Why Do So Many Converts Reject Pope Francis?

In the same way I don't visit porn sites, racist sites, etc., I now stay away from almost all "Catholic" web sites.  These sites do nothing to build my spirituality and bring me closer to God.  They literally poison my mind and destroy the presence of the Holy Spirit by driving out the Spirit of love, mercy and compassion and replacing it with a spirit of accusation, condemnation and hate. 

An amazing aspect of these sites is that they are basically clones of one another, writing about the same subjects from the same point of view with no original thought.  As I have stated previously, it is almost like they were all written by the same person.  There is certainly no doubt that they are all driven by the same spirit.

I don't think these "catholic" bloggers actually consult each other, and yet they all manage to come to the same conclusion:  the Catholic Church is dying and Pope Francis and his "henchman" bishops are actively participating in that destruction.

These bloggers and those who follow them believe they are the only true Catholics left on earth, and it is they who will save the Church and, by extension, the world.  We have not seen this much rebellion and rejection of authority in the Church since the Reformation.

Just how did these bloggers end up with their decidedly non-Catholic world view?  How have they become so confident in their own sanctity and their right to label all others, including the Vicar of Christ, as evil?  Why is it happening now?

One common factor among these self-righteous bloggers is that many, although not all, are Protestant converts.  Here are just a few prominent converts who have publicly rejected Pope Francis:  John Zuhlsdorf, Dwight Longenecker, George Rutler, Taylor Marshall, John Hunwicke, Steve Ray, Scott Hahn, Mary Ann Kreitzer.  There are many more.

UPDATE:  Mary Ann Kreitzer is a cradle Catholic, not a convert, and I apologize to her for this mistake.  However, Mary Ann criticizes and condemns Pope Francis on a regular basis on her blog, even questing the validity of his papacy, and suggesting that Pope Benedict XVI may still be the legitimate pope.  Mary Ann has never supported Pope Francis in any way. 

In reading the stories of their conversions, it is interesting to note that their attraction to the Catholic Church did not arise from an awareness of their personal sin but from dissatisfaction with their Protestant churches.  They were basically in a good spot with God, but they were not getting what they felt they needed or wanted from their churches.  Their conversions were of the intellect and not of the spirit.  Not one of them has a  "road to Damascus" story.

By this, I mean not one of them had a moment of clarity about their own sinfulness and need for the mercy, compassion and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.   This was not the driving force in their lives in any sense.  Their stories are all about identifying the "right" Church.

A good example of this is from Steve Ray [HERE] on his attraction to the Catholic Church:

I was born and raised an Evangelical Protestant. My parents were inspired by Billy Graham, and I grew up in that warm environment. I considered myself a Bible teacher. I became Catholic not necessarily because I saw anything beautiful in the Catholic Church at first, but when I was 39, I began to see three problems with Protestantism: 1) What was worship? 2) What is the authority that binds Christians? (We thought this was the Bible alone, but that would never work.) 3) How many Churches did Jesus start? (There was only one, per Matthew 16:18 and John 17.) We spent a lot of time contemplating these questions. Then, a good friend of mine, Al Kresta, converted to Catholicism in 1993. Al and I have been best friends since 1983. We home-schooled our kids and studied the Bible together. My wife and I told him that was the stupidest thing we ever heard — why would someone become Catholic? We started studying the Church Fathers to prove Al wrong, but instead, the Church Fathers kept proving the Catholic Church right! A year later, we became Catholic.

That, my friends, is NOT a story of conversion.  Steve Ray did not change in his attitude towards God in any way.  There was no conversion of the soul.  Steve Ray merely changed his registration from Protestant to Catholic. 

John Zuhlsdorf's conversion, according to Wikipedia, is even more shallow:

He says his conversion to Catholicism was set into motion after hearing a piece of sacred polyphony on the radio. He felt called to serve as a priest and eventually was ordained a priest in Rome by Pope John Paul II on May 26, 1991.

Contrast this with the story of the conversion of St. Augustine:

Some time in the year 386, Augustine and his friend Alypius were spending time in Milan. While outdoors, Augustine heard the voice of a child singing a song, the words of which were, "Pick it up and read it. Pick it up and read it." He thought at first that the song was related to some kind of children's game, but could not remember ever having heard such a song before.

Then, realizing that this song might be a command from God to open and read the Scriptures, he located a Bible, picked it up, opened it and read the first passage he saw. It was from the Letter of Paul to the Romans. Augustine read:

Not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual excess and lust, not in quarreling and jealousy. Rather, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh. --Romans 13: 13-14

Reading this scripture, Augustine felt as if his heart were flooded with light. He turned totally from his life of sin. He was Baptized by Ambrose during the Easter Vigil April 24, 387. His friend Alypius and his son Adeodatus were Baptized at the same time.

Another story of true conversion is one given to us by Jesus Christ of the publican standing before God, ashamed to even raise his head.

None of the contemporary "converts" listed above displays the humble spirit of the publican.  They all stand with the Pharisee.  In fact, they pat themselves on the back on their ability to identify the "right" Church.

And just as they felt free to reject the authority of their Protestant churches, they feel that same freedom to reject the authority of the Catholic Magisterium, i.e., Pope Francis and the bishops.

This same spirit of self righteousness and rebellion is seen among cradle Catholic bloggers as well.  These bloggers never discuss their own sinfulness and need for God.  There is never any emphasis on mercy, compassion and forgiveness.  These sites name their enemies and denounce them with a ferocity worthy of any Pharisee denouncing Jesus Christ.

A good example of this is our old friend, Michael Voris.  Voris hid his sinful homosexual life for as long as he could, feeling it was a "private" matter.  During all that time, instead of showing compassion for others trapped in that same lifestyle, he condemned them to hell, showing no mercy whatseover.  Even now after he has been "outed", he continues to condemn without mercy.

This spirit of self righteousness and condemnation is the spirit of Protestantism.  It is completely antithetical to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Never once did Our Lord condemn sinners.  Jesus Christ always showed mercy, compassion and forgiveness.

Our Lord refused to condemn a woman who was caught in the actual act of adultery.  He did not even condemn the criminal on the cross who taunted him.  At the same time, he immediately forgave the criminal who merely said, "Remember me when you come into your Kingdom."

The spirit of rebellion and rejection of authority exhibited by these "catholic" bloggers is the same spirit which infected the ancient Israelites when they went to the Prophet Samuel and asked for a human king.  As The Lord told Samuel, "it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king." (I Sam 8:7).

This was echoed by Jesus Christ when He told the apostles, "Anyone who accepts your message is also accepting me. And anyone who rejects you is rejecting me. And anyone who rejects me is rejecting God, who sent me." (Luke 10:16).

Those More Catholic Than the Pope hate Pope Francis because he preaches a message of mercy and forgiveness of sinners.  Look at their arguments.  They are angry because the Pope wants to extend mercy to divorced and remarried, to homosexuals, to non Catholics, to Islamic refugees, etc. etc.  They claim that the mercy of Pope Francis is really a disguise for his endorsement of sin, and that therefore he is really a child of the devil, an evil heretic who must be resisted.

Sounds a whole lot like the condemnation leveled against Jesus Christ by the Pharisees of His time.

Those More Catholic Than the Pope deal in a world of black and white.  Either you are righteous like they are and are going to heaven, or you are a sinner headed to hell.  They feel their job is to tell people they are sinners, and then it is up to the people to "get right" with God or go to hell.

Francis says we must meet people where they are and walk with them on the path to salvation.  This message is completely rejected by the Protestant converts and far too many cradle Catholics who think like Protestants.  I can't judge their hearts, but their actions are not Catholic,  They are Protestants in every sense of the word, right down to their rejection of the Papacy.

What are the signs of true conversion?  It is much more than changing your religious affiliation and registering as a member of a Catholic parish.

A true convert is one who realizes that he cannot take credit for "finding" God.  God is the one who sought out and found him.  His repentance does not come from himself but is a gift from God.

A true convert realizes that he has nothing to give God, but that everything he has comes from God.

A true convert is not drawn to the Church because it looks spiritual.  A true convert is not converted to the physical trappings of the Church, whether it is the "right" architecture, the size of the altar, the quality of the music, the kind of vestments worn by the priest, the use of Latin, or which direction the priest is facing.

A true convert is drawn to the Catholic Church because Jesus Christ is in the tabernacle.  Jesus Christ is present in the Holy Eucharist.  Jesus Christ is present in the confessional.  Jesus Christ with His Mother, His angels and His saints are present at the Holy Mass.

A true convert realizes that the Holy Spirit is working in the Church whether we understand it or not, and that faith does not depend on how much we do or do not understand.

A true follower of Jesus Christ is one who deeply and profoundly recognizes his own sinfulness and his complete and total need for the mercy and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.  A true convert realizes that he deserves hell and it is only through the love of God that he can escape hell.

In short, a true convert is a sinner in need of forgiveness.

All saints speak of their own sinfulness.  Even St. Therese of Lisieux, who never committed even one mortal sin in her 24 years on earth, felt the great heaviness of her sin and the great mercy of Jesus Christ:

Like the publican, I felt I was a great sinner. I found God to be so merciful! I found it so touching to address oneself to the whole heavenly court to obtain God’s pardon through its intercession. Ah! I could hardly keep from crying, and when the Sacred Host touched my lips, I was really moved.

One who has truly experienced the mercy and forgiveness of Jesus Christ will never stand in judgment of others.  A true convert will realize that he is no better than the one he is judging.  Pope Francis showed this understanding when, asked who Jorge Bergoglio is, he replied, "I am a sinner."

Unless and until we can identify as a sinner in need of forgiveness, we will never be true converts. 

I hope and pray that the "catholic" blogosphere will experience true conversion and stop pushing their false version of Catholicism.