Why Do People Leave The Catholic Church?

[Randy_Carson]

Monk1-

Get through all those articles, and then we’ll talk about transubstantiation!

Hope this helps. :tiphat:

 

[42Seeker]

Welcome to Catholic Answers forums!

Why not post some of your “questions without answers”, and we’ll do our best to address them?

I am contemplating doing so. I am rather heartened by these forums as they are much more open than the Church I knew…

There still seem to be a few Bible-thumping bullies about, but in much smaller numbers than I am used to.

 

[KingAlfred]

People leave the catholic faith - because they do not KNOW it.

Going back to the catechism…

Why did God make you?
God made me to KNOW Him, LOVE Him, and SERVE Him in this world - and to be forever happy with him in the next.

How can we love something that we do not KNOW?

Learn the faith, do not leave it…

I suspect many leave out of boredom. Mass, for example, can get very, very boring. I know… I know…boredom is an easy complaint to dismiss, but it has a devastating effect on youth. Young people don’t have the patience that Catholicism requires. Sorry.

 

[Charlemagne_II]

I really think many if not most people who leave the Church after the fact manufacture reasons that have little to do with the real reason: which I suspect is that they want an easier religion; or in the case of agnostics and atheists, that they want to sleep in Sunday mornings.

 

[Bill_Pick]

People leave the catholic faith - because they do not KNOW it.

Going back to the catechism…

Why did God make you?
God made me to KNOW Him, LOVE Him, and SERVE Him in this world - and to be forever happy with him in the next.

How can we love something that we do not KNOW?

Learn the faith, do not leave it…

Most people Levave

 

[catching]

Some people think it not give us heaven but this is only their ignorance about catholic nothing else.

 

[Holly3278]

I don’t really know why most people leave the Catholic Church but I suspect a lot of people leave because they disagree with the Church’s moral teachings.

 

[JackStraw]

Hello everyone,

This is my first post - I came across this forum via a Google search.

I may be leaving the Church soon. I feel conflicted, but here is why. My wife and I cannot have children naturally - we are both in our late 30’s, just got married last year. Neither of us were previously married. We are going to try donor egg. If it works, and we are blessed with a healthy child, we are not going to lie to him/her about his/her origins.

I know the Church opposes this, and I do understand it’s argument. I also know that if we talked to a priest, pray, go to confession, we would probably be able to continue as Catholics. However, we do not want our child to be raised in a religion where he/she will be taught that he/she is a product of a grave sin. What kind of life would that be?

 

[dber3691]

They want a religion that shows reverence to God.
They want a religion that where they can feel the presence of God
They want a religion that makes them feel God’s grace.
They want a religion that doesn’t suffer from changes due to the “changing times” or the whims of of a parish, or bishop.
They want a religion where they are fed spiritually.
They want a religion where their church feels like a truly holy place.
They want a religion where they can trust those spiritual leaders set above them,. even with their children.
They want a religion where the spiritual leaders are not usurped by over enthusiastic members of the laity.

Unfortunately most of this has been lost in the modernist catholic churches and so since they are no longer being fed spiritually and they end up looking for what they are missing in the church. Remove the modernism, bring back the reverence and you will rebuild the church.

.

I’ve been a “cradle Catholic” until 2009 when God called me back to His Church through a man that I had been dating. Since that time, I continue on a spiritual journey to deepen my faith, learn about our Lord and become more of a true Catholic. Due to parish boundaries, I am a member of, what Gelsbern describes, a “modernist” catholic church. The effects of the modernism didn’t bother me until I began attending daily Mass at this parish for about 1 year. I was recovering from a serious medical condition and depended heavily on God’s provision and guidance.

The Mass, in and of itself, gave me strength and renewed me spiritually. But I never felt a sense of belonging with the members. Throughout the year on several occasions, I have felt downright disrespected and slighted as a human being and as a woman. I made various attempts to be approachable, get to know others and share of myself yet I continued to feel like an outsider. I need fellowship to continue growing in my faith and remaining strong. (BTW: The area in which I live isn’t known to be welcoming to newcomers; but I always wanted to believe that the church would be the exception.) I began to view this church as more of a social club of Pharisees.

Now after a year, Gelsbern’s reasons for leaving the Catholic Church so strongly resonate with my growning concerns that I joined Catholic Answers just to reply to this post. In the past week in a desperate attempt to save my spirit from, what seems like, dying, I’ve separated myself from this parish and am checking out other parishes to attend Mass. I want to remain a Catholic as I’m still developing my understanding of this religion, appreciate the sacraments, rituals, prayers and the challenge in terms of how to become Christ-like. I would feel a deep loss if I would leave the Catholic faith at least at this time.

So now with the start of a new year, I’m holding onto hope that I will find a Catholic Church that provides what Gelsbern has so well-outlined above.

 

[PeterGStanley]

They want a religion that accepts divorce.
They want a religion that doesn’t tell them to have children.
They want a religion that makes them feel warm and fuzzy.
They want a religion that says they can have as many wives as
they want.
They want a religion that says if they are wealthy they are the
best.
They want a religion that says they are as great as God.
They want a religion that puts women down.

I think you get the idea. Perhaps you can add more.

I agree the Church has held strong to the moral values from the beginning of the Church - in the Modern world they want to say that God would be al-right with the lax in values - so its easier to walk away from the church and join another church that has laxed in values also - to justify how they live - a lot of pentecostal churches teach materialize and riches through Jesus Christ - when Jesus preached the exact opposite - the greatest Saints in our Church took vows of poverty and denied themselves .
Don’t get me wrong Jesus did not condemn being rich - he said to the rich man that if he wanted to be PERFECT to sell all he had pick up his cross and follow me - which a lot of the Saints did.
A lot of people leave because they cannot accept the values of the Church and there is a lot of anger there to - we’ve all heard some one say " and don’t get me started on the Catholic Church" in anger - its the values of the church that makes them angry because they can’t live to them - and you should see that the Holy Spirit is alive in the church because of this - the church has held these values from the beginning.
The Church is hated for the same reason Christ was killed and Jesus said that this would be so.

And as for our disappointments in life Jesus said pick up your cross and follow me - a hard saying - easier said than done for us.

 

[pmathew2011]

Well the Reasons People Leave the Catholic Church are as diverse as the people themselves.

However the Key Element is Ignorance of one’s faith and when you dont understand your faith well…it creates an enabling environment for other reasons (both Troubles and Temptations) to take centre stage.

The Scriptures say " Seek the Truth and the Truth will set you free"

In depth knowledge of one’s faith …will create appericiation for one’s faith…will help overcome the troubles and temptations one faces in life…will help people stay grounded.

Superficial knowledge …leads to Superficial faith…leads to a I Give up attitude, when troubles and temptations comes around …leads them to leave the Catholic Church.

So try to seek the Truth of your Catholic faith and the Truth will set you free!!

 

[KenChute]

people that I speak with say the annullment process for divorce is loads of red tape and money, for abortion its brushed under the table. My brother who left the faith read the bible and figured addressing prayers to Mary and purgatory are unfounded in the bible.

 

[David]

people that I speak with say the annullment process for divorce is loads of red tape and money, for abortion its brushed under the table. My brother who left the faith read the bible and figured addressing prayers to Mary and purgatory are unfounded in the bible.

That’s a shame about your brother. Those doctrines are not that difficult to find in Scripture and in the writings of the church fathers. Christians have believed in intercessory prayer and purgatory for over two thousand years.
I can’t speak to your brothers situation but many times there are ulterior motives.

Peace
David

 

[KenChute]

That’s a shame about your brother. Those doctrines are not that difficult to find in Scripture and in the writings of the church fathers. Christians have believed in intercessory prayer and purgatory for over two thousand years.
I can’t speak to your brothers situation but many times there are ulterior motives.

Peace
David

Only Catholics address prayers to Mary as well believe in purgatory. Not sure what scripture you mean, we do these things as Catholics based upon tradition, there is no biblical reference. But that is OK.