Why do catholics leave the Catholic Church

[clem456]

Realize that just about any of the reasons mentioned here for leaving the Catholic Church could be applied to those leaving any other church as well. Food for thought.

Living an authentic Catholic life is difficult. It’s the most difficult thing we well ever do. And if it’s not difficult, we’re not living it authentically. Catholicism has one concept that other churches don’t subscribe to: that there is an objective truth that lives in the Catholic Church that requires our obedience. Whether it’s the Eucharist, sanctity of marriage, sanctity of life, authority and obedience, it all boils down to whether you will accept objective truth. It’s very difficult to accept that, our pride resists it. We want to make our own minds up, there’s always an easier way than obedience.

I don’t hear many other congregations talking about truth. To do so in our society is considered harsh, intolerant, arrogant. People incorrectly equate obedience with servitude. So people go where the water is warmer and they don’t have to deal with the “O” word…
If there’s only one Catholic left standing, is there still a Catholic Church?

 

[rfournier103]

How about LAZINESS? “I just don’t feel like goin’ to Mass.”

 

[HelenRose]

The reason that many people leave the church is due to the bickering and internal politics that go on in their parishes. They will know us by our love for each other and if that is lacking the answer becomes very clear to them.

It is important to remember that the Church is not a country club for saints but a hospital for sinners and when we all act like we are the doctors and not the patients, we forget to recognize our need for humility.

 

[clem456]

I have a non-denominational friend who left the Alliance chruch because he witnessed an argument “backstage” between two elders, and he left for the C of C, where he has not encountered an argument… yet. Happens in all churches.

 

[ffg]

Why do and are catholics leaving the Church and possibily their salvation. Heb. 6:4-8

Continued Blessings,

Pat

I’ve mentioned this before on here but I’ve found the below statement to be true -

People leave the Catholic Church because of something they don’t like, or a bad experience. Never because they’ve found a more full Truth. These people have a shallow meaning in conversion.

People enter the Catholic Church because they are looking for the fullness of Truth and want to be a part of it. Many times against the wishes and advice of family and friends. These people have a deep meaning in conversion.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

My father, who converted to marry my devout convert mother, stopped taking us to church after she passed away, and it was his perception that all of the time she spent volunteering and helping others was not returned in kind when she died. He obviously did not believe in what he was baptized into, or he would have realized that it was NOT the Church who neglected our family, but HUMAN BEINGS in that parish (if, in fact, they did neglect us - I was 10 so I had no idea about that). And if he had truly believed, he never would have allowed his children to drift away and endanger our mortal souls. He ended up re-baptized as a Baptist after he married my stepmom years later. I never confronted him on that, or objected - I suppose that I should have at least discussed it with him. I felt that he did not consider himself to be a Catholic at that point, having been away from the Church for over 30 years.

I do think that many people who leave the Church for whatever reason must not REALLY believe in the reality of transubstantiation. How could they leave Jesus’ Body and Blood and just walk away from Him…:nope:

 

[maryjk]

I do think that many people who leave the Church for whatever reason must not REALLY believe in the reality of transubstantiation. How could they leave Jesus’ Body and Blood and just walk away from Him…:nope:

I think many of them feel that Jesus and His church here on earth have walked away from them.

 

[clem456]

I’ve mentioned this before on here but I’ve found the below statement to be true -

People leave the Catholic Church because of something they don’t like, or a bad experience. Never because they’ve found a more full Truth. These people have a shallow meaning in conversion.

People enter the Catholic Church because they are looking for the fullness of Truth and want to be a part of it. Many times against the wishes and advice of family and friends. These people have a deep meaning in conversion.

Bingo


Look at any of the convert scholars and pastors like Scott Hahn.
Marcus Grodi. Many of them.

 

[90cacjdm]

The reason I left the Church was because of confusion. I think the devil wrote the book on this topic. However, after being taught incorrect Catholics Teachings, I thought I needed to leave because something was not right. I felt empty inside after I left. I knew there was something missing. I had a lot of misconceptions. I know it is easy for me to blame it on the priest at my old parish. However, once I left the Church, I was really lost. I tried looking at a lot of different Protestant Churches. I realized that I AFTER I left the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, nothing could compare to our Church. People who leave the Church for different reasons. However, I think for the most part, it is because of a lack of understanding of the Church Teachings. You do not know, what you do not know. If people had a better understanding of the beauty of the Church, they would be less likely to abandon it. It is sad when priest tells you something that goes against Catholic teaching. I needed to understand that priest are humans and they make mistakes. We need to pray for our priest. I am sure Satan wants nothing more to than to corrupt them because he knows that is a great way to get a flock of perishers to joins him in hell. With more prayer and a little research, I hope that I would have never left. I wish that I never left, however, leaving forced me understand how blessed I was to be part of the Church. This website played a big part of helping me understand our faith and my return to the Church.

 

[nicolakirwan]

The reason I left the Church was because of confusion. I think the devil wrote the book on this topic. However, **after being taught incorrect Catholics Teachings, I thought I needed to leave because something was not right. ** I felt empty inside after I left. I knew there was something missing. I had a lot of misconceptions. I know it is easy for me to blame it on the priest at my old parish. However, once I left the Church, I was really lost. I tried looking at a lot of different Protestant Churches. I realized that I AFTER I left the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, nothing could compare to our Church. People who leave the Church for different reasons. However, I think for the most part, it is because of a lack of understanding of the Church Teachings. **You do not know, what you do not know. If people had a better understanding of the beauty of the Church, they would be less likely to abandon it. ** It is sad when priest tells you something that goes against Catholic teaching. I needed to understand that priest are humans and they make mistakes. We need to pray for our priest. I am sure Satan wants nothing more to than to corrupt them because he knows that is a great way to get a flock of perishers to joins him in hell. With more prayer and a little research, I hope that I would have never left. I wish that I never left, however, leaving forced me understand how blessed I was to be part of the Church. This website played a big part of helping me understand our faith and my return to the Church.

Yes, people have to be taught well, formed well, in order to be able to perceive the truth and value of what they have. Since Scott Hahn has been mentioned in various posts, I thought I’d share something from his testimony. As a college student he and his wife actively converted young Catholics away from the Church. He said that none of the Catholic high schoolers he met understood what the Church taught, and if they did, they didn’t know why. For this reason, he was easily able to persuade them to leave Catholicism.

In his own words here (scroll down to “College Years”): star.ucl.ac.uk/~vgg/rc/aplgtc/hahn/m1/sctcnv.html

Those kids left the Church not necessarily out of indifference or pettiness, but for what they thought was greater truth and more closeness with God. And they thought so because of the lack of knowledge they had received before.

 

[90cacjdm]

Yes, people have to be taught well, formed well, in order to be able to perceive the truth and value of what they have. Since Scott Hahn has been mentioned in various posts, I thought I’d share something from his testimony. As a college student he and his wife actively converted young Catholics away from the Church. He said that none of the Catholic high schoolers he met understood what the Church taught, and if they did, they didn’t know why. For this reason, he was easily able to persuade them to leave Catholicism.

In his own words here (scroll down to “College Years”): star.ucl.ac.uk/~vgg/rc/aplgtc/hahn/m1/sctcnv.html

Those kids left the Church not necessarily out of indifference or pettiness, but for what they thought was greater truth and more closeness with God. And they thought so because of the lack of knowledge they had received before.

Thank you. Like Scott Hahn, I received my BA from Grove City College. From what I recall, he was not very well liked there. I am sure he must have done some recruiting there and now they know about his conversion to Catholicism. However, I really like him. The article you shared was very helpful. Thank You

 

[CopticChristian]

Yes, people have to be taught well, formed well, in order to be able to perceive the truth and value of what they have. Since Scott Hahn has been mentioned in various posts, I thought I’d share something from his testimony. As a college student he and his wife actively converted young Catholics away from the Church. He said that none of the Catholic high schoolers he met understood what the Church taught, and if they did, they didn’t know why. For this reason, he was easily able to persuade them to leave Catholicism.

 

[clem456]

I was born in 1960. I grew up in as Catholic of circumstances you will ever find. Both sides of the family were very Catholic. Priests, nuns, a brother.
Went through 12 years of Catholic School. Our doctrinal Catechesis was excellent. Spiritual catechesis was not so good. None of the doctrine we learned was internalized. No one warned us about the pitfalls the culture had in store for us. Doctrine was not presented to us in a practical way that appeals to reason and common sense. My family lived the Catholic life at home but we didn’t talk about it. We were never challenged in our faith, it never matured.

So the question of proper catechesis for me is a valid one, with no definitive answer.
One thing is certain…of **my own free will **I made a choice to determine my own morality and theology (or lack thereof). I chose to nurse a hangover on Sunday mornings rather than attend mass. Along the way I conveniently used everything under the sun as an excuse for making no spiritual effort. My spirituality was “whatever man”, whatever you believe is cool. There was no objective truth, that would be uncool.
I’ve had many excuses…the priests were corrupt. The Church doesn’t know how real people live. Abortion helps relieve overcrowding and suffering. Obedience was a word that drew a smirk. Fortunately for me I did not find a soft landing in my relativistic sloth. I paid the price and was faced with the fact that choices are important. I couldn’t just park my butt wherever I wanted and expect to have happiness.

I think the secular life and to a lesser extent, protestantism, de-emphasize the importance of this free choice. The other churches correctly recognize God’s saving power, but are willing to accept ambiguous responses on our part. Catholicism asks for a full commitment of the will in obedience to the truth. It doesn’t recognize 40,000 different ways to God, it recognizes one. We have a response to make. The response can’t be ambiguous.

When I was younger that was too “harsh” for me, too intolerant. How can people who are sinners tell me what to do? There are many rationalizations as to why we leave the Church, and we all bear a responsibility to support and encourage one another, but it is an individual’s free choice to reject or give assent. That choice goes back all the way to Genesis.

 

[nicolakirwan]

nicolakirwan;10333414:

Nicol,

These kids left the Church, not for a greater truth, for that cannot be…they left because of a greater truth and that truth is that they exerted no effort in learing what it was they were to learn. We are responsible for Catechesis. The materials are there.

Coptic, reread my post. I said they left for what they thought was a greater truth. I did not say that they left for what was actually a greater truth. It seems that you are digging for an argument that does not exist.

 

[coachkfan1]

I don’t that the effects of the sex abuse scandals can be underestimated and I don’t think that the effects of said scandal have run their course. However, I believe that one of the biggest reasons that people leave the Church is the prohibition on remarraige after divorce. There are many people who worked tirelessly on their marraige, were faithful and committed spouses, and who were abandoned by their spouses through no fault of their own. These people are then faced with a life of loneliness and celibacy even though they had done nothing wrong. Additionally, this causes the abandoned spouse to often feel “outside” the Church even though the can still receive the Sacraments.

I know why the Church teaches what it does about divorce and remarraige. I am just telling you one of the reasons that many people leave.

 

[ffg]

The reason I left the Church was because of confusion. I think the devil wrote the book on this topic. However, after being taught incorrect Catholics Teachings, I thought I needed to leave because something was not right. I felt empty inside after I left. I knew there was something missing. I had a lot of misconceptions. I know it is easy for me to blame it on the priest at my old parish. However, once I left the Church, I was really lost. I tried looking at a lot of different Protestant Churches. I realized that I AFTER I left the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, nothing could compare to our Church. People who leave the Church for different reasons. However, I think for the most part, it is because of a lack of understanding of the Church Teachings. You do not know, what you do not know. If people had a better understanding of the beauty of the Church, they would be less likely to abandon it. It is sad when priest tells you something that goes against Catholic teaching. I needed to understand that priest are humans and they make mistakes. We need to pray for our priest. I am sure Satan wants nothing more to than to corrupt them because he knows that is a great way to get a flock of perishers to joins him in hell. With more prayer and a little research, I hope that I would have never left. I wish that I never left, however, leaving forced me understand how blessed I was to be part of the Church. This website played a big part of helping me understand our faith and my return to the Church.

Great post. Something I’ll never forget that still bothers me today was a confession I had once where after going through my sins, the ‘priest’ told me the worst one’s were not really sins.

I was probably between 7th and 10th grade. I left the confessional really bothered, and watched the confessional pretty intently for the period before mass and during mass, never saw the priest come out of the confessional.

I stayed away from confession for years after that day. Finally I talked to a priest about it, I think at a retreat, that conversation is what I needed as he assured me the priest when I was young was quite wrong. Unfortunately, all those who entered that day probably got similar information.

 

[PaulinVA]

A priest friend once told me this story:

He was called to a hospital in the city to minister to police officer who had been shot. He arrived to find the officer sitting up and asking for the “last rites”. The priest told him they hadn’t been called that for a while, and wondered how long it had been since he had been to Mass. The officer told him it had been twenty years.

Priest: “20 years. Wow. Why so long?”
Officer: “One Sunday, the priest at St XXXXX had an entire homily about the police and talked about police brutality and how we are terrible people. I got up and left and never came back”
Priest: “Wow. I’m sorry”
Officer: “Yeah, he was an IDIOT”
Priest: “Obviously. So, do you miss not going to Mass?”
Officer: “Absolutely. I miss the Eucharist more that I can tell you.”
Priest: “Wait, you believe in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist?”
Officer: “Absolutely! And the Eucharist is only available in the Catholic Church, the one Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church”
Priest: “So, you believe in the Eucharist and the Church, but you haven’t been to Mass in 20 years?”
Officer: “Yes”
Priest: “And it’s because of something a priest said 20 years ago in a homily?”
**Officer: ** “Yes”
Priest: “Wow, Now, who’s the IDIOT?”

Yes, this priest is rather blunt. And, to be honest, Idiot is not the word he used… Anyway, I think some people are hurt, leave in a huff, and don’t know how to come back.

 

[jacobhalo]

I think that the results of Vatican II was and is a factor for people leaving the Catholic church. After VatII, we saw many priests and nuns leaving the church. Why so many left is up for discussion. Secondly, we have become increasingly a secular society, where man (humans) are the ultimate voice in society. God is no longer the voice to which we listen. We are inundated we the social media, which basically has no desire to look at God and heaven as our ultimate goal. Generally, people have become more greedy and their desire is to satisfy themselves. The can’t touch or see spirituality, so it has become “off their radar.”
Vatican II wanted to “update” the church so it could communicate better with modern man. We can see what happened.

 

[Oneofthewomen]

As a Catholic who left the Church and returned, I put my 2 cents in here

After reading some of the responses in this thread, I must say that I am very happy that I am secure in my faith, and not someone who may have drifted away and is longing to “come home”.
Maybe I am being overly sensitive, but had I heard someone say I was “lazy” or just didn’t “care enough” about my faith, it would not have made me feel very welcomed, and probably would have pushed me away further. :sad_yes:
In looking at this verse from Hebrews again, and again taking the word enlightened, I will say again the answer to why people leave is right here.

Hebrews 6:4
For it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened and tasted the heavenly gift and shared in the holy Spirit

Merriam Webster defines enlightened as

1. freed from ignorance and misinformation

1. based on full comprehension of the problems involved

Based on that understanding, I know from experience, and from the experience of many that I have talked with, that much of what they were taught, as well-meaning as it was, was not always free from ignorance and misinformation.

Someone said it earlier, ‘You don’t know what you don’t know.” And if you don’t “really know”, it becomes very easy to seek “truth” somewhere else.

 

[TheRealJuliane]

I think many of them feel that Jesus and His church here on earth have walked away from them.

No. Jesus NEVER walks away. That is pure rationalization. Failure to understand on a human level. Did Jesus walk away from that young rich man? No, the man walked away. Did Jesus kick any of his disciples out? No, they left Him.

The Truth is there if you but look for it.