Latinos Leaving the Catholic Church

[DAF]

I think all the saints and martyrs qualify as X-Men!

[Socrates]

[quote name='musturde' post='1038131' date='Aug 5 2006, 09:15 AM']
If I was to post something showing that a large number of protestants are becoming Catholic, how would you respond?
[/quote]
Obviously, that would demonstrate the evil seductive powers of the Whore of Babylon!

[quote name='Budge' post='1038109' date='Aug 5 2006, 08:29 AM']
Praise God!

My church has several ex-Catholics in it including some Latinos.
[/quote]
Praise God!

My Catholic parish has more than several ex-protestants in it including my mother and father.

[XIX]

I ask you, how many ex-"Catholics" had a devotion to the Eucharist prior to embracing a protestant church?


This may sound radical coming from a Catholic, but I honestly think that if a "Catholic" does not believe in the Real Presence, that person ois better off in a Protestant church somewhere. At least that more honest with what he/she truly believes. I have trouble with people claiming to be Catholic when they don't believe in the heart of Catholicism.

So why not join your local Methodist Church until you hopefully re-discover Holy Communion? Am I crazy here?

Anyways, I'm sure that very very few people who have a strong belief in the Real Presence actually convert away from that belief. Once you embrace Jesus in such an intimate way, you lose all desire to turn back. [u]I have [b]never[/b] seen anything like the devout prayer power of a Eucharistic devotee.[/u]

Edited August 6, 2006 by XIX

[EcceNovaFacioOmni]

Christian missionary work is not a political campaign where the most votes wins the day.

[MissScripture]

[quote name='Budge' post='1038137' date='Aug 5 2006, 10:29 AM']

The rules are more "stringent" [the yoke of Jesus is light] to unbelievers. No gambling--not even lotto, no smoking, no drinking in most, no living together, following Biblical precepts, no cussing, and YOU can be removed from the church body if you are an unrepentant public sinner. My pastor has even rebuked folks for living together who were unmarried and removed one from a ministry until they were to repent. I never saw this happening in the Catholic Church.

[/quote]
Well, then you weren't looking in the right places, because while I have not seen people publicly called out and rebuked, I do know of several parishes that have refused people employment (jobs such as teachers, secretaries and janitors) based on the fact that they were co-habitating or living in other immoral fashions.


[quote name='Mateo el Feo' post='1038221' date='Aug 5 2006, 02:21 PM']
To impress us with his use of large fonts?
[/quote]
(but I think Budge is a she...)

Edited August 6, 2006 by MissScripture

[Aloysius]

so... you're saying that replacing images of Christ with flags of latin american countries and a saying reflecting pseudo-christian marxist propaganda is a GOOD thing? wow, being an enemy of the Church makes for strange bedfellows.

I'm referring to "year of prosperity", clearly drawing on a thouroughly marxist-influenced theology of liberation and healt-and-wealthism. you are describing how protestants are luring catholics away from the Church with the promise of class struggle and riches.

if you really believed protestant churches were of Christ, you would have to shout "SIMONY!" at this phenomenon. it basically ammounts to bribing people: you will become wealthy if you worship God this way!

[chris]

[quote]Actually according to Catholic teachings, even present ones, EX-CATHOLICS dont make it to heaven, on the seperated brethern clause, but are "HERETICS"

A buddhist has much more of a chance of heaven then an Ex-Catholic who has rejected Rome according to Catholic teachings.

There are a bunch of Prots becoming Catholics, their churches have sold out. The new emergent church movement is sucking more into Catholic ways of worship.[/quote]

2 things

1. The church doesnt say that heretic effects a persons eternal life. That is determined by GOD.

2. I have been called a heretic by more protestant for converting. However, when I was protestant and had Catholic friends they never refered to me as heretical.

Remeber, Dont bear false wittness against your neighbour.

[quote]Christian missionary work is not a political campaign where the most votes wins the day.[/quote]

Sometimes, thats what it seems

Edited August 6, 2006 by Convert4888

[GodChild]

here it is again - politicised religion and the great 'bums on seats' hysteria.

[avemaria40]

[quote name='Budge' post='1038137' date='Aug 5 2006, 11:29 AM']
Actually Bible churches arent just restricted to 45 minutes once a weekend.

I think most Catholics here would run even to know that most Bible churches require attendance at three services a week;)

The rules are more "stringent" [the yoke of Jesus is light] to unbelievers. No gambling--not even lotto, no smoking, no drinking in most, no living together, following Biblical precepts, no cussing, and YOU can be removed from the church body if you are an unrepentant public sinner. My pastor has even rebuked folks for living together who were unmarried and removed one from a ministry until they were to repent. I never saw this happening in the Catholic Church.
[/quote]

We are very strict about banning cohabitation and we're not allowed to curse either. About the drinking however, we don't believe in excessive drinking as the Bible does not ban drinking and Paul did advise Timothy to drink wine for his stomach. It's a sin to get drunk, but not to drink. Also, many Catholic priests strictly enforce the cohabitation ban and will tell couples to either separate or (if finances do not allow or they have children) to live as brother and sister until they are married. Catholics are very strict when it comes to sexual morality (just listen to anyone who has a bone to pick with our teachings on birth control, homosexuality, fornication, prostitution, and other sexual sins) and there have been instances where Catholic school teachers have been fired for having premarital sex or working at abortion clinics.

Btw, just b/c most people don't believe in something does not make it less true. Jesus said by the fruits you shall know them and He was talking about good or bad, not about how much. And the Catholic Church has too many of those good fruits to write it off (St. Gianna Beretta Molla, who chose her own death rather than abort her baby, St. Maxmillian Kolbe, who died at the hands of the Nazis to spare the life of a Jewish father, St. Edith Stein who bravely chose death and suffered in the Holocaust, St. Joan of Arc, who died for her country, Mother Teresa, Pope John Paul II, Archbishop Oscar Romero, and other wonderful people) Also, I know many Latinos who are very devoutly Catholic, including the child I sponsor in Honduras. I know the Catholic Church is the right one and I'm not going to leave just because "everyone else is doing it" In the time of Jesus, alot of people were committing all kinds of sexual sins (pederasty being very common in ancient Greece and Rome) Does that mean Christians and Jews of those times should have followed in their footsteps?

[ruso]

[quote name='Budge' post='1038109' date='Aug 5 2006, 04:29 PM']
Praise God!

My church has several ex-Catholics in it including some Latinos.





[url="http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2006/07/30/search_for_a_spiritual_home/"]LATINOS LEAVING CATHOLIC CHURCH[/url]
[/quote]
No only in the USA, unfortunately this occurring in every Latinoamerica.

[DAF]

I don't see an article here about how many Africans or Vietnamese are JOINING the Church...

[thessalonian]

Yes parasitic protestantism has started cutting in to the Latinos as it did Europe after the deformation (reformation) as well. Do you think this proves something? Did you know that at the time of the defomation, 6 million Catholics left the Catholic Church for these heresies. 9 million mexican's entered the Church. I think that proves much more.

Kim Franklin and her wife went to Latin America to convert "pagan Catholics". She was headed for the Catholic Church when she returned. The division and competition of the Protestant Churches on TV and radio, vying for converts exposed the divisions in Protestantism that she just couldn't reconcile with the Bible. She even noted that within on block there were three different Pentecostal Churches. How does this fith the Automomous Church model that many protestants use to explain the early Church? Answer, quite clearly it doesn't.

[melporcristo]

[quote name='Budge' post='1038132' date='Aug 5 2006, 07:17 AM']
I believe these Latino Catholics are looking for stability, meaning and truth in their lives . . .

. . . and finding nothing but confusion, politics and dysfunction in the Catholic Church.
So wonder they are leaving.....
[/quote]

really ... is that so? As a Mexican myself, I disagree.
Where I am from, many protestant, mormon & Jehovah Witness churches bribe Hispanics to join their church in different ways. First, obviously, financial assistance. The mormon church will give money to the low-income families every month but not for free - the people have to convert to Mormonism. Second, "similar devotions" like in a Methodist church where they have a statue of Our Lady and tell Hispanics, "Look, we have a statue of Mary [Our Lady] - we're the same as the other church you go to." These are the protestant churches selling half-truths to immigrants who are already confused about which is which.
And lastly, in my own parish in little Idaho Falls, Idaho (25 to 35% Latinos) there was a decrease in people going to mass. But suddenly, when the priests began offering Confession more than just once a week and more than just an hour, many of the Latinos in my area began lining up the church walls to go to confession AND adoration. We now have two Spanish Masses. There is also about 100-200 people who come to healing masses (Where the priest has the Blessed Sacrament in a Monstrance and prays over people with the Blessed Sacrament) and 100 people who get together each week to pray the Rosary in Spanish before the Tabernacle. Although I don't have numbers for you, I do have personal authority about this because I have seen miracles of people coming back to the Catholic Church even more strong in their faith. If those who are the 2nd generation 3rd generation Catholics who are leaving, I am sorry for them. They will face, "confusion, politics and dysfunction" in their protestant churches who reform from a reform from a reform and where there are over 30,000 protestant denominations with over 30,000 different ways to interpret the Bible. Little do they know is that those who have left the Catholic Church are being prayed for over and over and possibly have been Consecrated by their parents who may have been Catholic, or their parents parents who were devout. If not, I pray for those Latinos who have left the Church everyday myself!
All things are possible in prayer~

Peace+
Melissa

Edited August 7, 2006 by melporcristo

[thessalonian]

Good post mel,

Going every different which way to the thousdands of denominations is stability and finding truth? That is very odd budge. Unless of course you believe inrelativism. I don't think you do. But you seem to have a problem with logical conclusions.

[melporcristo]

[quote name='thessalonian' post='1038964' date='Aug 7 2006, 04:43 AM']
Yes parasitic protestantism has started cutting in to the Latinos as it did Europe after the deformation (reformation) as well. Do you think this proves something? Did you know that at the time of the defomation, 6 million Catholics left the Catholic Church for these heresies. 9 million mexican's entered the Church. I think that proves much more.

Kim Franklin and her wife went to Latin America to convert "pagan Catholics". She was headed for the Catholic Church when she returned. The division and competition of the Protestant Churches on TV and radio, vying for converts exposed the divisions in Protestantism that she just couldn't reconcile with the Bible. She even noted that within on block there were three different Pentecostal Churches. How does this fith the Automomous Church model that many protestants use to explain the early Church? Answer, quite clearly it doesn't.
[/quote]

Yes, I also remember reading a converstion story about a Protestant missionary family who went to Latin America and came back even more confused about the Americanized culture of churches reforming constantly in these small towns causing even more division.
It could be the same woman. She was in the "Surprised By Truth" 3rd series.