Fallen away Catholics are still Catholic Whether the know it or not?

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vocatio said:
Islam teaches that there is only one God… It does not teach that God is 3 persons… and a few other things.😉

Protestants do not accept the Catholic Church as being the one true church. They typically accept the bible only. and a few other things too.😉

The Catholic Church teaches that once you are baptized, even if you are not raised in Catholicism / the Church, you are always Catholic. That never has changed and never will. It’s the same as being baptized. Once you are baptized you soul is permanently marked for ever. Confirmation is the same, Holy Matrimony and Holy Orders are the same. You can never do away with it.

My mother took my little brother and I’m not sure if I was included in that. But she took him at least to wash off that “dirty papist” baptism by giving him a good old fashioned Protestant baptism. True story. My brother told it to me again this past year. I’ve heard it by several people in my family. He does not practice any faith. But whether he or my older brother that went to the Episcapol Church [not committed there either] are and forever will be Catholic. My older brother is no longer with us and chose his path forever. I only hope that upon his hanging there as he strangled to death he had enough time to repent for such a selfish action…

So Stop being offended so much as to hope that you are truly following what you beleive, because if you do really know better then you will have to answer for your actions. We can only hope that God will not spew you out as scripture puts it. I hope not. I have much of my family to pray for that have rejected the Catholic faith. The irony is that I returned with my once very fundamentalist evangelical anti-Catholic wife. Fortunately I never hurled too many insults towards Catholicism.
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I believe that Catholicism is wrong on all counts here. God gave us the gift of freewill and even if it were true that the RCC was the only correct institution of God (I do NOT believe this), those who do not belong to it under their own freewill are not bound by it or its doctrines and dogmas. I chose to walk away from the Catholic faith several years ago under my own conscience and power. I declared from that day that I was and am no longer Catholic.
 
SIA said:
I believe that Catholicism is wrong on all counts here. God gave us the gift of freewill and even if it were true that the RCC was the only correct institution of God (I do NOT believe this), those who do not belong to it under their own freewill are not bound by it or its doctrines and dogmas. I chose to walk away from the Catholic faith several years ago under my own conscience and power. I declared from that day that I was and am no longer Catholic.
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Have you written an letter and sent it to the diocese of your baptism rejecting the Catholic Faith and all that it teaches. This is how you officially take yourself out from under the authority of the Catholic Church and officially reject it. Otherwise you are not free to choose as you will. Just remember that if you do not send such a letter you will be considered Catholic to the day you die.

I discovered that my public baptism in a Protestant Church and marriage in a Protestant Church by a Protestant minister was all considered invalid and not official. It must be in writing. If you truly believe you reject Catholicism, then reject it officially.
 
vocatio said:
Have you written an letter and sent it to the diocese of your baptism rejecting the Catholic Faith and all that it teaches. This is how you officially take yourself out from under the authority of the Catholic Church and officially reject it. Otherwise you are not free to choose as you will. Just remember that if you do not send such a letter you will be considered Catholic to the day you die.

I discovered that my public baptism in a Protestant Church and marriage in a Protestant Church by a Protestant minister was all considered invalid and not official. It must be in writing. If you truly believe you reject Catholicism, then reject it officially.
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I did…
 
vocatio said:
If you truly believe you reject Catholicism, then reject it officially.
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Why bother? I don’t ‘believe I reject Catholicism’, I hold that the Church has no authority over me. Why should I formally defect from an organization I consider myself outside already? It can say I’m in the club as long as it likes, but that has nothing to do with whether I am or not.
 
Mirdath said:
Why bother? I don’t ‘believe I reject Catholicism’, I hold that the Church has no authority over me. Why should I formally defect from an organization I consider myself outside already? It can say I’m in the club as long as it likes, but that has nothing to do with whether I am or not.
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Then there is hope I see.😉 That’s how I saw it too in the beginning. As as far as being a “club”, Im not sure what you mean by that, but if being a club is what you want then I hope you too find a target to hit… I assume a baseball?:rolleyes:
 
Actually, yoga has spiritual aspects of it that Catholics are not to engage in. However, the stretching part and breathing is fine. Just don’t replace God with yourself.
 
I don’t really want to indict the entire religion; I’ve met many decent Catholics who are good people, and practice their religion in a sincere way and also try to improve the lives of others through charity and kindness.

That being said, there are several issues which upon considered reflection, made me decide to break with the church and Christian religion in general. These include:
  1. The power and status accorded to the Pope and higher echelons of the heirarchy of the church: To me, too much power is concentrated in the office and person of the Pope and the Bishops. The Pope still governs the church according to a paradigm derived from the church from about the fifth century onwards (and quite well analysed by Hans Kung). The executive, judicial and legislative powers in the church are all concentrated in one person; much as it was with monarchs in the Middle Ages. In addition, the Pope has powers of infallibility, which means his statements and arguments on matters of theology, church policy and government, and morality are above question.
To me, this (especially that the church’s moral teachings cannot be questioned) brought a fundamental and irreconcilable difficulty between freedom of conscience and the obligation to follow the commands and laws of the church, as determined by its heirarchy without any consultation or listening to what my views on the matter are. I decided to go with conscience, feeling I have a responsibility to determine difficult moral and other issues on my own, according to my own conscience and freedom.
  1. Moral/theological teachings: I think the church has it wrong on its teaching on morals and ethics in some areas, especially regarding sexual ethics, contraception, and divorce. I also strongly disagree with their position on barring women from the priesthood; the arguments used to bar women’s ordination remind me of those used a century ago to bar women from universities, voting, the professions, and the bar. Some of the church’s teachings I feel are on the right track (such as about social justice, human dignity and human rights), but others are in my view, urgently in need of change. The emphasis that the church’s teachings cannot be changed because they are infallible, in my view is a dangerous position to hold in a world that is rapidly changing. There are understandable reasons why people want to adhere to traditions and feel all questions have been closed and resolved, but in my view the truth on any matter requires a fallibilistic approach, open to change in light of new evidence and new viewpoints.
  2. The existence and nature of God: Over time the philosophical arguments in favour of a personal God had too many faults and flaws which had been pointed out by skeptics and other thinkers to hold serious water. They became interesting to consider, but ultimately I felt reason could not prove God’s existence firmly.
  3. Issues with dissent and freedom of conscience: I felt ultimately I could not both dissent from church teachings and remain within the church in good conscience. I could not force myself to accept certain teachings I just could not bring myself to agree with (i.e. women priest issue) and also at the same time go to Mass, participate in the life of the Church, or use any sacraments (including Confession). After a while I felt very unwelcome and uncomfortable at Mass, not due to behaviour on the part of Catholics, but simply because I did not believe and I did not want to be there.
These constitute the primary and fundamental reasons on which I left the church permanently. I don’t hold any serious desire to go back. I think the church has a lot of interesting teaching in terms of its great philosophical theologians (Aquinas, Nicholas of Cusa, Duns Scotus, Cajetan, etc), but I study these for enlightenment rather than instruction in faith or how I should live my life. I also have no desire to join other churches, as they hold positions on certain issues (i.e. gay marriage) I feel are deeply wrong and unjust.
 
"That being said, there are several issues which upon considered reflection, made me decide to break with the church and Christian religion in general. "
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Greg27,
it appears you have been duped into heresy by pride [smart that God] just by reading the initial part of you post. We are all free to accept or reject Him, Jesus Christ as the Divine God that emptied himself out to become man and give His live for all man, so that whoever believes and is baptized has everlasting life. [wonder where I hear that before:rolleyes: ] My prayers are for you that God may have mercy on your soul.
 
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