I was raised thinking that all Catholics went to hell because you were of “another religion.” It wasn’t until college that I ever considered Catholics as part of the Christian religion, and even then we were told you were a Christian cult. I’ve grown a lot since being a kid and of course you Roman Catholics have changed a lot since the 1950’s too. I like Catholics more today and even admire you for some of what you stand for. Here are seven things I like about you:
1. I appreciate how you preserved Christianity.
I am grateful to you Catholics for preserving Christianity for more than a thousand years. Sure, we Protestants protested the quality of religion you had by 1500. But, you kept the torch burning just the same and I am grate for that. You had problems in 1500. I know of no serious Protestant thinker today that does not “protest” the quality of evangelical religion as it turned out to be 500 years later. Thanks for keeping the Christian torch burning for all those years, even if it flickered at times. We Protestants have been around only half that long and frankly, the torch were carrying today is flickering too. We both have problems.
2. I like how you stand firm
Maybe it is having a pope, but you guys sure know how to stand firm. You don’t set church policy by taking a poll or having a vote of “the people,” pandering to the common denominator of the masses’ desires. I respect that. You guys rejected abortion without calling for a popular vote. We discussed abortion, debated it, then held a vote to decide our position, and any of us can hold another vote and change it. You guys even still oppose birth control! Holy Smoke, that’s incredible to us Protestants who think a denomination’s positions should be established by the people and changed whenever they become unpopular. While I think you are wrong about birth control, but I still respect the way you stand firm on things regardless of their popularity.
3. I like how politically balanced your pope is.
Your pope somehow knows how to condemn abortion and capital punishment in the same breath. We Protestants always seem to wind up on one side or the other politically. Your pope scolds conservatives and liberals alike. I respect that independence from political rulers. It seems like that is what Christ would do…be an equal opportunity prophet.
4. I like how you emphasize the Lord’s Supper
The more I’ve grown spiritually the more important the Lord’s Supper is to me. Many Protestants treat Communion like it is a pain in the rear and something to get over with quickly so we can fill up the service with our own words. You Catholics really take this Sacrament seriously and I admire that.
5. I like how you kneel in worship
Some Protestants kneel too, but mostly it is the Protestants closer to “Catholic-style worship.” When I was a kid we “holiness people” were always kneeling in worship too, but we don’t do that anymore since we moved to the suburbs. When I attend one of your worship services, I remember how the physical act of kneeling seems so appropriate when confessing sins or praying to “God the Father Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth.”
6. I like how you emphasize confession.
Many of us boomer Protestants came to understand your rite of confession when we saw the priest Lamberto convinced Michael Corleone to make his first confession in 30 years. We saw the power in confession of sins. I admit that many Protestants mistakenly believe that Luther and Calvin rejected the rite confession. But we are wrong in that. Luther and Calvin rejected the notion that priests alone could hear confessions and urged priests or any believer to function as confessors for one another. You’ve kept the idea of sin and confession in your worship all the time we Protestants have been manufacturing a sinless religion which has no sins at all to confess or we lightly dismiss our daily habitual sins through “spiritual breathing.” I respect how you treat sin seriously and have kept confession. You even have changed recently and are now downplaying the old confession booth style and introducing “reconciliation” through face to face spiritual counseling. I admire that in a day when admitting sin specifically and by name is totally out of style.
7. I like your confidence.
We Protestants are always running around like
the church is about to go out of existence if we don’t hurry up and adapt to
the culture. You guys don’t seem to worry about being “kewl.” Your cardinals wear those pointy hats and bright
red get-ups and march around like you are the kewlest folk of all and it is the world that is out
of touch. I admire you for ignoring the
world and having confidence in the supremacy of Christ’s church over the
world’s styles and values. You guys even act like
sooner or later all we Protestants will realize you’ve been right all along and
we’ll all come home into the mother church. That’s
confidence! It seems to me the
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OK, I am a true-blue protestant and I have some serious differences with you Catholics. Some recent scandals have made you an embarrassment to yourself and all of us Christians. Yet I still appreciate you for what you are and have been throughout history. I admit true Christianity did not cease in 350AD not to resurface until 1517. I admit we protestants have plenty of problems ourselves now—including a thousand denominations and a Christian piety worse off than what we protested against in the first place. We’re more humble now that we have 500 years under our own belts. Yes, there are some things I hope you’ll still change. But we Protestants have some changes ourselves to make… maybe more than you! Maybe we can help each other become the Church of Jesus Christ we’re supposed to be.
I like Catholics!
So what do you think?
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