Regret becoming a Catholic?

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MiserereMei said:
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steve-b:
have you now gotten answers to those tough questions , that you didn’t have answers for THEN?
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I am beginning to get the answers I needed then, and the answers I need for problems that have arisen since.
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🤟 🙂 Keep working at it.
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MiserereMei:
Not everything has yet been answered.
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Rating issues according to importance

What issue ranks #1 on your list?
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MiserereMei:
I have started to read the CCC, keeping in mind the Book of Concord, trying to trace where things stand.
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Any updates?
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MiserereMei:
It would be dishonest to return when I cannot affirm that I believe the doctrines of the Catholic Church, especially when the questions that remain are so critical.
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Again, rating in order of importance, what doctrines are the biggest issues?
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MiserereMei:
I live within a 10-minute walk of a Catholic parish, and will be seeing about making an appointment to speak with a priest come Monday. I will ask them as well if I can spend some time in prayer before Christ in the Tabernacle.
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Prayers ascending for your meeting.

AND

As long as one is respectful, then anybody (Catholic or not) can spend time in front of the tabernacle.
 
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steve-b said:

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IYO, what is the biggest issue a convert gives up to be Catholic?
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I cannot answer for him, but for me, I have given up quite a lot. Being a practicing Catholic has put a huge strain on my relationships. There is also a lot of cultural disconnect. My cultural background is heavily infused by a particular style of protestantism even in its most secular expressions.

So, by becoming Catholic I have been dislocated from my culture and I have lost friendships and some family relationships and I have put strain on my marriage.
 
Depends on the convert.

I gave up the career, the ministry, I had been been prepared to step into for all of my life.
 
steve-b said:
What issue ranks #1 on your list?
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It’s a bundle of issues. The papacy and the bundle of doctrines surrounding it, such as universal jurisdiction and infalliability. All those years ago, they were the first to fall for me (I first looked into Orthodoxy before going Lutheran), and now they are the last barriers.
steve-b said:
Any updates?
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A few: Lutherans in general seem to fundamentally misunderstand their own confessions on the saints, on the Eucharist, and on Confession. The Book of Concord also itself seems to conflate an errant practice arising from poor catechesis with official doctrine. Also, unless the Catholic doctrine on grace has changed, it seems the Reformers and the Catholics were speaking past each other on the issue of grace, works and faith in a fundamental way. In other words, they had (and have) two different definitions of the same words, but the underlying concepts themselves seem to be ultimately one of emphasis.
 
Others have given some great answers, here’s my story. Coming from India and Hinduism in particular, Catholicism is wholly different religion and culturally speaking it was a big challenge (especially French Catholicism since I converted in France).

My relationship with my parents hasn’t been great since I became a Catholic and family is such a big thing in India. I’ve sacrificed my family just to be catholic. In the Indian context, conversion is like treason. And even though my parents are nice and loving and have somewhat accepted my conversion, I have completely severed my relations with the rest of the family and for what it’s worth with my country. (Even though there are millions of Catholics in India, those who are born Catholic are accepted but not those who convert from Hinduism, at least not since the new government came into power).

In addition, I had a tough time being accepted ‘as one of them’ in French Catholic circles. So I’m caught between two cultures. I’m very happy to be a Catholic though. I have a wonderful priest as a SD and I’ve made new friends over the years thanks to my new faith. Above all, I know that I am loved and when I receive the Eucharist, I feel all the sacrifices are worth it.
 
I don’t feel I’ve given up anything by becoming Catholic, but that’s largely because my wife is a cradle Catholic and most of my Protestant family is gone, lives on the other side of the country, or just don’t care or know. My few friends know, but respect my decision.
I have gained much by being at peace with God and myself. The battle with myself got intense with depression, but it ended well.
 
mrsdizzyd said:
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steve-b:

Q:​

IYO, what is the biggest issue a convert gives up to be Catholic?
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I cannot answer for him, but for me,
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Understood 🙂
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mrsdizzyd:
I have given up quite a lot. Being a practicing Catholic has put a huge strain on my relationships. There is also a lot of cultural disconnect. My cultural background is heavily infused by a particular style of protestantism even in its most secular expressions.

So, by becoming Catholic I have been dislocated from my culture and I have lost friendships and some family relationships and I have put strain on my marriage.
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I’m sorry for all the difficulties you’ve experienced and continue to experience. Prayers ascending for you and your intentions.

Like you I can’t speak for another, so I’ll just say, borrowing from another person’s POV also in the middle of making a heavy duty decision, when he made the following phrase famous

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it’s one of the most simple yet devastating phrases there is in writing, Re: Protestantism, IMV, made by a Protestant in the midst of his research , and before he converted to Catholicism…

John Henry Newman wrote the following statement to sum up what he found.

"to be deep in history is to cease being a Protestant" From: Newman Reader section 5

he found (not said by him but in essence it’s what it also means) to be deep in history is to be Catholic. Meaning, scripture which Protestants claim is their sole source of truth, does NOT support THEM or their claim. So he converted to Catholicism
 
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Yep. Like I said earlier, I can’t un-know the truth. So, I’m Catholic. Hopefully, the rest will work itself out.
 
There’s a much publicized case. A gentleman who was the President of one of the Presbyterian divisions, became Catholic. After about a year, he published his story and how he was suffering because he could no longer be a minister, make money and other reasons. I don’t remember his name.

Edit: I think it was Jason Stellman. But I could no longer find what he was sorry about.
 
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Shasta-Rose said:
Still, people have joined the Church mainly to worship God. Joining groups is a good thing, of course, but aren’t we there primarily to converse with God and be in communion with him? So, that statistic of half of new converts dropping out is pretty depressing. It means that those who dropped out didn’t find the joy in talking with God that they expected to find. They didn’t get fulfillment in their prayer life, after taking the time and trouble to join the Church. That is really sad, I think.
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I don’t know if my parish is typical but at my parish there’s basically two types of people who go through RCIA. Those who truly feel that God in calling them to join the Catholic Church and those who are joining because their fiancée belongs to the Catholic Church and they’re joining the Church because of them.

It’s those in the second group, who join the Church because their fiancée is Catholic and the fiancée wants to be married in the Catholic church that tend to drop out after joining the Church. Often times the fiancée that is Catholic is only nominally Catholic themselves (they don’t attend Mass regularly) and it’s only because they want to married in the Church that they and their partner go through the RCIA process.
 
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Why would the same volunteers who run RCIA also do RE? If there is paid staff it would be for RE before RCIA which tends to be volunteer run. Other than the DRE, staff doesn’t get slammed with first communions. If the secretary does the recording she/he would be busy after first communion and confirmation, but I’ve found it is generally the leaders of the ministries who do the recording of first communion. Our secretary does all the recording of the Easter Vigil because it can become a little complicated.
 
PeterT said:
because their fiancée is Catholic and the fiancée wants to be married in the Catholic church
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I would suggest bringing this up with your pastor. Someone is giving these engaged people very wrong information. One may marry a non-Catholic in the Church without that non-Catholic converting.

That one would put someone in a case where they think they have to “force conversion” is shameful!
 
oops my mistake

Very similar thread
 
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TheLittleLady said:
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PeterT:
because their fiancée is Catholic and the fiancée wants to be married in the Catholic church
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I would suggest bringing this up with your pastor. Someone is giving these engaged people very wrong information. One may marry a non-Catholic in the Church without that non-Catholic converting.

That one would put someone in a case where they think they have to “force conversion” is shameful!
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Well, no one from the church is forcing them. I think the pressure comes from their fiancée (or the fiancée’s family). Or maybe they think it’s no big deal. Like I said, the one who is already Catholic isn’t always a practicing Catholic themselves. So I think unfortunately it’s a “checkbox mentality” that’s at work here.
 
Not to give away spoilers (I usually go to mass Saturday evening), the Sunday readings for this weekend were very relevant to his conversation.
Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided, three against two and two against three; a father will be divided against his son and a son against his father, a mother against her daughter and a daughter against her mother, a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."
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While not a regret, something like this was my struggle too when I converted. It was nothing I could fix at the time. (Lots of)Time and prayer did help. I’m starting to see things differently and far more positively. Part of it was the realization that God was there for me as much before I converted as after I converted, and God was there for my family who were not Catholic too. I think part of God’s will was the journey itself for all of us.
 
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I admire converts who have lost friends and family due to their conversion. Jesus is, of course, very clear that they will be rewarded, although it may not feel like it for a long time.
 
🧐 While I here what you are saying, I thank God for the family I have/had! We were just on a different journey, albeit (maybe) a more painful journey when it came to religion…
 
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…and I wish I could share more. I feel like my journey and my family’s journey is certainly weirder and wilder than anything I could share online. Perhaps in the right setting and right time someday…
 
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