This, my friend, is a load of crap. I have attended a few very conservative Evangelical/Baptist/unaffiliated churches over 40+ years. In that time I would guess that up to 10% of the congregation originally came from a Catholic background. Many went through Catholic school and their local parish and ultimately found something lacking. They subsequently found Christ elsewhere. With the pablum that many of the mainline Protestant denominations push the inverse is also happening.
Lest you think so, I am not a Catholic basher. While I can find a number of things that I will not agree with the Catholic Church about, I still have a great deal of respect for the Church. It has frequently stood in the gap where many of the Protestant denominations have not. Even though I do not acknowledge the Pope as THE Vicar of Christ, he is a true model for all believers and a great man. This Pope especially. In these difficult times I believe that believing Christians of all stripes should prepare for tribulation. At the same time I believe that there will be an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on both Catholic and Protestant believers alike.
I would suggest that believers on both sides quit trying to run down the other and recognize that there’s “rotten timber” who have little to do with Christ on both sides of the fence.
You mentioned 40 plus years.
This is occurring now. Large First Communion Classes. Large RCIA classes. We have 15 adults in our Catholics Can Come Home class this year.
I appreciate your kind words about Pope Benedict XVI. He is a very good man, please pray for him.
Did you think the author was slamming evangelicals? I didn’t. I have some good evangelical friends, and although I disagree with their conepts, they are good people doing good things.