it.
Click to expand...
Apparently the Gospel (Funny it wasn’t capitalized in the article) was lost and the Swedish saved the world by re-discovering it, plus it appeals to the Reformation to support it…

Anyone can say they have Apostolic Succession. In fact, I have heard some Pastors say that they got it from the New Testament directly…

On a separate note: Valid Apostolic Succession and Valid Ordination are a whole different thing (I just recently learned this):

Post #55 from that same thread.

And Apostolicae Curae from His Holiness Pope Leo XIII “On the Nullity of Anglican Orders, September 15, 1896”
 
writer12 said:
Hi Everyone,

I converted to Catholicism at Easter Vigil this year.

While I was taking RCIA classes and investigating the faith, a number of ex-Catholics who are now strong Christians in the Protestant faith advised me not to convert – including my pastor who almost became a deacon before leaving the Catholic Church. I was Missouri Lutheran, a conservative denomination that is close to Catholicism with its sacramental beliefs in the Eucharist and infant baptism, although Lutherans obviously do not have the Apostolic succession.

I am understanding that the Church states salvation comes through the Catholic faith, but Protestants are also Christian who may not be willing to consider Catholicism from prejudice etc. (I was here for a long time myself). My family are all Protestant and I’m at peace about them, just trying to set a quiet example. But I’m wondering about my pastor and the several other ex-Catholics I talked with. They are devoted to their faith, and I don’t doubt they truly love Christ and are saved (in Protestant lingo) as far as any person can tell… obviously only God knows for sure. But how does this work if salvation is through the Catholic Church?

This is very confusing for me. I am learning as much as I can. This whole experience of converting for me has truly been a mind shift, a sudden clarity of vision. But there’s so much I don’t understand. Any thoughts? Thank you.

Elaine
Click to expand...
Salvation comes from God. The CC is the instrument He uses to achieve this purpose. She, alone, was established by Him and is guaranteed certainty in matters of faith and morals; she possesses the fullness of the faith. But other churches have separated from her and so are her wayward offspring, so to speak, still connected in a familial sense but distanced, imperfectly connected. To the extent they are capable of helping a person find God-or be found by Him-it is only due to their usually unacknowledged patrimony.

Ex Catholics can become ex Protestants BTW-reverts. I did.
 
EvangelCatholic said:
Hi Elaine

Welcome to Catholic Answers Forum and thanks for your inquiry. Interestingly, there seem to be several Lutherans [especially LCMS] on this forum.

I do want to state one point. You may not have noticed but considerable attention is given to apostolic succession. Most Lutherans follow the episcopal form of church governance and many are in the apostolic succession [ie. ELCA].

I will weigh in later on some of your other points.**

Does the Catholic Church recognize Lutherans…in any Lutheran synod/convention as having valid apostolic succession…today?

Pax Christi
Click to expand...
 
writer12 said:
Hi Everyone,

I converted to Catholicism at Easter Vigil this year.

While I was taking RCIA classes and investigating the faith, a number of ex-Catholics who are now strong Christians in the Protestant faith advised me not to convert – including my pastor who almost became a deacon before leaving the Catholic Church. I was Missouri Lutheran, a conservative denomination that is close to Catholicism with its sacramental beliefs in the Eucharist and infant baptism, although Lutherans obviously do not have the Apostolic succession.

I am understanding that the Church states salvation comes through the Catholic faith, but Protestants are also Christian who may not be willing to consider Catholicism from prejudice etc. (I was here for a long time myself). My family are all Protestant and I’m at peace about them, just trying to set a quiet example. But I’m wondering about my pastor and the several other ex-Catholics I talked with. They are devoted to their faith, and I don’t doubt they truly love Christ and are saved (in Protestant lingo) as far as any person can tell… obviously only God knows for sure. But how does this work if salvation is through the Catholic Church?

This is very confusing for me. I am learning as much as I can. This whole experience of converting for me has truly been a mind shift, a sudden clarity of vision. But there’s so much I don’t understand. Any thoughts? Thank you.

Elaine
Click to expand...
As far as your former pastor and the ex Catholics you know, there is teaching within CCC I believe, sorry I do not have the number, but it states something to the effect as I recall that those who know the CC is necessary for salvation but do not remain could not be saved. If they did not truly know this in their hearts, perhaps they can be saved. If they did know and believed it but had a change in beliefs, I don’t know the Catholic answer to that.
 
Isaiah45_9 said:
Not confirmed by Rome so it doesn’t hold water. Plus from that Wiki article:

Apparently the Gospel (Funny it wasn’t capitalized in the article) was lost and the Swedish saved the world by re-discovering it, plus it appeals to the Reformation to support it…

Anyone can say they have Apostolic Succession. In fact, I have heard some Pastors say that they got it from the New Testament directly…

On a separate note: Valid Apostolic Succession and Valid Ordination are a whole different thing (I just recently learned this):

Post #55 from that same thread.

And Apostolicae Curae from His Holiness Pope Leo XIII “On the Nullity of Anglican Orders, September 15, 1896”
Click to expand...
I know this thread is not about apostolic succession but Lutherans in general have a fair amount of indifference about the issue but certainly don’t deny the succession of bishops in Scandinavian and Baltic countries just because the Church of Rome doesn’t agree.
 
writer12 said:
Hi Everyone,

I converted to Catholicism at Easter Vigil this year.

While I was taking RCIA classes and investigating the faith, a number of ex-Catholics who are now strong Christians in the Protestant faith advised me not to convert – including my pastor who almost became a deacon before leaving the Catholic Church. I was Missouri Lutheran, a conservative denomination that is close to Catholicism with its sacramental beliefs in the Eucharist and infant baptism, although Lutherans obviously do not have the Apostolic succession.

I am understanding that the Church states salvation comes through the Catholic faith, but Protestants are also Christian who may not be willing to consider Catholicism from prejudice etc. (I was here for a long time myself). My family are all Protestant and I’m at peace about them, just trying to set a quiet example. But I’m wondering about my pastor and the several other ex-Catholics I talked with. They are devoted to their faith, and I don’t doubt they truly love Christ and are saved (in Protestant lingo) as far as any person can tell… obviously only God knows for sure. But how does this work if salvation is through the Catholic Church?

This is very confusing for me. I am learning as much as I can. This whole experience of converting for me has truly been a mind shift, a sudden clarity of vision. But there’s so much I don’t understand. Any thoughts? Thank you.

Elaine
Click to expand...
At first glance, it sounds to me like your pastor doesn;t want to lose a church member.
Just my opinion.
 
Vatican II ruled out that there is salvation outside of the Church of Rome. Everyone else is in partial communion, but don’t have the fullness of the Truth.
 
eggsbenedictine said:
Vatican II ruled out that there is salvation outside of the Church of Rome. Everyone else is in partial communion, but don’t have the fullness of the Truth.
Click to expand...
It seems as the result of misunderstandings of Vatican II, many “modernists” in the Church have ruled out lots of things. Wonder when they will have a Vatican III in attempt to clear up some of the ambiguities and hopefully rule out some of these modernists who have done much damage to our Church?
 
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