Posted on 05/03/2007 12:50:55 PM PDT by siunevada
CARAPICUIBA, Brazil (Reuters) - For years, Ronaldo da Silva's daily routine consisted of drinking himself into a stupor until he passed out on a sidewalk.
Now he spends his days praying and singing with hundreds of fellow Christians at the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God in Carapicuiba, a sprawling shantytown on the outskirts of Sao Paulo where Pentecostal congregations are found on just about every block.
"I'd probably be dead or in jail if it weren't for this church," said da Silva, a 38-year-old former Catholic who claims God cured him of epilepsy and helped him straighten out his life when he converted to Pentecostalism a decade ago.
Conversions like da Silva's are increasingly common all over Brazil, where a boom in evangelical Protestantism is steadily chipping away at the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Church.
The trend, which is playing out all across Latin America, poses a major challenge for Pope Benedict, who arrives in Brazil on May 9 for a five-day visit largely aimed at blunting the decline of Catholicism in this continent-sized nation.
Although Brazil still has more Catholics than any other country in the world, with about 125 million, the percentage of believers that practice the Vatican's brand of Christianity has been dropping rapidly in the last three decades.
When the late Pope John Paul II visited Brazil in 1980, 89 percent of Brazilians identified themselves as Catholic. By 2000, when the last census was taken, the share of Catholics in the population had fallen to 74 percent.
The number of evangelical Protestants nearly tripled in the same period to 26 million, or about 15 percent of the population.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
You're probably correct. However, with time, lapsed Catholics who have joined Evangelical churches, return to their roots. Only the Cathollic Church can provide the Sacraments. "Unless you eat my flesh and drink my blood, you shall not have life within you" - John 6
The last gift Our Lord gave to us while hanging on the cross was for His Mother to be our Mother!
The problem the Church is facing in Latin America is a severe shortage of priests, a shortage that has existed there for centuries. Because of this shortage, a number of Latin Americans are inadequately catechized and seldom able to go to Mass, making them open to the Pentecostal groups.
Oh, puleeese. Eucharist is a weekly part of my life, outside the Catholic Church **gasp**.
“A passing fad.”
The work of the Holy Spirit is not a passing fad and Isaiah 5 says woe to those who call good evil. You should rejoice whenever a soul is saved.
Presbyterians don’t have priests. I thought he was joining up with the Episcopalians.
Eucharist in which sense? The Real Presence or a memorial meal. Only a validly ordained priest may confect the Eucharist. Do you also have the Sacrament of Reconciliation? Only a validly ordained priest may forgive sins.
My comment was not a reflection on the work of the Holy Spirit. It is always good to witness the zeal of a christian. The particular gentleman's soul was already saved through the Sacrament of Baptism.
Furthermore, the dwindling number of Catholics is due not only to a rise in Protestant numbers but also to the rising popularity of traditional pagan practices such as candomble and other African based forms of spirituality.
The Catholic Church itself has greatly facilitated this process due to its abandonment of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in many places in favor of a socialist/Marxist mission, which de-emphasises the spiritual in favor of a political ideology which is cold and unsatisfying to the inner spiritual yearnings of man.
Given everything which has taken place in the Catholic Church in the last half century, the only surprise to me is that the exodus from the Catholic Church has not been greater.
You know that baptism and the eucharist are recognized as sacraments in most Protestant churches.
Only the Holy Spirit can "confect" the Eucharist. Only a validly ordained priest may forgive sins.
Only Jesus can forgive sins.
No his soul was saved by entering into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Baptism is only part of the process.
“The Catholic Church itself has greatly facilitated this process due to its abandonment of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in many places in favor of a socialist/Marxist mission, which de-emphasises the spiritual in favor of a political ideology which is cold and unsatisfying to the inner spiritual yearnings of man.”
It’s starting to happen here in America too with liberation theology rearing its head under the name of “catholic social justice”.
Catholic Baptism takes away sins and makes one a member of Christ's Mystical Body. Paul revealed the essential effect of baptism when he wrote to the Galatians: "All of you who have been baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with him" (3:27). Paul's reflection is linked to the doctrine transmitted by John's Gospel, especially to Jesus' conversation with Nicodemus: "Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit" (3:5-6). The Holy Spirit brings about the birth and growth of a divine, "spiritual" life in Christians. This life animates and elevates their being. Through the Spirit, the very life of Christ bears its fruit in Christian existence.
Catholics, through the Sacrament of Baptism, have a 'relationship' with God as members of His mystical Body.
I know lots of people who were baptized Catholics and have no fruit of the spirit in their lives whatsover. In fact they follow the ways of the flesh that Paul warns about in Galatians 6 and will have no part in the kingdom of God.
“Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (3:5-6). The Holy Spirit brings about the birth and growth of a divine, “spiritual” life in Christians. This life animates and elevates their being. Through the Spirit, the very life of Christ bears its fruit in Christian existence.”
What you say here is completely true but one must also conciously make a decision to respond to the Holy Spirit, follow Christ and obey his Word. It is not automatic.
Jesus said “Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord shall enter into my kingdom but he that does the will of my Father in Heaven.”
Galatians 5 my mistake.
According to Scripture:
Luke 22:19, 1 Cor. 11:24-25 - Jesus commands the apostles to "do this," that is, offer the Eucharistic sacrifice, in remembrance of Him.
Only Jesus can forgive sins.
According to Scripture:
John 20:23 - Jesus says, "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven. If you retain the sins of any, they are retained." In order for the apostles to exercise this gift of forgiving sins, the penitents must orally confess their sins to them because the apostles are not mind readers. The text makes this very clear.
I don’t recall ever backing away from my assertion that protestants are the wolves who pervert scripture to steal away the faithful.
The fact that prots ‘fling’ scripture actually underscores my point.
Satan quotes scripture with the best for his purposes btw.
Agreed. The seed, once planted, must be watered and nourished or it will not blossom. However, we are not guaranteed salvation. We hope for Salvation.
Heb. 7:27, 9:12,26;10:10; 1 Pet 3:18 - Jesus died once and redeemed us all, but we participate in the application of His redemption by the way in which we live.
Rom. 5:2 - we rejoice in the "hope" (not the presumptuous certainty) of sharing the glory of God. If salvation is absolutely assured after accepting Jesus as Savior, why would Paul hope?
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