Former Catholics...

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jewelz said:
You stare and stare at the obvious, but you can’t see the forest for the trees.

You are looking only on the surface of things, the outward physical appearance of the church, the building and its people in it, the religion and its followers,
that is how you understand a church, a label (Catholic, Protestant, etc) that people call themselves to be.

You see the many trees, the many denominations, and consider them divided.
Yet you cannot see that the forest, all the local churches that form the one Bride of Christ, all trees united by that saving faith in Christ.
Those trees that He redeemed as his own, and not because those trees beared fruit,
but He made them even more fruitful.

If you are confident that you belong to Christ,
you should consider again that I belong to Christ just as much as you.

If you think you are the only ones who belong to Christ, then think again. We also belong to Christ. No church or denomintaion has a claim on Christ, it is Christ who claims His church.

If you’re looking for a clear example of someone on Christ’s side, why do you so quickly cut me out? Believe me, I am quite sure of my standing with Christ.

It is not about you belonging to the Catholic Church.
Or I belonging to a protestant church,
God does not belong to any Church.
It is the Church who belongs to God.

Everyone who belongs to Christ, already belongs to His Church.
But not everyone who is a church member belongs to Christ,
remember there are many hypocrites and wolves and false teachers/prophets inside the church among true believers.
Only God knows them, for only God knows what really is in their hearts regardless of their outside religious behavior.

God finds His people, even those who ran away from the RCC because of her corruption, even in remote places where there are no church buildings. God calls people unto Himself, not into a church. God’s presence is no longer on top of a mountain where people worship in ancient days, His presence is not limited in a “holy” church building, His presence resides in His true followers, His holy priesthood of believers
— wherever they may be God is also there with them.
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It is funny how one can make a long post that contains almost no substance. Just a mishmashed regurgitation of new age pablam.
 
vocatio said:
If you have left the Church either now or before returning, did you officially renounce the Church by submitting a letter to your bishop? If so why? And if not why not?

Did you know that the Catholic Church will always consider you a Catholic as long as you do not officially defect from Catholic Church by submitting a letter. I was officially baptized in a Protestant Church and the Catholic Church still did not reconize that as an official defection. I was still considered Catholic…which made coming back home much easier too. So if that is a door you want to leave open I guess you can. But if you’re brave enough to tallk about it, then please do. No body’s reason could ever trump mine, unless you were killed of course.😉
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Yes, I wrote a letter. Never heard a single thing back. I figured the Bishop would ask someone to call me to try to convince me to stay. But the Catholic Church didn’t care at all. I never heard back from anyone at the Bishop’s office and although I was a member of a local parish - registered, they had my name and telephone number - they never once called me.

Since becoming Orthodox, about a decade ago, we missed several of weeks of Church due to illness in the family, a death in the family = out of town, and also a couple due to pure laziness = sleeping in. One of the priests from my GOC called me to find out how we was doing because he was concerned about us. It was just another of many confirmations that I’d made the right choice in leaving the Catholic Church and becoming Orthodox. The True Church of Christ would have compassion and care about it’s members just as Christ Himself has compassion and cares about each one of us.

(Another way the Orthodox Church is much more personal is when the priest gives us the Eucharist he says, “The servant of the Lord, Marina (or whatever the name of communicant is), receives the Body and Blood…”)

Some have told me that it’s because the Catholic priests are over worked with all their parishioners and that’s why they don’t know us by name or miss us from Church if we don’t go to Mass; however, the GOC I attend is larger in the # of parishioners than the local Catholic Churches and we only have two priests, but at the Catholic Churches they have at least 3. The truth of matter is they actually care - that is the difference.
 
I certainly understand how you feel. But to judge the inidividuals that get hold of your letter or that don’t remember your name is just simply being judgemental. Only God knows the hearts of man. So be at peace with your decision… But to do it and spite the family that held you since birth is not nice to say minimal. That’s like saying your parents should have known better than to do this or that.

In the beginning, I defected to a Protestant Church and discovered the Orthodox Church somewhere along the way. I knew nothing about them. I found out that they too went back as far as the Latin Church. When I realized I had made a grave error I wanted to go Orhtodox at first and discovered how wonderful a tradition it is. It’s beautiful. My wife refused to even think about it for reasons I won’t go into. She once was anti-Catholic and fell in love with our priests, much the same way you fell in love with the Orthodox priests. So, even though your having a wonderful experience others are having equally the same where we’re at. Others, Protestants, would say with equal zeal that they are having a better time…feeling God. But that’s not how we chose. We followed the time line in history…I struggled with doctrinal issues declared in the eccumenical councils since the Great Schism. But slowly but surely I’ve come to a better understanding and historical view and understanding between the Orthodox and Catholic Church. I still see us as brothers and sisters that need to reunite once again…and stay that way. No need to hurl stones back and forth. Shame on both sides.

PAX Christi tecum

BTW: Did the Orthodox require you to submit the letter to your Bishop?
 
I was raised Catholic from birth but never took it as more than a social/family custom. I dropped it when reaching legal adulthood.

I never sent a letter or did any sort of formal thing because I didn’t consider myself under the Church’s authority - spiritual or otherwise.
 
I’m torn about returning to the Church I was raised in. To many things happened, too many things to forget. From Nun’s who beat the dirt from my pores to violating family members. My faith remains true it’s how I practice it that’s changed. I pray to my Lord daily and I feel him in my soul. It’s the trust issue that keeps me from returning mixed with anger I’ve yet to let go of. To me if I let go of the anger I might be foolish enough to trust the church again. Yet I’ve joined this webb site? Maybe I’m trying to test the waters.
I have a great uncle who happens to be a monk. His name is Father Mathew Kelty. He’s a beautiful man filled with a peace I can only dream of. He’s 94 years old and lives in the Abbey of Gethsemine located in Trappest Kentucky. He is my peace, my strength, my beloved great uncle and I love him dearly. 🙂 How can I have such a beautiful priest in my life, in my family and still not trust the church?
 
vocatio said:
If you have left the Church either now or before returning, did you officially renounce the Church by submitting a letter to your bishop? If so why? And if not why not?

Did you know that the Catholic Church will always consider you a Catholic as long as you do not officially defect from Catholic Church by submitting a letter. I was officially baptized in a Protestant Church and the Catholic Church still did not reconize that as an official defection. I was still considered Catholic…which made coming back home much easier too. So if that is a door you want to leave open I guess you can. But if you’re brave enough to tallk about it, then please do. No body’s reason could ever trump mine, unless you were killed of course.😉
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Yes I did submit a letter to the Bishop. I did not get a response.

I left to join the Orthodox Church after years of prayer and study over the issues which separated Rome from the rest of the Orthodox Church.
 
Yes, I did end up sending a letter to a bishop (actually the Archdiocese of Chicago), this past summer. I had not been a practicing or beleiving Catholic for at least 20 years. After many years of searching and discernment as a secular/agnostic, I dedicated myself to a pagan path, where I have been very happy and fulfilled.

Having been told you can never “quit” the church, I never knew of “formal defection” until recently. Its formal name is Actus Formalis Defectionis ab Ecclesia Catholica. Once I learned the appropriate canon law behind it, it was relatively straightforward. A written statement that you definitively and freely reject the faith and understand the consequences. They had me get a notary seal to prove it was actually me, but they were very prompt and professional about it, and returned a letter within a week or so acknowledging it. Even though you are always considered Catholic by virtue of baptism, they do make a notation on your baptismal record noting that you no longer belong to the earthly church, so to speak. The only canonical consequences are that you can’t take sacrements anymore and that you are also exempt from following church forms for marriage.

So why did I bother? To me it was an act of mutual respect. As someone who does not share the church’s beliefs and finds some of them to be repugnant to his conscience, it was important to me that the church no longer counted me as a member and could not speak in my name. At the same time, I had no business representing myself as a Catholic in any capacity given that I was and am not in communion at all with Rome.

Historically, almost no one has gone to the trouble to formally defect in this country, especially via the very formal documented means demanded by a 2006 ruling. Thousands have done so recently in Ireland, aided by a website that makes the whole thing one-stop shopping. I will be very curious to see how the church handles it going forward. The latest Motu Proprio eliminated the marriage exemption created by defection, so once that takes effect, a formal defection will have no real meaning in canon law whatsoever, so I wonder if they will even continue to receive and accept such letters.
 
Kelty901 said:
I’m torn about returning to the Church I was raised in. To many things happened, too many things to forget. From Nun’s who beat the dirt from my pores to violating family members. My faith remains true it’s how I practice it that’s changed. I pray to my Lord daily and I feel him in my soul. It’s the trust issue that keeps me from returning mixed with anger I’ve yet to let go of. To me if I let go of the anger I might be foolish enough to trust the church again. Yet I’ve joined this webb site? Maybe I’m trying to test the waters.
I have a great uncle who happens to be a monk. His name is Father Mathew Kelty. He’s a beautiful man filled with a peace I can only dream of. He’s 94 years old and lives in the Abbey of Gethsemine located in Trappest Kentucky. He is my peace, my strength, my beloved great uncle and I love him dearly. 🙂 How can I have such a beautiful priest in my life, in my family and still not trust the church?
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oh dear, trust is a very hard thing to regain. but remember it wasnt the Church but someone in the Church who did this to you. should we punish God for the sins of man? of course not. neither can we punish the Church. and that is where forgiveness comes. can we forgive those who have not hurt us? of course not. Jesus was very clear about forgiveness. i am sure if you begin to pray for those who hurt you, soon you will find yourself feeling much better about them. remember the Our Father? and forgive our trespasses as we forgive those who trespasses against us. remember also the Parable of the King who forgave the servant’s debts and the servant turned around and did not forgive his debtors? it is the hardest thing for us to forgive certain harms done to us. i know i have been there. but it can be done and your life will be so much better. ask God to help you to forgive.

blessings.
 
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