AN ANSWER FOR ANGLICANS

NOTE OF THE CONGREGATION FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE FAITH ABOUT PERSONAL ORDINARIATES FOR ANGLICANS ENTERING THE CATHOLIC CHURCH , 20.10.2009

With the preparation of an Apostolic Constitution, the Catholic Church is responding to the many requests that have been submitted to the Holy See from groups of Anglican clergy and faithful in different parts of the world who wish to enter into full visible communion.

In this Apostolic Constitution the Holy Father has introduced a canonical structure that provides for such corporate reunion by establishing Personal Ordinariates, which will allow former Anglicans to enter full communion with the Catholic Church while preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony. Under the terms of the Apostolic Constitution, pastoral oversight and guidance will be provided for groups of former Anglicans through a Personal Ordinariate, whose Ordinary will usually be appointed from among former Anglican clergy.

The forthcoming Apostolic Constitution provides a reasonable and even necessary response to a world-wide phenomenon, by offering a single canonical model for the universal Church which is adaptable to various local situations and equitable to former Anglicans in its universal application. It provides for the ordination as Catholic priests of married former Anglican clergy. Historical and ecumenical reasons preclude the ordination of married men as bishops in both the Catholic and Orthodox Churches. The Constitution therefore stipulates that the Ordinary can be either a priest or an unmarried bishop. The seminarians in the Ordinariate are to be prepared alongside other Catholic seminarians, though the Ordinariate may establish a house of formation to address the particular needs of formation in the Anglican patrimony. In this way, the Apostolic Constitution seeks to balance on the one hand the concern to preserve the worthy Anglican liturgical and spiritual patrimony and, on the other hand, the concern that these groups and their clergy will be integrated into the Catholic Church.

Cardinal William Levada, Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith which has prepared this provision, said: "We have been trying to meet the requests for full communion that have come to us from Anglicans in different parts of the world in recent years in a uniform and equitable way. With this proposal the Church wants to respond to the legitimate aspirations of these Anglican groups for full and visible unity with the Bishop of Rome, successor of St. Peter."

These Personal Ordinariates will be formed, as needed, in consultation with local Conferences of Bishops, and their structure will be similar in some ways to that of the Military Ordinariates which have been established in most countries to provide pastoral care for the members of the armed forces and their dependents throughout the world. "Those Anglicans who have approached the Holy See have made clear their desire for full, visible unity in the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. At the same time, they have told us of the importance of their Anglican traditions of spirituality and worship for their faith journey," Cardinal Levada said.

The provision of this new structure is consistent with the commitment to ecumenical dialogue, which continues to be a priority for the Catholic Church, particularly through the efforts of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity. "The initiative has come from a number of different groups of Anglicans," Cardinal Levada went on to say: "They have declared that they share the common Catholic faith as it is expressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church and accept the Petrine ministry as something Christ willed for the Church. For them, the time has come to express this implicit unity in the visible form of full communion."

According to Levada: "It is the hope of the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, that the Anglican clergy and faithful who desire union with the Catholic Church will find in this canonical structure the opportunity to preserve those Anglican traditions precious to them and consistent with the Catholic faith. Insofar as these traditions express in a distinctive way the faith that is held in common, they are a gift to be shared in the wider Church. The unity of the Church does not require a uniformity that ignores cultural diversity, as the history of Christianity shows. Moreover, the many diverse traditions present in the Catholic Church today are all rooted in the principle articulated by St. Paul in his letter to the Ephesians: ‘There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism’ (4:5). Our communion is therefore strengthened by such legitimate diversity, and so we are happy that these men and women bring with them their particular contributions to our common life of faith."

Background information

Since the sixteenth century, when King Henry VIII declared the Church in England independent of Papal Authority, the Church of England has created its own doctrinal confessions, liturgical books, and pastoral practices, often incorporating ideas from the Reformation on the European continent. The expansion of the British Empire, together with Anglican missionary work, eventually gave rise to a world-wide Anglican Communion.

Throughout the more than 450 years of its history the question of the reunification of Anglicans and Catholics has never been far from mind. In the mid-nineteenth century the Oxford Movement (in England) saw a rekindling of interest in the Catholic aspects of Anglicanism. In the early twentieth century Cardinal Mercier of Belgium entered into well publicized conversations with Anglicans to explore the possibility of union with the Catholic Church under the banner of an Anglicanism "reunited but not absorbed".

At the Second Vatican Council hope for union was further nourished when the Decree on Ecumenism (n. 13), referring to communions separated from the Catholic Church at the time of the Reformation, stated that: "Among those in which Catholic traditions and institutions in part continue to exist, the Anglican Communion occupies a special place."

Since the Council, Anglican-Roman Catholic relations have created a much improved climate of mutual understanding and cooperation. The Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC) produced a series of doctrinal statements over the years in the hope of creating the basis for full and visible unity. For many in both communions, the ARCIC statements provided a vehicle in which a common expression of faith could be recognized. It is in this framework that this new provision should be seen.

In the years since the Council, some Anglicans have abandoned the tradition of conferring Holy Orders only on men by calling women to the priesthood and the episcopacy. More recently, some segments of the Anglican Communion have departed from the common biblical teaching on human sexuality—already clearly stated in the ARCIC document "Life in Christ"—by the ordination of openly homosexual clergy and the blessing of homosexual partnerships. At the same time, as the Anglican Communion faces these new and difficult challenges, the Catholic Church remains fully committed to continuing ecumenical engagement with the Anglican Communion, particularly through the efforts of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity.

In the meantime, many individual Anglicans have entered into full communion with the Catholic Church. Sometimes there have been groups of Anglicans who have entered while preserving some "corporate" structure. Examples of this include, the Anglican diocese of Amritsar in India, and some individual parishes in the United States which maintained an Anglican identity when entering the Catholic Church under a "pastoral provision" adopted by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and approved by Pope John Paul II in 1982. In these cases, the Catholic Church has frequently dispensed from the requirement of celibacy to allow those married Anglican clergy who desire to continue ministerial service as Catholic priests to be ordained in the Catholic Church.

In the light of these developments, the Personal Ordinariates established by the Apostolic Constitution can be seen as another step toward the realization the aspiration for full, visible union in the Church of Christ, one of the principal goals of the ecumenical movement.

Archbishop Nichols Speaks on the Vaticans 'Generous Response' to Anglicans

Pope Benedict is ready to allow the breadth of the expressions of Catholic life to find their place in the Church.

'The Apostolic Constitution is the response of Pope Benedict to the approaches which have been made to the Holy See by groups of Anglicans'.

LONDON (UK Catholic Herald) - The announcement of this Apostolic Constitution has come as a surprise. So, too, has the generosity of its measures. It is important to understand its context as well as its content.

The Apostolic Constitution is the response of Pope Benedict to the approaches which have been made to the Holy See by groups of Anglicans, in different parts of the world, asking for full visible communion within the Catholic Church. It is, then, a response, not an initiative, by the Holy See. It is a response designed to establish a provision which will be equitable and uniform in whatever part of the world it may be taken up.

It has a particular purpose: to permit those who wish to live their faith in full visible union with the See of Peter to do so while also preserving elements of the distinctive Anglican spiritual and liturgical patrimony. So this is a response to those who have declared that they share the common Catholic faith and accept the Pope's ministry as something Christ willed for the Church.

In the words of Cardinal Levada: "For them, the time has come to express this implicit unity in the visible form of full communion." As Archbishop Rowan Williams and I said in our joint statement: "The announcement of this Apostolic Constitution brings to an end a period of uncertainty for such groups who have nurtured hopes of new ways of embracing unity with the Catholic Church."

Much work now opens up, not only for those who hold such faith and will have to consider carefully the formal response of the Holy See, but also for the Catholic community. In approaching this work, some important perspectives have to be kept in mind.

First, this response does not alter our determined and continuing dedication to the pathway of mutual commitment and cooperation between the Church of England and the Catholic Church in this country. The foundations of all the joint work in ARCIC and the International Anglican Roman Catholic Commission for Unity and Mission make clear the path we follow together. An Anglo-Catholic tradition will continue to be a part of the Church of England, nurtured by those who cherish this tradition while not ready to accept the current jurisdiction of the Holy See.

We also need to appreciate what this moment makes clear about the mind of Pope Benedict XVI. I believe this is another illustration of his desire to achieve reconciliation with those who are estranged from the Catholic Church and who show a willingness to be reconciled. This desire is clearly one of the priorities of his pontificate.

As he has written: "In our days, when in vast areas of the world the faith is in danger of dying out like a flame which no longer has fuel, the overriding priority is to make God present in this world and to show men and women the way to God. Not just any god, but the God who spoke on Sinai; to that God whose face we recognise in a love, which presses 'to the end' (cf John 13.1) - in Jesus Christ, crucified and risen ... So if the arduous task of working for faith, hope and love in the world is presently (and in various ways, always) the Church's real priority, then part of this is also made up of acts of reconciliation, small and not so small." (Letter to Bishops, March 10 2009). Reconciliation, then, is a part of the proclamation of the Gospel.

Pope Benedict, we have to remember, is also ready to allow the breadth of the expressions of Catholic life to find their place in the Church. In that same letter he wrote: "But should not the great Church also allow herself to be generous in the knowledge of her great breadth, in the knowledge of the promise made to her? Should not we, as good educators, also be capable of overlooking various faults and making every effort to open up broader vistas?"

The Holy Father clearly believes that legitimate diversity does not threaten the unity of the Church, a unity which is essentially of faith, expressed in visible communion and in the witness of life lived in conformity to the call of the Gospel. While this Apostolic Constitution establishes a single framework for the universal Church, clearly much detail will have to be established locally. Alongside the Constitution there will have to be agreements about the way forward and the practical steps by which Personal Ordinariates, if and when they are established, will be an integral part of the Catholic community, working in close unity with the dioceses of England and Wales. These matters are now to be considered both locally and in close consultation with the Holy See.

This is an extraordinary moment. It is a challenge and an opportunity on many fronts. I salute the courage and generosity of Pope Benedict who has again shown an open and loving heart, just as one would expect of a Holy Father.

Fr. Dwight Longenecker: 'A Bridge Across the Tiber'

Source: Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Insights on the Vatican's historic 'personal ordinariate' for Anglicans from a former, married Anglican priest who now serves as a Catholic Priest.

GREENVILLE (Catholic Online) - There was a T-shirt on the market last year for converts to the Catholic faith. Emblazoned on the front were the words, "Member of the Tiber Swimmers Club." After today's amazing announcement from the Vatican, Anglicans no longer need to change into their swimming trunks. Trembling toes no longer need to be dipped in the chilly waters of the Roman river. Anglicans needn't take the plunge: Benedict has built a bridge.

The "personal ordinariate" is a structure whereby Anglicans will be able to come into full communion with the Holy See. Individuals, congregations, parishes, religious communities, whole dioceses and provinces will be able to maintain their Anglican traditions, use the Anglican Use Roman liturgy, see their married priests ordained to serve as Catholic priests, and even have their own "ordinary" (akin to their own bishop). Think of a mixture of the system used to minister to the military and the semi-autonomous structure that the Eastern Rite Catholics enjoy.

The Archbishop of Canterbury looked a bit like a deer in the headlights at the press conference in London today, where he admitted that he was not consulted about this step and was only informed about it two weeks ago. Nevertheless, he should have seen it coming: Not only has the Traditional Anglican Communion been publicly courting the Vatican, but two of his own traditionalist bishops were in a "secret" meeting with the Vatican last Easter.

The archbishop and the rest of the established Anglican Communion regarded the dissenters in their ranks as a rather troublesome sore that, in time, they hoped would go away. Even so, the mainstream Anglican response will be the lofty response usually given by those who are in established institutions to upstarts. With a casual wave of the hand they will imagine that the traditionalist Anglicans are just an eccentric rump. They will regard the Traditional Anglican Communion, Forward in Faith, and all the other traditionalist groups as "garage churches" -- little schismatic groups who trouble the great Anglican Communion as a fly might annoy an elephant.

What will be the Anglican response to Benedict's invitation? The Vatican has played the trump card for all the schismatic Anglican groups that call themselves "Catholic." Rome has said, "If you really want to be "Catholic Anglicans," come on in." These schismatic traditionalist Anglican groups will now have to either use the new provision or stop pretending. As for the non-"Catholic" Anglican schismatic groups, they will simply go their own way, forming yet more Anglican churches and splinter groups.

For mainstream Anglicans, the right thing would be for the Anglican Communion worldwide to face this challenge squarely and put their own provisions in place for Anglo-Catholics to leave and take their buildings and resources with them. The Anglicans across the world should realize that their communion is shrinking and look at things from a practical point of view. They already have too many buildings and staff members to maintain. What would be the point of having a great Anglo-Catholic church if there is nobody there to fill the pews? In English cities, there are plenty of Anglican churches that could very easily be handed over. Corporations downsize all the time. Part of that process is stripping out and getting rid of the properties they no longer need.

The Anglicans should be realistic and set up the procedures for an Anglican-Use Roman Catholic parish in every town. That would solve their problem of the troublesome Anglo-Catholics and free them to then turn the Anglican Church into the Politically Correct Church of Christ. While this would be the sensible and Christian way forward, it is unlikely to happen. Instead, be prepared for more property battles as disaffected Anglicans attempt to leave and take their assets with them.

What are the wider implications of this move? First of all, the Holy Father has effectively closed down the Anglican-Roman Catholic ecumenical discussions. Of course they will still go on, but the discussions will be like those days of detente where Americans and Russians met, drank tea, shook hands for the cameras, made a bland statement, and went home. Instead of "searching for ways to overcome obstacles," the pope has given a concrete way for the obstacles to be overcome.

Secondly, the personal ordinariate may provide a model for the reunion of other groups with Rome. It has always been Benedict's view that the way forward ecumenically is to replicate the existing structures that the Eastern Rite churches enjoy, and that this can be done with new flexibility and creativity. Pundits are already wondering whether this same model might assist the Society of St. Pius X to come into full communion, and once the Eastern Orthodox see it working well, they too might find ways to reunite with the ancient See of Rome.

Finally, what are the implications for the Catholic Church herself at the beginning of the new millennium? Not only is this Apostolic Constitution a rebuff to the old style of ecumenical discussions, it is a rebuff to liberal Catholics. The pope is giving a very clear message to those who wish to follow the historic Christian faith: "Let us be united in the One Faith, One Church, One Baptism." He is willing to take risks to welcome those who follow the historic Christian faith, although separated from full communion with Rome. On the other hand, he sees those who prefer the modern gospel of relativism, sexual license, and a denial of the historic Christian faith that have taken over the mainstream Protestant churches. He knows there are plenty of them in the Catholic Church, and to them Benedict is quietly saying, "There's the door."

 


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HAVE YOU EVER
THOUGHT OF BECOMING A CATHOLIC?


What’s the Process of Becoming a Catholic Once I Get More Serious?

The process by which adults come into the Church has come to be known as "the RCIA", which is short for "The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults."

Who is the process for?

In the case of children who have reached the age of reason, the pastor should be consulted for information about Baptism and the other Sacraments of Initiation.

The Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults is not for adult candidates for confirmation who have already received their First Eucharist in the Catholic Church. They should have their own formation process and be confirmed at a celebration other than the Easter Vigil.

What does the process look like?

The Rite of Christian Initiation is based on the principle that the process of conversion proceeds gradually, in stages. Progress from one stage to the next is marked by a liturgical celebration in the midst of the parish community. The experience and needs of those in each category described above differ, and so the length of time may vary for each person. Nevertheless, there are certain similarities among all the groups and the process they will experience, and these can be listed as follows:

Precatechumenate
The first stage is called the period of inquiry (or the precatechumenate). This is when the individual first expresses an interest in becoming a Christian or a Catholic, and begins to explore, with the help of the parish community, what his or her relationship with Christ might be and how that might be enriched and deepened by joining this Christian community. There is no liturgical rite to mark the beginning of this stage. This period of inquiry may last several months or several years and ends either when the inquirer decides against continuing in this direction or when the inquirer feels ready to move on and the community is prepared to welcome him or her.

Catechumenate
The second stage is called the catechumenate and, for the un baptized listed above, who are now called catechumens, should last no less than one full year. For the baptized but un catechized the period should be a similar length. For the candidates for full communion, this stage could well be much shorter. The Rite of Acceptance into the Order of Catechumens and the Rite of Welcoming mark the beginning of this stage. Catechesis for this period is rooted in the Lectionary and the Word as it is proclaimed in the midst of the community. This is also a time for the catechumen or candidate to learn how to live as a Catholic Christian. This period ends when the catechumens and candidates express their desire to receive the sacraments of initiation and the community acknowledges their readiness.

Purification and Enlightenment
The third stage is the period of purification and enlightenment and coincides with Lent. During this time the elect (formerly the catechumens) and the candidates enter into a period of intense preparation and prayer which includes the three public celebrations of the scrutinies and is marked by the presentations of the Creed and the Lord's Prayer. The Rite of Election and the Call to Continuing Conversion are celebrated at the beginning of this stage. This period ends with the celebration of baptism, confirmation, and Eucharist at the Easter Vigil. (Note: only the elect are baptized. All the groups are confirmed and welcomed to the table.)

Mystagogy
The fourth stage is the period of post baptismal catechesis or mystagogy. At this time, the newly initiated explore their experience of being fully initiated through participation with all the faithful at Sunday Eucharist and through appropriate catechesis. The period formally lasts through the Easter season and may be marked by a parish celebration on or near Pentecost. On a more informal level, mystagogy is a lifelong process, one that all Christians are engaged in, as we all work to deepen our sense of what it means to live the Christian life.
It is important to note that those who fall into the third category above (candidates for full communion) do not always need to take part in the full process. Especially if they have been actively living the Christian life in another denomination, they are likely in need of very little catechesis and may be welcomed into the Church on any Sunday after a short period of preparation. According to the National Statutes for the Catechumenate, "Those baptized persons who have lived as Christians and need only instruction in the Catholic tradition and a degree of probation within the Catholic community should not be asked to undergo a full program parallel to the catechumenate."

I’m interested. What should my first step be?
Call the St. John of the Cross Office, explain you have an interest in the Catholic faith, mention that you have visited our web site, and request a meeting with Deacon Gen Hoch to discuss specifics of the initiation process. Know that the prayers of a large number of Catholics in the Diocese of Palm Beach are with you as you complete your journey. Best wishes!

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How Do I Begin Pursuing the Catholic Faith?

That all depends on where you think you are on your walk. You may have simple questions or more complex ones. If you can’t find an answer on this web site or are under the pressure of time constraints to do so, send a note through the Question Box and we’ll get back to you. Be assured that a priest will review answers provided. You may sense a nascent desire for the Catholic faith, but are still not convinced. Perhaps some reading material could be suggested. We can help you target the need and make recommendations. Another suggestion would be to tune in to the Coming Home Network show on EWTN on Monday evenings from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. (Vero Beach cable, Channel 11). Marcus Grodi, a former Protestant minister, hosts the show and usually interviews a Protestant pastor who has recently converted to the Catholic faith. This is a good way to learn about the obstacles the guests faced, how they overcame them and what their ultimate motivation to convert was.  

You could attend a Mass at St. John of the Cross and witness the richness of our liturgical worship. We could even arrange to have the Mass explained to you as it is being celebrated if you wish. The Mass is the greatest event on earth. Know why.

You can enroll in a Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults (RCIA) class. These classes are for those desiring entry into the Catholic Church. However, you can do this not having made any commitment to convert and merely absorb and participate in the discovery phase. You can decide to continue or leave at any time. See the next section for more information

If you are closer to the decision, perhaps first you would like to talk to a priest. Possibly there are some perceived obstacles to overcome and you would like to discuss your personal situation with a priest. Call the parish directly to obtain an appointment.

Anglicans call this the “three-legged stool.” By turning to Scripture, tradition, and human reason they hope to have a secure teaching authority. I came to realize, however, that this solution also begs the question. Just as we have to ask the Protestant who believes in sola scriptura, “Whose interpretation of Scripture?,” we have to ask the Anglican, “Whose reason and whose tradition?” In the debate over women’s ordination (and now in the debate over homosexuality), both sides appeal to human reason, Scripture and tradition, and they come up with wildly different conclusions.

In the end, the Anglican appeal to a three-legged stool relies on individual interpretation, just as the Protestant appeals to sola scriptura. The three legged stool turns out to be a theological pogo stick.

A Son of Benedict Speaks

About this time I had a conversation with the Abbot of Quarr Abbey (a Catholic Benedictine monastery on the Isle of Wight). He listened to my situation with compassion and interest. I explained that I did not want to deny women’s ordination. I wanted to affirm all things that were good, and I could still see some good arguments in favor of women’s ordination. He admired this desire to affirm all things, but he said something that set me thinking further:

Sometimes we have to deny some lesser good in order to affirm the greater good. I think you have to deny women’s ordination in order to affirm the apostolic ministry. If the apostolic authority says no to women’s ordination, then to affirm the greater good of apostolic authority you will have to deny the lesser good of
women’s ordination. Because if we deny the greater good, then eventually we will lose the lesser good as well.

He hit the nail on the head. His words led me to explore the basis for authority in the Catholic Church. I already had read and pretty much accepted the Scriptural support for the Petrine ministry in the Church. I also had come to understand and value the four-fold marks of the True Church – that it is “One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic.” As I studied and pondered the matter further, however, I saw twelve other traits of the church’s authority.

These twelve traits – in six paired sets – helped me to understand how comprehensive and complete the Catholic claims of authority are. I came to realize that other churches and ecclesial bodies might claim some of the traits, but only the Catholic Church demonstrated all twelve fully.

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Exploring the Church

Topics of Interest:

The Sixth Station

Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus

Pray the Stations of the Cross On-line:

Opens the parish web site home page.
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An overview of Catholic teachings and belief.
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Scheduled events taking place within the parish and community.
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Catholic resources on the web.
Contributors to this site.

The Explorers - Those to whom this page is directed

The Un-churched - According to the Barna Group, which conducts research that is especially focused on religious trends in American culture, the "un churched" are nearly 1/3 of the U.S. population. In a culture where most people claim a belief in God, the un churched is approaching 100 million. If this group were a nation of its own, they would be the 11th most populous nation on earth. If you are in this group, by all means we welcome you to this web site. Thank you for giving us an opportunity to help you think about becoming a Catholic. Further down on this page there are helps to do just that.

For faithful Catholics, we must not look upon the un churched with indifference. The survey indicated that most active Christians do so. Many of the un churched are at a stage in their life when all they would like is to be asked. Like many they may be asking themselves where the solid ground is these days. Be not afraid to ask if they have ever thought of becoming a Catholic. Chances are they have been turned off by overt emphasis elsewhere upon a personal rather than a communal faith journey, another survey finding. As Catholics, we know our journey to be "both" "and." Invite them to experience the Mass at St. John of the Cross explaining that our Catholic liturgy invites one and all to experience the presence of God, most notably in the Liturgy of the Eucharist. A call to action and prayer is incumbent on us to reach out to the un churched.

Non-Catholic Christians - Be you fundamentalist, evangelical, pentecostal or one of the over 33,000 different non-Catholic, Christian denominations in the U.S., we welcome you to this web site. You must be here for your own personal reason, be that as it may. We accept you wherever you are on your faith journey. We know that you value the heritage of your faith and we respect that immensely. We know how well you are versed in Sacred Scripture and our mutual growth in this area comes to mind. We know that many of you share the moral values that faithful Catholics have and this comforts us. Thank you for giving us an opportunity to help you think about becoming a Catholic. Further down on this page there are helps to do just that.

For faithful Catholics, we must understand that our Lord prayed that we all be one. It's time we take that seriously. It was taken very seriously in the early Church when council after council resolved difficulties between groups. It is incumbent on us to pray daily for this unity. Together, we can be a more powerful force to change the culture, change lives. Praying first, it is also incumbent that we reach out to our non-Catholic friends and family members. A common comment in RCIA programs across the country is that converts often thought of becoming a Catholic, but were never asked. Sad, isn't it? So, be not afraid to ask a friend if they have ever thought of becoming a Catholic. Be prepared for the "yes." Refer them to our web site if they are interested in starting there. Or, introduce them to Fr. John. Offer to assist along way.

     

Non-Catholic Christians Having Liturgical Worship - You know who you are. We know that many of you have faced very troubling and conflicting times in your denomination during the last decade. Issues and decisions that made sense to some have made no sense to others. As Christian brothers and sisters we are sorry for the suffering that you are going through and have compassion for what you are experiencing both inside your denomination as well as outside in the media. We Catholics have had our difficulties, too, throughout history, most recently beginning in 2001 with the sexual abuse crisis. It has been suffering for different reasons, mainly sin of the clergy, but suffering just the same. Some of you reached out to us in compassionate ways. Thank you.

We know how you love and value liturgical worship. We have much in common. We do have our differences, most notably in the area of Church authority. If we can be of any help to you in explaining the role of the Pope and the Magisterium in the Catholic Church, we invite that dialog. There are various places within this web site where this is discussed including on this page, namely, "Clearing the Bases - Top Ten Questions Catholics Are Asked." Our beliefs on the Eucharist also differ. We discuss the Catholic doctrine on the Eucharist, that it truly becomes the body, blood, soul, and divinity of Jesus at the Catholic Mass, on the FAQs page and on the Sacraments page. We also discuss this on this page in "The Top Ten Question..." section. In matters liturgical, you can get a glimpse of the liturgy at St. John of the Cross by visiting the About Us page in the "About St. John of the Cross" section. You recognize, as Catholics do, that the way we worship (the liturgy) has been important to God and directed by God from the beginning. As you remember, Moses led the people out of Egypt because they could not worship in the way God had directed. New Testament liturgy built upon Old Testament liturgy and we continue to be a liturgical people to this day, directed by the awesome God of both the Old and the New Testaments.
     

Fallen-Away Catholics - You were once Catholic, having been baptized in the Catholic Church. There are a number of reasons why you left your Catholic faith and became a non-Catholic Christian. We reach out to you and ask that you consider returning to the Catholic faith. Chances are that you have been gone away from the Church for quite awhile. Perhaps you went through a divorce, remarried and chose not to pursue an annulment before doing so. Possibly no one reached out to you with compassion at the time of your need and it left you discouraged and unconnected. Possibly you were not well catechized and could not explain or defend your faith to non-Catholic Christians or your children and that led to you and your family drifting away. Your Catholic parish may not have had programs meeting your family temporal needs and you found them elsewhere. Sadly, we understand.

Now you may be at a point in your life where you really miss the Eucharist. Or, you may feel a need to return to liturgical worship. Possibly, you are now troubled by the 4th Commandment: Honor your father and your mother. Your father and mother thought enough of you to have baptized you Catholic. You have drifted away and now feel it is up to you to carefully examine Catholic theology which formed them and was the basis for your parents decision. You feel the burden of proof is on you. Obviously, there are many reasons why you are considering a return to the faith of your baptism. We welcome you. We understand. We will be happy to work with you through that return. We know there may be problems that seem huge to you, but no problem is too big for God. We're here to help.

We are well aware that you may have been the recipient of commentary not complimentary to the Catholic faith. There are areas on this web site that address many issues that people have questioned about the Catholic faith. The FAQs page addresses a wide spectrum of both faith and moral questions that might help your research. A few questions and answers are also addressed on this page under "Clearing the Bases...." The About Us page gives you a window into St. John of the Cross and the place of worship that we are. There is also the Question Box that you can use to begin any dialog. Be assured your use of the Question Box implies confidentiality. First name or pseudo names are fine. Can we begin?

Explorer Motivations on the Path to conversion

There are many reasons and circumstances leading people to change their faith. For example, non-Catholic Christian churchgoers switch churches often. According to a study by LifeWay Research, a publishing arm of the Southern Baptist Convention, more than half those that switched houses of worship say they switched denominations as well. Fifty eight percent of those who changed their house of worship did so when they moved. The remaining 42% said they switched because another church offered more appealing doctrines. With many new arrivals in Vero Beach, we at St. John of the Cross Catholic Church reach out to those above categories of people and ask them to consider a more profound change, to becoming a Catholic and enjoying the fullness of truth on both faith and morals.

Many non-Catholic folks have become bewildered, confused and anxious. Some discover that their church is less than 200 years old and ask, "Was God on vacation for 1800 years?" They begin yearning for a church with deep historical roots. There are also those, possibly coming here from larger cities, who are disillusioned with the trend to megachurches. Were they trying to get more members for the sake of getting more members rather than for winning souls for Christ? Amidst the food courts, ATM's for God, and entertainment venues, where was Christ? Some folks have matured to the point where they now recognize that worship should not be a form of religious entertainment. Deep down they have begun to see the value of liturgical worship. Others may have strong feelings about certain immoral behaviors, have been led to believe that a particular denomination shared their views, joined it, and later found out that was not the case. If you connect with these aforementioned feelings, we at St. John of the Cross would like to introduce you to the majesty of liturgical worship, the fullness of truth with deep historical roots, and Catholic moral teaching that has remained resolute and never contradicted itself in 2000 years.

Caution. Entering a coming evangelical danger zone: If you are an astute observer, you are beginning to realize that denominational identities have been strategically de-emphasized within evangelicalism and, as a recent survey suggests, as many as 70% of young evangelical adults have no denominational allegiance. Coincident within this group is a loss of interest in theology and an understanding of its importance. Most young evangelicals know little about theology and, worse, see no reason theology should be an issue. The net affect of this is that young evangelicals are increasingly unable to articulate and defend the historic Christian world view and are drawn instead to postmodern ways of thinking. (see antidote: “How Do We Know It’s the True Church? below.) Thus, enter the danger zone. Without theological moorings, young evangelicals are without a spiritual rudder and are at the mercy of the prevailing winds of personal feelings and having the culture form their conscience. For many, leaving the faith was not far behind. Are you among the young, and not so young, evangelicals who are turned off by theology lite and hunger for a richer, more traditional theology? If so, as illogical as it may sound to you at this moment, perhaps your destination should be Catholicism.1 

The bewilderment, confusion, and anxiety mentioned above is not limited to non-Catholic laity. Many non-Catholic pastors are suffering in silence. All the denominational bickering is taking its toll on their enthusiasm which is so necessary for their ministry. These non-Catholics are disillusioned with the chaos, confusion, and rebellion within and between their various denominations. The Coming Home Network International, an organization missioned and dedicated to assisting these pastors in making a transition to the Catholic faith, has 1318 non-Catholic pastors in their database as of May 2007: 729 have made the journey into the Catholic Church, and 589 are still somewhere on the journey home. There are even female pastors included in this group. They do so with their eyes wide open knowing that the Catholic Church can never allow women's ordination, thus accepting Christ's plan for the all-male Eucharistic priesthood. If you are a non-Catholic pastor and wish more information about the Coming Home Network, please contact the webmaster via the Question Box. It will remain confidential. You can also tune into the Coming Home Network program on EWTN which is broadcast locally on cable at 8:00 p.m. on Monday evenings. Marcus Grodi, himself a former non-Catholic pastor, interviews other pastors who had made the decision to "cross the Tiber." These interviews are many times riveting because their conversions were at great cost. The Coming Home Network is there to help their recovery.

Lastly, there is one, very common theme in the stories of those who were motivated to explore the Catholic Church. It is The Early Church Fathers. When going into the depth of Christian history to the Fathers, they plainly see the Catholic Church then as it is now, thus answering the question of where the solid ground is these days. If you wish to explore this area, please contact the webmaster via the Question Box for assistance.

Clearing the Bases - Top Ten Questions Catholics Are Asked

This section addresses the ten most common questions asked of Catholics. The questions are most often asked in a negative way and come from a misunderstanding of what the Catholic Church believes, or the disciplines it practices. We realize that most Protestant have been taught incorrect things about the Catholic Church. During the last few decades, it was like a straw man was created to which attacks and ridicule were made, free of any rebuttal. It was done from the pulpit and in church classes and in schools. And people believed it. They never questioned it. It stuck! Well, your exploration of the Catholic Church is owed answers to these questions so that you can decide, after thinking about these answers, to focus on the true Church and then make your own decision. Let's try and clear the bases together. So, here are the questions and answers in descending order:

     

10. Are your beliefs found in the Bible?

All Catholic beliefs can be found in the Bible in some form, whether plainly or by an indirect indication. It is not necessary for everything to be absolutely clear in Scripture alone, because that is not a teaching of Scripture itself. Scripture also points to an authoritative Church and Tradition, as St. Paul says in his Second Letter to the Thessalonians: "Stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter" (2 Thes 2:15 - see also 1 Cor 11:2; 2 Thes 3:6; 2 Tim 1:13-14, 2:2). When the first Christians had a significant disagreement, they didn't simply open their Bibles (which didn't even exist at that point) to decide who was right; they held a council which made binding decrees (Acts 15:1-29). The very books of the Bible had to be determined by the [Catholic] Church, and that didn't happen until the late fourth century. Therefore, Sacred Tradition and authority were necessary for us to even have a Bible today. [Emphasis added.]

9. Why do you obey the Pope?

Catholics believe that Jesus commissioned St. Peter as the first leader of the Church. Matthew's Gospel has the most biblical indication of the papacy: "And I tell you, you are Peter [meaning literally "rock"], and on this rock I will build my church....I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 16:18-19). Based on this statement of Jesus himself, Peter is clearly portrayed in the New Testament as the leader of the disciples. A pope can make infallible, binding pronouncements under certain conditions. Infallibility doesn't mean that absolutely everything a pope says is free from error. All Christians believe that God protected Holy Scripture from error by means of inspiration, even though sinful, fallible men wrote it. We Catholics also believe that God the Holy Spirit protects his Church and its head from error (Jn 14:16) by means of infallibility, even though sinful, imperfect men are involved in it.

8. Why do you call your priest "Father"?

"And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven" (Mt 23:9). In this passage, Jesus is teaching that God the Father alone is ultimately the source of all authority. But He is not speaking absolutely, because if so, that would eliminate even biological fathers, the title "Church Fathers," the founding fathers of a country or organization, and so on. Jesus, himself uses the term "father" in Matthew (15:4; 19:5; 19. 29; 21:31), John (8:56), and several other places. In the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Jesus actually presents Lazarus as using the address "Father Abraham" twice (Lk 16:24, 30 - see also Acts 7:2; Rom 4:12; Jas 2:21). St. Paul also uses the term when he writes, "I became your father in Christ Jesus through the Gospel" (1 Cor 4:15 - see also 1 Cor 4:14-16), and refers to "our forefather Isaac" (Rom 9:10).

Approval Pending

"The Top Ten Questions Catholics Are Asked" to the left was authored in a pamphlet by Dave Armstrong and is published by Our Sunday Visitor. It is the most concise response to these questions that this webmaster has seen. Our Sunday Visitor publishes a news weekly paper and has numerous, solid Catholic materials on a variety of topics available. Please visit www.osv.com for subscription information and lists of this and other Catholic materials.

Webmaster
     

7. Why do you pray for the dead?

The Bible clearly teaches the rightness of prayers for the dead in Maccabees (12:40, 42, 44-45): "Then under the tunic of every one of the dead they found sacred tokens of the idols of Jamnia, which the law forbids Jews to wear. And it became clear to all that this was why these men had fallen....[A]nd they turned to prayer, beseeching that the sin which had been committed might be wholly blotted out....For if he were not expecting that those who had fallen would rise again, it would have been superfluous and foolish to pray for the dead....[H]e made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin." St. Paul teaches this in a similar way: "Otherwise, what do people mean by being baptized on behalf of the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized on their behalf?" (1 Cor 15:29). This indicates prayer and fasting for the dead. The word baptism often symbolically refers to penances (Mk 10:38-39; Lk 3:16, 12:50). The apostle Paul also appears to be praying for a dead person, Onesiphorus, in 2 Timothy (1:16-18).

6. Why do you pray to idols (statues)?

No Catholic who knows anything about the Catholic faith has ever worshiped a statue (as in pagan idolatry). If we cherish the memory of mere political heroes with statues, and that of war heroes with monuments, then there can be no objection to honoring saints and righteous men and women: "Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor" (1 Pet 2:17 - see also Rom 12:10; Heb 12:22-23). Statues are simply a visual reminder of great saints and heroes of the faith (Heb 11), who are more alive than we are (2 Cor 3:18),as is evident by their praying: "O Sovereign Lord ... how long before thou wilt judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell upon the earth?"(Rev 6:10 - see also Ps 35:17). The saints in heaven were never intended by God to be cut off from the Body of Christ on earth. They are involved in intercession, just as the saints on earth. They are involved in intercession, just as the saints on earth are, and they are described as "so great a cloud of witnesses" (Heb 12:1).

5. Why do you confess your sins to a priest?

Jesus Christ gave His disciples - and by extension, priests - the power not only to "loose" sins (that is forgive in God's name). but also to "bind" (that is impose penances): "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you looses on earth shall be loosed in heaven" (MT 18:18 - see also Mt 16:19). "If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (Jn 20:23). The priest serves as the representative of God and of His mercy. Confession gives new courage, confidence, and a fresh start. One learns humility by this practice, receives additional grace in order to avoid sin, and attains a certainty of forgiveness that is superior to mere feelings. Confession is also indicated in Matthew (3:5-6), Acts (19:18), and 1 John (1:9).


4. Why do you worship Mary?

Catholics do not worship Mary. We venerate her because she is the mother of God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. Veneration is completely different from the adoration of God. It is the honoring of a person, not the worship of Almighty God, our Creator. Catholics believe that Mary is the highest of God's creatures because of her exalted role. But of course, like any other human being, she had to be saved by the mercy of God. She herself said, "My spirit rejoices in God my savior" (Lk 1:47). We believe that God saved Mary by preserving her from the stain of original sin at the moment of her conception (the Immaculate Conception). The very fact that God took on flesh and became man (Jn 1:1, 14) indicates He wished to involve human beings in His plan of salvation for mankind. Mary was a key person for this purpose, so that is why Catholics honor her so highly.

"God created us without us, but He did not will to save us without us"

St. Augustine


3. Why do you worship wafers?

A consecrated host or wafer at a Catholic Mass is the true Body and Blood of Christ, not merely bread; so Catholics are worshipping Jesus, not a wafer. In the Gospel of John (6:51-56), Jesus states repeatedly that "he who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life" (6:54). He is speaking literally, and He is so firm that many followers object and leave Him (6:52, 60, 66). St. Paul agrees with this interpretation and writes that those taking Communion "in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord" (1 Cor 11:27 - see also 1 Cor 10:16). We don't sin against someone's "body and blood" by destroying a photograph (which is a mere symbol) of the person. Moreover, in the Last Supper passages (Mt 26:26-28; Mk 14:22-24; Lk 22:19-20), nothing suggests a metaphorical or symbolic interpretation. The Last Supper was the Jewish feast of Passover. This involved a sacrificial lamb, and Jesus referred to His immanent suffering (Lk 22:15-16, 18, 21-22). John the Baptist had already called Him "Lamb of God" (Jn 1:29).

2. If you died tonight, would you go to heaven?

Catholics have an assurance of salvation if they are faithful and keep God's commandments (1Jn 2:3). If they die in that state, they are assured of heaven. But to enter heaven, one must be perfectly holy, because "nothing unclean shall enter it" (Rev 21:27 - see also Is 4:4; Mal 3:2-4). The cleansing and purifying of any remaining sin, which makes us fit for God's holy presence, is what Catholics call Purgatory. This is clearly indicated in St. Paul's writings: "Each man's work will become manifest; for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done....If any man's work is burned up, he will suffer lose, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire" (1 Cor 3:13, 15, emphasis added). "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive good or evil, according to what he has done in the body" (2 Cor 5:10, emphasis added).

1. Are you saved?

Catholics can be as sure as anyone else that they are in God's good graces. The apostle John states that "you may know that you have eternal life" (1Jn 5:13 - see also Jn 5:24). But this "assurance" has to be understood in light of John's other teachings in the same book: "For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments" (1 Jn 5:3, emphasis added - see also 1 Jn 2:3-6). "We know that "any one born of God does not sin" (1 Jn 5:18, emphasis added). "He who loves God should love his brother also" (1 Jn 4:21, emphasis added). "He who commits sin is of the devil" (1 Jn 3:8, emphasis added - see also 1 Cor 6:9). Likewise, St. Paul does not regard salvation as a one-time event, but as a goal to be sought after, one that can be lost: "Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (Phil 2:12 - see also 1 Cor 9:27, 10:12; Gal 5:1, 4; Phil 3:11-14; 1 Tim 4:1, 5:15).


Prayer for Christian Unity

Almighty and eternal God, you gather the scattered sheep and watch over those you have gathered.

Look kindly on all those that follow Jesus, your Son. You have marked them with the seal of one baptism, now make them one in the fullness of faith and unite them in the bond of love.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

How Do We Know It's the True Church?

TWELVE THINGS TO LOOK FOR

By Fr. Dwight Longenecker

(see sidebar to the right)

MY CONVERSION TO THE CATHOLIC FAITH began in the world of Protestant fundamentalism. After being brought up in an independent Bible Church, I attended the fundamentalist Bob Jones University. While there I became an Anglican; Later, I went to England to become an Anglican priest.

My pilgrimage of faith came to a crisis in the early 1990’s as the Anglican Church struggled over the question of the ordination of women. By instinct I was against the innovation, but I wanted to be positive and affirm new ideas rather than reject them just because they were new. I decided to put my prejudices to one side and listen as openly as possible to both sides of the debate.

As I listened I realized that from a human point of view, both the people in favor of women’s ordination and those against it had some good arguments. Both sides argued from Scripture, tradition, and reason. Both sides argued from practicality, compassion and justice. Both sides honestly considered their arguments to be persuasive. Furthermore, both sides were composed of prayerful, church-going, sincere Christians who genuinely believed the Holy Spirit was directing them. How could both be right?

From a human point of view, both arguments could be sustained. This led me to a real consideration of the question of authority in the Church. I realized that the divisions over women’s ordination in the Anglican Church were no different, in essence, than every other debate that has divided the thousands of Protestant denominations.

Some groups split over women’s ordination, others split over whether women should wear hats to church. Some split over doctrinal issues; others split over moral issues. Whatever the issue and whatever the split, the basic problem is one of authority. If Christians have sincere disagreement, who decides?

Wobbly Three-Legged Stool

Evangelical Protestants say the Bible decides, but this begs the question when the two warring parties agree that the Bible is the final authority. They eventually split because they can’t agree about what the Bible actually teaches. I had moved away from the Protestant understanding that Scripture is the only authority, and as an Anglican, believed that authority rested in Scripture, tradition, and reason.

Approval Granted

The article to the left, authored by Fr. Dwight Longenecker, was published in the May/June 2007 issue of This Rock magazine which is published by Catholic Answers. The author has approved the reprinting of this article on our web site. We are thankful for his very important contribution.

Fr. Longenecker was an Anglican priest and became a Catholic priest after his conversion to the Catholic faith.

Fr. Longenecker is the author of ten books on the Catholic faith. He is chaplain of St. Joseph's Catholic School in Greenville, South Carolina, and is on the staff of the parish of St. Mary's, Greenville. Check out his Web site and blog at
www. dwightlongenecker.com
 

Testimony From a Convert to the Catholic Church

From Jewish to Catholic by Way of Abortion by Chris Aubert

A Skeptic by nature, I am a curious person. The "what" is interesting to me, but I am often more fascinated with the "why." Growing up in New York, for example, I was a loyal Yankees, Giants, and Knicks fan. Many people were just the opposite- they liked the Mets, Jets, and Nets. Similarly, as a younger man, I tended to favor the Democratic political agenda, but as I grew older, I gravitated toward the Republican agenda. Others go in the opposite direction. Why is that? The same is true for religious faith, theology, and salvation- some people go one way with their beliefs, while others go a different way. So there is a "What" and a "Why" component to religious faith as well. For me, the "What" is: I am a proud, happy Catholic convert on fire for the faith. But how about the "Why"? Why did I convert to the Catholic Church instead of staying Jewish? Why didn't I convert to some branch of Protestantism? Well, like the Grateful Dead once sang, "What a long, strange trip it's been."

The Trip Begins

I was born in New York City in 1957 to a Catholic mother and a Jewish father. I was not baptized. My father, Henri Aubert, grew up in France and Poland before being taken as a young boy to the Buchenwald Concentration Camp in Germany during World War II. He survived Buchenwald by entertaining the SS troops with violin music, and was actually forced to play his violin for the troops during the death march that brought his parents and sister to the cremation.

When the Russians advanced, 12,000 prisoners, including my father who was 14 at the time, were taken on a 16-day march to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Warsaw, Poland. When the war was over and the prisoners were liberated by General Patton's army. my father, like many holocaust survivors, sought a better life in America. He met my mother and married her, and I was born in New York City on May 19, 1957.

Interestingly, despite his Jewish faith, my father wanted to name me Christian (my parents eventually settled on Christopher) because, fearing another holocaust like the one he just survived, he wanted no one to know of my Jewish roots. Little did he know how an American Holocaust would so profoundly affect his son's life.

When I was two years old, my parents divorced, and when I was 14, my father died of brain cancer. When I was five, my mother, whose Catholic faith was not terribly important to he, married another Jewish man, and converted to Judaism. I was then raised Jewish and was Bar Mitzvahed on May 23, 1970.

Leading up to my Bar Mitzvah, we were, frankly, the Jewish version of "C & E" (Christmas and Easter) Christians. For the most part, the High Holy days were the only times we went to Temple. So my Bar Mitzvah, regrettably, was the last time I recall being in Temple. I don't really know why this was the case, other than to say that religion was just not a vitally important part of my upbringing.

It's Just a Blob of Tissue, Right?

In 1985 I got a girl pregnant. The girl was not a serious girlfriend and marriage was not in the cards, so she decided to have an abortion. I readily agreed to the abortion, using the same excuses that still proliferate today: "It's just a blob of unviable tissue mass," "Hey, it's her body and she can do with it what she pleases," and "This is America, and our Supreme Court says abortion is perfectly legal."

This abortion was such a non-event for me that I didn't even go to the clinic with her. I just wrote a check, dropped it off at her house when I knew she was not home, and that was the end of it. I am ashamed to admit that I never gave that day, or that girl, much more than a passing thought over the next few years.


The testimony to the left has been reprinted with permission from Coming Home Network International. The story was published in their April 2007 Newsletter.

The Coming Home Network is dedicated to assisting pastors of non-Catholic faiths in their transition to the Catholic Church.

The Coming Home Network has 1318 non-Catholic pastors in their database as of May 2007: 729 have made the journey into the Catholic Church, and 589 are still somewhere on the journey home.

Live interviews of previous Non-Catholic pastors may be watched by tuning into EWTN, available on local cable in Vero Beach, on Monday evenings at 8:00 p.m. Eastern time.

Marcus Grodi, himself a former Protestant pastor, conducts the interviews on the Journey Home program.

In 1991, I got another girl pregnant. Unlike the first abortion, this girl was a steady girlfriend. Nevertheless, marriage was still not an option, mainly because I remained caught up in my own selfish life. We talked about what to do with this "little problem" we had created, and I happily agreed with her decision to have an abortion, for the same reasons as six years earlier.

This tim, though, I went to the clinic, paid the bill, and took her to lunch afterwards. At lunch, I don't think we talked much, if at all, about what we had just done. To this day I remember the eerie silence. Although I freely and even anxiously agreed to this second abortion, something about it felt wrong, even though I couldn't put my finger on it. I also started to think more about the second abortion.

The American Holocaust

In the early 1990's, I heard someone call abortion the American Holocaust. The magnitude of abortion had never before registered with me, and I began to get curious why abortion was such a big issue for so many people, to the extent that some even called it the American Holocaust.

I had always accepted-- at face value and without much thought--society's big lie that abortion was strictly a woman's issue. I had agreed to the two abortions because, as I saw it at the time, we were not killing a baby, we were just exercising a woman's right to choose what to do with her body. Why wouldn't I think this? Everywhere I turned, it seemed that choosing abortion was the enlightened position. It never occurred to me to consider what God thought about abortion. Truth be told, it didn't matter what God thought at all because I was still the "pope" of my own church and I made all the rules in my life.

I may have been the pope of my own church, and I may have been a smart lawyer, and I may have been a successful businessman, but I was finally realizing that I was most certainly not a man.

Jesus, Who Is He Anyway?

In 1992, as I matured into adulthood, things slowly started to fall into place for me spiritually. I guess I always believed in God, but I had long been a relativist. What's true for you is true for you, and what's true for me is true for me-- we can both be right. I felt this way because I had no real understanding of God or His truth. As for the Bible, I couldn't even tell you the difference between the Old Testament and the New Testament. I had never even read the book! I didn't know if it was a history book, a fantasy, a work of fiction, or something else. Heck, I don't think I even owned a Bible. When I was occasionally asked what religion I was. I said "Jewish," but that was more out of habit and his troy than any set of beliefs.

More amazingly, perhaps, is that I was a well educated 35-yearold lawyer and I literally did not know who Jesus Christ was. I did not know if he was a fictional character or a real person, what he had done (or not done), or why Christians thought he was so important. I remember being asked once by a Christian if I was "saved" and thinking, "What does that mean? Saved from what?"

Having been in New Orleans for 17 years at the time, I had made many Christian friends, mainly because the south in general, and New Orleans in particular, are very Christian, and very Catholic, places. For the first time in my life, through my friends I started to develop a basic knowledge and understanding of Christian values.

Wanting to know why Christianity was so important to so many people, I tried to learn more about it. Christianity started to make sense to me, and I found it attractive. But I couldn't be a Christian! After all, I was Jewish. And besides, I knew that organized religion made no sense. Furthermore, I didn't even know what I was supposed to do if I wanted to be a Christian. Did I have to go somewhere? Take a test? Fill out an application? I truly did not know.

The Miracle of Modern Medicine

In October 1992. I met my future wife. Rhonda was a "cradle Catholic" from New Orleans and I started learning from her a little more about Catholicism, Jesus Christ, and all the things that go with it. Rhonda is a wonderful and beautiful woman inside and out, but at the time she was also, unfortunately, what many Catholics are: C.W.C. (Catholic When Convenient).

Rhonda and I got married in June 1994, and she got pregnant about two months later. A watershed day in my faith journey was seeing the first ultrasound when Rhonda was about eight weeks pregnant. I vividly recall pointing at the screen excitedly and saying, out loud, "I want to meet the person who says that is not a baby!"

I had never had this thought so strongly before, and a flood of emotion from my two abortions came back and convicted me of how wrong abortion was. The light had finally come on and I now got it! I became convinced that abortion was indeed the American Holocaust, a holocaust not unlike the one my father survived, or the one he feared would come again. I kept this conviction to myself, though, mostly out of embarrassment and shame; feelings I had never before associated with abortion.

Off to Rome

Our daughter Christine arrived in May 1995, and seeing her--this glorious miracle from God--convicted me even more. I was convicted because things were now clear: I had allowed my first two children to be dismembered and thrown into a garbage can because I was not a man and because I did not know any better. Heck, I had even paid for the privilege.

When I coupled my newfound conviction with the majesty of this astounding gift from God, the emptiness of my religious life overflowed. At one moment I felt so blessed with God's love while holding my beautiful daughter, and yet so empty and lost at having no clue of the mysteries of God's grace and role in my life. There had to be a bridge between these two extremes, and my life of relativism surely was not it; there was most definitely a truth--an absolute truth-- about abortion that could not be found in relativism. But what does a New York Jew do about these feelings of conviction and religious confusion? Thankfully, my wife solved this problem for me in late 1996 when she enrolled me in the St. Peter Parish RCIA program in Covington, Louisiana. By the grace of God, I entered the Catholic Church at the Easter Vigil Mass in 1997, just one day after God gave me a second miracle--my first son Kyle.

You're Catholic??!!

Now that I was Catholic (the "What" part part of my faith journey), my desire to learn about my new faith--the "Why" part of the journey--was growing, but I was still a novice. As soon as I became Catholic, I learned for the first time in my life of the many different branches and denominations of Christianity. I also, sadly, discovered that many of my friends were fallen- away Catholics, and some were even subtly or even overtly anti Catholic. When a friend. who I later learned was a fallen- away Catholic turned hard-shell Southern Baptist, invited me to a Bible study, I quickly accepted.

A wonderful and kind non-denominational pastor who was obviously on fire for his faith led this Bible study. At my first meeting, I was told that the group seeks to "leave denominational differences at the door, and just look at what the Bible says." Not knowing any better, this sounded fair and reasonable to me, and I started attending regularly. There were about 10 guys in the group, two or three of whom were Catholic.

In the first few months of this Bible study, things occasionally came up that, for reasons I could not explain, seemed a little "off." I was hardly an expert in the Catholic faith, but I would hear things that sounded inconsistent with what I thought I understood the Catholic Church to teach. For example, I recall one person saying, "Matthew 23:9 says 'call no man father'--why do you Catholics call your priests 'father' when that goes directly against the Bible?" This made me uncomfortable because, after all, Matthew 23:9 did say just that. I let this comment slide without discussion or investigation.

Truth Never Contradicts Truth

I recall a particularly troubling day when the pastor explained that when Jesus said, in John 6, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life ... My flesh is real food, and my blood is true drink," He was speaking figuratively. I thought, "Gee, I sure don't read it that way." I didn't voice my concern, though, because this pastor had a seminary degree, and I did not have enough confidence in my own knowledge of the faith to discuss or debate it. I just sat in silence and scratched my head.

Later that day, I could not shake my confusion. Why did this pastor tell us that John 6 meant something that it rather obviously did not say? I decided that I could not accept this "non-denominational" teaching at face value, so I went to the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I quickly realized that my pastor friend had a very different view of John 6 than the Catholic Church did. As a lawyer, I had to know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. As a budding anti-relativist, I also knew that truth never contradicts truth. Thus, my pastor friend's and the Catholic Church's teachings on John 6 could not both be true. Putting aside for a moment whose teaching was true, it was clear to me that one of them was untrue. To put it more bluntly, one of them was dead wrong. But which one?

Since this was not an insignificant difference of opinion even to my novice Catholic mind, I started to wonder how I could leave this "denominational difference at the door" of the Bible study, which I had agreed to do. I didn't know what to do, so I again decided to do nothing, mainly because I still did not know who was right, or why.

As time went on, despite my revelation about John 6, I kept hearing things in the Bible study that sounded to me, as a rookie Catholic, to be so clear and so against the Catholic Church. My Catholic faith was teetering.

Feet Planted Firmly In Mid-Air

The words "blind faith" don't fit me well. Despite the apparently persuasive weight of these anti-Catholic teachings I kept hearing, I could not accept them merely because someone who seemed more informed than I encouraged me. Even though I liked and respected my friends, knew what they believed, and presumed they may be right, I felt like I had to learn why they believed what they believed.

To "fish or cut bait," as they say in Louisiana, I compiled a list of many reasons my friends had given me to support their decision to leave the Church: Call no man father, Jesus had brothers, worshipping Mary and statues, praying to dead people, purgatory works righteousness, infant baptism, adding books to the Bible, sinful popes, dead liturgy, and so on.

With this list, I was going to figure out how, and more importantly, why my learned and faithful friends believed these things, when the Catholic Church plainly said otherwise, and why my friends had fallen away from the Church. I assumed that they had made the right decision, but I needed to prove to myself and for myself that the Catholic Church was wrong, so I could, in good conscience, abandon what I had joined a year earlier and join the "upper echelon of Christianity," as one of my closest ex-Catholic friends called his new faith.

What a failure I was, thanks be to God. God had a different plan for me as I embarked on this part of my journey, and gratefully, while my mind was made up, God made sure it was not closed.

The first thing I learned was that virtually all anti-Catholic beliefs I had heard were grossly exaggerated, or worse, outright false. My friends, accidentally or by design, had created a straw man and then attacked the straw man. They did not know the true teachings of the Catholic Church, and as a result, they certainly were not proving the true Catholic Church wrong at all. They were only exposing their own lack of knowledge, or worse, their intellectual dishonesty.

I next learned the true teachings of the Catholic Church on the issues my friends thought they understood. I began to fully comprehend--for the first time--biblical context, the difference between veneration and worship, the role of works in our salvation, the real meaning of papal infallibility, and all that goes with the majesty of Holy Mother Church.

A momentous event in my faith walk was reading what Bishop Fulton Sheen said about our Church: "There are not over a hundred people in the United States who hate the Catholic Church. There are millions, however, what they wrongly believe to be the Catholic Church." So simple, yet so profound. And exactly what I had personally experienced. The more I studied, the more it appeared that Bishop Sheen was right. The Catholic Church did have a reasoned, thoughtful, and biblically based theology that was taught from the time of Jesus on, and that had been accepted virtually unchallenged for 1500 years until Martin Luther came along.

I was finally able to see this so clearly because, unlike my friends who had chosen to leave the Church for many and varied reasons, I was not reading the Bible or seeking the truth through a smeared lense with an agenda. I was open to the totality of the biblical and historical evidence, and when I looked at it, my glasses were clean. The whole picture of truth, frankly, could hardly have been clearer.

A House Built on Firm Ground

As I neared the end of my journey to prove the Catholic Church wrong, which, thanks be to God, had turned into a galactic failure, I came to the end of the line. In the last Bible study I ever went to, my pastor friend was discussing baptism and whether it was necessary for salvation, or just symbolic. Being a little bolder after many weeks of study, I was not shy to speak up and say, "Yes, baptism is definitely necessary for salvation." He challenged me that my belief was not biblical. I knew that it was, but I was still not good at finding the addresses in the Bible, so I backed off. But only temporarily!

Later that day, I went before the Blessed Sacrament to read the Catechism and some other resources on baptism. I then emailed my friend a lengthy analysis of the Catholic position with two citations from the Catechism supporting my view of baptism: John 3:5 ("Jesus answered, 'Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and spirit'") and Mark 16:16 ("Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved ..."). My challenge to him was, "Explain to me why the Catholic Church is wrong on this." He wrote me a lengthy epistle on why, in his view, the Church did not properly understand or interpret John 3:5. He did not, however, address Mark 16:16. When I called this apparent oversight to his attention, he at first did not answer. When I reminded him a day or two later that he had not answered, he sidestepped the question twice more before eventually dismissing the question without answer.

It had finally become apparent to me that he did not have an answer to this question. This, of course, is now easily understandable. There is no coherent answer. At that moment, I invited my pastor friend to lunch and told him I would not be returning to the Bible study. Seeing this as his last chance to save me from the "Whore of Babylon" and the "Antichrist," he pulled out all the stops. Thanks be to God, I now was ready to defend my faith with confidence in two ways.

First, I had the confidence to know, with certainty, that the Catholic CHurch has an answer to all challenges, and that the answers are profound, thoughtful, and deep. No matter the anti-Catholic claim, the Catholic Church has heard it before, and has an answer that only the Church that Jesus Christ started-- the one true Church with the fullness of truth--could have.

Second, I had become familiar with at last the first layer of the Church's multi-layer teachings so I could light the fire of defense to most anti-Catholic claims. It was at that lunch that I severed all ties with concern or doubt about Holy Mother Church, and became a house built on firm ground, a seed planted planted in rich soil. Since then I have become a warrior for truth. Time and again, I marvel at the depths of the treasure of the Holy Roman Catholic Church, and time and again, my faith is comforted with truth.

God's Gifts Bring Me Home

God's goodness is awesome, particularly how he can bring good out of evil. Without God showering down his love and grace on me after my two abortions, and giving me eyes to see and ears to hear, I don't know if I would have learned the truth. Without God giving me the blessings of curiosity and skepticism, it would not have occurred to me to consider why people leave the Church, and I would not have undertaken the study I did to "prove" something wrong that could not be proved wrong.

For a long time after I found my true faith, I couldn't help but explain my conversion in extreme detail to anyone who would listen. I had discovered that the amount of evidence to support the Catholic faith was overwhelming and could not be challenged logically. I was on fire for the faith! My zeal, however, at times, was overpowering. So now, when asked why I believe in the Catholic faith, my answer is far simpler: Because it is true.

Chris Aubert serves on the board of the "Fullness of truth" apostolate dedicated to educating about abortion and contraceptives in light of Church teaching. In addition to serving as a board member, Chris also is a frequent speaker at conferences, focusing particularly on contraception and abortion from a man's perspective. If you would like more information, visit their web site at www.fullnessoftruth.org.

Origins of Largest Christian Churches
Denomination
Founder
Year
Place
       
Catholic
Jesus Christ
ca. 33
Palestine
Anabaptist (see Anabaptist offshoots below)
Nicholas Storch/Thomas Munzer
ca. 1521
Multiple
Anglican
Henry VIII
ca. 1534
England
Baptist (see Anglican offshoots below)
John Smyth
ca. 1609
Holland
Calvinistic Methodist
Howell Harris
ca. 1735
Calvinist (see Calvinism offshoots below)
John Calvin
ca. 1536
Multiple
Christian Scientist
Mary Baker Eddy
ca. 1879
USA
Church of God
Joseph Marsh
ca. 1920
USA
Church of God in Christ
Charles Mason
ca. 1907
USA
Congregational
Robert Brown
ca. 1582
England
Disciples of Christ
Barton W. Stone/Alexander Campbell
ca. 1832
Episcopalian (see Anglican offshoots below)
Samuel Seabury
ca. 1784
England
Jehovah's Witnesses
Charles Taze Russel
ca. 1884
Lutheran
Martin Luther
ca. 1517
Germany
Methodist
John Wesley
ca. 1744
England
Mormon
Joseph Smith
ca. 1829
USA
Nazarene
Phineas Breese
ca. 1895
USA
Pentecostal
C.F.Parham/William Seymore/A.J.Tomlinson
ca. 1903
USA
Presbyterian
Calvin/John Knox
ca. 1560
Scotland
Seventh Day Adventist
William Miller/Ellen G. White
ca. 1844
USA
Unitarian
Michael Servitus
ca. 1553/1785
USA
United Church of Christ
(from Congregationalist churches)
ca. 1961
USA
United Methodist
(from Methodist)
ca.1968
USA
Universalist John Murray ca. 1779 USA
Source: Adapted in part from Ecce Fides (Pillar of Truth) authored by Fr. John J. Pasquini; P. 24-25; with permission.      

Offshoots referenced above:

  • Offshoots of the Lutherans include the Lutheran Brethren, the Evangelical Covenant Church, the Evangelical Free Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Missouri Synod Lutherans, the Wisconsin Synod Lutherans, and the Moravian Church.
  • Offshoots of the Anabaptists include the North American Baptist, the Advent Christian Church, the Seventh Day Adventist, the Amish, the Conservative Mennonites, the General Conference of Mennonites, the Old Mennonite Church, the Brethren in Christ, the Hutterite Brethren, the Independent Brethren, and the Mennonite Brethren.
  • Offshoots of the Anglican Church include the United Church of Christ, the Free Will Baptist, the Conservative Baptist, the Progressive National Baptist, the American Baptist, the Independent Bible Churches, the Friends United, the Friends General Conference, the United Methodist, the African Methodist, the Episcopal, the Free Methodist, and the many offshoots of the Pentecostal churches.
  • Offshoots of Calvinism include the Presbyterian Church in America, the Presbyterian Church in the USA, the Orthodox Presbyterian, the Reformed Presbyterian, the Reformed Church in America, the Christian Reformed, the Churches of Christ, the Disciples of Christ, and the “Christian Churches.”
  • The Catholic Church has many rites, yet one faith that traces itself back to Jesus Christ, the apostles and their successors, the bishops.  Their Catholic identity is found in their union to the successor of St. Peter, the pope, in proclaiming the one true faith—in diverse cultural expressions--of Jesus Christ. Whether one is a member of the Roman, the Mozarabic, the Ambrosian, the Byzantine, the Chaldean, the Syro-Malabarese, the Alexandrian, the Coptic, the Abyssinian, the Antiochene, the Malankarese, the Maronite, or the Armenian rite, one is a member of the one Catholic Church founded by Jesus Christ through his apostles.2

The Largest U.S. Churches by Denomination Headcount in 2005
  • Roman Catholic Church
67.2 Million
  • Southern Baptist Convention
16.4 Million
  • United Methodist Church
8.2 Million
  • Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day-Saints
5.5 Million
  • Church of God in Christ
5.4 Million
  • National Baptist Convention/USA
5.0 Million
  • Evangelical Lutheran Church/America
5.0 Million
  • National Baptist Convention/America
4.9 Million
  • Presbyterian Church (USA)
3.2 Million
  • Assemblies of God
2.7 Million
  • African Methodist Episcopal Church
2.5 Million
  • National Missionary Baptist Convention/US
2.5 Million
  • Progressive National Baptist Convention
2.5 Million
  • Lutheran Church/ Missouri Synod
2.4 Million
  • Episcopal Church
2.3 Million
  • Churches of Christ
1.5 Million
  • Greek Orthodox Archdiocese/ America
1.5 Million
  • Pentecostal Assemblies
1.5 Million
  • American Baptist Churches/USA
1.4 Million
  • African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
1.4 Million
  • United Church of Christ
1.2 Million
  • Baptist Bible Fellowship International
1.2 Million
  • Christian Churches/Churches of Christ
1 Million
  • Jehovah's Witnesses
1 Million
  • Orthodox Church in America
1 Million
Source: 2005 Yearbook of American and Canadian Churches, National Council of Churches.
 

Yeah. But the Catholic Church Has All These Rules...

"Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened..." (Matt 11:28-30). "If you struggle daily to do what is morally right even when those around you take shortcuts, then come to Jesus. If the life of selfish pleasure and illicit gain seems exceedingly attractive, then come to Jesus. If you are burdened with your patterns of sin and weaknesses of character that affect your vocation as a spouse, a parent, a friend, a consecrated soul, a Christian..., then come to Jesus. If life seems unfair and God seems distant at best, then come to Jesus. He calls us not to a set of principles and noble ideals, but to his very person. We do not follow rules for the sake of rules; we follow Jesus. Only when we have first come to him will we understand the need for the rules which simply help protect the dignity of the relationship"3 The rules also protect the dignity of every human person from conception to natural death. For more on this "rules" issue see the FAQs page, morals section.