Expert: Fr. Timothy Johnson - 5/18/2008

Question
Fr. Timothy,

I am a Christian, ecumenical at heart, currently attending a Bible based church. I was raised in a Catholic home. I was baptized as an infant, received first communion and confirmation, and attended mass every Sunday until the age of 15 when my parents gave me the authority to decide for myself what to practice and believe. So I became an atheist/agnostic, and my memories of childhood experiences with the Roman Catholic Church are overwhelmingly negative.

At the age of 21, God led me to become a Christian through the Bible, and I grew strong in my faith through protestant friends and churches. I love to study the Bible, apologetics, and theology on my own time.

When I finally became a Christian in 2002, I was baptized again in a protestant Bible based church and later I became an official member of that church, happily knowing that I am officially excommunicated by the Catholic Church and that nobody can accuse me of still being a Catholic (which some family members had been doing).

In the past 2 months, seeking God in many ways has led me to the "doorstep" of the Catholic Church. I have asked for lots of prayer from people I trust and I've been praying and looking into it more and more because I want to be as sure as I can be that I want to make the move.

At this point, I'm still seeking, and I'm still not sure about where God wants me to be simply because of all the different viewpoints I've heard from different Catholic Christians and also knowing about all of the practices and beliefs that I am passionately against.

As I sort through all this with prayer and fervor, here's the questions I would like you to answer:

If I wanted to return to being in communion with the Roman Catholic Church, what would I need to do?

What does it mean to be a Roman Catholic Christian?

Catholics and Protestants almost always share in common the Nicean Creed. Also, many Catholics (as individuals) have varying beliefs (even if those beliefs do not put one's faith and salvation into question any more than a devout traditional Catholic). So in this respect, what is the difference between a Catholic and a Protestant Christian?

What circumstances deserve excommunication?

All of these questions are related in the sense that I'm asking, "how can I be a Catholic Christian yet not always agree on everything in Catholicism?"

Thanks, your care in answering is very much appreciated!

Answer
Hi, Christopher:

Thanks for the questions and comments.
I would recommend that you take more time for prayer and study with a copy of the "Catechism of the Catholic Church."  In addition, you could study and research a lot of your questions and issues at www.catholic.com.
Being in communion with the Roman Catholic Church means being in union with the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church founded by Jesus Christ, and in union with the Pope and the Local Bishop.  Your re-baptism is an act of formal departure from communion with this historical Church, and you have excommunicated yourself.
In order to return to full communion with the Catholic Church from which one has formally departed, one must renounce the heresy and false beliefs that are alien to Catholicism.  In addition, one must make a public profession of Faith (The theological, divine virtue of FAITH of belief in what God has revealed on His Authority as God).  The Rites Book, Vol. I prescribes the following formula of the profession of Faith:
"I believe and profess all that the holy Catholic Church believes, teaches, and proclaims to be revealed by God."

Protestants began as a movement of rebellion, and rejects to one degree or other something of the doctrine or practice of the Catholic Church.  In essence, they are looking at the Catholic Church and judging her to be WRONG and unacceptable to their own opinions and personal interpretations, rather than looking for guidance and the Truth revealed by God.
We need to be careful to remember the various admonitions found in Sacred Scripture (i.e. the Bible, the Sacred Book of the Holy Catholic Church).
For example, in the Letter of St. Peter where he tells us that "no writing is of a personal interpretation"; the Catholic Epistle of St. James that tells us: "if one is judge of the law, then he is no observer of the law.  He is its judge"; or the Letter of St. John that tells us that we must "be on guard not to be SO progressive that we end up outside of Jesus Christ"; or the Catholic Epistle of St. Jude that warns us not to perish in the "rebellion of Korah", which consists in rejecting the ordained Priestly ministry.
These are some good starting points.

Fr. Timothy Johnson

P.S. There seems to be a balance in the end, in some way, between those who depart from the Light, and those drawn to it.  Just as you left the practice of the Catholic Faith at age 15, it was at the age of 15 that I found the True Faith and Church established by Jesus Christ.  While I had overwhelmingly positive experiences, my worst experiences were from Priests who had lost their way, and were no longer teaching and sharing the Catholic Faith, and turning people away from its expression in authentic practice - all in the name of Vatican II... haha, so ironic... as I studied the ACTUAL Vatican II, I came to find only the treasures of the reaffirmation of the Traditional Catholic Faith.  As the current Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI continues to teach and guide: there is to be a hereneutic of CONTINUITY with Tradition, not rupture with it, in the ongoing life of the Church.
Pray a Hail, Mary and ask her prayers to gain you the Graces to lead you back to full communion with the Church her Son founded; and find the healing in Christ for your "negative" experiences... this will lead you far along the path of true conversion.  I speak as one who has found the True Faith, and this is my testimony.