Column: Mortal Remains

Nice Pope, Mean Priests

Amoris Laetitia in a Protestant Eye by S. M. Hutchens

Most of the Catholics my wife and I have known are not the serious, knowledgeable sort encountered in Touchstone circles, but "average," and by this I mean something like "kind of nominal," and a bit different from anything encountered in the Protestantism with which I am familiar. If a modern Protestant is inclined to go to church, he finds one that he likes, and goes there. Denominational loyalties, while not entirely a thing of the past, tend to govern first tries rather than form pre-commitments. But a Catholic, once formed, seems more dyed-in-the-wool, and remains Catholic unless he finds a very powerful reason not to be. As a Protestant, I am surprised, even after years of observing this phenomenon, by the level of alienation, even hatred, expressed by Catholics for a church they just can't seem to leave, when I would expect a Protestant in the same position either to change churches or give up on religion altogether.