to convert or not to convert to the Catholic church

[Anonymous]

Am I the only one who struggles with the pull to the Roman Catholic church, but then recoils in horror at something and says no way ever? (It's not just the abuse crisis and the birth control stuff--although those are pretty much deal-breakers on their own) Intellectually, I love RC books etc.--such a great intellectual tradition and I love the quality control where books get an imprimatur etc.--but then I go to a parish and people (nice people, more virtuous than I am)--they won't engage that tradition...like I'll bring up books by their greatest theologians like Karl Rahner or books by leading Catholic academics--and it's like I'm quoting some forbidden banned book or something. I've heard that the Arlington diocese is the most conservative in the country...but this is where I live. Is being a liberal Catholic even possible today--especially in northern Virginia? I don't even like that word liberal applied to faith--but everything just feels so rigid on the ground.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Am I the only one who struggles with the pull to the Roman Catholic church, but then recoils in horror at something and says no way ever? (It's not just the abuse crisis and the birth control stuff--although those are pretty much deal-breakers on their own) Intellectually, I love RC books etc.--such a great intellectual tradition and I love the quality control where books get an imprimatur etc.--but then I go to a parish and people (nice people, more virtuous than I am)--they won't engage that tradition...like I'll bring up books by their greatest theologians like Karl Rahner or books by leading Catholic academics--and it's like I'm quoting some forbidden banned book or something. I've heard that the Arlington diocese is the most conservative in the country...but this is where I live. Is being a liberal Catholic even possible today--especially in northern Virginia? I don't even like that word liberal applied to faith--but everything just feels so rigid on the ground.

Yeah, right, you’re thinking about converting to Catholicism. Baloney.

[Anonymous]

What about OG Lutherans, lol.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I think I would have been a great Catholic if I had been born into it. I am not Christian but I love the story of Christmas so much, and I can really relate to liberal Catholic politicians and people like Dorothy Day. I could see myself having joined a Catholic Worker house or even becoming a nun. But the idea of choosing a religion with the sex abuse coverups and anti abortion and gender inequity and anti LGBT stuff...no way. It's one thing to try and change the religion you were raised in and quite another to jump in to something with so many areas of disagreement.

[Anonymous]

Come hang with the Episcopalians and see if it's better fit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Come hang with the Episcopalians and see if it's better fit.

Good idea -- the Episcopalians have all the ceremony -- and better music (these days especially) with none of the crazy rules.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I think I would have been a great Catholic if I had been born into it. I am not Christian but I love the story of Christmas so much, and I can really relate to liberal Catholic politicians and people like Dorothy Day. I could see myself having joined a Catholic Worker house or even becoming a nun. But the idea of choosing a religion with the sex abuse coverups and anti abortion and gender inequity and anti LGBT stuff...no way. It's one thing to try and change the religion you were raised in and quite another to jump in to something with so many areas of disagreement.

I was born Catholic but had luckily drifted away before the sex abuse coverups became public. No way I could go back -- except maybe for Midnight mass on Christmas Eve with a good organ and choir and a nice brass ensemble.

[Anonymous]

I know- NOT!
You cannot figure this out on your own? Decades of child abuse isn't enough?

[Anonymous]

Being a part of the Roman Church is an affair of the heart, driven by Faith — a living turning over of self to God — and not a mere intellectual journey. There is no such thing as “liberal” or “conservative” Catholicism. There is only a greater or lesser surrender to love personified in the person of Christ.

[Anonymous]

Find a Jesuit community. They are what you describe.

[Anonymous]

OP, only you can answer this question for yourself. If you find it meaningful to you and it gives you a greater sense of purpose, then it is worth it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Being a part of the Roman Church is an affair of the heart, driven by Faith — a living turning over of self to God — and not a mere intellectual journey. There is no such thing as “liberal” or “conservative” Catholicism. There is only a greater or lesser surrender to love personified in the person of Christ.

Keep in mind that you can "surrender to love personified in the person of Christ" or whomever you wish to surrender to (assuming you do) without joining the Catholic Church, or any church, for that matter.

And also keep in mind that pp is simply incorrect. What is said above can apply to the followers to any religion or cult, not just Catholicism. Catholics, in my experience, have always wanted to feel special, setting themselves apart from other forms of Christianity as the first or the best.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Find a Jesuit community. They are what you describe.

Yes to this

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Find a Jesuit community. They are what you describe.

Yes to this

If you are in Nova, cross the bridge and try Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown. It's a Jesuit parish.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a part of the Roman Church is an affair of the heart, driven by Faith — a living turning over of self to God — and not a mere intellectual journey. There is no such thing as “liberal” or “conservative” Catholicism. There is only a greater or lesser surrender to love personified in the person of Christ.

Keep in mind that you can "surrender to love personified in the person of Christ" or whomever you wish to surrender to (assuming you do) without joining the Catholic Church, or any church, for that matter.

And also keep in mind that pp is simply incorrect. What is said above can apply to the followers to any religion or cult, not just Catholicism. Catholics, in my experience, have always wanted to feel special, setting themselves apart from other forms of Christianity as the first or the best.

Protestant here - how do you reconcile this argument (that you can surrender to God without joining a church) with the verses in the Bible about Christians needing to be in community with each other? I really don't think you can, though my DH who is also a Protestant does.

I've had the same experience with Roman Catholics expecting all branches of the faith to return to them, but historically aren't they correct? Even the Orthodox originally split off from the Catholics. They really are first, even if I have theological reasons for not being Catholic.