Why do people leave the Church?

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Not quite. The head of the board at my present church thinks that the Shroud was made by aliens (or something to that effect.) I stay there anyway because I like their emphasis on social justice issues and because at least some of its board members are willing to discuss issues. At St. Charles, the Priest determines what can be discussed, and it was the same at my former Episcopal Church.

As for the Holy Shroud, as you might know by now, my belief is that its importance and relevance for the 21st century cannot be overestimated.
 
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Personally, I cannot say exactly why people leave, but I think the reason people leave is because of modernity. No doubt there is more knowledge in the world; this information is relatively more available than ever. We have the Internet as well as more informed people such as scientists, professors, authors, and other people. The Church can still have traditional practices and views. Many people think the Church’s teaching is outdated because the teachings of the Catholic Church cannot be applied to the modern world. Some people will favor modern knowledge and ideas rather than the Church’s teachings. As a modern Catholic, it is hard to maintain the faith and still be an active and knowledgeable member of society. I can learn to still be Catholic while still applying modern information in my life.
Another reason people leave is disagreement of some of the Church’s teachings. Some of the Church’s teachings are controversial such as abortion, gay marriage, euthanasia, divorce, and etc. Many people do not agree with these ideas. This disagreement can cause people to leave because they do not want to be in an organization that does not align with their personal beliefs. Other people believe the Church is bigoted or closed-minded because of the stance on these beliefs. People are quick to point out why the Church has these views. As a modern Catholic, I have come across a number of people who have disagree with me, and I have dealt with civil debate on controversial subjects. It is hard to be pro-life when people who are pro-choice say people are against abortion are anti-women. It is hard to be against gay marriage when people call you a homophobic. You need to be strong in your opinions and be ready to face people who will be against and even hate you for your beliefs. Don’t let other people infringe on your beliefs.
I hope this was helpful. I pray for you.
 
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Oh, this makes a lot of sense, thanks!!! I can see why some people would want to give up the Catholic Faith. It’s a lot easier to just give up then it is to stand up for what’s right, although t’s SO much better to remain Catholic, even if it’s hard!!! 🙂
 
Didnt leave more like followed my mother’s reason for leaving to a different church… never asked why… then never went back.

Can I ask, why did you go back?
 
CilladeRoma said:
Mostly because the don’t really understand what they are leaving or why?
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Most replies are good, but at the heart of it, they don’t understand what they are leaving. If one understands the sacraments and has faith in Jesus Christ, it seems unfathomable that people would leave. But if one does not understand the sacraments it becomes easy to see, even with someone who has faith in Jesus.
CilladeRoma said:
It usually has to do with a disagreement with a priest, deacon or some Church employee. And then there is the abuse scandal, many use that as an excuse.
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This easy. A priest wrongs me, or the scandals, etc, why stay if I have no faith in the Eucharist, in the Sacrament of Penance, etc?

In this day and age we all have family and friends who have left. Do not fault them, that us for God to decide, pray for them and pray for atonement for the Church (ie all if us) in letting so many people down as their formation.
 
tafan2 said:
This easy. A priest wrongs me, or the scandals, etc, why stay if I have no faith in the Eucharist, in the Sacrament of Penance, etc?
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A person can still have faith in the Eucharist and Sacraments of Penance and leave the Catholic church.
 
undead_rat said:
I left my local Episcopal Church because of the refusal of its priest and parishioners to accept the authenticity of the Holy Shroud of Turin. I would have considered the local Catholic Church except for the same opposition to the Shroud that I found to be held by its priest.
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Sorry, but I am really confused about this. You left one church because people didn’t accept the authenticity of the Turin Shroud and you flat out refused to join another church because they also didn’t accept the authenticity of the Turin Shroud. I have heard of people switching denominations or switching churches within the same denomination over issues like the apostolic succession, validity of the sacraments, papal infallibility, veneration of the saints, ordination of women, admitting divorced and remarried couples to communion, their position on homosexuality, or how the liturgy is conducted. I have never before heard of somebody leaving one church and rejecting the possibility of joining another church because of what people think about a piece of cloth that may or may not have been the burial shroud of Jesus.
undead_rat said:
So I now attend a “Black Lives Matter” church. They pretty much don’t accept the Shroud either, but at least the are willing to take a stand on an important social issue.
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I certainly applaud your current church for being engaged with social issues, although I think you’ll find that a lot of churches do the same. It seems strange that you are happy to belong to this church where people also don’t accept the authenticity of the Shroud having previously left/refused to join two other churches for the same reason.
undead_rat said:
The head of the board at my present church thinks that the Shroud was made by aliens (or something to that effect.)
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Seriously? I have heard of number of theories about the Shroud, but never that it was made by aliens.
undead_rat said:
my belief is that its importance and relevance for the 21st century cannot be overestimated.
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Really? At best, it is the authentic burial shroud of Jesus. More probably, it’s some kind of a fake. In either case, it’s a piece of cloth that has long been a source of fascination to people and which is venerated by many people who believe that it may have come into direct contact with the body of Jesus. I can’t really see how it would be of inestimable importance and relevance for the 21st century.
 
Speaking for the rest of my family:
They left because the Church they were raised in rested it’s evangelization on blunt appeals to authority.
My older siblings still have no conception of the rich philosophical and intellectual tradition in the Church. They have recollections of authority and punishment, and teachers explaining difficult science by saying “because that’s the way God made it”.
 
After reading this thread, I believe Christ said it BEST
in the Parable of the Sower, those who left the Church
b/c of it’s teachings are those who for one reason or
another didn’t STAY w/ the Fellowship of Christ/Christians
but whose “seed of Faith” was somehow choked/stolen/-
withered and didn’t produce the good works and fruits of
the Spirit promised to those who remain. “do YOU want
to leave, too?” John 6:66
 
LovelyLadybug said:
Why do some people stop being Catholic?
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Some people slowly drift away. They go from weekly Mass to every other week to once a fortnight and then just Christmas and Easter.

I have known some to leave because of the new priest, some go to a different Catholic church further away and others never come back.
 
Gripper said:
I have known some to leave because of the new priest, some go to a different Catholic church further away and others never come back.
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That was the wife and I ended up going to a church a little farther away. Two sex scandals plus other issues at the church closer to our home. I don’t agree with all the church teachings and we almost left the church.
But thankfully we found another parish and we are involved with various ministries.
 
If you are talking about the Catholic Church than its mostly beacuse they have different views on certain things. If you are talking about leaving the faith than its mostly about that with the new generation they are starting more and more to doubt the existence of God. And also because their faith is not giving them the impact they desire in life. I have lots of relatives who are catholic as well.Its a pretty large tribe honestly. And they would rather lose their lives than their faith, including me.
 
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do_justly_love_mercy said:
At best, it is the authentic burial shroud of Jesus. More probably, it’s some kind of a fake. In either case, it’s a piece of cloth that has long been a source of fascination to people and which is venerated by many people who believe that it may have come into direct contact with the body of Jesus. I can’t really see how it would be of inestimable importance and relevance for the 21st century.
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Way back in 1898 the Holy Shroud was proven authentic by photography which revealed its astounding photo-negativity, a secret that had been hidden for 1900 years.
The 1978 STuRP scientific investigation confirmed the 1898 proof. The Image on the Shroud is not a painting, stain, scorch, or dye, and cannot be reproduced by any known technique, ancient or modern.

Modernists (those who hold that all events can be explained by science) hate the Shroud because it cannot be explained without the postulation of a miracle, and they do everything they can to try to discredit it. That is why in 1989 the atheists of the British Museum insisted on misinterpreting the Shroud’s carbon fourteen evidence as indicating a date, when, in reality, that evidence was proof of a neutron radiation event which is something that could only have been caused by the vanishing of the Holy Corpse into another dimension.

In the Gospel of Matthew Rabbi Yehoshua promised a special miracle, the Sign of Jonah, that would prove that He was indeed the Messiah. He indicated that this Sign would be associated with His death and burial and would be available to an entire generation of people. His miraculous Image on His burial Shroud is the fulfillment of that promise of a Sign.

But the Sign of Jonah does not end there. As I am sure that you are aware, Jonah was sent to warn the city of Nineveh of its imminent destruction. It is no accident that the Image on the Shroud has finally been scientifically proven miraculous in the 21st century. This proof carries the same message that the prophet Jonah carried. It is a warning.

The Shroud validates Rabbi Yehoshua as the Jewish Messiah, and, in doing so, it validates all of His teachings and prophecies and also ancient Jewish prophecy as well. These prophecies are not favorable to mankind’s continued existence. In my opinion they point to a global nuclear war which will take place in the 21st century.

No material object on the face of the earth is more important to humanity that the Holy Shroud of Turin.
 
People may leave because they realize or think they realize that Christianity or Catholicism is a made up religion. Just like you would hope to leave Hinduism if you were raised Hindu because you think it’s wrong and not the truth. No way I’d follow a religion I don’t think is true. And honestly there are a lot of reasons someone might think a religion is not true and I think those reasons are more rational than the ones people use to stay in a religion and believe it’s true
 
Thank you for posting a really good reason why the Shroud of Turin is so important.
 
2 of the saddest stories that I have heard from people:

1). A widow with children left because she felt that Catholics aren’t nice. After her husband died, she felt that parishioners were judging her and assuming she was single or divorced. She tried several parishes and felt the same. She went to a non denominational church and said that people were friendly and welcoming.

2). Her children left because they couldn’t understand how a just God would allow their father to be taken away and leave their mother alone to raise children.
 
That is really sad.That’s why people should trust in God. 🙂
 
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