Why people DON'T leave the Church

There are a lot of reasons why people leave the Catholic... but I would bet quite a bit of money that the reason is rarely, or if ever, that a person studied the scriptures, studied the Catechism, read the Church fathers, read encyclicals, and then came to the belief and analytical conclusion that the Catholic Faith is somehow wrong within the larger context of Christianity. I got this idea from Fr. John Riccardo, who mentioned this idea in one of his "RCIA for Catholics" talks. Fr. Riccardo was my pastor at my Novus Ordo parish back in Michigan.

This argument is based on the idea that many people that leave the faith, or "fall away" do so because they either don't have a good understanding of the faith, and (or) have been a part of a parish that did not resonate in them. Many also leave, because those around them either lacked in the way they understood the faith or lived the faith. For example, how many times have you heard lapsed Catholics espouse incorrect doctrine or describe "Catholics" in a way that isn't necessarily true of Catholicism, but may be more specific to a certain group of people that profess to be Catholic?

Therefore it is vital that we learn our faith, that we learn it CORRECTLY, and that we live it both in word and in deed. We don't know who is watching us, or how it is affecting them. People rarely leave parishes or the Church because their experience includes a welcoming and warm parish, a tight night community of like minded individuals and families, and people that not only know their faith intellectually but also "live it." Instead, folks abandon their faith because of cold and disconnected parishes, individuals that make no attempt to form a Catholic community, and people that espouse their own personal notion of the faith and live contrary to the precepts of Catholic thinking.

If we want the American Catholic Church to survive we must educate ourselves in the faith, we must live out the teachings of the faith, and we must reclaim the truth - one that includes an authentic liturgical and prayer life that leads the community closer to the Truth that is Jesus, the same Christ our Lord Whom leads us to the Father in unity with the Holy Spirit.