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Notes -
(Sorry, I’m migrating this over).
Pope Francis has died at the age of 88. My understanding is that all of his plausible successors are more conservative in terms of doctrine. I imagine that Latin Mass will be easier but are they likely to make any significant changes to the Vatican II settlement?
As much as a lot of us complain about Pope Francis's progressivism, we can't deny that the Church has been seeing somewhat of a renaissance over the last few years: https://www.ncregister.com/news/easter-2025-new-catholics-by-the-numbers
The Pope Francis critics will say that this is despite him, but it's difficult not to see that his grace, and his kindness, likely also have an effect on the way that people view The Church.
I mean... anecdote and all, but my wife and I are trying to find a church right now, not because Pope Francis made Catholicism more progressive, but because that was nearly the last straw. We feel like all the promises of a secular, expert run society we were promised in the 90's just opened up fresh new horrors we could have scarcely imagined, and are ready to try to retvrn and believe in Christ. I find myself questioning 40 years of staunch atheism by the fruits it's bore, and am totally ready to just start going to church and see what happens.
And in that search, Catholicism is virtually the top sect we are most hesitant to consider, behind "Unitarian" which at least near us codes to "Whatever goes man" loosey goosey "spiritual but not religious" non-faith.
Then again, we've encountered a lot of very conservative Catholics near us that have invited us to services with them next week, so we'll see how that goes.
Why not seek truth instead of willingly undertaking a new life of added delusion?
This isn't the first time I've seen people here, atheists, "looking for a church". It boggles my mind.
What are you really looking for? If you look inside your heart and ask it?
It's probably something like freedom from anxiety, more connection, etc. I would start from there.
My understanding of my faith as an atheist who converted, is that seeking truth led me to Christ.
What I'm really looking for is love, forgiveness, and mercy. Christ provides that.
Interesting! What sort of truth did you find, and how do you define Christ?
Thanks for asking! It’s too long a story to get into now but the basics were listening to Peterson and John Vervaeke talk about how reality and truth can differ between “objective” reality versus “narrative” or “participatory” truths.
It’s a deep rabbit hole but long story short I went down it for a few years and ended up believing Christ was the Son of God, both in fact and in narrative.
That sounds like it would be an interesting and useful story, if you ever feel like chronicling it.
Yeah I have tried writing up the story a few times, and have discussed it a lot. I hope to get to it over time.
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