Jehovah Witness article has an ex Catholic convert lie about Catholic Theology

[pacloc]

This is from their Jan 2014 Public Watchtower under an interview titled “Jehovah Had Not Forgotten Me”:

MY PAST:
I was born into a middle-class neighborhood of Bilbao, in northern Spain. I was the second of four children. Our family were devout Catholics, and I attended Mass daily. At the age of 23, I became a teacher—a vocation that I loved and pursued for 40 years. Among other subjects, I was proud to teach the Catholic religion, and in the evenings I served as a catechist—instructing girls for their first communion.

After 12 years of happy marriage, I was widowed and left with four daughters to care for. I was only 33 years old! I tried to find consolation in my Catholic faith, but I had recurring questions. I wondered: ‘Why do humans continue to die if Christ redeemed us? Why do we pray for God’s Kingdom to come if good people go to heaven?’ And above all, I thought: ‘If God judges us when we die, why would we later need to leave heaven, purgatory, or hell for the final judgment?’

I put those questions to some priests I met. One of them answered: “I don’t know. Ask the bishop. Why does it matter? You believe in God, don’t you? Just let it be!” But I kept on searching for answers. Later, I attended lectures by Jesuits, Pentecostals, and Gnostics. Yet no one had satisfying answers to my questions.

I think it is horrendous that the Watchtower feels okay with spreading lies about the ignorance of the Cathoilc Church. They purposely try to build this lady’s credentials and then insult the knowledge she had from being Catholic. Her questions are not even questions that a poorly catechized Catholic would have. She is lying or the WT is lying, but either way, this is libel to the Catholic Church by not having proper editing clarifying what the Church teaches on these rather simple questions. They are nothing but crafty cheap shotters.

 

[Della]

You can complain to the editors of Watchtower about this, for all the good it will do. Any group that is willing to print lies isn’t going to care that they are doing so–at least that’s been my experience be it anti-Catholic sects or the secular media.

Those who know better will not be fooled. Those who don’t know better might be prompted to ask some questions that could lead them to the truth. And those who believe them do so out either of slothfulness for which they will have to answer to God or because they were brought up in that sect and so believe whatever they read from their material without question.

In any case, there are so many sects and people with agendas again the Church that a person could expend all their energy trying to refute them. That’s not what we are called to do. We are asked to “give an account of the joy that lies within us” as a witness to the good things God is doing in our lives. So, don’t be bothered by such things. Rather, pray for this woman and those who would deliberately publish lies, if they even stopped to ask if her story was true or if the answers she received were what she actually received.

 

[agnes_therese]

I think it is horrendous that the Watchtower feels okay with spreading lies about the ignorance of the Cathoilc Church. They purposely try to build this lady’s credentials and then insult the knowledge she had from being Catholic. Her questions are not even questions that a poorly catechized Catholic would have. She is lying or the WT is lying, but either way, this is libel to the Catholic Church by not having proper editing clarifying what the Church teaches on these rather simple questions. They are nothing but crafty cheap shotters.

I’ve seen some Catholics, and ex-Catholics, who are abysmally uninformed about Church teaching. To be a lie, it has to be deliberate; it truly could be that she doesn’t know any better. And that’s what allowed her to be sucked into the JW.

 

[pacloc]

I’ve seen some Catholics, and ex-Catholics, who are abysmally uninformed about Church teaching. To be a lie, it has to be deliberate; it truly could be that she doesn’t know any better. And that’s what allowed her to be sucked into the JW.

I understand that Catholics do not know their faith, but the point I was trying to make is that they titled her a “Catechist” and teacher of Catholic faith, and then asked things that no “Catechist” would ask. Catholics are one of the few religions that can answer the 1st question, because we know the value of suffering and do not teach that Jesus died so that we don’t have to. That question could be asked by many protestants, which led me to believe that this article is most likely fabricated. The question about leaving heaven, hell, or purgatory to be judged is also very strange, I have never heard of that ever being a concern. The Church does not teach any kind of leaving hell or heaven, so why would that bother her? I am also pretty sure that it is a simple fact that God’s kingdom came with Jesus, and that when we die we enter into the full presence of the Kingdom, either in Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory. Of course God has not ended the wicked world we live in yet, so we still await Jesus’ second coming which will bring God’s Kingdom to everyone. You would have to be a very ignorant Catholic to at least not know somewhat that Jesus has brought salvation, yet we still are waiting for his second coming. I truly believe that lies are purposely placed in this article.

Edit: So maybe you are right about the lady not knowing, but the sin is making her appear as instructor, indicating that we do not have answers for such silly questions.

I mainly wanted to write about this just in case any JW’s visit this site.

 

[Joe_Kelley]

I understand that Catholics do not know their faith, but the point I was trying to make is that they titled her a “Catechist” and teacher of Catholic faith, and then asked things that no “Catechist” would ask. …

Edit: So maybe you are right about the lady not knowing, but the sin is making her appear as instructor, indicating that we do not have answers for such silly questions.

…

Do realize that we have some misinformed instructors; the product of misinformed instructor training programs.

 

[KrazyKat]

Everyone has an opinion. She gave hers which shows her ignorance regarding the Catholic Church. The fact that she is now a JW? Well…

We must continue to pray for all fallen away Catholics, and for all sinners everywhere.

 

[adf417]

This is from their Jan 2014 Public Watchtower under an interview titled “Jehovah Had Not Forgotten Me”:

I think it is horrendous that the Watchtower feels okay with spreading lies about the ignorance of the Cathoilc Church. They purposely try to build this lady’s credentials and then insult the knowledge she had from being Catholic. Her questions are not even questions that a poorly catechized Catholic would have. She is lying or the WT is lying, but either way, this is libel to the Catholic Church by not having proper editing clarifying what the Church teaches on these rather simple questions. They are nothing but crafty cheap shotters.

Interesting -
I don’t find this on their website. Can you post a link? I like the last line - “Yet no one had satisfying answers to my questions.” I would like to use this and send to those I am conversing with as they too have not given satisfying answers to MY questions.

 

[pacloc]

I don’t understand/see where you say the convert is lying about Catholic theology.
Regarding the answer that one priest gave her?
(“I don’t know. Ask the bishop. Why does it matter? You believe in God, don’t you? Just let it be!”)
If so, how do you know she is lying? And how is this lying specifically about Catholic theology?
I’ve seen many posts here on CAF by people complaining that their priests had given them bad advice or was rude to them or didn’t seem to care or was giving information contrary to teaching.
This person’s interaction when posing these questions to this priest may indeed be truth.

Is there another part of the excerpt that you are talking about, that I am missing, that is lying about Catholic theology? Which part is it?

.

No offense, but you really need to be Catholic to understand how the article lies about Catholic Theology. Also, it seems you have not read anything I wrote about how these are not Catholic questions, because Catholic theology would never give rise to such questions because nothing of the sort is taught. If you are trying to be technical about what the article says or are trying to defend JW’s, that’s not what I have tried to show by posting the article. You also do not seem to know anything about Jehovah’s Witnesses. They claim to be the only true religion and have come up with all kinds of ways to show that Catholics and other parts of “Christendom” are wrong in their theology. For them to publish this article leaving the impression that the Church does not have answers to these simple questions is lying. They do know what we teach, and have purposely let the reader think that we don’t answer such questions.

Also this is the link:

jw.org/en/publications/magazines/wp20140101/jehovah-had-not-forgotten-me/

Edit:

To satisfy your critical view of her not lying about Catholic Theology, here is a lie she said regarding Theology:

"And above all, I thought: ‘If God judges us when we die, why would we later need to leave heaven, purgatory, or hell for the final judgment?’ "

The Church does not teach this, and she words the question as if all Catholics know this. She has built up a false idea of what kind of Theology we Catholics have.

 

[Memaw]

I don’t understand/see where you say the convert is lying about Catholic theology.
Regarding the answer that one priest gave her?
(“I don’t know. Ask the bishop. Why does it matter? You believe in God, don’t you? Just let it be!”)
If so, how do you know she is lying? And how is this lying specifically about Catholic theology?
I’ve seen many posts here on CAF by people complaining that their priests had given them bad advice or was rude to them or didn’t seem to care or was giving information contrary to teaching.
This person’s interaction when posing these questions to this priest may indeed be truth.

Is there another part of the excerpt that you are talking about, that I am missing, that is lying about Catholic theology? Which part is it?

.

I do believe that most DO know what they are doing. It isn’t hard today to check and see what the Catholic Church really does teach if one was interested in the TRUTH. BEFORE they print these things. I go to used book stores and thrift stores to look for books. And in one thrift store I go to, someone puts flyers that contain all kinds of lies in them, only in the Catholic books. Hoping I suppose that the Catholic that buys it will fall for their lies. Others have told me they found them too but just throw them away. I did complain and it stopped for awhile but now it’s starting to come back again slowly. I have looked thru many non-catholic books and have never found one in them. These flyers are supposedly by ex-Catholics, ex-Priests, ex-Nuns and they are full of just plain lies. Most are put out by “The Conversion Center, Inc”, in PA. I have found a few Chick Publications too.
These people are supposed to be sooo religious yet it doesn’t seem like they believe in the 8th Commandment. “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor!” Pray for them and destroy ever one you find. God Bless, Memaw

 

[pacloc]

I do believe that most DO know what they are doing. It isn’t hard today to check and see what the Catholic Church really does teach if one was interested in the TRUTH. BEFORE they print these things. I go to used book stores and thrift stores to look for books. And in one thrift store I go to, someone puts flyers that contain all kinds of lies in them, only in the Catholic books. Hoping I suppose that the Catholic that buys it will fall for their lies. Others have told me they found them too but just throw them away. I did complain and it stopped for awhile but now it’s starting to come back again slowly. I have looked thru many non-catholic books and have never found one in them. These flyers are supposedly by ex-Catholics, ex-Priests, ex-Nuns and they are full of just plain lies. Most are put out by “The Conversion Center, Inc”, in PA. I have found a few Chick Publications too.
These people are supposed to be sooo religious yet it doesn’t seem like they believe in the 8th Commandment. “Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor!” Pray for them and destroy ever one you find. God Bless, Memaw

Thank you Memaw, it starts to feel that know one understands the frustration I have. Just all hugs and kisses.

These are all just crafty ways to ruin one’s faith in the Holy Church.

 

[SteveVH]

This is from their Jan 2014 Public Watchtower under an interview titled “Jehovah Had Not Forgotten Me”:

I think it is horrendous that the Watchtower feels okay with spreading lies about the ignorance of the Cathoilc Church. They purposely try to build this lady’s credentials and then insult the knowledge she had from being Catholic. Her questions are not even questions that a poorly catechized Catholic would have. She is lying or the WT is lying, but either way, this is libel to the Catholic Church by not having proper editing clarifying what the Church teaches on these rather simple questions. They are nothing but crafty cheap shotters.

I think it is doubtful as to whether or not this is even a real person. The sad thing is that this is typical. They have a preoccupation with the Catholic Church and will do their best to discount it by whatever means are necessary.

 

[Memaw]

Thank you Memaw, it starts to feel that know one understands the frustration I have. Just all hugs and kisses.

These are all just crafty ways to ruin one’s faith in the Holy Church.

I used to talk to every JW that knocked on my door until I almost had one ex-Catholic talked back into the Church. They have stopped coming to my door ever since, for several years. I always took whatever literature they wanted to give me so it wouldn’t get passed on to anyone else. I never gave them a dime. But I would defiantly warn anyone from talking to them if you don’t have a clear understanding of the Catholic Faith. CAF has several good books and pamphlets to help. I have always wondered what happened to that lady, (the ex-Catholic), I was talking to. I asked her how she felt after walking away from Our Lord in Holy Communion, she said, “sad” and I said, You know you can always come back to the Church. She had already told me she made her First Holy Communion. She is in my prayers! Pray for the return of all fallen away Catholics. God Bless, Memaw

 

[SteveVH]

I used to talk to every JW that knocked on my door until I almost had one ex-Catholic talked back into the Church. They have stopped coming to my door ever since, for several years. I always took whatever literature they wanted to give me so it wouldn’t get passed on to anyone else. I never gave them a dime. But I would defiantly warn anyone from talking to them if you don’t have a clear understanding of the Catholic Faith. CAF has several good books and pamphlets to help. I have always wondered what happened to that lady, (the ex-Catholic), I was talking to. I asked her how she felt after walking away from Our Lord in Holy Communion, she said, “sad” and I said, You know you can always come back to the Church. She had already told me she made her First Holy Communion. She is in my prayers! Pray for the return of all fallen away Catholics. God Bless, Memaw

In my area, 65% of all JW’s are fallen away Catholics. Very sad.

 

[Memaw]

In my area, 65% of all JW’s are fallen away Catholics. Very sad.

I’m sure that’s true of many non Catholic denominations. We lost many during the confusion after Vatican II and the early charismatic growth. Pray for them! What amazes me now is the many hundred protestant ministers that are studying the Catholic Faith and becoming Catholic. And they never lie about the denomination they left. In fact they are thankful for what they shared with them. It’s all a matter of growing in the truth. I watch “Journey Home” every Monday evening at 7 pm CST,on EWTN Catholic Cable Network, Very interesting. God Bless, Memaw

 

[pacloc]

My mom is one of them. In her conversations and at “meetings”, she would always like to mention how good of a Catholic she was, and thought that she could convert the JW lady that came to her door. “And then she showed me what the bible really says…”

Really sad. I was raised to think Catholics were idiots that sinned all day and confessed it all on the weekend, just to do it again. The lies continue and will never stop, but ignoring them I think is an error. Most other religions that lie about Catholics at least do not go out everyday of the week handing out this garbage. JW’s must be silenced, they are the ones initiating the conversation. I have all kinds of arguments against JW’s, but I do not go around giving people magazines about it or speaking about it with no cause. And to top it off, I don’t need to add any lies or bias, I could use their own literature against them.

 

[Memaw]

My mom is one of them. In her conversations and at “meetings”, she would always like to mention how good of a Catholic she was, and thought that she could convert the JW lady that came to her door. “And then she showed me what the bible really says…”

Really sad. I was raised to think Catholics were idiots that sinned all day and confessed it all on the weekend, just to do it again. The lies continue and will never stop, but ignoring them I think is an error. Most other religions that lie about Catholics at least do not go out everyday of the week handing out this garbage. JW’s must be silenced, they are the ones initiating the conversation. I have all kinds of arguments against JW’s, but I do not go around giving people magazines about it or speaking about it with no cause. And to top it off, I don’t need to add any lies or bias, I could use their own literature against them.

Prayers for your Mom and all those influenced by the JW’s. God Bless, memaw

 

[SteveVH]

I’m sure that’s true of many non Catholic denominations. We lost many during the confusion after Vatican II and the early charismatic growth. Pray for them! What amazes me now is the many hundred protestant ministers that are studying the Catholic Faith and becoming Catholic. And they never lie about the denomination they left. In fact they are thankful for what they shared with them. It’s all a matter of growing in the truth. I watch “Journey Home” every Monday evening at 7 pm CST,on EWTN Catholic Cable Network, Very interesting. God Bless, Memaw

My favorite show on EWTN!

 

[mexolic]

The last sentence of the lady’s article reads: “Yet no one had satisfying answers to my questions.”

She got satisfying answers, but not the truth.
Mislead those that don’t know their Catholic faith with **satisfying answers **and they’re content. Hmmmm…so that’s how they do it.

 

[Della]

My mom is one of them. In her conversations and at “meetings”, she would always like to mention how good of a Catholic she was, and thought that she could convert the JW lady that came to her door. “And then she showed me what the bible really says…”

Really sad. I was raised to think Catholics were idiots that sinned all day and confessed it all on the weekend, just to do it again. The lies continue and will never stop, but ignoring them I think is an error. Most other religions that lie about Catholics at least do not go out everyday of the week handing out this garbage. JW’s must be silenced, they are the ones initiating the conversation. I have all kinds of arguments against JW’s, but I do not go around giving people magazines about it or speaking about it with no cause. And to top it off, I don’t need to add any lies or bias, I could use their own literature against them.

I understand now that you have a personal stake in this, which is why you are so upset. I’m so sorry your mom got drawn into the JWs. :console: I will remember her in my Evening Prayer intentions.

I came from an anti-Catholic background, as well, but at least we were Trinitarians. Still, I read Chick tracts and passed on lies about the Church, but in all innocence thinking the Church as bad as I was told it was. I never thought to read any real Catholic books at the time. We were told that we’d be lied to and that they’d suck us in with all the beauty and “smells and bells.” I have to laugh about that last bit now because part of what drew me to the Church was those very things.

Anyway, I could spend my time trying to refute all the lies that are still being told about the Church, but it’s not worth it because it only gets you more and more upset. Not that we shouldn’t defend our faith when it comes under attack, but direct assault won’t work on people like your mother because her pride is at stake. She’ll only dig her heels in deeper. I advise loving her and showing her that as a Catholic you have something she should want to have, too. And pray, pray, pray for her, which I have no doubt you are doing. There’s really nothing else you can do. The rest is up to the Holy Spirit.

 

[adf417]

I think it is doubtful as to whether or not this is even a real person. The sad thing is that this is typical. They have a preoccupation with the Catholic Church and will do their best to discount it by whatever means are necessary.

Propaganda! it is a very strong tactic of theirs.

A few years back my sister (a JW) forwards an email and along with much falsities it also had this quote:

Recently on the Jeopardy TV quiz show, one of the answers was “Its the most accurate translation of the Holy Scripture” No one got the question correct, so Alex Trebek sais “What is the; New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, printed by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society”

To this day they have not been able to provide any truth to the statement that Jeopardy had this on their program (not to mention the truth of it) or for that matter any other of falsities the article spewed. The article go on to quote Jason Beduhn, an associate professor at Northern Arizona University as to his expertise on the validity of the statement od the NWT being the most accurate translation.

There was not much energy spent by them defending this article as they quickly diverted the argument to other doctrinal issues they felt more at ease of defending. It was just a tool for propaganda and I didn’t fall for it. I suggest to all to be careful!

Peace!!!