Interested in becoming Catholic - some questions

[nopq]

Hello!

Pardon me if this is in the wrong place, if not perhaps it could be moved???

I’ve got some Catholicism questions:

I’m a Protestant who has been to Catholic mass (with a Catholic friend) and met with a Catholic priest – I found these to be very positive experiences

Will defiantly attend mass again sometime

I am genuinely interested in converting; the Catholic Church seems much more open, friendly and welcoming than I imagined it to be

There’s something that just feels right about it all

Let’s just say I’m “considering” it

Some problems I hope people will be able to help me with:

1) A major obstacle is that I feel loyalty to my current church – or more specifically the members of my particular congregation!

Is there a way I could become a Catholic whilst maintaining ties with the people I now know from my current congregation?

2) I have been confirmed in a protestant church as an adult and baptized as an infant. Would this make converting to the Catholic Church different than if I was never baptized/confirmed?

3) I don’t really know what to believe re: communion. I currently imagine that the bread and wine attain the spiritual status/essence of Christ’s blood and flesh without chemically changing their physical form i.e. the molecules and atoms they are made of – is this close to Catholic teaching on the matter? If not, how would you explain what Catholics believe happens?

4) to what extent are Catholics allowed to hold different opinions from the official Catholic beliefs? How does that work? What’s the situation? To what extent is disagreement between Catholics a part of Catholic life?

And finally: Is there any reading materiel that I may find helpful?

Thanks!

 

[Stabat Mater dolorosa]

1: treat them with the same level of love and respect that you do today. You can even go to an occasional service, but dont commune. We Catholics are very strict with communion and are to commune only in the catholic church.

2. Then you'll need to be confirmed catholic. It's the regular way of joining the church for Christians coming from other churches. Relax, you'll not be rebaptized. We don't do that

3. You dont have to endorse each and every doctrine, but you have to believe that the church teaches the truth. This is not to say that you personally have to believe in everything, but you should not proclaim against the church's teachings in the open etc. It causes scandal.

4. Look at nr 3.
Ill just like to add that the personal views of individuals rarely if ever fits perfectly with doctrine. As I said, a heretic isnt one who disagrees, but one who disobey and teach heresy.


I hope this was to some help. God bless.

 

[pdudgeon]

The first thing that you will want to do while in the process of considering whether you will become Catholic, is to find a parish close to where you live. You should be able to google it in a search box on your computer by typing 'find a Catholic church in (name of your city)'

From there you can see if they have a web page, directions, mass times, the office phone number, etc.
Then choose a mass time that is convenient for you, and go to mass with a friend. They should be able to help you through the service.

There are lots of different ways that you can get more information about the Catholic Church. Many parishes will have free pamphlets on a table or in a book rack close to the church entrance, that discuss various topics about the Catholic Church.
Please feel free to take home any that interest you.

Feel free also to greet the priest after services. Tell him your name, that you live locally, and that you are interested in learning about the Catholic Church.

All of these are low key ways of "breaking the ice", learning about what Catholics believe, and gradually getting acquainted. It will take time for you to learn and to begin to feel comfortable there, but it can happen.

 

[chevyontheriver]

Pardon me if this is in the wrong place, if not perhaps it could be moved???

This is the right place!

1) A major obstacle is that I feel loyalty to my current church – or more specifically the members of my particular congregation!

Is there a way I could become a Catholic whilst maintaining ties with the people I now know from my current congregation?

Of course. Sometimes, depending on the kind of Protestants, THEY will cut you off. But we don't ask that you cut them off. Never.

2) I have been confirmed in a protestant church as an adult and baptized as an infant. Would this make converting to the Catholic Church different than if I was never baptized/confirmed?

Yes. If you were never baptized you would have to be baptized for the first time. Since you are baptized, no need to be baptized again. In fact we do not rebaptize at all except where there is real uncertainty as to whether you were ever baptized before. Protestant baptisms are almost always good because it is God who baptizes.

3) I don’t really know what to believe re: communion. I currently imagine that the bread and wine attain the spiritual status/essence of Christ’s blood and flesh without chemically changing their physical form i.e. the molecules and atoms they are made of – is this close to Catholic teaching on the matter? If not, how would you explain what Catholics believe happens?

No molecular change, but the same molecules become a different thing, the Lord Jesus Christ. Read John 6 and ask why Jesus didn't chase after all of those people who left, explaining that it was all a metaphor.

4) to what extent are Catholics allowed to hold different opinions from the official Catholic beliefs? How does that work? What’s the situation? To what extent is disagreement between Catholics a part of Catholic life?

We are expected to agree on the creeds, the doctrines, and moral teaching. We do not have to agree on absolutely every detail, particularly on matters of prudential judgment on how to live those things out. Now, I imagine it would be hard to become a Catholic if you were for abortion, or insisted on using contraception, or thought other races were inferior.

Most of Scripture is not defined by the Church as having a specific meaning. In fact only a large handful of verses are defined. So there is a lot of freedom there.

And finally: Is there any reading materiel that I may find helpful?

Absolutely. Find a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Pretty much any secular or religious or used bookstore will have one. That and a Bible are the two essential tools.

 

[rturner76]

"Idiot's Guide to Catholicism" is the book they gave us at RCIA which is like a confirmation class for adults. The Catholic Church is a little different in that we take an 8 or so month course once a week and some weekends plus a retreat. It usually starts is fall and ends with the Easter Vigil.

I don't know what the rule is but I continued at my old church until Easter Vigil attending some Masses in between as well. I took communion at the old church until I actually did the sacrament of initiation. After that you have to take Catholic communion only or else "eat and drink condemnation" is how the saying goes. Plus after RCIA, other people's communion seemed inadequate to me. The church calls it a "mystery" and the bread doesn't so much go through a molecular change and turn into skin and hemoglobin and plasma etc. People explain it in different ways but the simplest I heard was that basically Christ takes the form of bread and wine so it is him we consume but we experience him as bread and wine.

Something you didn't ask about but one thing that makes The Church so great is you can go on retreat any time you want. On retreat, you go to a Monastery or Abbey, work with a spiritual counselor, live, work, and pray with the Monks, or Nuns or just go for silent reflection. So, tons of ways to express your faith and participate in different ministries.

Another good resource in the CCC (Catechism of the Catholic Church Catechism of the Catholic Church
In there is virtually all the "rules and regulations" so to speak of the Church. Any doctrine you want to know about is in there.

 

[Michie]

"Idiot's Guide to Catholicism" is the book they gave us at RCIA which is like a confirmation class for adults. The Catholic Church is a little different in that we take an 8 or so month course once a week and some weekends plus a retreat. It usually starts is fall and ends with the Easter Vigil.

I don't know what the rule is but I continued at my old church until Easter Vigil attending some Masses in between as well. I took communion at the old church until I actually did the sacrament of initiation. After that you have to take Catholic communion only or else "eat and drink condemnation" is how the saying goes. Plus after RCIA, other people's communion seemed inadequate to me. The church calls it a "mystery" and the bread doesn't so much go through a molecular change and turn into skin and hemoglobin and plasma etc. People explain it in different ways but the simplest I heard was that basically Christ takes the form of bread and wine so it is him we consume but we experience him as bread and wine.

Something you didn't ask about but one thing that makes The Church so great is you can go on retreat any time you want. On retreat, you go to a Monastery or Abbey, work with a spiritual counselor, live, work, and pray with the Monks, or Nuns or just go for silent reflection. So, tons of ways to express your faith and participate in different ministries.

Another good resource in the CCC (Catechism of the Catholic Church Catechism of the Catholic Church
In there is virtually all the "rules and regulations" so to speak of the Church. Any doctrine you want to know about is in there.

The CCC is THE resource!

 

[rturner76]

The CCC is THE resource!

Yes, it pretty much tells the whole story and the online version has a nicely organized table of contents so it's manageable to navigate

 

[Gnarwhal]

Hello!

Pardon me if this is in the wrong place, if not perhaps it could be moved???

I’ve got some Catholicism questions:

I’m a Protestant who has been to Catholic mass (with a Catholic friend) and met with a Catholic priest – I found these to be very positive experiences

Will defiantly attend mass again sometime

I am genuinely interested in converting; the Catholic Church seems much more open, friendly and welcoming than I imagined it to be

There’s something that just feels right about it all

Let’s just say I’m “considering” it

Welcome! I'm a convert who grew up evangelical so I may be pretty familiar with your path into the Church, so to speak.

Some problems I hope people will be able to help me with:

1) A major obstacle is that I feel loyalty to my current church – or more specifically the members of my particular congregation!

Is there a way I could become a Catholic whilst maintaining ties with the people I now know from my current congregation?

Of course. The Church doesn't forbid friendship with anybody, though there are certainly relationships out there that may be spiritually harmful. If that were the case your priest or spiritual director may advise you to be careful and distance yourself. But as far as associating with protestants, I've never known anyone to say outright "you can't hangout with those people anymore". Now, the differences between Catholics and Protestants may create some friction, but Catholics tend to have a thick skin after centuries of Protestant attacks.

You wouldn't be told to abandon your old friends. However, if you're asking more on the basis of "can I still attend my old church" well I don't think any Catholic would advise that because of the possibility of doctrinal error and heresy being introduced to you through their teaching.

2) I have been confirmed in a protestant church as an adult and baptized as an infant. Would this make converting to the Catholic Church different than if I was never baptized/confirmed?

I was baptized but I still went through RCIA like anyone else. Even though I had an above-average knowledge of theology and Church history, it was still a rich and edifying experience. You may be given the option to enter earlier than others, but they may also suggest experiencing the rites anyway, just because they're beautiful and they offer special graces.

3) I don’t really know what to believe re: communion. I currently imagine that the bread and wine attain the spiritual status/essence of Christ’s blood and flesh without chemically changing their physical form i.e. the molecules and atoms they are made of – is this close to Catholic teaching on the matter? If not, how would you explain what Catholics believe happens?

That's more or less what the Church teaches. We say that the sacred gifts retain their "accidents" (the appearance of bread and wine) while their substance is transformed into the actual flesh and blood of Christ.

1376 The Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring: "Because Christ our Redeemer said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the Church of God, and this holy Council now declares again, that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change the holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation."206​

4) to what extent are Catholics allowed to hold different opinions from the official Catholic beliefs? How does that work? What’s the situation? To what extent is disagreement between Catholics a part of Catholic life?

That's an interesting question. There are dogmatic, doctrinal statements that are final and infallible which we cannot and should not oppose. For example, moral proclamations on things like abortion, same-sex marriage, etc. Or declarations of faith like the divinity of Christ. We cannot in good conscience dissent from those views and advocate opposing ideas, and consider ourselves Catholics in good standing.

The thing I learned early on in my journey into the Church is how important it is to submit to Christ and his church. It may not be easy or comfortable, but it's right. When you consider that the Church not only has the 2,000 years of it's own history to draw on from experience, but also the divine revelation that God revealed only to her, you can trust the timeless wisdom of Church doctrine to guide us in everything.

To answer your last question, like everyone else said: you can't go wrong with the Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC).