Why Did They Leave?

    In these past few decades, 17 million Catholics left and abandoned the Catholic Church in the USA. Why did they go? I can think of three reasons for this moral exodus:

a)    envy and jealousy:
    People in the Church tend to bicker and fight with their pastors or other members of the congregation. Like infantile and immature children, they prefer to run away and separate themselves from others in order to have their own way. They end up forming their own personal sect. Ambitions, aggressiveness, rudeness, lack of respect towards others, intolerance, obstinacy, pride, selfishness, etc. all are factors that contribute to disunity and separation.

b)    sterile liturgies:
    Dead ceremonies, lifeless gestures, stiff postures, repressed spiritual feelings, complicated monotonous melodies, empty homilies, etc. have all frightened away many people from the Church. The animated words, spirited songs and fraternal presence of the Evangelicals have brought in to their churches many ex-Catholics who feel they need this sort of human element in their lives.

c)     Birth control:
The biggest reason, however, as to why so many Catholics no longer continued in the Church of Peter is that they would not accept the    Magisterium’s teaching on artificial birth control. They therefore decided to leave. Michael Grady was correct in his analysis of the situation when he affirmed this in past letters.

    Did the Catholics leave because they wanted to practice artificial birth control and contraception, or did they refuse to learn NFP? Did they believe NFP to be too difficult or outright impossible to learn or still knowing about it, simply were unwilling to accept it? If ignorance was involved in the choice of these Catholics, they still have a shot at salvation, but if everything was decided through bad will and iniquity, arrogance, stubbornness and pride, then they face eternal damnation.

    The conservative Church in America which simply condemns evil, but does not lift a finger to teach Catholics what they are to do in delicate situations nor extend a helping hand, will have to give an account to God for their hardness of heart. EWTN is constantly condemning abortion, but why doesn’t it put on several days of NFP courses on the network for all of America to see and learn? They will be judged harshly for the buried talents which they refused to utilize for the growth of God’s kingdom. Why don’t they and the clergy invite Evangelical pastors to their network or parishes and beg them forgiveness for their negligence in better preparing the people of God they lost? Why don’t they attempt a dialogue and reconciliation with the ex-Catholics who left because of them? It is easy to play the part of the elderly son and condemn the prodigal one.

Anthony Mellace