Catholic Herald referer en katolsk blogg (skrevet av en tidligere anglikansk prest), som forteller hvorfor det ofte er så vanskelig å bli katolsk:
First, he puts “Theological submission”. It is very hard to submit to the idea of objective truth when subjective truth rules the day. Every truth is now relative; what I believe is just as valid as what you believe and so on.
Secondly he puts “Priests”. By this he does not mean the submission of celibacy; simply that in general, Catholic priests are not as chummy as their Protestant counterparts. “They are more distant” he suggests, because they are “stretched out more thinly” and are consequently busier …..»
Marshall’s next heading is “Liturgy”. This is a subject that causes heartache among converts over here: the dire Catholic hymns they have to face after their beautiful Anglican ones. Marshall and his family, not surprisingly, attend the Extraordinary Form of the Mass. He comments, “Sometimes, potential converts walk into a not-so-wonderful liturgy with broken rubrics and oddities.”
The next obstacle comes under the heading “Dealing with marriage, divorce, homosexuality, contraception, abortion.” This list almost speaks for itself. Changing a “lifestyle” is hard, he acknowledges; “These things should be addressed with caution and compassion. ….”
The next problem concerns a smaller group of converts – ministers from other churches who stand to lose out financially by conversion, through loss of pensions, salaries and so on. “It goes without saying that most ministers take a major pay cut when they become Catholic. Their family income goes down. …” These hardships hit converts here too. The Church tries to solve it by giving married members of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham salaried positions as chaplains, but I think the financial sacrifices are probably still a big hurdle for many in this particular category.
Å underodne seg Kirken når det gjelder definisjonen av hva som er sant og rett kan være vanskelig for noen. Og på det siste punktet som nevnes her, har jeg personlig og ganske smertefullt opplevd hva det kan bety – men nå ser det ut til at det kanskje kan bli orden på min økonomi (som gift katolsk prest), etter nesten 14 år.