Forced Conversions

[Telstar]

You don’t need permission from a tribunal to leave the Catholic Church. You can just walk away.

This is very true as far as this world is concerned. The Church will never send ‘missionaries’ to your door to try and bring you back, if you choose to leave. But, in the spiritual sense, you will always be Catholic, no matter where you go or what you do, after you leave the Church. So, that’s a whole ‘nother kettle o’ fish, so to speak.

 

[Telstar]

I’m guessing that you’re referring to things that happened in the distant past. I know that there were times when things like that happened all too often, and I agree that it was very wrong on the part of Catholics on either side to engage in such horrendous practices. Hopefully, they’re not still happening anywhere in the world.

 

[Telstar]

I’ve heard about many of the horrible things that went on during WWII. My parents lived through the war (my Dad actually enlisted in the US Army when he was in his 40’s… long story) on this side of the ocean, and I heard some of it from them. I suppose, relatively speaking, that’s not very ‘distant’ past when compared to the whole history of the Catholic Church, but hopefully it’s distant enough to allow for some healing to take place, and for some of those bad memories to fade. I’ve also read about some Catholics that were Nazi sympathizers, even though most were probably not (at least I would hope not). It boggles my mind that they could ever believe that what the Nazis were doing, especially to the Jews, was anything but the ugliest side of human nature, and very wrong. I know their actions resulted in many people believing that the Catholic Church was supporting Hitler’s regime, but that wasn’t true at all. As usual, the unspeakable acts of the few always reflect poorly on the entire group as a whole.

 

[Izdaari]

It is not forced conversion, but the Church have a duty to quiet down heresy for the sake of the souls of the people. just think about what is happening today. the population is 7 billion and only 1 billion Catholics. that is because heresies are allowed to have a voice and are deceiviing many. the fight is not agaisnt flesh and blood but…

we are not called to be cowards but to be bold in the face of evil.

Are we called to be coercive? I don’t recall that Jesus ever taught that, but rather the opposite.

 

[Kouyate42]

So you prefer democracy then, where we vote for who the best choice is, and hope that they will do the job right? Who do we vote for? Obama or another Bush? America is failing. In fact, I’d go as far as to say America was a great idea but no one foresaw what we’d turn it into. Everytime I turn on the news, I wonder if we’ve angered God with all the things we do. I wonder if it’s even worth having children in a culture of death. Secular government does well for material needs(and not even that good lately) but does everything to rid us of our souls.

You’re talking nonsense. Democracy has been the fundamental principle upon which some of the world’s greatest empires have been built.

Meanwhile, the Catholic Church has been around since Jesus and still stands. It must be doing something right.

Argumentum ad temporum- '‘this has been around for a long time, so it must be right/good’.

 

[Matthew_Holford]

So I’ve been going through some older threads on religious freedom debates and stuff and there seems to be a minority of posters here who think Catholicism should be the only legal faith allowed today…

I’m a Catholic. I would not agree with that.

So let’s here some thoughts… I mean I do believe that this is the one holy Apostolic Church… But I believe in freedom of religion for all of course…

I believe that the Catholic Church is the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church founded by our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and that the one true Christian Church subsists therein. I believe that God gave us free will. It is God given and I would never want to deny anyone that freedom.

Does anyone here feel that people of other faiths be forced to join the Catholic Church?

Absolutely not. I do however believe that Catholics have an obligation to follow Christ’s mandate to spread the Good News of His Gospel. I believe we should spread the truth about the Church and encourage, but certainly not force, people to become members of the Catholic Church.

 

[Miriam1947]

Are some here advocating the we become Islamic and force conversion by threats or by the sword?

The Holy Spirit leads us to the Church. It is always by the power of God. We can only witness, we can never convert.