Told to go back to the Baptist Church in confession?

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Thunderbird

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In the confessional, I mentioned to my priest about how I was a Catholic in a family full of Baptists. I converted five years ago while I was living in California, and have since moved back home to the DC Area.

I told him that while I am fully committed to Catholicism, I received negative feedback from family on a frequent basis and it was spawning bad feelings on both sides (and my resulting resentment was part of what I was confessing).

He then told me in no uncertain terms that I should consider being Baptist again… what??

…Should I?
 
What!?! Ummm…No. I mean that seems odd…but I’m sure he got more of the story than we did. Maybe he meant consider, as in recount all the reasons why you converted, what your Catholic faith means to you? Maybe its a mental/spiritual exercise?
 
I’m with Honour, no, don’t go back to your former faith. Work on the sources of your resentment and the resulting sin(s). It seems that to go back would be the easy way out but it would not be true and resentment would still be there, without the resources of the Sacraments to give you strength. You have found the fullness of faith in the Catholic Church, why turn your back on it, now?
 
Mary_Ellen said:
I’m with Honour, no, don’t go back to your former faith. Work on the sources of your resentment and the resulting sin(s). It seems that to go back would be the easy way out but it would not be true and resentment would still be there, without the resources of the Sacraments to give you strength. You have found the fullness of faith in the Catholic Church, why turn your back on it, now?
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Well said. 👍
 
Mary_Ellen said:
I’m with Honour, no, don’t go back to your former faith. Work on the sources of your resentment and the resulting sin(s). It seems that to go back would be the easy way out but it would not be true and resentment would still be there, without the resources of the Sacraments to give you strength. *** You have found the fullness of faith in the Catholic Church, why turn your back on it, now?***
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MaryT777 said:
Well said. 👍
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Absolutely well said! There’s no going back now after discovering the fullness of faith in the Catholic Church as Mary_Ellen so rightfully pointed out! You would soon regret that decision, that’s for sure.

Peace, Mark
 
I like to give priests the benefit of doubt, but given the stakes here. . .

If he was being serious, then he was asking you to commit a mortal sin, revert to heresy, endangering your eternal salvation. No well formed priest in his right mind would give such advice under any circumstances. I’d meet with him again (outside confession) and ask for clarification. If he is indeed being serious, I would tell him you’re going to write to his bishop (and do so), as it is grave matter and could seriously harm others.
 
Mark121359 said:
Absolutely well said! There’s no going back now after discovering the fullness of faith in the Catholic Church as Mary_Ellen so rightfully pointed out! You would soon regret that decision, that’s for sure.

Peace, Mark
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To be sure, the thought had never crossed my mind even though I’ve floundered a few times before (and my previous posts here at CAF can attest to that). In fact, this confession was my first in a few months so I was already at a low point of lukewarmness that I was seeking to shake.

That said, he was making the suggestion in earnest as far as I could tell. He said that if it was causing so much strife, family was important and so I should seriously consider going back. That was pretty much what was said. I also have no idea who this guy was (the confession was made over at the Basilica Shrine) since I (still) have not found a permanent Parish home.

The obvious thing is that I should find a parish, but I really do feel shaken up by the experience.
 
Thunderbird said:
To be sure, the thought had never crossed my mind even though I’ve floundered a few times before (and my previous posts here at CAF can attest to that). In fact, this confession was my first in a few months so I was already at a low point of lukewarmness that I was seeking to shake.

That said, he was making the suggestion in earnest as far as I could tell. He said that if it was causing so much strife, family was important and so I should seriously consider going back. That was pretty much what was said. I also have no idea who this guy was (the confession was made over at the Basilica Shrine) since I (still) have not found a permanent Parish home.

The obvious thing is that I should find a parish, but I really do feel shaken up by the experience.
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If you feel he was making the suggesting in earnest because he was concerned about the strife it was causing then I would just let it go and move on. Don’t let it shake your faith
 
Pray for that priest, stay in the One True Faith.

Jesus said, “Whoever loves father, mother, [or any family] more than me is not worthy of me.”

So, don’t let your family, however much in conflict, be more important than your Faith.
 
Thunderbird said:
To be sure, the thought had never crossed my mind even though I’ve floundered a few times before (and my previous posts here at CAF can attest to that). In fact, this confession was my first in a few months so I was already at a low point of lukewarmness that I was seeking to shake.

That said, he was making the suggestion in earnest as far as I could tell. He said that if it was causing so much strife, family was important and so I should seriously consider going back. That was pretty much what was said. I also have no idea who this guy was (the confession was made over at the Basilica Shrine) since I (still) have not found a permanent Parish home.

The obvious thing is that I should find a parish, but I really do feel shaken up by the experience.
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Thunderbird, don’t feel shaken, you’re home. And the Lord wants you here! That’s somewhat disturbing what this priest told you. And I haven’t a clue why he would suggest going back like that. And if he was sincere in saying this…well then he was flawed with saying those comments. May I ask what Basilica Shrine you’re referring to? Immaculate Conception in D.C., or The Assumption in Baltimore?

Peace, Mark
 
Mark121359 said:
Thunderbird, don’t feel shaken, you’re home. And the Lord wants you here! That’s somewhat disturbing what this priest told you. And I haven’t a clue why he would suggest going back like that. And if he was sincere in saying this…well then he was flawed with saying those comments. May I ask what Basilica Shrine you’re referring to?

Peace, Mark
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It just seemed completely out of left field. I’m sure you all are right, I should just let it go since it wasn’t part of my penance.

This would be the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, in DC.
 
I know two people to whom something similar has happened in Confessions with different priests and different situations. In each case, the shock sort of brought them to their senses and caused a major attitude change.

Maybe this is a secret technique amongst priests?
 
Thunderbird said:
It just seemed completely out of left field. I’m sure you all are right, I should just let it go since it wasn’t part of my penance.
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That’s the best course. Don’t go back to your old church. You’re Catholic. 🙂
 
Thunderbird said:
It just seemed completely out of left field. I’m sure you all are right, I should just let it go since it wasn’t part of my penance.

This would be the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, in DC.
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Been there many times, and to confession there as well. Absolutely, just let this go! And don’t take what happened with this incident personally. I’ll tell you something, Mother Angelica used to go on and on and on about finding a good priest to go to confession to…This woman’s wisdom never ceases to be so spot on!

Peace, Mark
 
St_Francis said:
I know two people to whom something similar has happened in Confessions with different priests and different situations. In each case, the shock sort of brought them to their senses and caused a major attitude change.

Maybe this is a secret technique amongst priests?
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:nope: Let’s certainly hope not! :eek:

I would hope that priests who got good formation in the seminary would never try risky “secret techniques” like reverse psychology thinking they were doing the right thing. That’d be like saying to a suicidal person “Go ahead and jump” or something. Bad idea.

Since we don’t have a way of getting inside this priest’s mind at the time, we can speculate but might still be way off the mark.

These are difficult times to be a Catholic, let alone a priest. I say chalk it up to a bad day on his part and move on. 🤷 Keep working and praying for your Catholic faith to be strengthened - we all need that! :sad_yes:
 
Ad_Orientem said:
I like to give priests the benefit of doubt, but given the stakes here. . .

If he was being serious, then he was asking you to commit a mortal sin, revert to heresy, endangering your eternal salvation. No well formed priest in his right mind would give such advice under any circumstances. I’d meet with him again (outside confession) and ask for clarification. If he is indeed being serious, I would tell him you’re going to write to his bishop (and do so), as it is grave matter and could seriously harm others.
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^^this
 
3DOCTORS said:
:nope: Let’s certainly hope not! :eek:

I would hope that priests who got good formation in the seminary would never try risky “secret techniques” like reverse psychology thinking they were doing the right thing. That’d be like saying to a suicidal person “Go ahead and jump” or something. Bad idea.

Since we don’t have a way of getting inside this priest’s mind at the time, we can speculate but might still be way off the mark.

These are difficult times to be a Catholic, let alone a priest. I say chalk it up to a bad day on his part and move on. 🤷 Keep working and praying for your Catholic faith to be strengthened - we all need that! :sad_yes:
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Just doing my best to find a positive spin on these actions. Otherwise it’s just plain crazy and extremely bad!
 
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