Catholic Guilt

[Goobergal99]

Now matter how hard I try and recover from catholicism, I still have so much guilt.... so how many of you catholics out there are as guilty as me???

 

[rparmfamily]

LOL, I have it!! One time at work (I worked as a cashier at the time) we had $100 go missing from the till. I wasn't even on that till that day and I felt like maybe I did it!!! LMAO... I wasn't even near that till either!!

 

[disneyfam]

Constantly. I have so wanted to leave the catholic church for another religion for years now, but the guilt is overwhelming.

The sad part is that I'm not attending church because I do not want to participate in the catholic church, but feel guilty about leaving. How much sense does that make???

Cynde

 

[Laura]

Nope. Former Catholic here. Why should I feel guilty?

 

[Mischa]

I'm catholic and at times I do have the guilt thing, but the funny thing is my DH who is not catholic and he seems like he has more guilt than I do. I tease him all the time saying "are you sure you aren't catholic?"

 

[Jennifer S]

I used to. I switched to a Lutheran church about 12 years ago and I am soo much happier. Very similar w/o the guilt and constant asking for money.

 

[RickinNYC]

We should start our own cult!

I have the Catholic Guilt Syndrome and it was really pretty bad for years. Bad bad bad bad BAD bad. But then one day, I stopped going to church regularly and I felt the bad feeling slowly go away. I do feel guilty Sunday mornings but now I just shrug it off, go to an all-you-can-drink mimosa/bloody mary brunch downtown and I feel so much better.

 

[luvmy3]

Nope. Former Catholic here. Why should I feel guilty?

Same here.

OP, don't worry you'll get over it

 

[cteddiesgirl]

Maybe you all just need reprogrammed.

 

[mumom95]

I don't have the guilt, but I wasn't raised catholic, I converted before I got married. I've had to work very hard over my 12 years of marriage to get my dh to lose some (not all) of the guilt.

I remember when our oldest was going to enter kindergarten and we were deciding if we should send him to public or catholic. My dh at first said "he should go to the catholic school" and when I asked why he said "because that is what catholics do". Once he actually sat down and looked at the two schools and really thought it out, he realized that the public school in our situation was the better choice. I'm not against catholic school at all, I taught at one before I had my kids and thought it was great. Just in our situation, the local public school is better, in our opinion.

I just think it is funny that his reason for sending the kids to private was "because that's what catholics do", it had nothing to do with the education.

 

[mumom95]

I do feel guilty Sunday mornings but now I just shrug it off, go to an all-you-can-drink mimosa/bloody mary brunch downtown and I feel so much better.

As long as you say an Our Father before drinking the mimosa, you're good to go.

 

[kaylajr]

I left the Catholic Church 11 Years ago and still at times find myself slipping into the gulity mode...

Only time I go back to a Catholic Mass now is when one of my relatives dies
and it really freaks me out that I can still recite the whole darn Mass from Memory.

We found a new church that we are liking
it is a Christian Fellowship Church and the kids are really enjoying going not like when I was young and being DRAGGED to church.

 

[veraletta]

Guilty here too! I'm still in the church and I'm guilty for not going to church for a while now,but don’t you know feeling guilty is good for you sole.

 

[ProudMomTo3Boys]

I went to Catholic School from second grade all the way through High School. Talk about guilt. I don't go to Church on Sunday, I use birth control, I believe in a woman's right to choose. I feel guilty all the time.

 

[princesspiglet]

All the time. I left the Catholic church at 15 due to the immense guilt I was feeling on a daily basis. I am now 35 and STILL feel guilty for some things. I swear I was brainwashed and am intent on not doing that to my daughter. We go to a Unitarian Church now and my guilt is slowly fading away.....

 

[Nennie]

The sad part is that I'm not attending church because I do not want to participate in the catholic church, but feel guilty about leaving. How much sense does that make???

I feel the same way!!! I'm actually pregnant, and due in October, which is forcing me to pull my head out of the sand and decide how I want this baby to be baptized (Catholic or something else). If it's going to be "something else" (Episcopalian, etc) I really need to join a church soon!!

 

[Brian Noble]

I was a former Catholic for a while, but actually went back. The trick is to find a Catholic church that doesn't actually look like one.

Our parish is run by Jesuits, who are not known for their strict adherence to church dogma. It is also the University parish, flooded by college students (in a good way), so most Catholics don't even recognize it. For example, we have kneelers, but they aren't used for anything other than for the kids to stand on to get a better view. We have an active GLBTQ ministry---one that doesn't try to "cure" the people in it, but accepts them as they are. (A family friend of mine and her parter are often at the Mass we attend.) Parish members bake bread (with honey!) for communion, rather than using those tasteless dry wafers. The 7PM Sunday Mass (which my wife and I refer to as singles night) is the most heavily attended by the students, and has a five piece rock band for music.

One of the more interesting features is that the faith formation classes for the kids are all taught by the college students. I get to know some students not in my classes, getting a different picture of the University. And, these kids are smart, well-mannered, and fun to be around. Gives you hope for the future. What's more, most of them have as little regard for the church hierarchy as I do.

Jesuits being Jesuits, the sermons are pretty light on the whole guilt and shame thing, and focused instead on spiritual growth, with a heavy dose of social justice thrown in.

It's really pretty cool. My MIL is staying with us this month, and it took her a while to get over the fact that, you know, it's weird, but she's starting to like it. At coffee and donuts yesterday, she mentioned that "The singing is different. It sounds younger that it does at home."

So, we're still Catholic, but it's really hard to tell. And, yes, the Bishop knows we don't use the kneelers. Apparently, it's Officially Okay.

That said, there's no reason for you to go back, or feel guilty if you don't. Everyone has to find their own path. Enjoy the one you are on!

 

[L&Lfan]

I'm sincerely confused about something. I'm not Catholic, but if all/most of you left/stopped attending the Catholic Church because I presume you feel its teachings are false/wrong, then what is there to feel guilty about? If it's okay to miss services, practice birth control, have abortions, and whatever else you mentioned you are now doing, why are you feeling guilty? It seems to me at least you would feel a sense of relief! Just asking...

 

[Rora]

I was born and raised Catholic. I went to Catholic school from pre-k until 5th grade. Then I went to Sunday School since I was no longer enrolled in Catholic school (mom made me get my weekly dose of Catholicism). I hated going to church and didn't know how I felt about religion since I felt Catholicism had been forced upon me. My fiancee is a southern baptist (very different from catholics, hahaha!) but leans more towards nondenominational. He's helped me a lot and has gotten me to believe in religion again (we are more bible based and don't really attend church except when my mother asks us to go). I haven't officially left the Catholic church because of the guilt(what if they are right about all this stuff?!?) but I try to just focus on what I think God would want me to do and I try to forget about Catholic ideas.

Glad to know I'm not alone!

 

[HelenePA]

Now matter how hard I try and recover from catholicism, I still have so much guilt.... so how many of you catholics out there are as guilty as me???

I have almost 4 kids out of wedlock... I'm guessing I have an express ticket to the hot place

Just wanted to mention they are all with the same man... I'm not a episode of Maury or anything..