Is it a sin to sometimes wish the Catholic Church were wrong?

[nsper7]

Earlier today, I was talking to a friend of mine and I mentioned that sometime I wish the Catholic Church were wrong, especially on Confession. After all, I worry about Confession and I often get Scrupulous about it (worrying did I go into enough detail, did I commit a mortal sin, did I forget to mention a sin in Confession, etc.) and I sometimes wish one of the Protestants who I debate/discuss with would prove Catholicism wrong so I would not be so Scrupulous about some of these things? Another example is I sometimes wish that Hell was not so real a threat.

Is that a sin to think or let cross that your mind? Obviously, I believe the Catholic Church is correct on matters of faith and doctrine.

 

[JPUSC]

Sounds normal to me. I think a lot of people want to believe that hell isn’t real. I mean, who in their right mind would want to suffer for all eternity!

 

[Oswaldiking]

I am curious about this question too.It it far more great in my case because I am living in a country where the official religion is Islam and I am exposed to an unlimited information about that religion,which is good for my knowledge but that sometimes made me think and wonder…is Catholicism wrong?Is this thinking a sin?

 

[Matariel]

Earlier today, I was talking to a friend of mine and I mentioned that sometime I wish the Catholic Church were wrong, especially on Confession. After all, I worry about Confession and I often get Scrupulous about it (worrying did I go into enough detail, did I commit a mortal sin, did I forget to mention a sin in Confession, etc.) and I sometimes wish one of the Protestants who I debate/discuss with would prove Catholicism wrong so I would not be so Scrupulous about some of these things? Another example is I sometimes wish that Hell was not so real a threat.

Is that a sin to think or let cross that your mind? Obviously, I believe the Catholic Church is correct on matters of faith and doctrine.

Not me. The alternative to Catholicism being wrong (not taking the Eastern Schismatics into account) is Protestantism being right, which is pretty much an impossiblity since they came 15,00 years after the fact, are so contradictory, confused, divided, and generally falling apart in the Western world.

The Church is a great gift from Heaven, and the most beautiful Institution on Earth. It is the largest charitable Organization in the world. It has done more to promote science and education and art and philosophy than any other Organization in human history. So, no, I wouldn’t go around wishing that it wasn’t God’s Church on Earth. It’s a heavenly gift.

 

[Matariel]

I am curious about this question too.It it far more great in my case because I am living in a country where the official religion is Islam and I am exposed to an unlimited information about that religion,which is good for my knowledge but that sometimes made me think and wonder…is Catholicism wrong?Is this thinking a sin?

Personally, I don’t know. But I do know the Catholic Church is full of truth and beauty and is the Holy Religion of God on Earth, and the only monotheistic Religion which leaves its followers with a source of infallible guidance on Earth so they will always know right from wrong.

 

[Gentle_Cat]

I agree with JPUSC. It seems quite normal to think the way you do, and not a sin at all. I can’t remember where, but somewhere I remember reading that while the Church confidently asserts that certain people are in heaven (i.e. by canonising them as saints), we have no absolute ceratinty about whether anyone is in hell. It certainly seems unlikely that you will end up there, nsper7 - you are obviously trying to do the right thing. Let’s remember that, as Jesus assures us, God is a loving Father, not a harsh judge. Would any half-way decent father banish his child from him forever when that child was trying to please him, even if he/she didn’t always get it right? Yet, as Jesus also tells us, God is greater and more perfectly loving than any earthly father!