First the Protestants, Now the Cults: Will We (the Catholic Church) Be Ready?

One of the most amazing works of the Holy Spirit over the past couple of decades or so has been the wave of Protestant converts coming into the Catholic Church. Notable among them have been the Protestant ministers — the tip of the iceberg of whom have been the names that have become well-known in apologetics circles. Though what they have been given by the Church surely dwarfs anything they have brought to her, it is also true that they have enlivened the faith of many a cradle Catholic with their enthusiasm and evident joy at discovering the truths of the faith.

Teaching Protestants who come into the Church is a challenge that any well-managed RCIA program should be able to meet. What has proved more difficult however has been finding ways to make use of the gifts and training that Protestant ministers bring with them and assisting them with their very special circumstance — that their conversion has met the end of their career. The Coming Home Network, founded by Marcus Grodi, has served a very valuable role in helping these men (they are mostly men) make the difficult double transition into a new faith community and career at the same time.

What Marcus Grodi has found, as those who watch his show, The Journey Home, may have noticed, is that sprinkled among the converts from Protestant denominations have been here and there, converts, not merely from among our separated brethren, but from religious groups that deny nearly everything that we and the Protestants have in common. At first it was rare and notable to see a former Jehovah’s Witness or Mormon being interviewed on his show. That has begun to change as converts from these groups become more common. Within recent weeks both a former Jehovah’s Witness and a deacon who was in The Way International appeared in separate episodes of The Journey Home.

These conversions from such high-control groups are often very dramatic and the choices these converts face may go well beyond the Protestant minister’s career upheavals to encompass cruel ostracism by close family members, shattering self-doubt, and difficult navigation through a socially alien terrain.

More and more, we are seeing converts whose backgrounds are much stranger, theologically and socially, than any former Baptist or Episcopalian. Have we noticed that they are coming in? Are we ready for them?

One way we can get ready is by understanding more about what life in cult does to a person, the wounds that may be left from years of spiritual and emotional abuse, from years of living in existential terror of violating dehumanizing and arbitrary — and constantly changing — rules. The people most equipped to convey this understanding to us are the people who have lived the experience of being in a cult, coming out, and coming into the Catholic Church. The richness of their experience cannot be overstated any more than can the depth of their gratitude. The one who has been forgiven much, loves much, and the one in whom the light itself has been darkness finds special joy in the true light.

So come and learn from these people whose amazing journey will inspire and educate you. Come to the Welcome Home! Catholic Conference in Weirton, WV from August 1-3. The conference is sponsored by the Fellowship of Catholic Ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Speakers include our own Mark Shea, Tom Cabeen, a former overseer at the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses and yours truly. I will be giving an extended talk on the subject of cults on Friday evening. It is called “Hijacked Lives” and will cover how people get recruited into cults, what happens to them while they are in the group and what kind of help they need when they get out.

I especially urge Catholic social workers, counselors, and other mental health providers to come and learn how to effectively help people with this history. Priests, DREs, and catechists will benefit from understanding how to
meet the unique needs of this population as they enter the Catholic Church in increasing numbers — because whether we are ready or not, God is bringing them to us.

This conference will also be invaluable for anyone with a family member in this group — or in any similar group that wrecks havoc with family life. Come meet others who understand the deep sense of loss, the holiday turmoil, the walking on eggshells.

Weirton, WV is about 20 minutes from the Pittsburgh International Airport and 30 minutes from the Franciscan University of Steubenville. Special early-registration rates are available now through June 30^th. To see the agenda and to register for the conference click here or follow the link on the website of The Catholic Fellowship of Ex-Jehovah’s Witnesses, www.catholicxjw.com.

I would agree very strongly with your statement, as edited

Then it's not really my statement, is it? ;)

Further, I'd say there's a frequent attitude among many Protestants that attacks on Christianity are fine, so long as the Catholic Church is the focal point (case in point: The Da Vinci Code).

I'd say that any 'Protestant' who said the Da Vinci Code was a good thing because it supposedly attacked the Catholic Church is merely a 'go to church on Sunday like a social club' kind of person. The Catholic Church has its share of these individuals as well.

. . .but Protestants also even miseducate Catholics.

I wasn't aware it was the job of Protestants to educate Catholics at all. I would think it would be the job of the Catholic Church to educate its members.

Protestants so often insist that Catholics believe works are neccesary to attain salvation, that many Catholics are starting to believe it.

So works aren't necessary, and we are saved by faith alone?

The Protestant Reformation said you can do what you want to do? I heartily disagree with that characterization. The Protestant Reformation was about getting back to God’s truth. While you might believe that they were wrong with what they believe to be truth, that’s not the same as ‘you can do what you want’.

First of all, let's review what I actually said:

This is a phenomenon of liberal modernism, which was basically started with the Great Western Schism (or, as some call it, the Protestant Reformation). Liberalism basically states that I can do as I want to do. Reformation theology (through the 5 solas) essentially says the same thing, but on a theological basis.

You argue with that point, but take a look at it from a Catholic's perspective for a second. In the communities formed in the wake of Luther/Calvin/Zwingli, there are wide divergences in their core theology. Yet all claim to be "sola scriptura." How can there be all of these divergences in theology if "sola scriptura" is accurate? Is it right to baptize infants or is it not? Is it right to baptize by infusion or must it be done by immersion? And so on. You may have one view. Others, who are adherents to other confessions, do not agree with your position, whatever that position may be. I guarantee it! Yet both you and those who disagree claim to be "sola scriptura." But who provides the authoritative interpretation that this is what the scriptures really mean when they say that! I hear claimed "the Holy Spirit teaches me what it really means." All well and good, but "the Holy Spirit teaches" Joe down the road something completely different. But both are "sola scriptura."

You can take a look at the other four solas, sola fide, sola gratia, solus Christus, soli Deo gloria, and you will see differing interpretations of all of the above. Sometimes WIDELY divergent interpretations. Yet all CLAIM to be able to let their conscience be their guide (moved by the Holy Spirit, of course).

From the perspective of a Catholic, it appears to be chaos. It appears like "every man for himself." It appears that you can find some group to agree with your personal understanding of theology, if you'd like. If you drink, you can find a group that supports drinking and claims to be 5 Solas©. If you don't like drinking, you can find a different group that opposes drinking and claims to be 5 Solas©. If you like homosexuality, you can find a group that claims to be 5 Solas© and agrees with you. If you think all homosexuals should be hunted down like dogs and killed, you can find a group that claims to be 5 Solas© and will give you moral cover for your actions. You don't like blacks or you don't like whites. Just look around. You can find a 5 solas© group that will agree with you.

Does that mean that they all are practicing the 5 solas? No, of course not. But who are you and upon what authority do you dare to call another group wrong? You have no such authority. Or at least no more authority than the other group's criticism of you and your practices. Your particular group may have some sort of ecclesiastic hierarchy, like the Lutherans, the Methodists, or the Presbyterians. But it might not. And even if it has one, does criticism from a Lutheran body have direct impact on a Presbyterian body? No, of course not. Nor should it! Then you have groups where the congregation, through their elected representatives (maybe), elects the person who is in charge! Talk about being unbiblical and backwards! (if it is Biblical, show me an example where the population elected a bishop! (Don't even try Matthias in Acts 1, either. They drew lots...and the ones making the nominations were other apostles, not the masses of the laity!)). There is no authority. Can you seriously tell me that this situation (umpteen denominations and umpteen interpretations of Scripture (both from a doctrinal and practical point of view)) is Biblical (See I Cor 1-3) or gives any sort of glory to God?

Can there be any wonder why a Catholic, looking at the tangled mess of Protestant groups, can say that it is "every man for himself?" You may not see it that way, as is your right, but can you comprehend why it looks that way from somebody who is not a Protestant?

BTW, I'm really not trying to start a fight. I am just trying to help you see this through my eyes a bit. I'm not trying to get you to change your way of worship or belief. If it works for you and you are able to come to a knowledge of the Truth of Christ through it, I am happy for you. I know many very wonderful Protestant believers who are tremendous witnesses for the redeeming work of Christ through their lives. But sometimes you need to look at things from a different perspective (IMHO/FWIW/YMMV)

DManA, I think I covered your comment, His Living Word and the Holy Spirit informs ours, with the remarks above.

Please provide specifics when you make these statements.

For example:

"The first written mandate requiring priests to be chaste came in AD 304. Canon 33 of the Council of Elvira stated that all "bishops, presbyters, and deacons and all other clerics" were to "abstain completely from their wives and not to have children." A short time later, in 325, the Council of Nicea, convened by Constantine, rejected a ban on priests marrying requested by Spanish clerics." (http://hnn.us/articles/696.html - George Mason University) We also know that Peter was married as the gospels mention his mother in law, and he was the first pope according to the Catholic Church. Obviously, it was sometime after the first pope that the idea of priests being married came about.

On the assumption of Mary, Wikipedia states "Although the Assumption was only recently defined as dogma, and in spite of a statement by Epiphanius of Salamis in AD 377 that no one knew of the eventual fate of Mary, accounts of the assumption of Mary into heaven have circulated since at least the 5th century." Further, at Catholic.net, I found the following ""We pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory." With these words, Pope Pius XII formally declared, in 1950, the bodily Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into heaven to be a dogma of the Catholic Church."

The research I did on Mary's eternal virginity lead me back to early 2nd century references, so I will grant you that one as being taught from the beginning of the Catholic church.

By the way, sorry it took so long to respond. I had my response almost written, then had to step away from the computer. My hubby decided he needed the computer and logged me off (bless his heart). I had to wait until I had the time to try to rebuild my response.

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