Protestant composers? Bach. Yup. Lutheran.
ButâŚ
tjp-online.com/musicarchive/mozart/bio1.html
âIn Leopold Mozartâs house, religion always held a prominent place. He was a devout and unquestioning Catholic, and assumed that his children would emulate him. And Wolfgang, during his childhood, was certainly as observant of Catholic practices as his father could wish. But his religion was as much a sort of miniicry as was his mastery of every musical style. As he matured, he did not so much rebel against the Church as lose interest in it.â
net.unl.edu/musicFeat/composer/cmmendelssohn.html
âMendelssohn was the grandson of Moses Mendelssohn, one of the leading philosophers in the Enlightenment era. In his work Jerusalem (1783), Moses Mendelssohn conveyed to Jews a way of engaging with the Christian world in which they found themselves without turning their backs on Judaism.â
(Yes he was baptized. Yes he married a protestant ministerâs daughter. But protestant in his thought and heart, I doubt.)
its.caltech.edu/~tan/BeethovenMissaSolemnis/religious_views.html
âFrom historical evidence, todayâs scholars know that Beethoven did not attend Mass regularly, and from that they inferred that he was not an orthodox Christian. His actual religious beliefs are not clearly defined, but references in his letters imply a firm belief in an ultimate, benign, and intelligent Power.â
Everything you post here is quite accurate ⌠however, Mozart was an active member of the Masonic Lodge and while some of his earlier music was used in church, when he refused to dissassociate himself from the Masons, it was banned from liturgical use in the Catholic Church. Evidently Mozart had considerably more loyalty to the Masons than to the Catholic Church. Obviously some of his music, especially the masses, are quite Catholic in nature, but were not accepted by the Church in his lifetime.
As for Mendellsohn, he converted to Lutheranism and after Bach, is one of the stars of that denominationâs musical heritage. (Now why anyone would have the wedding march from his incidental music to Shakespearâs Midsummer Nights Dream played at their wedding I donât understand ⌠not a particularly orthodox marriage portrayed in that play!!)
And Beethoven, as you noted, was not known to be orthodox in his religious practice.
I only mentioned those giants of the musical world as examples of composers from whom we draw regularly who were not practicing Catholics writing music that was used liturgically âŚindeed they were more Potestant in their religious practice. Perhaps I should have qualified their music as not being Catholic Church music, rather than Protestant.
My intent was not to start a debate about how devout Beethoven was or wasnât, or when Mendellsohn converted, or if Mozartâs Masonic involvement excluded him from the Catholic Church. My point was that these men were NOT practicing Catholics and their music was not used liturgically by the Catholic Church at the time it was written, yet I see no problem with using their masterful works, as they are for the most part theologically quite sound.
Please understand my intent here: It was to point out that I see no problem with using music that was not originally used in the Catholic Church. I have no objection to using good hymns, cantatas, masses, etc. that come from non-Catholic sources or other religious traditions as long as it does not contradict Catholic teaching. Off the top of my head I can thing of one composerâs âMassâ that would never (I hope!!!) be used in a Catholic liturgical service ⌠that is the Mass by Leonard Bernstein.
Perhaps I should have been more specific and I apoligize if I was a bit flip in the way I originally stated my thoughts.
My other main point was my objection to some of the absolutely horrible contemporary hymns (both musically and theologically) in use today, along with a bit of comment on why I find Amazing Graze and A Might Fortress objectionable for liturgical use.
Thank you for your well-considered comments, but please understand my point. I guess Iâm one of those people who considerâs anything Christian, but not authentically Catholic, to be Protestant. (A converstaion Iâve had with some of my Southen Baptist in-laws who do not consider themselves to be âProtestantâ.)
I must say that as a new member to these forums, I am enjoying reading the posts. This is the first one Iâve participated in. The courtesy with which debates are held here is quite refreshing in the world of the Internet!
The Lord be with you,
âSons of Godâ which had the congregation bopping and swaying to the âbeatâ. If anyone wants to read a very good article on dreadful 
hymns, here is the link to the Adoremus site, which has supplied me with a wealth of information and advice.adoremus.org/499Pasley.html
