Seeking answer on misconception re badly superstitious version of Catholicism

[alitaptap]

What should be a better response to a newly acquaintance friend who told me that he became an atheist as a result of the badly superstitious version of Catholicism he was brought up in as a child, which caused him to bounce away in the opposite direction.

 

[promethius]

What should be a better response to a newly acquaintance friend who told me that he became an atheist as a result of the badly superstitious version of Catholicism he was brought up in as a child, which caused him to bounce away in the opposite direction.

That’s pretty straightforward in my opinion. Apologize to him and tell him you’re sorry that he had to go through that, but to remember if that is the case then it was men who failed him, not God. Tell him you believe he’s honestly got an eye open to seeking for truth. Then ask him to go to church with you once and have lunch to talk about it afterwards and see what he says. Then just give it to him straight and explain what catholicism really teaches.