My friend who I thought was a devout Catholic left the church

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Francisco_Fernando

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Hey. I just ran into my friend while at work. I thought that we would have a religious conversation. I asked him about Fulton Sheen and he has heard about it. I talked to him about scrupulosity as well. He then tell me to just believe in the bible and you’ll be OK. When he sounded Protestant, then I stopped looking at him. He said that neither the Catholic Church or any Protestant Church would lead you to God. He said that he left the Catholic Church because it was heretical, like praying to Mary and the Saints. He thinks that the pope is not legitimate. I was caught off guard when he said that because he posted Fulton Sheen posts on Facebook. I don’t know if he was poorly catechized or not but it didn’t seem like it.
 
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Pray for him, sad …hope he returns and maybe you can get more info to explain to him the truth of our faith…you might help him to return. Prayers for your friend.
 
Sounds like for him praying to Saints or Mary is against his vaules. Like maybe he believes praying to God and Jesus is enough for him.
Unless he was influence by other religious belife system. Or that some thing happened in their life that came to that conclusion.
Have you asked him why? As to what happened?
Their is always a story behind these things.
 
Francisco_Fernando said:
I don’t know if he was poorly catechized or not but it didn’t seem like it.
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Some of the best catechized, best apologists I’ve known IRL have left the faith.

Catechesis, head knowledge, only goes so far. One must have a real relationship with Christ and His Church.

Continue to love your friend. Let your love and joy be a witness to him.
 
If Martin Luther fell away after being a priest, monk and theology professor then no one would surprise me.
 
It seems like a reasonable question if don respectfully, " Brother, tell me about you journey."
 
Is he a… real life friend or an internet friend? Many Neo-protestants (Sects) pose as Catholics to promote their beliefs. Him posting Arch Sheen is nothing if you only know about this online. He could have been fishing for all this time…
Be careful!
 
He is partly right. Merely walking into a church doesn’t automatically make you a Christian and connect you deeply with God. The church gives us truths and tools to find God, but then we have to embrace & believe those truths and use those tools to connect with God as individuals. The Bible is one of the amazing gifts God has given us to help us connect with him personally. In that sense he is right.

But you are also right in being concerned that he seems to have cut himself off from the church. Cutting yourself off from the church means you cut yourself off from a friend who will help you see the deeper meanings of the scriptures, and, help you not to embrace wrong interpretations of certain verses. It is good that he is pursuing a deeper personal relationship with God, and you can encourage him in that. But pray for him to return to his best friend, the church.

To keep him as a friend, keep your conversation about Bible stories and your personal connection with God - things we both treasure.
 
Well that’s understandable a lot of us would feel anxious or uncomfortable asking them especially if we know the individual maybe sensitive in that area.
 
DaddyGirl2 said:
Why is it that when someone doesn’t agree with a teaching, people (not you) often chalk it up to being “poorly catechized”?
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Because more often than not that is the case.
It may be possible otherwise, but if the vast majority are, than it is a safe bet.

Also, the indications are such from the original post.
 
Agree. Some of the most devout Catholics I’ve met were not formally catechized at all. They live in remote places where they were given basic teachings, rarely saw a priest, are illiterate or have a very basic reading ability, yet they are so deeply in love with Christ and His Church that it is palpable.

St Paul wrote:

And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.
 
  1. If this is a friendship you value, go out to eat, talk about your lives, about how your faith life infuses and informs all the rest of it…ask why He feels uncomforable asking Mary and the Saints to pray for him since he’s stated as such. Work on the friendship here, to help the friendships that pierce the veil.
 
In accordance with scripture and the model prayer “Lords Prayer” we are to pray to Our Father. Also we are told specifically that we only have one mediator between us and God and that person is Jesus Christ. That word mediator is a bridge. Also in this thread I see a lot of praying to saints and Mary. The apostles asked how to pray and Again Jesus started off by Our Father not saints or Mary. I believe that we are to pray to our Holy Father, not the pope, and then ask these things in Christ name.
 
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