And then combine that with the fear of facing God alone. From their comments it’s obvious to me that the safety of the “crowd” is vitally important to them and a sense of security. They seem to think that because they “belong” to what they claim is the one true church it’s a done deal. It will be a sad a shocking day when they each stand alone trying to explain how they “belonged”. The pope is not the vicar of Christ on earth nor is the Catholic Church the safe haven they think it is. It’s Christ alone or cast out.
It's called practicing “Church-ianity” rather than Christianity. Their “relationship” is with Catholicism peppered with distorted and deceptive Christian lingo to make it palatable.
Their allegiance to the catholic church/Pope etc. (Rome) is no different then the same psychological attachments cult members have and are frequently exposed on these threads. So just as it's difficult for cultists to break away from cults, so to catholics who choose to believe what they are told and cannot come away from Catholicism.
They first have to ‘desire’ truth and reality. Otherwise it's much easier to remain part of the crowd they are ‘habitually’ attached to.