Should you ever advise someone not to become a Catholic? [Fr. Z]

[Catholic_Opinion]

From the UK’s best Catholic weekly, the *Catholic Herald, *comes this… with a quote from one of WDTPRS’s favorites… sorry, favourites, His Hermeneuticalness.

Archbishop Antonio Mennini, Apostolic Nuncio to Britain, says in an interview with the Herald this week that he used to advise an Orthodox seminarian “not to become a Catholic”. The archbishop, who was nuncio to Russia for eight years, said:

I would tell him quite often: “You must not become a Catholic. You have to keep your faith in order to better serve your Church. Now you know us you can dream about going to Rome. You can go to Rome one day in order to study but you should remain a Russian Orthodox.”

The blogger Fr Tim Finigan says he finds the comment “disconcerting”: “Surely we can never say to someone that they must not become a Catholic?” he suggests.

Archbishop Mennini was, perhaps, in an exceptional situation: as nuncio to Russia, he was working very delicately to repair relations between the Catholic Church and the Russian Orthodox.

But what about in more ordinary situations? A surprising example comes from the life of St Josemaría Escrivá, founder of Opus Dei. A Jewish girl told him she wanted to become Catholic but that her parents were against it. He advised her not to make “any gestures of rebellion”: “You will be a good daughter of Christ,” he said, “if you are a good daughter of your parents.”

So, are there ever good reasons not to become Catholic? Or should people always be encouraged to convert?

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Full entry…

 

[Bob_Crowley]

I do a bit of work with St. Vincent de Paul. Personally i think a lot of the people we help are not going anywhere until they commit themselves to Christ.

However I’d be reluctant to steer them towards the Catholic Church first off because I don’t think they’d get the spiritual help they’d need. At least the evangelicals consistently support newcomers to the Christian faith, whereas my impression of the Catholic Church is that in most cases their involvement and enthusiasm doesn’t extend past attending the weekly mass.

Sorry, but that’s the way I see it at the moment. Most Catholics come through the system from school to college and so they have a pretty firm grasp of the essentials by the time they’re adults. But what’s missing is any real empathy with people who have had no Christian upbringing at all.

I’ll put it this way - if I heard that one of the people we were helping was being evangelised by another Christian church, I wouldn’t do much to try to get them to join the Catholic Church, because I don’t think they’d get the necessary support.

Unfortunately.

 

[ConstantineTG]

My opinion, its fine to tell an Orthodox to stay Orthodox. They are part of the one true Church. They can be Catholic if they work on reunification. We can’t have enough working for it on both sides. His desire to be Catholic is what will foster reunification.

I wouldn’t recommend telling anyone else not to become Catholic. But if they’re Orthodox, its fine. In fact, I wouldn’t mind telling ex-Catholics to become Orthodox if they really can’t stand being Catholic.

 

[GaryTaylor]

I believe we have to look at all in proper context. The idea is not to melt and blend all into the Catholic Church. Its to truly live in Harmony, Respect and Love with one another. Then allow God to do His.

Obviously there are going to be those who fancy something elsewhere. The grass is always greener on the other side! Never the less, I see the OP and message more on these lines.

 

[GaryTaylor]

I do a bit of work with St. Vincent de Paul.

St Vincent DePaul is one the Churchs that makes a great effort to help on the front lines in the world. You’ll pretty much find where-ever they are, they are helping the needy. The Catholic Church in general is exceptional in this aspect anyway. They are one of the few thats always there. Salvation Army, Red Cross, the CC they are all constants and have been as long as I remember.

 

[William_Pitts]

Mat 22:37-39 He said to him, '“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.”
This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”

If a person does this I wouldn’t discourage them from their faith. It is not up to me to convert them. That is the responsibility of the Holy Spirit. If the person is caught up in error I will point out their error and help them understand correct doctrine. But, I would never try to destroy their faith. I love my former brethren very much. God loves them too.

 

[Greg27]

I wouldn’t tell someone not to become Catholic. To me it is a matter of a person’s religious freedom and conscience; I’ve certainly had some negative experiences with the Catholic Church, but that is probably as much to do with me as with the shortcomings of the church.

Every church has flaws but ultimately every person has a fundamental right to choose their religion and practice it according to conscience, and the Catholic Church recognised this at Vatican II. If someone sought my advice and counsel on a decision like this, I would gladly offer it, with the caveat the choice is up to them and not me.