[Salvation]

I've had this for awhile. Time to post it.

Link to the video

http://www.catholic-convert.com/2011/05/10/evangelicals-becoming-catholic-why/

[GeronL]

mental illness?

[DesScorp]

Maybe because the Catholic Church is putting its foot down and demanding Catholics be Catholic again, and this is appealing since the Evangelical movement seems to be slowly drifting to the same place the mainstream denominations have gone. In the past ten years, the evangelicals churches have started to embrace all kinds of lunacy: environmentalism, encouraging illegal immigration, etc.

[Persevero]

Lots of Catholics leave the RCs to join Protestant churches, too.

[hinckley buzzard]

Evangelical protestants have given it a good try but the absence of a bottom line is always their Achilles Heel. As we see now in the broad spectrum of reformation/protestant denominations, there is no end to the splintering, creating heterodoxy instead of unity.

Eventually, it only makes sense to return to the source.

[Melas]

Just my two cents: From the outside looking in, the Catholic church always seemed to have a sense of holiness that protestants lacked. Note that I say this knowing full well and good that since I’ve been married to my second wife (and I her second husband) for well over 20 years, that I’ll never be asked to set foot in a Catholic church.

[freedomfiter2]

It’s because many evangelical churches have abandoned the authority of schripture while the Catholic church still has some standards albeit not often enforced.

[The KG9 Kid]

Pageantry.

I've seen enough great Cathedrals in Europe to understand that inspiring awe has quite a lot to do with attracting followers to your religion.

[Salvation]

Any comments on people who are coming back to the church?

Catholic Ping!

[daniel1212]

I've had this for awhile. Time to post it.

I heard this hype years ago (though some more likely leave now due to the present compromise in evangelical churches, which Rome has as well) but I have had this for a while also, which has actual stats from many known sources. See more and notes here. Before you cry bias. The reality is that Roman Catholic churches covet evangelical converts in order enliven there overall dead pewsl My old priests used to exhorts us, “sing like Protestants.”

• The Catholic population of the United States had fallen by nearly 400,000 in 2007, and suffered a slight membership loss in 2009 but increased 1.49 percent in 2010. [U.S. population growth rate in 2008 was 0.9 percent, and 0.57 percent in 2011.]. From 2007 to 2008 Roman Catholics grew from 17.33 percent of the global population to 17.4 percent in 2008. http://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=5753 http://www.ncccusa.org/news/100204yearbook2010.html; http://www.ncccusa.org/news/110210yearbook2011.html

• 2002 Statistics compiled by the U.S. bishops' Secretariat for Hispanic Affairs reported that 71 percent of the U.S. Catholic population growth since 1960 was due to Hispanics. The statistics are taken from U.S. Census reports and recent surveys of Hispanics. http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_15_36/ai_59607715/pg_3/

• 68% of those raised Roman Catholic still are Catholic (comparable with or better than the retention rates of other religious groups). 15% are now Protestant (9% evangelical); 14% are unaffiliated. Pew forum, Faith in Flux (April 27, 2009) http://pewforum.org/uploadedfiles/Topics/Religious_Affiliation/fullreport.pdf

• 80% of adults who were raised Protestant are still Protestant. ^

• Those who have left Catholicism outnumber those who have joined the Catholic Church by nearly a four-to-one margin. 10.1% have left the Catholic Church after having been raised Catholic, while only 2.6% of adults have become Catholic after having been raised in a different faith. ^

• 4% of Americans raised Catholic are now unaffiliated; 5% are now Protestant. ^

• Regarding reasons for leaving Catholicism, less than 30% of former Catholics agreed that the clergy sexual abuse scandal played a role in their departure. ^

• 71% of Protestants converts from Catholicism said that their spiritual needs were not being met in Catholicism, with 78% of Evangelical Protestants concurring, versus 43% of those now unaffiliated. ^

• 50% of all Protestants converts from Catholicism said they stooped believing in Catholicism's teachings overall. Only 23% (20% now evangelical) were unhappy about Catholicism's teachings on abortion/homosexuality (versus 46% of those now unaffiliated); 23% also expressed disagreement with teaching on divorce/remarriage; 16% (12% now evangelical) were dissatisfied with teachings on birth control, 70% said they found a religion the liked more in Protestantism.

• 55% of evangelical converts from Catholicism cited dissatisfaction with Catholic teachings about the Bible was a reason for leaving Catholicism, with 46% saying the Catholic Church did not view the Bible literally enough.

• 81% of all Protestant converts from Catholicism said they enjoyed the service and worship of Protestant faith as a reason for joining a Protestant denomination, with 62% of all Protestants and 74% Evangelicals also saying that they felt God's call to do so. ^

• 42% of those now unaffiliated stated they do not believe in God, or most religious teaching. ^

• 54% of “millennial generation” Catholics (born in 1982 or later) are Hispanics, while 39% are non-Hispanic whites. On the other hand, 76% of “pre-Vatican II generation” Catholics (born 1943 or earlier) are non-Hispanic whites, while 15% are Hispanics. Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University, September, 2010 . http://www.osv.com/tabid/7621/itemid/6850/Openers-More-evidence-of-the-browning-of-US-Cat.aspx

• 1,000 Mexicans left the Catholic Church every day between 2000 and 2010, a decline that has continued uninterrupted over the past 60 years, from 98.21 of the population to 83.9 percent today. Latin American Herald Tribune, March 10, 2011, based upon census data and study by sociologist and historian Roberto Blancarte of Colegio de Mexico and the National Autonomous University of Mexico

• The percentage of of Protestants and Evangelicals rose from 1.28% in 1950 to close to 8% of the total population in 2010, (excluding so-called Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormons). 5.2 million say they profess no religion. ^

• This decline is seen as extending across the region (Catholics represent between 55% to 73% in Central America, 70% in Brazil, 50% in Cuba and Uruguay).^

• Almost 20% of all Latino American Catholics have left the Roman Catholicism, with 23 percent of second-generation Latino Americans doing so. http://www.baylor.edu/content/services/document.php/33304.pdf

• 51% of Hispanic Evangelicals are converts, and 43% are former Catholics. 82% of Hispanics cite the desire for a more direct, personal experience with God as the main reason for adopting a new faith. Among those who have become evangelicals, 90% say it was a spiritual search for a more direct, personal experience with God was the main reason that drove their conversion. Negative views of Catholicism do not appear to be a major reason for their conversion. ^

• The highest percentage of those who strongly agree they have a personal responsibility to share their faith was found among believers in Pentecostal/Foursquare churches (73%) http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/5-barna-update/53

• 81% of Pentecostal/Foursquare believers strongly agree that the Bible is totally accurate in all that it teaches , followed by 77% of Assemblies of God believers, and ending with 26% of Catholics and 22% of Episcopalians. ^

• The percentage of Catholics who believed the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches declined from 34% in 1991 to 26% in 2011 http://www.barna.org/faith-spirituality/514-barna-study-of-religious-change-since-1991-shows-significant-changes-by-faith-group.

• The typical Catholic person was 38% less likely than the average American to read the Bible; 67% less likely to attend a Sunday school class; 20% less likely to share their faith in Christ with someone who had different beliefs, donated about 17% less money to churches, and were 36% less likely to have an "active faith," defined as reading the Bible, praying and attending a church service during the prior week. Catholics were also significantly less likely to believe that the Bible is totally accurate in all of the principles it teaches. 44% of Catholics claimed to be "absolutely committed" to their faith, compared to 54% of the entire adult population. However, Catholics were 16% more likely to attend a church service and 8% more likely to have prayed to God during the prior week than the average American. Barna Reaearch, 2007, “Catholics Have Become Mainstream America” http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/12-faithspirituality/100

• 40% Roman Catholics vs. 41% Non-R.C. see abortion as "morally acceptable"; Sex between unmarried couples: 67% vs. 57%; Baby out of wedlock: 61% vs. 52%; Homosexual relations: 54% vs. 45%; Gambling: 72% vs. 59% http://www.gallup.com/poll/117154/Catholics-Similar-Mainstream-Abortion-Stem-Cells.aspx

• Committed Roman Catholics (church attendance weekly or almost) versus Non-R.C. faithful church goers (see the below as as morally acceptable): Abortion: 24% R.C. vs. 19% Non-R.C.; Sex between unmarried couples: 53% vs. 30%; Baby out of wedlock: 48% vs. 29%; Homosexual relations: 44% vs. 21%; Gambling: 67% vs. 40%; Divorce: 63 vs. 46% ^

• 82% of Mainline Churches, 77% of Catholics and 53% of Evangelical Churches affirmed, "There is MORE than one true way to interpret the teachings of my religion." U.S. Religious landscape survey; Copyright © 2008 The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. http://religions.pewforum.org/comparisons#

• Orthodox (29%), Mainline Churches (28%), and Catholics (27%) led Christian Churches in affirming that the Scriptures were written by men and were not the word of God, versus Historically Black Churches (9%), and Evangelical Churches (7%) who rightly affirm its full inspiration of God. ^

• Catholics broke with their Church's teachings more than most other groups, with just six out of 10 Catholics affirming that God is "a person with whom people can have a relationship", and three in 10 describing God as an "impersonal force." 2008 The Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. http://religions.pewforum.org/comparisons#

• Only 33% of Catholics strongly affirmed that Christ was sinless on earth. http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/5-barna-update/53

• 88% of Catholics believe that they can practice artificial means of birth control and still be considered good Catholics. New York Times/CBS News poll, Apr. 21-23, 1994, subsample of 446 Catholics, MOE ± 5%

[annalex]

Independent of Protestant professional mind-shapers reading of the Holy Scripture ALONE will lead anyone to either the Catholic Church or an Eastern Orthodox one. It is therefore inevitable that serious seekers of the company of Our Savior Jesus Christ shall leave the error of Protestantism precisely if they take the Bible seriously.

[cloudmountain]

My money for the change is
*seeing/hearing the conversion stories of former Protestants, evangelicals, ministers and such on EWTN and Catholic Radio and
**listening to the flat out common sense and HUGE repository of Biblical knowledge and history of the priests who know their stuff.

[editor-surveyor]

Yes, the tares are leaving the evangelical churches where they are not well received, and going to the nicolaitan churches where it is hard to tell a tare from an idol worshiper.
.

[ctdonath2]

And in close juxtaposition is a thread contending the opposite:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2885096/posts

[Donald Rumsfeld Fan]

[NELSON111]

Are there evangelicals becoming Catholic? Sure. I am not going to get into a debate here...but the stats don't (well...anyone can MAKE them lie...but the numbers here do not lie): There are far more Catholics leaving the Catholic church for evangelical churches than vice versa. See "The Church in Crisis" for documentation (someone has my book).

Anecdotally, I know of one individual who has left the evangelical church to become catholic. He married a catholic. He wasn't thrilled about doing it but he was not a dedicated Baptist in the first place. One the other hand, I know a nun (now in my church), two former Catholics now going to a evangelical (non-denominational) church, my best friend who WAS catholic when we met who is now Baptist...as was his wife....AND kids...and another couple who is still Catholic but who is actually looking to become...cough cough...Episcopal. They don't count. They want some religion without the guilt. Catholic light. His words...not mine.

But again...those are just MY experiences. However, if you look at the numbers in this country...and world wide...people leaving the RCC to become evangelical far outnumber those who leave evangelical churches to become RCC. That's a fact.

[Zionist Conspirator]

Wonder how long they’ll last once they run into the solid wall of higher criticism and evolutionism?

[Fido969]

Who, having tried the old wine would want the new again?

[Fido969]

Who, having tried the old wine would want the new again?

[St_Thomas_Aquinas]

-—year ago, Karl Keating of Catholic Answers Live said he believed there were now more Evangelicals or Fundamentalists leaving Protestantism to become Catholic than the other way around.-—

Glad to hear it. Bookmarking.

[AnneM62]

I love this prayer by Cardinal Newman, convert to the Faith.

Gratitude for the Faith

I adore Thee, O my Lord, the Third Person of the all-blessed Trinity,
that thou has set up in this world of sin a great light upon a hill.

Thou has founded the Church; Thou hast established and maintained it.
Thou fillest it continually with Thy gifts, that men may see,
and draw near, and take, and live.

Thou hast in this way brought down heaven upon earth.
For Thou hast set up a great company which angels visit by that ladder
which the patriarch saw in vision.

Thou hast by Thy presence restored the communion between God above
and man below.
Thou hast given him that light of grace which is one with and the commencement
of the light of glory.
I adore and praise Thee for Thy infinite mercy toward us, O my Lord and God.

I adore Thee, O almighty Lord, the Paraclete, because Thou in Thy infinite compassion
hast brought me into Thy Church, the work of Thy supernatural power.

I had no claim on Thee for so wonderful a favor over anyone else in the world.
Yet Thou, in Thy inscrutable love for me, hast chosen me and brought me into Thy fold.

Thou hast a reason for everything Thou dost. I know there must have been an all-wise reason,
as we speak in human language, for Thy choosing me and not another - but I know
that that reason was something external to myself. And thus I owe all to Thy grace.

Now, then, give me this further grace, Lord, to use all this grace well, and
to turn it to my salvation. Teach me to value as I ought, to prize as the inestimable pearl,
that pardon which again and again Thou givest me, and the great and heavenly gift of the presence
of Him whose Spirit Thou art upon the altar.

Without Thee I can do nothing, and Thou art where Thy Church is and Thy sacrament.
Give me grace to rest in them forever, till they are lost in the glory of Thy manifestation
in the world to come. Amen