I’m Losing Faith in the Catholic Church

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Maybe you could go to the Fraternal Society of St Peter(FSSP), they do everything properly and believe and teach the full faith while at the same time having full approval form the Holy See and the Pope to operate.

Almost as soon as the document declaring a latae senaete Excommunication against archbishop Lefebvre was issued, the FSSP was formed between some of his priests and the Pope, these being priests who were likely already of the correct mindset all along. This meant people did not have to choose between on the one hand a potential schism and on the other hand the radical opposite. This shows something very important:

God provides and He has never abandoned His people, so please don’t become a sedevacantist or His effort will be in vain and this beautiful gift of the FSSP and ICKSP and other similar groups will all be for nothing.
 
Good point. Sadly, some “RCIA” programs, sponsors, etc. do not talk about that first year or two after entering the Church. It can be a serious doubt time, very dry spiritually, tempting to leave the Church.

My advice, get involved with something, volunteer to clean the yard or sing in the choir, plug into community.
 
There are good times and bad, and these are definitely bad ones. Many are called, but few are chosen. The evil often far outnumber the good. As St. Gregory commented:
And it should not frighten you that in the Church the bad are many and the good few. For the Ark, which in the midst of the Flood was a figure of this Church, was wide below and narrow above, and at the summit measured but one cubit (Genesis vi, 16). And we are to believe that below were the four-footed animals and serpents, above the birds and men. It was wide where the beasts were, narrow where men lived: for the Holy Church is indeed wide in the number of those who are carnal minded, narrow in those who are spiritual. For where she suffers the morals and beastly ways of men, there she enlarges her bosom. But where she has the care of those whose lives are founded on spiritual things, these she leads to the higher place; but since they are few, this part is narrow. Wide indeed is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction; and many there are who go in thereat. How narrow is the gate that leadeth to life; and few there are that find it!
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There have been bad times before. Do these sound familiar?

St. Basil in his time:
  1. Our distresses are notorious, even though we leave them untold, for now their sound has gone out into all the world. The doctrines of the Fathers are despised; apostolic traditions are set at nought; the devices of innovators are in vogue in the Churches; now men are rather contrivers of cunning systems than theologians; the wisdom of this world wins the highest prizes and has rejected the glory of the cross. Shepherds are banished, and in their places are introduced grievous wolves hurrying the flock of Christ. Houses of prayer have none to assemble in them; desert places are full of lamenting crowds. The elders lament when they compare the present with the past. The younger are yet more to be compassionated, for they do not know of what they have been deprived. All this is enough to stir the pity of men who have learned the love of Christ; but, compared with the actual state of things, words fall very far short.
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continued…
 
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continued from above…

St. Bridget (the Boniface mentioned is Boniface VIII):
The city is spiritually unhappy, because many of the decrees issued in the church by holy popes under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit for the glory of God and the salvation of souls have now been abolished. In their place, alas, many new abuses have been adopted under the inspiration of the evil spirit for the dishonor of God and the perdition of souls.
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Hence, it is to be feared that the Catholic faith will soon perish, unless some such man arrives who, with a real and not a counterfeit faith, loves God above all things and his neighbor as himself and abolishes all these abuses. Have compassion, then, on the church and on those of her clergy who love God wholeheartedly and abhor all these wicked customs.
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Today I can say of Rome what the prophet said of Jerusalem: ‘Once righteousness lodged in her and her princes were princes of peace. Now she has turned to dross and her princes have become murderers.’ O Rome, if you knew your days, you would surely weep and not rejoice. Rome was in olden days like a tapestry dyed in beautiful colors and woven with noble threads. Its soil was dyed in red, that is, in the blood of martyrs, and woven, that is, mixed with the bones of the saints. Now her gates are abandoned, in that their defenders and guardians have turned to avarice. Her walls are thrown down and left unguarded, in that no one cares that souls are being lost. Rather, the clergy and the people, who are the walls of God, have scattered away to work for carnal advantage.
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But you should know that countless souls ascended into heaven from the time of humble Peter until Boniface ascended the throne of pride. Yet Rome is still not without friends of God. If they were given some help, they would cry out to the Lord and he would have mercy on them.
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St. Bernard:
It was once predicted of the Church, and now the time of its fulfillment draws near: Behold, in peace is my bitterness most bitter (Is. 38:17). It was bitter at first in the persecution of the martyrs, more bitter in later times in the struggle with the great heresiarchs, but most bitter of all now in the evil lives of her members. She cannot drive them away, and she cannot flee from them, so strongly established are they, and so multiplied are they above measure. The plague of the Church is inward; it is incurable. It is that which makes its bitterness most bitter, even in the midst of peace. But in what peace! Peace it is, and yet it is not peace. There is peace with the world, but not from her own sons. At this time is heard the voice of her complaining: I have nourished and brought forth children, and they have rebelled against me (Is. 1:2). They have rebelled. They have dishonored me with their evil lives, by their many works which walk in darkness.
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He later says it was so bad that all that was left to come was the Antichrist. Things got better.

But the Church does teach the final trial–which could or could not be this one–will shake the faith of many. Hold fast to what you have received.
 
Alainval said:
I was a Protestant, but then after researching more I found the Catholic Church to be the true church.
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That hasn’t changed.

Remember, even among the twelve hand-selected by Christ himself, one of them betrayed Him to death.

Don’t leave Jesus because of Judas. The Church is still the True Church founded by Christ, and He promised her His protection. There have always been, and will always be, bad actors. Pray for them, their souls are in grave peril.
 
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When I get up in the morning, I do a morning offering of my entire day with all the joys, sorrows and struggles, in union with Christ, for the salvation of the world. Our Blessed Mother asked this of us at Fatima in 1917. So there can be all kinds of stuff going on around me but I take care of what is mine to take care of. Remember the scripture that Peter got out of the boat in rough seas to go to the Lord. If you look around at how rough the seas are, you’ll sink for sure. Many things can cause us to wring our hands but in the day to day of living life, give everything to the Lord and you and I will be like that little boy, with a few loaves and fish, and the Lord feeds the 5 thousand. That is us, and that is our story.
 
Very sorry to hear of this crisis of faith. My suggestion is to stop staring at the ditch and focus on the road and where it leads. The Church has weathered far, far worse than what appears today. We have only one Pope, for example. He is not of the Medici family. He is in Rome and not Avignon. He does not have a series of mistresses and a literal family of illegitimate children.

Ah, but we are looking right and left - seeing only corruption, sin and hypocrisy. We err when we stop looking up to the perfection of God; when we take our gaze off the Tabernacle and notice only the sinners surrounding us - sometimes forgetting that we are sinners surrounding them!

What to to? Go to Christ. It is absolutely guaranteed that one’s disposition will improve in Christ’s presence at adoration. Secondly, an enlightening video of Fr. Robert Spitzer’s presentation on the Holy Father’s modus operandi. Have a watch. Go to adoration. Forget the flies buzzing about and contemplate the Pearl of Great Price.


Or the entire talk:


It is good to recall also the primary tactics of the evil one:

 
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I don’t believe the Church is in crisis.

A small minority of bishops, focused in Germany, are pushing things. Virtually every priest, bishop, and cardinal is perfectly orthodox. Only some, as I say mostly focused in one country, say questionable things.

99.9% of deacons, priests, bishops and Cardinals are orthodox and uphold the True faith. Rome and the Holy Father have openly expressed their concerns with the situation in Germany.

Don’t worry too much about it. God’s will be done.
 
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Jesus has allowed if you believe Pope Leo XIII vision which brought about the St Michael Prayer
 
OP this is not directed at you. It seems like you are not yet even Catholic by what you have said. But I just have to get this off my chest for the sake of young and new Catholics out there.

The Gospels are indeed very, very Good News. They are a rock and a hearth for people regardless of what’s happening around them in the world. Good News is a cause for great faith, great joy and great hope and great love. Even if the whole world is gone off the rails, we have the Truth of the Gospels and the mission to spread it.

I can never understand why people who profess faith in Scripture can still think and act like the Pharisees. Their attitudes and behaviour has been so clearly condemned by Christ Himself in so many places in the Gospels and yet for some reason, people don’t take that seriously. They look down, condemn, judge everyone around them as inferior to them.

It’s a very strange phenomenon. For new and young Catholics reading threads like this. Christ came for sinners. He instituted saving grace that is channeled through the witness of the faithful. It’s the antithesis of Christs legacy to be miserly with charity and abundant in condemnation. Please don’t do it. It sucks the life out of Christianity.
 
There is only one Ark of salvation. Jumping off Noah’s ark because of the smell of the animals would have been crazy. You would have just drowned in the swirling waters. Always separate the men of the Church from the Church. Stay the course.
 
It looks like your registered for the forum in November 2019 and listed your religion as Protestant. So you must be a completely new Catholic? If so, and given the fact that some of the Church scandals we’ve been experiencing are years old now, what happened over these few months to make you so full of doubts when you were once so sure Catholicism is the Truth? As a new convert, you need to gain some maturity in the faith by keeping your focus on Jesus and remembering not to judge others. I’d advise you especially to learn more about Church history in order to see all the ups and downs–and spectacular survival–the Church has had over 2000 years. Have you read Dante, for example? Have you immersed yourself in the lives of the saints who lived through tumultuous times? Yes, there’s a honeymoon period for many new converts, but the call is now to start deepening your faith so that it is not surface-only. Read the Parable about the sower and the seed, and resolve to let the seed fall on good ground.
 
I think most who have commented can understand and are empathetic to the feeling of sorrow for the Church, but there have always been individual people in the history of the Church who have done abuses that have led to sorrow. That doesn’t mean that the Church is wrong. It doesn’t follow that what some people are doing or have are saying then disqualifies the Church as true. If that’s the case, no religion is true.
Alainval said:
I see our Pope saying things that are close to heresy
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Key word is close. But, the issue with that somethings can be lost in translation and also, that what things the Holy Father has said have not be ex cathedra. So, while it can be a bit faith shaking to see him saying things that we may interpret as heresy, he is not saying ex cathedra. Remember, there have been many Popes that were wrong in the past, one Pope even denied Christ three times…cough-cough Peter cough-cough…So this is no reason to abandon faith in the Church.
The devil wants to tempt us, he wants us to leave the Body of Christ more than anything. Take faith in the fact that the devil is trying to get you to leave, more evidence that you are right in being Catholic

Remember the Eucharist, that we have Christ in it, and find hope in that.
"Always remain close to the Catholic Church, because she alone can give the true peace, since she alone possesses Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, the true Prince of Peace. St. Padre Pio
 
I’m not sure why you responded to me, but from reading what you’ve gone through, all I can say is that I’m not qualified to handle your situation.

You need to talk to a priest and medical professionals to get help.

I’ll pray for you, and ask Christ to come into your life and protect you.

In Christ Jesus
 
The tales of the demise of Christ’s Church are greatly exaggerated by a small handful of sensationalists. Caveat Emptor
 
How terrible for them!!! They have to partake of the Eucharist!
 
If the sedevacantist don’t believe that Pope Francis is occupying the office of Pope, then they don’t believe the Pope is the head of the Church. Francis was duly elected according the Canon Law, therefore the office is occupied.

To my understanding, the SSPX feel that changes which occurred as a result of Vatican II were not valid for some reason or believe that those changes put the Church in a direction it should not be going.

My point was that both of these groups which the OP sited have themselves created divisiveness by their actions. The OP stated that those two groups “show how far we have gone” indicating that the OP might not agree with the Church herself.

The belief by the two groups the OP mentioned that they are right and the Church herself is wrong, isn’t a great position to argue from IMO.
 
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