This morning, I made an Amazon search to buy a book on spiritual disciplines to supplement the (very Protestant) one I am already reading. I settled on The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life by James Martin. Considering the new Pope is a Jesuit, and also this book looked amazing, I bought it. All my blogfriends already know I love Catholic spirituality anyway 
I’m one of those Amazon shoppers that reads the negative reviews for kicks, especially if there are 101 “5 stars” and 2 “1 star” reviews. Those are always interesting.
There was one that was particularly inflammatory. It had a “0 out of 7 found this helpful” rating, for what it was worth.
In short, the issue was of the vow of Celibacy. The person lambasted the book because it propagated this discipline as right and true. Only reason. He used 1 Timothy 3 references. He connected celibacy with homosexuality (huh?). And he made mention of God punishing the Vatican and other angry stuff, also calling the Vatican the “GAY CLUB.” The person assured his readership that he was, indeed, Catholic. I’m sure if you’re interested you can find the comment on Amazon.
Low and behold, I found myself defending the Catholic leadership to a very upset Catholic. Me, the one who has severe denominational confusion. I think I’ll call it SDC from now on.
I don’t know if this person will ever know that the person defending “his Church” to him was a Protestant, but I would consider myself embarrassed if a Catholic defended Protestant practices or theology to me.
I suppose I just accept the authority of those in Rome when it comes to Church practice. I may not be Catholic, but I trust their leadership.
I was going tell this person something else regarding his spiritual health (who is THAT angry?), but I didn’t want to get preachy. So I’ll say it here:
“Pope Francis I asked the faithful to pray for him. If you are indeed faithful, you will. You will pray for revival in the hearts of all who claim Jesus Christ. You will pray for Rome’s leadership, that they will be led by the Holy Spirit. To ask for a perfect Vatican is to ask for the impossible. But to ask God to give them direction, that is what is asked of the faithful.”
Pope Francis I at his Inauguration Mass
“I suppose I just accept the authority of those in Rome when it comes to Church practice. I may not be Catholic, but I trust their leadership.”
I was suffering from a dual diagnosis of SDC + FEC (Full-on Existential Crisis) when I first started feeling the draw towards Rome. I was raised Protestant, then spent eight years as an atheist, and am now a believer-ish-type-person who will probably wind up a Catholic. All that to say, I was appalled at the idea of papal authority… until I realized that I was okay with pretty much every other Catholic doctrine.
So, I have a problem with the Church claiming authority, even though I find their teachings, well… authoritative? Weird.
“So, I have a problem with the Church claiming authority, even though I find their teachings, well… authoritative? Weird.”
Hey, it’s okay! All of us “grew-up-Protestants” I think have that orientation towards the Catholic church. Personally, my issues are with Marian theology and Purgatory. I’ll admit, I understand very little of it and haven’t devoted much time to research.
Let me point you to Laura over at Catholic Cravings. She has a really awesome series on how she converted from evangelical Protestantism to Catholicism. She came from a very intellectual view and there is one that addresses the issues of Authority that I have found very helpful called “Death by Diagram.”
Thanks again for coming to my blog
I had a problem with the Church’s claims of authority, too — until one day I realized that the Church’s authority was the key to all the searching and struggles of most of my life as a Protestant. I’ve written a series on authority too that you might find helpful — particularly this post, which describes that first realization.
Ah, yes, the cult of Mary. That’s on my to-research list. Thanks for the referral to Catholic Cravings. I’m checking it out now. Yay, new WordPress friends!
Awesome
and yes, definitely check out Joseph’s blog as well. He is an amazing apologist and, being a convert, has a unique perspective of meeting Protestants where they’re at in their questions.
Your last paragraph was lovely. Not being Catholic myself, I had not really followed this whole situation or cared, but you’ve brought a very interesting point to my attention: Catholic or Protestant, we [Christians] should all pray that God leads the Pope and the rest of the Catholic church.
Thanks
yeah, I think its so important to realize that Francis needs prayers of all Christians. He represents the name of Christ on earth in a much more visible place than most. He needs our prayers all the more because of it!
I prefer to call you a “searcher” rather than “SDC.” And you’re a Protestant who’s stopped Protesting.
I found myself in your shoes many times before I was Catholic, before I even admitted I was interested in becoming Catholic. I always stood up for the Catholic faith and defended it against attacks, maintaining always, against Protestants that argued otherwise, that Catholics were Christians. I credit one encounter with a particularly hateful anti-Catholic with doing more to drive me into the arms of Holy Mother Church than anything else up till that point.
Accepting the authority of Rome puts you already halfway there. Because if you trust the Church teaches the truth — that the Holy Spirit guides the Church — then everything else will fall into place. You only have to know and trust that it’s true.
Also: one of the really great things about the Church is that most of the essential reading is older than any copyright. I don’t know how serious you are about spiritual discipline, but it doesn’t get any more quintessential (or hard-core) than the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits. Just google and you will find it. (Fun fact I learned last year: St. Ignatius’s name in his native Spanish was Iñigo. Hello, my name is Iñigo Loyola; you harmed my Holy Mother Church; prepare to meet God!)
Stuck in th moderation queue? You no love me anymore …?
I just changed that so that I wouldn’t miss any comments! Sometimes my notifications lie to me
Well I thank you for not labeling me like I label myself! And yes, that is true, I’ve pretty much stopped protesting… It’s interesting to me how so many people are part of a church that literally Protested teachings, caused dissension, and broke away, yet they think that they have a corner on spirituality and truth. So much church history and church fathers’ teaching is ignored in Protestant churches and seminaries. It’s like they don’t want to admit that 2/3 of their Christian heritage is actually Catholic. I do admit I am halfway there. That puts me in an interesting spot.
And that is such a funny anecdote about St. Ignatius. I literally laughed out loud!
Dang that was an awesome post Faith! It’s always an awkward situation when people who call themselves Catholic don’t actually believe what the Church teaches. On one hand it’s incredibly frustrating because they seem to be undermining the Church by their beliefs and its tempting to be harsh with them, but on the other hand how am I any better? Though I may profess all that the Church teaches with my mouth, I definitely do not live up to all that I proclaim. I have to remember that the Church is made up of sinners and it’s only by God’s grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit is She kept pure, so we must be gentle with all. I think that Pope Francis is excellent at that and he’s inspiring me already. Let’s keep praying for him!
Thank you! I’m still a “baby Christian” and even more of a “baby Catholic” so I’m still learning how to respond to people like that in grace and humility.
I, too, am inspired by the simplicity of faith that Pope Francis has. It’s beautiful and I think it’s just what the Church needs!