Who were the people who left the Catholic Church?

Answer 1

Because most people don't know enough about Catholicism.

AnswerThere is a phrase coined I believe by Bishop Fullerton Sheen, which is here paraphrased "Most people really don't really hate the Catholic Church; they hate what they think is the Catholic Church."

The ideas of obedience to a human-held hierarchy, the strict moral code, the emphasis on sin and hell as real; such things are repugnant to human nature as they are hard and they are perceived as restrictive. The way the Church is so aggressive to assert Itself and the Rights of God in political or personal matters (moral life) also rubs some people the wrong way.

The Church sees truth as liberating, that is, that once one knows what is good and what is evil, one can live a fully human life in accordance with the Divine plan. This is why the Church is so adamant in Its teachings and Its interest in the salvation of mankind as the Faith It guards preaches. And this is why there will always be people that dislike it; because they just don't agree or don't want to even hear about it.

Answer 2

Most of the time, it's because people do not like something they find there. Most often it is actually for a social reason, either someone slighted them, the priest does not do what they say or does not listen, something about the church itself, or another parishoner, something said from the pulpit that strikes a personal chord, their involvement in a program has been canceled or lowered, etc. A minority may leave because they find doctrines they do not agree with or find a moral teaching too stringent. Others simply leave because organized religion is inconvenient and they do not wish to invest the time or effort in going to Church or following Catholic morals. Still others leave because they have made a choice that the Church does not condone, such as divorce, and rather than change their own lives, they decide the Church is wrong. Some leave because of modern changes, which scandalize them and have undermined their faith, while others leave because the Church is not changing enough and they wish a more modern Christian interpretation.

Ultimately, the reasons may be as varied and are as personal as each person who decides to leave the Church. Usually, those that leave do so because they judge their way of acting or thinking to be correct over that of the Church, though this may be only implicitly expressed.

Answer 3

Bad quality modern liturgy is probably the core problem. Since Vatican II the liturgy has been changed and ruined. God is no longer the central focus of the Mass is most churches these days, and therefore he's not the central focus of our lives. If reverece and personal piety are reduced in importance in the liturgy they are reduced in importance in our lives. (Lex Orandi Lex Credendi) God becomes less important in our lives and evenually we simply leave him or even don't believe in him at all.

ANSWER:

1. Like everything and most everyone in our society, The Catholic Church has been affected, negatively, by the influence of the largely atheist secular world BUT the Catholic Church has survived for 2000 years. She will survive, and recover, from this too. In fact, the Church is already recovering (morally) from the moral chaos that swept through the US (and much of the world) over the past 50+/- years.

2. All the teachings on Faith & Morals in the Catholic Church -- unlike many non-catholic christian churches -- remains intact/unaffected/unchanged by "the world." That is the doing, exclusively, of The Holy Spirit. The Catholic Church remains THE primary "voice crying in the wilderness: make straight the way of the Lord."

3. The problem is that Catholics, as well as a good chuck of the Catholic clergy and religious, do not live, in their own lives, The Faith. We are sinners and inclined toward sin in the FLESH. The secular world/society CAN affect human beings. . .and it did, and does, affect Catholic clergy too b/c they are human. . .BUT

4. Our young priests (ordained in the 1980s on) -- most of them -- are genuinely committed to teaching the Catholic Faith and genuinely struggle to live their faith personally. The older priest (ordained in the late 1950s/1960s) are, in my view, the problem BUT they will die-off and be replaced by holy priests who teach the Faith. Ultimately, you CAN'T desire to BE a Catholic priest, monk, nun for any logical reason other than you LOVE our Lord and LOVE His Church and the Catholic faith and you are COMMITTED to teaching/preaching and LIVING that faith. There is NO other reason to become a Catholic priest. It's a very difficult life LIVED RIGHT. Anyone who does NOT BELIEVE in the Catholic faith would NOT become a priest or religious. They'd do something else. You MUST believe in the Catholic Faith to be a priest/religions. Otherwise your life is a SHAM. You're just lying to yourself, every single day. That's a miserable life.

5. My sister & I were in grade school in the 1970s; kept our religion books from Catholic school. A few years ago we compared our catholic school religion books with her son's CS religion book. We laughed b/c OURs were ridiculous and non-sensical which is WHY didn't really learn much about our FAITH even in catholic school in the 1970s. My nephew's CS religion books, on the other hand, are excellent and interesting. To look at our 1970s CS religion books, you'd think someone on LSD wrote that book -- it's chaotic and very poorly structured. But TODAY, our catholic school Children's Books are very good.

6. In reality, Catholics are NOT leaving the Catholic Church. Back in the 1970s, we had approximately 600 Million catholics worldwide. Today, we have over 1 Billion.

7. I disagree with the previous writer that it's the change to the Catholic Liturgy that is a problem. I'm a post-Vatican II baby. Never knew the Latin Mass although I have attended a few and personally, I don't like them so much b/c I can't follow the service easily b/c it's in a language I don't know. The music IS beautiful as is the Mass itself but I actually prefer the "folk" Mass. The POINT, however, is that the Latin Mass SHOULD be offered for those who are most inspired by that form. And, I should be able to attend the folk-style Mass that elevates me, spiritually.

8. In my view. we Catholics CANNOT reject Vatican II any more than we can reject Vatican I or Trent or any other council. Vatican II was inspired by the Holy Spirit, period. The problem is NOT Vatican II; it's the ABUSE & distortion of Vatican II that occurred in it's aftermath for a good 20-30 years which is NOTHING in terms of Church history & time. Whenever I hear the clergy/religious/Catholic educators, etc. say: we're doing xyz in the SPIRIT of Vatican II, I immediately know there's likely a problem with the authenticity of whatever "change" thing they plan to do. Not interested in something that is merely in the spirit of Vatican II." Want it to BE in conformance with Vatican II.

Answer 4

Perhaps because the church places far to many restrictions upon their lives. The world has an influence upon them. They stop believing. When they call upon God in prayer they get no answers. They may not like the other members of the local church. Boredom. Family influences. If a person wants to stop going to church they will find a reason.

Answer 5

We know many reasons that Christians leave their church, including:

• They may have come to the conclusion that there is no God
• They may want to take up another religion such as Islam Buddhism or Wicca
• They may want to transfer to another denomination that they hope to find more satisfying, while continuing to worship God
• They may feel more comfortable worshipping at home in private, rather than in a church environment
• They may be uncomfortable with the church's clergy or the way that authority is wielded
• They may disagree with the church's stance for or against women clergy or acceptance of homosexuals, or other current issues
• They may have become aware of the recent publicity of sexual and financial crimes committed by clergy or laypersons

Answer 6

The best way to establish why people are leaving the Church is to establish the demographic profiles of those who leave and those who remain behind.

Studies show that the better the education a person has, the more likely that person is to be an atheist. The three enemies of church membership are education, information and the freedom to decide for one's self.

Answer 7

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Catholic AnswerOver the past twenty centuries they have gone by many names. They are known as heretics and apostates by the Church. Heretics as they have denied some aspect of the faith that must be believed for salvation, and apostates as they have left the Mystical Body of Christ. In some cases they are known as schismatics instead of apostates. Schismatics for one reason or another have denied some aspect of the Catholic faith, usually the supremacy of St. Peter and his successors, the Bishops of Rome: these people include the Orthodox, the Old Catholics, and the Polish National Catholics.

Answer 8

On the contrary, people are flocking to Christianity.