Where did you learn what you know about Catholicism?

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I learned my faith from 12 years of Catholic school and from my mother. However, during my time in school there was a lot of turmoil in the world. When I “left” the Church I did so out of laziness, not because I was confused or attracted to another religion. Now that I am back I have made it a point to “re-learn” the catechism so that I can share it with others. I live in the Central Valley of California which is known as the Bible Belt of California. There is a great deal of anti-Catholic feeling here and being attacked by other religions is an almost daily occurence. In order to protect myself and my Church I have found it necessary to learn more in order to properly answer people who tell me I am not “saved” or that my religion is a “false” religion or that the “Pope is the Horn of Satan”.

At first it made me angry. The anger fired my determination to fight back. Fighting back meant learning more about my religion. Learning more about my religion lessened my anger and fueled my love for those who hate us.

Isn’t that WEIRD??? I tell you - that Jesus fellow is pretty tricky …lololol
 
My entire catechesis was learned entirely from my father. I’m almost sure it was not accurate.
 
I would have to say a mix. My parents and through my siblings learn together as my parents frequented Protestant churches when they first got married. My mom converted when I was baptised, adn my mom and dad became practicing Catholics. I have both good and bad catechesis from schools. And sadly on the sermons, I have variable hearing loss so I have heard maybe 10 full homilies in the last 10 years. 😦 . Thanks and God Bless.
 
self-study with credit to Catholic Answers, Scott Hahn, Franciscan University Summer Conferences www.franciscanconferences.com and all the great books published by ignatius press (I can’t get enough)! Thanks to all those out there spreading the word through books, tapes, magazines and speeches to help the rest of us learn and grow.
 
12 years of Catholic education in grade school and high school and a whole lot of reading, conferences and talks through the parish, KofC, sermons, EWTN etc…
 
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RichT:
For starters, before I entered RCIA, I read a book call the “The Complete Idiot’s Guide To Understanding Catholicism”. I must say, it was a blessing to find such a book. I was able to learn the basics of the faith before entering RCIA which really helped. My RCIA was very solid and well structured. Since becoming catholic, I continue to self study, and learn from watching shows on EWTN, listening to catholic books on tape, and from getting involved in different ministries within the church. For example, right now, I am training to become a minister of care to bring communion to the homebound. I have learned a great deal about my faith from this training. The pastor at my parish also does a great deal to continue teaching us adults through talks and classes he holds each month.
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This book was horrible. I think it was borderline heresy. The only good part of the book were the side quotes, which were accurate on church teaching. The main body of the book reeked of feminism and modern day thinking of what the secular world wants the Church to be.
 
I’d have to say that a lot of the detailed stuff I’ve come to know has come through reading the Catechism and apologetic work. But I think the most basic teachings of Catholic faith came right out of Sunday’s Mass and my pastor’s homily. He was kind of an old-fashioned guy (not a traditionalist or anything) and used to “tell it like it is.” He never watered anything down, and he would always ask us questions (non-rhetorical) and show us the answers to our faith.

Dobbs
 
I learned a lot of what I know about Catholicism from when I was actually studying other religions - trying to find my place. I also have a wonderful boyfriend who purchased the “Catholics for Dummies” book for me. I got the Catechism at a garage sale, the New Jerusalem at an estate sale, and the lady who sold me my Catholics for Dummies book at the store referred me to listen and watch EWTN. I’m enrolled in RCIA, but I tell you - I’ve learned more from reading through sites like this, and my own self study than I have in class. 😛

I think it kinda has a lot to do with my own need to get as much infor mation as possible, and RCIA is not open 24 hours a day, but the internet is always there, and so are books. 🙂
 
My parents are very devout and were excellent teachers of the faith while I was growing up.
 
From my time in the Roman chuch, my time in the Anglican church, the times i’ve spent with fellow believers, and most of all from the Word of God, through the guidance of His Spirit. It will always be a mystery to me how one part of Christs church considers itself so much better than another, after all the Body of Christ is the church of Christ, in the end we are all one body, whatever our individual calling, and when we truely as the bride come to Jesus, it will be as one Church, so why does one part of the body consider itself better? well human nature, not spiritual nature, or Christs will, but it’s still a mystery why people do this, it has stopped many people from folling Christ, many muslims became lost to Christ because of it.

The Holy Cathoic church, is the Universal church, it’s comprised of all believers and no disbelievers of Christ, that is Catholicism to me, though it grows continually but only toward God, He is our Father!
 
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Timothy888:
From my time in the Roman chuch, my time in the Anglican church, the times i’ve spent with fellow believers, and most of all from the Word of God, through the guidance of His Spirit. It will always be a mystery to me how one part of Christs church considers itself so much better than another, after all the Body of Christ is the church of Christ, in the end we are all one body, whatever our individual calling, and when we truely as the bride come to Jesus, it will be as one Church, so why does one part of the body consider itself better? well human nature, not spiritual nature, or Christs will, but it’s still a mystery why people do this, it has stopped many people from folling Christ, many muslims became lost to Christ because of it.

The Holy Cathoic church, is the Universal church, it’s comprised of all believers and no disbelievers of Christ, that is Catholicism to me, though it grows continually but only toward God, He is our Father!
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Please be respectful of the rules of this forum. While I have no qualms about discussing the biblical and historical points of the nature of Christ’s Church, the subject has absolutely nothing to do with the topic of my thread. I’m sure many will gladly welcome the chance to discuss your topic with you if you start your own thread.
 
Kielbasi said:
***Thats the number one source for most folks, ***the poll seemed a little deficient by failing to include parents as the primary source of religious instruction.
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I admit the fault, however, it was my purpose to see the effectiveness of the institutional Church’s role in teaching people their faith with a particular focus on Catholic schools and the Mass. That is the reason for the choices.
 
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itsjustdave1988:
I think people tend to blame others for their ignorance. You wanna know more about Catholicism, there’s plenty of opportunities available, but you have to put down the remote control, get off the couch, and take advantage of those opportunities. Most Catholics are just too whiny and lazy and want to be spoon fed, without having to put any effort into their own education, in my opinion.
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I completely agree with you, Dave, but you seem to be ignoring that those who go through many years of Catholic education and regularly attend Mass should have been taught the faith. While the limited scope of respondants might be rightly criticized, don’t you find it sadly facinating how few of the Catholics who have responded say that they learned from these sources? Sermons at Mass has the lowest score!

I seem to remember another thread where knowing the faith was likened to learning how to program a VCR. I pointed out in that thread that people don’t spend an hour every week getting lessons in the operation of their VCR. Catholics are supposed to go to Mass every week to receive lessons in their faith. How sad that so few of them feel that the Mass was a significant enough source of their knowledge of Catholicism to warrant checking that option!
 
Wish I would’ve known then what I know now…thanks to all who have helped me into the banks of the Tiber…haven’t reached the other shore yet, though.:tiphat:
 
I am a product of the late '60s early '70s Catechism. I learned just about nothing.

As an adult, I’ve studied the Church extensively, but came to the conclusion that I am not Catholic.

Nohome
 
Honestly, I knew very basic stuff about my faith from stuff I learned simply at church (CRE, Confirmation, etc.) But it wasn’t until this year that I seriously started going in-depth into the Catechism. And really, most of what I really know about the Catholic faith I learned on this website in the past 6 months I’ve been a member:)

In Him,
Britty
 
Whilst a Protestant attending a Baptist church the Holy Spirit ‘de-scaled’ my eyes and I saw the utter and total chaos of the churches I had looked for God in as a Protestant. The Holy Spirit guided my research and led me home to Rome, kicking and screaming so to speak but still home to Christs body, His Catholic Church. It has been a ‘love’ affair made in heaven ever since. No more chaos, just love of Jesus, His word and following His commands. You could call it loyalty vs. rebellion/reform/deformation. Loyalty in Faith has won the day and my soul for Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit who led me home.:love:

Praise God!
 
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