Cradle Catholic or convert? (same question for Orthodox)

[Maeve]

I was raised Evangelical United Brethren, which joined into the United Methodists, but I was born with an Irish Catholic soul. Married an agnostic, converted (he didn't care!) and raised the kids in the Church. I even taught CCD and headed an RCIA program once upon a time...

Well, you know what they say about converts...

:hi:

[newyawker99]

1. I have been a Catholic since birth.

Thanks Skinner for this group!

[DemBones DemBones]

2. I was raised Presbyterian, but I was born in a Catholic hospital,

so my priest advises me that I can say I come from a Catholic cradle! (I kiddingly asked him "Does being born in a Catholic hospital, and converting many years later, entitle me to call myself a cradle Catholic?" when I was part of the RCIA team teaching the classes. At one session that he attended, he asked everyone to write a question for him on an index card, then answered them at a later class. I couldn't think of a serious question at the time so I went with the silly one.)

I thought from early on that I was born Catholic in a Protestant family. A lot of converts say much the same thing.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

3. I'm in the middle of converting!!

This is nice.
Duckie

[DemBones DemBones]

6. Hi, Duckie! That makes at least three DUers

now starting to swim the Tiber. :hi:

[Reverend_Smitty]

4. I was born into an Irish Catholic and...

Slavic Byzantine Catholic family. In fact I can't even think of one single person in my family who has even married out of the faith. Right now I guess you could say I'm a lapsed Catholic. I love learning about my faith and its history but I have lost a bit of my faith over time which kinda pisses off my dad. I'm at a point in my life where I am exploring what it means to be Catholic or a member of any religion and am just trying to ignore the politics of it all. It's definitely been a solitary journey.

[DemBones DemBones]

5. It's a solitary journey for us all.

It never stops, really. Well, how could it?

Not to minimize your concerns, just to share them. Don't assume others don't have doubts or aren't bothered by politics.

[pelagius]

15. My Catholic friends helped me...

...to see that one could disagree with the Church on many issues and still be faithful to it.

My Protestant upbringing never admitted that as a possibility -- if you disagree, you get out and start your own church. The reductio ad absurdem of that stance is that you end up with the Church of the Self -- alone, serene in one's own rectitude, and never contaminated by the heresy of other people -- a pure solipsism.

But my college friends bitched and moaned endlessly about the Church's social views, its hierarchy, its exclusion and then faithfully went off to Mass.

Thank God for their witness!

[HuskerDem]

36. You cannot disagree with the church and remain faithful, any canon law

lawyer will tell you that. The church exists to guide (tell) you what to believe. Your obligation is to obey the church.

[demosincebirth]

49. Try preaching that in my church and the next week you'll be preaching ...

to and empty church.

[420inTN]

27. I'm a lapsed Catholic as well...

but my problem isn't with faith, but with the Church. I still have all of my faith, but I have issues with the Church (as an organization).

[demosincebirth]

42. I believe that many Catholics have issues with the Church. I know I do, but that

doesn't decrease my love for Jesus and his Mother.

[sandnsea]

7. Lapsed cradle Catholic

Every time I get near to reconciling all with the Church, they do something stupid like the hypocritical attack on Kerry and other Dems; and I drop them again. I've been in alot of non-Catholic churches and just do not find the religious sense of the Bible that I find in Catholicism. Then there's times when I look at George Bush and say, how could there even be a God when the entire world wanted a different path. So I'm here, I'm not here to agitate at all, just wanted to share where I'm at. Maybe I'll get inspired again.

[Beware the Beast Man]

9. That's American Catholicism for you.

Recent convert here (finished RCIA 2 years ago), and yes, I was just as concerned this year over the Church's stance. Turns out, they made NO stance, since they could not support either candidate wholeheartedly. But many parishes here wouldn't let us know that.

[Maeve]

10. And after the election they decided to let pro-choice politicians

Receive communion.... sigh. So many of the bishops appear unable to see how they are being manipulated to support folks who are just using them for political gain.

Sometimes I fear the American Church has made the same mistake so we've seen so often before--support the rich for the power, turn your back on the poor. It's not supposed to be that way...

[Reverend_Smitty]

11. Thats always been my problem...

with the church on the whole...the only thing that keeps me from leaving completely it that I know other Catholics (lay and clergy) who do look out for the poor and have progressive ideas. I also look back at history and at some of the saints like St. Francis and their sacrifices give me hope

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

19. I'd say seek out some Capuchin Franciscans - they're pretty liberal

generally Holy Orders are more introspective and liberal IMO

[laheina]

23. You and I are in very much the same boat.

I just try to remember that the people in the church and some of their worldly preoccupations --even the ones that are supposed to be biblically based-- are not the same thing as the Church that Jesus gave to us.

I don't know if this is dogmatically correct or not, but it's my story and I'm sticking to it!

[whathehell]

52. Another one here....

Gawd...I'm always amazed at those who convert.

The church (fifties and sixties)gave me so many problems that one of my deepest regrets was in not having been born into one of the other of the "big three", with the decided exception of Evangelical Protestantism.. That, for me, would be a bit much, as even Catholics allows for evolution and a non-literal interpretation of the bible.eyes:

[scarlet_owl]

8. I'm in RCIA now.

I was raised in an extended Catholic family. My parents, however, did not want us raised in the Catholic Church. Now I'm an adult, and I have found it to be the right spiritual path for me.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

12. It's nice to see I'm not alone here!

Thanks for sharing!
Duckie

[scarlet_owl]

13. Have gone through the Rite of Acceptance yet?

Mine is on December 5. If you have, what's it like?

[YellowRubberDuckie]

16. Mine is Dec. 5th as well..

We practiced for it last wednesday night. Your sponsors bless your five senses, and Father then does a roll call and you answer a few questions. At least that's what we're doing. It doesn't seem difficult, but I'm scared because I don't know anyone at my church really.
Good luck, Scarlet. :)
Duckie

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

20. Its really beautiful - my sponsor is my future Mother-In-Law - touching

doesn't even do it justice

[JohnKleeb]

14. Born Catholic, raised non-demonation, we never attended church

but me and mom have started going to Catholic services.

[Matilda]

17. Baptised as a baby in the Presbyterian Church to Anglican parents

in Australia. But attended Methodist Sunday School from age 3, taken
by "Aunty Em" (lady next door), and loved it. Hardly missed a
Sunday until I was going on 16, then when it was time to be confirmed
decided it wasn't for me.

Became a Catholic at the age of 22, and have raised my two children
as Catholics. The rite then consisted of first being "re-baptised"
(they don't do that these days if you've already been baptised as
a Christian), then confirmation by the Cardinal Archbishop of Sydney.
My two children have also been raised Catholic, although they went
to a Rudolf Steiner (Waldorf) school, as we preferred their method
of teaching.

I'm a reader a Mass and a Eucharistic Minister, but I find myself not
agreeing with the Church on everything, especially when it tries to
influence politics. I got mad last week and emailed the parish
when the priest saying mass asked us to pray for the American
soldiers in Falluja but didn't mention praying for the Iraqis. I
thought it was wrong, and said so. Haven't had a reply yet, and I'm
not surprised really.

[pelagius]

21. Re-baptism!?

Was your situation the norm or were there special circumstances?

If I recall correctly, baptism "in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit" is valid and is accepted by the Catholic Church. The Presbyterian formulary would definitely conform to this requirement. Perhaps this is a more recent change than I thought, because it seemed to me this was handled at the Council of Arles in 314 -- ok, ok, I'm a patristics nerd -- when resolving the Donatist controversy.

(By the way, I'm just curious about these things, not looking to start a fight. :-))

[Matilda]

22. Yes, I was baptised a second time.

It didn't occur to me to question it, I just thought perhaps the
Catholic Church didn't recognise the first one.

It's also possible that the priest who instructed me never enquired
as to whether I had been baptised as a baby, I really can't remember
whether he asked.

But I definitely had two, and consequently two sets of godparents.

[TexasProgresive]

29. On occaision there are conditional baptisms.

If there is doubt about a prior baptism-the conditional is only valid if there wasn't a prior since there can only be one baptism.

[Matilda]

30. Full baptism, certificate, godparents, the lot, both times.

I can only assume that the instructing priest simply took it for
granted that I'd never been baptised before - it was a long time
ago, but I have no recollection of ever discussing it. I just
assumed that the Catholic Church only recognised one baptism, so I
never questioned it, and I never wondered about it until many years
later when a friend converted, and wasn't baptised as she'd been
baptised Anglican as a child.

[Princess Turandot]

32. Isn't there some distinction between being 'christened' and being..

'baptized'? I didn't research this, but I have a very vague recollection that some Protestant baptisms were considered comparable, and some were not.

[DemBones DemBones]

37. As far as I know, being christened simply means

being baptized as an infant, with godparents making the baptismal promises for you. I was christened/ baptised in the Presbyterian Church as an infant and that was good enough for becoming Catholic. ;-) As far as the Roman Catholic Church is concerned, you only need another baptism if the first one wasn't "In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit," and done with water.

It was funny when I taught RCIA because some of the people in the class weren't sure if they had been baptized or not, which shocked all the Baptists who were becoming Catholics. Baptists can't be baptized until they make a public profession of faith so they have no infant baptisms, and apparently these Baptists had no experience with infant baptism. "How could you not remember being baptised?" was their question.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

18. Converted 2 years ago at 27!

[UrbScotty]

25. A belated Congratulations to you!

[UrbScotty]

24. I was born and baptized Catholic.

Though there are other good denominations of Christianity, I've decided to remain Catholic.

[420inTN]

26. Cradle convert, I guess...

My mother was Baptist, my fater was Methodist. However, my siblings and I were all raised Catholic, and went to Catholic school.

[AngryOldDem]

28. Converted in 1990

Came into the Church about three weeks before I got married.

Was more or less a Sunday Catholic for most of that time; almost quit entirely at the height of the sex scandal; then took a step back and realized that the Church was where I should be. Since then I have become active both within my parish and in my community.

I am one of the original memebers of the parish Social Outreach commission, cofacilitator of JustFaith (the Jack Jezreel program that I went through last year), active in the St. Vincent de Paul conference, as well as the local St. Vincent de Paul homeless shelter. I was also active for a time in the local Voice of the Faithful group, but other activities and "philosophical" differences have lessened my involvement there. Currently, I am part of a committee that (God willing) will bring community-based action groups to parishes (especially inner-city parishes) that will enable them to deal on an equal footing with city government in terms of issues. (But this is still very much in the early planning stages.)

I truly believe that it takes works as well as faith, and I find I can work best from within the Church. That's not to say I sometimes have my disagreements and issues with the Church. But I do believe the Church expresses best Christ's commandment to love one another as He has loved us.

I'm looking forward to posting here and getting to know you all.

[FarLeftRage]

31. A cradle Catholic

My maternal Grandmother and my father are converts tho...

[Stunster]

33. Utterly, totally, completely cradle

Both parents were practising Catholics. Mass every Sunday.

All four grandparents were practising Catholics. Mass every Sunday.

All my family growing up, cousins, everybody---all practising Catholics. Mass every Sunday.

My father's brother is a priest. Retired now, but spent his whole working life as a priest at the Vatican Archives!

So, I'm very much a cradle Catholic.

[Reverend_Smitty]

34. Sounds a lot like me...

Except my mom has stopped going to church. I've even got a priest in my family somewhere. I think he was my grandfather's cousin, but he passed away about 10 years ago.

[Cuban_Liberal]

35. Cradle Catholic

:hi:

[Zynx]

38. Catholic since birth.

Probably always will be a liberal Catholic.

[meow2u3]

39. Catholic since the age of 4 weeks

Baptized about 4 weeks of age. Still Catholic after all these years O8) O8) O8) O8) O8) O8) O8)

[pres2032]

40. cradle Catholic

baptized at two weeks old!!!

[Nadege116]

41. Cradle

Cradle Orthodox.

[blue_roses_lib]

43. I'm in the middle of converting...

to the Ruthenian Byzantine Catholic Church from the Episcopal Church. All these spiritually restless years searching and feeling lost, and I attend one Liturgy, and I'm home. It might take more than one trip through the catechism process, but I know I'm where I'm supposed to be. It helps that my priest is a former Lutheran, so he understands that it's hard to leave and that it takes time.


Glory to Jesus Christ!


:hi:

[demosincebirth]

44. Have a nice journey.

[nxylas]

45. A little of both

I was baptized into the Greek Orthodox Church as a baby, but went through an evangelical phase in my teens. Eventually, though, I wanted something more than the Evangelicals could offer and returned to the Orthodox Church in my twenties.

[Joe Chi Minh]

46. I was baptised a Catholic, spent a year at a Catholic school, as a six-year old,

then returned to "Come day, go day, roll on Sunday" C of E/agnostic schools.

In my secondary school, as is common enough, I fell away, falling for the line that it was just hypocritical mumbo-jumbo, and simply a matter of where you were born/who you were born to.

However, atheism was impossible to me, as I had felt God's presence far too strongly in my primary school. But the further I drifted away from the faith, the more angry and bitter I became - in fact, obsessed with finding the true meaning of life, which palpably wasn't not necessarily a function of worldly success/status, etc.

In a pit of despair, I chanced upon Aldous Huxley's essay on comparative religion called The Perennial Philosophy, the content of which was an extraordinary revelation to me - most notably that spiritual truths are inaccessible to the purely analytical intelligence. In fact, he went on to say that without the brain our unitive intelligence would have us in a kind of perpetual, contemplative trance. In other words, that the brain was actually a reducing valve, straining out much of our spiritual sensitivity, to enable us to focus on this world and survive. I can't remember who he ascribed the theory to, which imo makes perfect sense, but it might have been the philosopher, Bergson.

Huxley claimed that, if you're going to be a Christian, it makes sense to go for the 'brand leader', Roman Catholicism, but for hm, there was too much wrong with the human institution for him to be able to stomach it. And even now, I can understand his point, writing at that time, as while we owe the Church's very survival, proximately anyway, to the good people in it, I believe it it had some iniquitous aspects and thus, inevitably, plenty of bad and indifferent members as well. However, I view Vatican II as an amazing blessing on the church from God.

[tjwmason]

47. Raised Church of England (Anglican)

Became Anglo-Catholic at University, now part of the Holy Father's scheme to reconcile groups of Anglicans - so Deo volente Catholic at around Easter.

[demosincebirth]

50. Welcome!

[CBHagman]

48. Born to devout Catholics.

I went to parochial school for a number of years and of course attended CCD when I was in public schools. During high school and especially university I attended a lot of non-Catholic churches -- Baptist, evangelical, etc. -- before getting back into attending weekly Mass. I never, ever stopped going to church of some sort, though I missed a Sunday or feast day here and there. In fact I completely missed out on the whole young adult rebellion phase in more than one respect.

The sad thing for me is that in midlife I find it very hard to believe in a benevolent and omnipotent God. I still go to Mass, and I particularly enjoy a good homily and a beautiful piece of music (and there's plenty of it written for the glory of God), yet I feel like Ralph Vaughan Williams in more than one way: I love the hymns but find it hard to believe. I want to believe but I have a changed perspective now. The simple answers don't work anymore.

[rug]

51. I was baptized as an infant so they can't kick me out.