Why do Catholics become Protestants?

[Gabriel_of_12]

A Pope once warned Catholics in the new world to “beware of that poison they are calling freedom”.

Catholics who become Protestants are consumed with that poison they are calling freedom.

Consumed in the false pretense of freedom leads a Catholic to be moved by every wind of doctrine made by men, which gives a brief enlightenment, only to be addicted in the freedom to want more of the same brief enlightenment of false freedom and never being satisfied. My experience with this subject always found fallen away Catholics to be leaving a Church community, where they thought they found their enlightenment only to leave one Christian community for another.

Instead of researching their own Catholic faith with their doubts and questions of faith. They become moved by every wind of doctrine made by men.

Catholics become Protestants due to the abuse of the poison they call freedom.

 

[7_Sorrows]

I was protestant before I became Catholic. I could never revert to being a protestant.

 

[Nigel7]

I was protestant before I became Catholic. I could never revert to being a protestant.

Me too.

 

[Kielbasi]

a pretty fair number cross in both directions to impress a woman,

of course, these weren’t the strongest catholics usually, and are unlikely to be that great as a presbyterian, wiccan or latvian orthodox

 

[steve_b]

I know, I’m full of questions today.

If you know someone who was raised Catholic or was active in the Catholic and church and became Protestant, I’m wondering what their reasoning was?

I’ve read a book by a former Catholic, who is now a Protestant pastor, and he gives several reasons why Catholics become Protestant. I’ve also read books by former Protestants on why they become Catholic.

I think I’m seeing a trend going both ways across the Tiber.

swimming away from the Church, is not funny for the one who does it…

 

[Reuben_J]

In my mind it would be because it is easier to be Protestant than Catholic. As a Protestant, doctrine & theology can be flexible. If one doesn’t like what he/she hears in a denomination, just change to one that fit their own personal ideas. Protestant churches also don’t make demands on members as the Catholic Church does on her faithful.

I tend to agree with this.

Catholics become protestants because it is easier and it is true too the other way round - Protestants become Catholics because it is harder and they want the fullness of truth in Christianity.

 

[Lenten_ashes]

Me too.

Me either.

 

[Sarcelle]

In my mind it would be because it is easier to be Protestant than Catholic. As a Protestant, doctrine & theology can be flexible. If one doesn’t like what he/she hears in a denomination, just change to one that fit their own personal ideas. Protestant churches also don’t make demands on members as the Catholic Church does on her faithful.

Some Protestant churches actually do make demands of their members.

Some are even more stringent than the Catholic Church.

I would be careful about generalizing Protestant churches.

There’s a lot of diversity in what Protestants believe.

 

[exnihilo]

In my mind it would be because it is easier to be Protestant than Catholic. As a Protestant, doctrine & theology can be flexible. If one doesn’t like what he/she hears in a denomination, just change to one that fit their own personal ideas. Protestant churches also don’t make demands on members as the Catholic Church does on her faithful.

I think this is definitely true. I would think you can become a Protestant in most churches on any given Sunday. Most Protestants allow open communion, which is a sign of unity. So anytime communion is offered you can, without objection from them, unite with them. In my experience churches with a more formal process of joining may require just a few classes. I don’t know what it takes to join a Baptist or non-denominational church, but I don’t expect it would be too much. For some I would think just being re baptized would be enough. Maybe for some answering an altar call is enough.

I think in many places, particularly, in the US, it is easier socially to become Protestant rather than the reverse. For instance in the South being Protestant would be much easier, especially in the recent past.

One reason that I do consider a strong pull to be Protestant, though not valid of course, is the greater fellowship. My wife and I have met some people at our parish, but we don’t experience the same closeness or fellowship we did at our Protestant church. Our parish is really like a mega church with six Sunday masses. Mega churches are popular in the Protestant world. But I have to imagine they do a much better job with fellowship just because there is so much emphasis on that in the Protestant world.

Some Protestant churches actually do make demands of their members.

Some are even more stringent than the Catholic Church.

I would be careful about generalizing Protestant churches.

There’s a lot of diversity in what Protestants believe.

True, but I think this is true for the vast majority.

 

[Vonsalza]

Someone I occasionally work with professionally currently goes to a Protestant congregation despite being Catholic largely because if the children’s programs.

She feels guilty about it, as she knows that the bible and the ancient Church give absolutely no prescription for the separation of age groups in how they experience “church”, but she likes the fact that she can drop them off and be “kid-free” for a few hours while participating in a service that is very engineered to be engaging and inclusive of the immediate contemporary culture - even as this engagement is in no way communal with the saints of ages past (like, say, a Catholic mass is).

The Catholic “youth model” where the parents are the leaders of “the youth group” is a harder one (even if more “biblical”) for the parents; particularly when the kids are young. During most Protestant services, she gets to shed this responsibility for a bit.

She says she fully intends to return to the mass when her kids are “old enough”, and I hope she follows through on that.

 

[Padres1969]

I know, I’m full of questions today.

If you know someone who was raised Catholic or was active in the Catholic and church and became Protestant, I’m wondering what their reasoning was?

I’ve read a book by a former Catholic, who is now a Protestant pastor, and he gives several reasons why Catholics become Protestant. I’ve also read books by former Protestants on why they become Catholic.

I think I’m seeing a trend going both ways across the Tiber.

Former Catholics become Protestants, or Otherwise, for a bunch of reasons (and before anyone starts lecturing or “educating” me personally not all of these listed below would apply to me so no need to respond to refute any of these at this time).

Rejection of the validity of Papal Authority
Rejection of Papal Infallibility
Rejection of Mary as Mediatrix
Rejection of Saintly Intercession
Rejection of Indulgences
Rejection of the notion of Purgatory
Historical abuses of the Church (the kind of abuses that led to the Reformation in the first place)
Modern abuses of the Church including the Sex Abuse scandals
Changes the RCC made to the Mass during the reign of Pope Paul VI
Doubt about Catholic soteriology in the face of no changes occurring to people from Sacraments
Rejection of the Catholic view on sacraments (such as doubt/rejection of the real presence in Eucharist)
Concerns over Catholic Apparitions and the belief in them
Rejection of or Doubt over much of “Sacred Tradition” as non biblical

And many many more reasons I’m sure.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Rejection of Indulgences

I can see most of your list as being issues for some people who make a thoughtful decision to leave the Catholic Church, although most of the people I know who left were more along the lines of people poorly educated in/ not interested in Catholicism, so they didn’t get to the point of actually thinking about Mary or the Pope and just left over social factors like what church their fiancee went to or the Protestant church being friendlier and having more activities.

However, this is a weird one to me since many good Catholics in my experience don’t even fully deal with indulgences or understand how they work. (The Church doesn’t really push the idea of them either. You have to kind of go read up on your own.) I guess if you rejected the idea of Purgatory you’d also reject the idea of indulgences, I just find it odd that someone would be that knowledgeable about/ focused on indulgences to leave the Church over them in this day and age.

 

[ajcstr]

Instead of researching their own Catholic faith with their doubts and questions of faith.

I have to say, this is definitely true. I remember a conversation I had with a Baptist acquaintance, and he tore me a new one, verse by verse telling me how unbiblical Catholicism was, giving me literature from his church, to the point where it triggered in me a crisis of faith. I was reeling. Then a co-worker suggested that before I jump, I should make sure I understand what my church teaches. And even after 12 years of parochial education, I was embarrassed about how much I didn’t know about my own faith.