Why Don't the want-to-be Catholics Convert?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Curious
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
C

Curious

Guest
This is for all the Protestant wannabe Catholics in these forums that, for all our great attraction to the Catholic Church, do not convert.

Why? Care to share your stories here?

And others feel free to post about maybe people you know or stories you’ve heard about why Protestants who truly seemed to love the Catholic Church and understand Her teachings just never made the plunge.

I will share my own “why” later. Slightly pressed for time right now.
 
Curious said:
This is for all the Protestant wannabe Catholics in these forums that, for all our great attraction to the Catholic Church, do not convert.

Why? Care to share your stories here?

And others feel free to post about maybe people you know or stories you’ve heard about why Protestants who truly seemed to love the Catholic Church and understand Her teachings just never made the plunge.

I will share my own “why” later. Slightly pressed for time right now.
Click to expand...
hola,

my husband was like this when he was my boyfriend… he said it would have been “too much work” because his family did not like Catholics… later on he said he still had reservations about the Pope… when my father told him he could not marry me until he became a Catholic that was the nudge he needed and he converted…

i think maybe anticatholic pressure from home is more common than we think…

Dominus Vobiscum
 
I guess there are several reasons:
  • it takes some time to investigate and believe what others believe
  • even the converted Catholic will need time to believe in certain teaching of the Church
  • fear of rejection from family members and friends
  • so many things for a Catholic to do to become a good Catholic
  • being hesitate by seeing some Catholics who do not practice their faith.
… it’s all in God’s hand and time.

I am not a convert, so my guess couldn’t be all accurate.
 
water said:
I guess there are several reasons:
  • it takes some time to investigate and believe what others believe
  • even the converted Catholic will need time to believe in certain teaching of the Church
  • fear of rejection from family members and friends
  • so many things for a Catholic to do to become a good Catholic
  • being hesitate by seeing some Catholics who do not practice their faith.
… it’s all in God’s hand and time.

I am not a convert, so my guess couldn’t be all accurate.
Click to expand...
As a convert, I agree with all of those.

I had a great conversation last night with a Sister from the Fransicans of Nazerath here in Pa. She called me because am discerning my vocation(even though I’m not yet confirmed Catholic) We began talking about my family, and my struggles in converting because of such pressure and prejudice from them. She told me that everyone has some kind of obstacle they must overcome in order to show God our love for Him. Perhaps my family is mine. She said the Bible even says families will be torn apart because of Him. Mother against daughter, father against son. I never thought of that verse before, but it makes sense.

I think most don’t want to convert mainly because, many cradle Catholics may be unable to realize, its incredibly hard to accept that what you’ve known as truth and have been taught by those dear to you as such is wrong. Its very hard to convince your mind completely of all Church teachings, even if the proof is right in front of you. This process takes time, especially since some may be more set in their ways than others. I don’t see it as a bad thing for people to wait to convert. Its better to take the time to understand and fully believe everything and wait, than to jump into it right away and then have people look down on you because then you’re just “another Catholic who doesn’t know their faith” or something.
 
As a converted former Protestant, I can say that I saw an awful lot of plain ol’ hard-headedness, and unwillingness to be “defeated.” Peer pressure is enormous. There is pride in religion, and none less than in fundamentalist Protestants. I honestly believe that most fundamentalists would dearly love to become devout, conservative Catholics, but because of a combination of peer pressure, combined with lingering fears of finding too much Americanism/liberalism within the American Church, they stay away.
 
Ultimately, if someone doesn’t convert to Catholicism it is because they don’t want to. If a “wannabe” doesn’t convert, they weren’t a wannabe after all.

If you take the algebraic sum of everywhere a person wants to be ecclesiastically, you’ll find them in that exact place. It’s not a bad thing, just the truth of the situation. If they don’t convert it is because something is shifting their center of gravity in another direction.
 
My dad was baptised Anglican, and he still is Anglican to this day.
My mum is Catholic and raised me and my brother and sister Catholic.
We always giggle with dad as he has been to more Catholic Masses than Anglican, as he went to all our Sacraments, and friends Sacraments, and the list goes on.
His sister, my aunty, had a brain operation last month. When dad got the news that my aunty needed this op, he asked my sister if our church was open all the time. She said yes, and told him which entrance to the church was kept open outside Mass hours. Then he went for a walk.
We found out later he went and sat in the church.
We all had tears in our eyes that our dad turned to the Catholic church to pray for his sister.
He flew over to be with my aunty after her operation, it all went well, she is on the way to a good recovery.
Dad will never convert though. I think it is pride. And also a sense of obligation to his parents, who are both dead, to keep to the religion they wanted him in.
But we all know how he feels deep down.
 
I am not a “wannabe” of any sort, I am a Congregational Methodist.
I would never convert to CC because I would FOREVER be banished from the Hugeaunot Society of America and most likely beaten and feathered by my family and friends.
WP
 
I am not a “wannabe” of any sort,
Click to expand...
Then direct your attention to the first post and note that this thread was either for “wannabes” for lack of a better term, or for those who know wannabes that don’t convert.
 
Curious said:
Then direct your attention to the first post and note that this thread was either for “wannabes” for lack of a better term, or for those who know wannabes that don’t convert.
Click to expand...
I like answering questions that are not directed at me from time to time. More glory for me.
WP
 
homewardbound said:
As a convert, I agree with all of those.

I had a great conversation last night with a Sister from the Fransicans of Nazerath here in Pa. She called me because am discerning my vocation(even though I’m not yet confirmed Catholic) We began talking about my family, and my struggles in converting because of such pressure and prejudice from them. She told me that everyone has some kind of obstacle they must overcome in order to show God our love for Him. Perhaps my family is mine. She said the Bible even says families will be torn apart because of Him. Mother against daughter, father against son. I never thought of that verse before, but it makes sense.

I think most don’t want to convert mainly because, many cradle Catholics may be unable to realize, its incredibly hard to accept that what you’ve known as truth and have been taught by those dear to you as such is wrong. Its very hard to convince your mind completely of all Church teachings, even if the proof is right in front of you. This process takes time, especially since some may be more set in their ways than others. I don’t see it as a bad thing for people to wait to convert. Its better to take the time to understand and fully believe everything and wait, than to jump into it right away and then have people look down on you because then you’re just “another Catholic who doesn’t know their faith” or something.
Click to expand...
Thank you homewardbound for sharing your experiences, and I am glad that you have a Sister from the Fransicans of Nazerath to talk to and share your concern with. Talking to the right person or a spiritual director can definitely help us grow spiritually.

Be strong. God can use you to help others see and believe what He has allowed you to see and believe. 🙂
 
For me, it is a mixture of things. One, I’m still studying just what the RC church does/does not teach, and why (the Marian doctrines and the papacy esp.) That right there takes a lot of time and consideration, and I have children at home. Secondly, my dh is NOT happy about my even considering Catholicism.:dts: If I do end up deciding to convert, I don’t know how it’s going to affect my family. My younger son is only three, so that’s not a real big issue, but my older son is ten. It could end up very confusing to him, and since he is an extra-sensitive child, the idea of a tension-filled marriage doesn’t thrill me. The peer pressure from other family doesn’t bother me much. If my mom disapproves, it will bother me some b/c we are so close, but…🤷 I’m also still trying to find a parish to feel comfortable regularly attending. The near-constant guitar of the last one I visited grated on my nerves. I know that may seem petty, but I can’t help it.:o

In need of serious prayers,
oneseeker :gopray2:
 
I was Catholic for 34 years and left the church for many reasons. I am now Anglican and have been for the last three years. I have no desire to return to the Catholic church even with pressure from relatives to do so. I am home in the Anglican church and I have never been more spiritual. My wife and my 3 year old are very active in thechurch as am I. The only interest I really have in chatting with Catholics is that we do share so much in common belief. Otherwise, I am well at home as an Anglican.
 
The great Roman-Catholic-wannabe C. S. Lewis provided this explanation for his lack of conversion in “Christian Reunion.”The real reason why I cannot be in communion with you is not my disagreement with this or that Roman doctrine, but that to accept your Church means, not to accept a given body of doctrine, but to accept in advance any doctrine your Church hereafter produces. It is like being asked to agree not only to what a man has said but also to what he is going to say.
 
I’m a bit taken by the title “protestant wannabe catholics”.

Am I the only one who finds this title a bit unwelcoming?
 
I hear you changing, but Curious is a protestant as well, so I reckon it’s ok.

Anyway, I’m Lutheran. Raised that way, have been my entire life. My dad was a Lutheran pastor, his dad was a Lutheran pastor, his dad was a Lutheran pastor, etc. My mother’s side is also Lutheran. It runs in the family. Everybody is. If I were to try and leave, I’d be sad and my family would be sad. Good thing I won’t be leaving!

While I really admire Catholic spirituality and have come to understand more fully the Catholic faith, there are still many things I disagree with, and I could not convert with a good conscience. If I was forced to drop the Lutheran faith and convert somewhere, I’d go Orthodox. The pope will always be an issue for protestants who have given it good thought (though many have ever even considered it). The works thing is also a little overwhelming. I’ve heard firm Catholics say that no one can be one hundred percent certain in their salvation, which would also make me nervous.

Like I said, however, I really do appreciate Catholic spirituality. I have a greater appreciation for Mary and the saints, the rosary, the real presence in the Eucharist, etc, etc.
 
Curious said:
This is for all the Protestant wannabe Catholics in these forums that, for all our great attraction to the Catholic Church, do not convert.

Why? Care to share your stories here?

And others feel free to post about maybe people you know or stories you’ve heard about why Protestants who truly seemed to love the Catholic Church and understand Her teachings just never made the plunge.

I will share my own “why” later. Slightly pressed for time right now.
Click to expand...
What I most admire about the Catholic faith is its profound reverence. I also admire the liturgical worship, but this isn’t just restricted to Catholicism, and I like liturgical Protestant services too :highprayer:

(And I must ask where this smiley has been, all this time–he’s great–oh, probably hiding behind his cloud of incense)

But I have since found that there are too many other things I disagree with, mostly the Marian doctrines, although there are some others as well. And so I found that there were so many other things I couldn’t agree with that I couldn’t convert in good faith.

There is also the element of “culture shock” so to speak, and the sense of feeling like a foreign object, traditional practices I don’t understand, and so forth.

But that sense, like the beauty of the Catholic prayers I have found, also makes me want to learn more about the Catholic understanding of Christianity, so here I am…

Zirconia
 
Curious said:
This is for all the Protestant wannabe Catholics in these forums that, for all our great attraction to the Catholic Church, do not convert.

Why? Care to share your stories here?

And others feel free to post about maybe people you know or stories you’ve heard about why Protestants who truly seemed to love the Catholic Church and understand Her teachings just never made the plunge.

I will share my own “why” later. Slightly pressed for time right now.
Click to expand...
In reading The Bible, and in prayer, I have never been convicted by The Holy Spirit that Catholicism is the church of Jesus Christ that Paul wrote about in the Book of Acts. The foundation of the church was built on the apostles and the prophets Eph 2:20. Jesus Christ is the Head, and His elect comprise the body. The New Testament speaks of the bodies of Christians as “the temples of God.” 1 Cor 3:16-17
So to answer your question, I see no reason why God would want me to attend a Catholic church.
When Nicodemus asked Jesus what he must do to inherit the kingdom of God, He didn’t tell him he had to be Catholic, did He? All He told him he had to do was to be born again.
Why are you Catholic?

God Bless
Robert

God commands us to “test all things.”​

 
My husband is a life-long Anglican. When he moved down here to marry me, he had no reservations in attending the Mass with me, nor did he have any objections in raising our son Catholic. He received his Sacraments in the Anglican Church - but it’s kinda disheartening for me to see that he cannot part take in the Eucharist with us. He does have a great respect for the Catholic Church and the Sacraments, but hesitates in converting because to him, it would be like giving up something that was very important to his family.

BTW - his maternal grandmother was Catholic.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top