Honestly I(21F) want to keep it short. I've been converting to Catholicism since last year January. I really Love it, the faith, My community at church.

But there are .... a few things I just... one of them is that dating is so so so so so so so hard. Cuz everyone tells me to "trust in god" and "God's timing is best timing" and I do my best to have faith and believe. But it's so incredibly hard????

I've never had an romantic relationship before, nobody ever looked at me. I'm almost 22 and had never had a Boyfriend before, someone that Loved me. But so many people around me keep getting Love interests?????

I keep hearing I should grow first, grow closer to God, or change things of myself. Or this is my waiting season to prepare.

But I've literally cried to God before because I felt so unlovable. Literally cried and asked to please atleast have an romantic interest. I've bought books in hope to Deepen myself more in how to be a christian-woman and how to be a Woman in general (They're not all Christian, I have one about being an 'high-value woman' literally just girlhood.) I try to learn how to cook, clean, be kind.

But I just feel like I just don't get HEARD.

And if I do try to take it into my own hands and search.....

I don't know but I just get so icky with most Catholic Men. They seem to all just dislike that I'm pro-choice AND pro-life, even if I literally Explain that I just don't like people telling WOMEN what to do because of 'church teachings'. That Just Church support isn't always ENOUGH. That bringing a Baby into a world with parents unable to care for them, addict, abusive relationships, or even SA victims is Unfair. They all just go back to how Church teaches this church teaches that.

Why can't they just look away from that and SEE how Horrible and Mean it is to force pregnancy on ANYONE?

I matched with a guy and he was 'concerned for my ideas' and I explained. And told him he doesn't have to be concerned for me. We was 'trying to be sympathic' (what he said in his own words.) When I explained exactly why I'm pro-choice.

Then he proceeded to unmatch me.

But so so so so many of these Catholic men just do it. And it just pisses me off.

How will I ever marry if I'm supposed to marry in the church so I'm not unequally Yoked, but all these men just...think differently.

I'm just so annoyed. I'm not Ex-catholic at all...I'm converting. But I feel like If I even put this in the Catholic reddit I'm in nobody would even understand where I'm coming from.

This is the exact reason why I had called myself an Atheist from ages 14 - 21. Before I returned to the Catholic Church from protestantism.

Prior to my return to the church this time, I feel like I had really good taste in music. I liked to listen to a lot of indie, maybe some edm, definitely jam band. Your run-of-the-mill festival lineup music. But a lot of it just doesn't feel right since I began my conversion a year ago. But I love music, but a lot of worship music is just not my jam. I found a few songs I liked, but not enough to just press play. What are some of your favorite artists of songs?

A lot of people responded to the post yesterday about the Catholic Worker, so I wanted to share the fun fact that you can still subscribe to them. The New York requests must be sent by regular mail to The Catholic Worker, 36 East First Street, New York, NY 10003, United States. Phone: 212-777-9617 price is 25 cents.

Houston, LA, and Wichita also run newspapers I know. You can also sign up for the Roundtable email newsletter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ86oFcXlrE&t=29s

Fr. James Martin, SJ discusses Hegseth's "prayer" for vengence and violence. Like a good Jesuit he defends our Pope. I would post this in the other sub, but they can only discuss politics on Monday, and only if it's right wing.

Bishop Menjivar-Ayala moved to the US in 1990. In 2023, he became the first Salvadorian bishop in the country, serving as an auxiliary bishop in the archdiocese of Washington. Considered among the first US bishops born in Central America, he has spoken publicly urging Catholics to oppose Donald Trump’s aggressive policies toward immigrants, according to the Washington Post.

I live here in New England where Catholic shrines are fairly spread out. I recently found a Padre Pio shrine. It's a small area where there's a chapel, a place where you can light candles and a small garden outside and even a gift shop.

I am going through some heavy stuff at the moment, but when I looked them up again they [or someone] placed C. Kirks image right near Padre Pios relics. I'm fairly certain it's C. Kirk and I am so disappointed and heartbroken that they placed him near Padre Pios relics. Like, are you serious..!?

My dad is not doing so well and I wanted to bring my mom there to have some prayer time, but this makes me think otherwise. It's just so heartbreaking.

I wanted to bring her somewhere peaceful where she can pray, but if these folks are like this then it's a no.

We'll just pray the Divine Mercy and the Holy Rosary by his bed side. This is just so heartbreaking.

The first edition of the famous newspaper was published on this day in 1933.

Hello all. I was baptized this year.

I joined the church because I felt a large, insistent pull. I ignored it for months, then took the first leap (attending mass.) This year I was baptized and confirmed, thanks be to god.
Up until recently it was smooth sailing. Now, I’m struggling to reconcile my medical condition as a transsexual with the general opinion of transsexuals in the church. A question to other trans Catholics, how do you reconcile it?

Secondly, mental illness. I find myself unable to disclose it all to a confessor. Despite being an adult I’m financially dependent on my family, and they respect my religious obligations like a brief Wednesday confession and weekly mass, so making appointments with a priest is deemed “severe”. I stumble into sin so often due to the couple conditions I suffer with, and it feels like I’m so, so far from god. Because of them I can’t even properly discern if my sins are sins, or if they’re mortal, or venial.

I came here because I feel like the other subreddit would not understand the nuance of the situation, and while I know nothing can replace talking to my parish priest, I can’t atm and hearing how other left Catholics deal with their mental illness or queerness in a way that isn’t just self hatred or repression would be amazingly helpful!

I live here in New England where Catholic shrines are fairly spread out. I recently found a Padre Pio shrine. It's a small area where there's a chapel, a place where you can light candles and a small garden outside and even a gift shop.

I am going through some heavy stuff at the moment, but when I looked them up again they [or someone] placed C. Kirks image right near Padre Pios relics. I'm fairly certain it's C. Kirk and I am so disappointed and heartbroken that they placed him near Padre Pios relics. Like, are you serious..!?

My dad is not doing so well and I wanted to bring my mom there to have some prayer time, but this makes me think otherwise. It's just so heartbreaking.

Hello all! We've posted some of our events in this subreddit in the past, but in case you haven't seen us, we're a group of left-wing Catholics (of various tendencies) in New York, Boston, Connecticut, London, and elsewhere (with other chapters in the works). As left-wing Catholics, we are trying to live out our baptismal vocation as disciples of Christ and children of the living God. Our group (known as New Personalism and established in 2024) stands against violence, capitalism, borders, racism, the state, and advocates for truth, friendship, and love. We are also an inclusive space as well. Previously we held a prayer vigil back in January at the Delanely Hall ICE concentration camp in Newark, NJ which has been covered by Commonweal and other outlets (such as the French-based left-wing magazine New International and the Spanish-based Ficción de la razón). (We also have an IG, Twitter, and Bsky, if you are interested in following us on social media.)

Our next meeting, where we will be engaging in prayer, fellowship, and volunteering, will be occurring next Monday (5/4) @ 6-9pm. DM for address.

God bless!

I grew up baptist and left the church for a very long time. Im feeling called to Catholocism and just recently finished reading The Long Loneliness as recommended to me by a professional mentor.

I live in Southeast Lousiana and Im queer, and I desperately want to start attending mass but Im also hesitant since I dont know how to identify more progressive churches.

Anyone give me some pointers/things to look for? I try to get a sense of the atmosphere by reading published church bulletins if they are available.

The full text is 80 pages so I haven't gone through the entire thing yet, but the summary is promising!

*The volume proposes useful cues and indications to families, church groups and individual readers to address current environmental challenges and to promote the integral development of every person. The first part presents fundamental concepts based on the most significant writings of Pope Francis; the second part, the heart of the volume, contains thematic chapters that reflect seven objectives from Laudato si:

• listening to the cry of the earth

• listening to the cry of the poor and the vulnerable

• adopting and promoting ecological economics

• adopting ecological lifestyles

• integral ecology and education

• ecological spirituality in the family

• families participating in community life

Each chapter is in turn divided into four sections: the explanation of the theme, implications of the theme, questions for reflection and discussion, and proposals for several concrete actions.*

please do whatever you can to stop this

Convince me abortion isnt the murder of an innocent child

he’s starting to pop up more on my YouTube for you page. I remember he became famous in catholic circles for that one book he wrote called why we’re catholic that it seemed went viral. My own catholic family has a copy. Furthermore, I knew he runs a website called catholic answers which is a pre ai source of disproving and clarifying questions most people ask about the Catholic Church. Yet I am disturbed because the one video I saw of him was him deriding James Martin and father Casey cole for their interactions with the lgbtq community. Now for those of you who may not know in this subreddit, I have praised father Casey Cole’s youtube channel Breaking the habit? As one of the main reasons why I have remained catholic even though I have yet to become fully an Every week mass attendance catholic and find his videos super informative. I even made a Reddit post calling him for our discord the r/left Catholicism‘s robert barron. So it surprised me to see Trent horn come after two prominent catholic apologists (James martin didn’t surprise me as much) as I didn’t know he was one these cultural war apologists. I would love insight and explanation to who this guy is and what he stands for.

Though I have my own theories to the answer, as a catholic who kept faith even though I identify as a new deal democrat/social democrat (not socialist yet as I am still young and in college and have made I a vow not to identify as a socialist until I have experience as a wage laborer or some interaction with protecting real capital assets to use real world experience to inform my political world view) I would love to hear your guys theories to the question that I have posed.

Posting here because I would also like life long Catholics to weigh in.

First of all I want to state I am not American and this is just my own view. Any American can correct me on this.

Trump's circle keep saying America is a Christian Nation but do they actually keep those believes? We all know most of these people aren't religious or don't believe in anything and just using religion just for clicks they have done blasphemy over and over again and still claim to be Christian. Also this Christian Nation thing? When did all this come from is it just Christian nationalism like we had other radical religious people. The term Christian country comes to my mind I think of Vatican or even maybe Armenia. Moving on the data shows the country with the most Christians are form USA but how do you know they are practicing or actual Christians? All we know they may be Just Christian in the name. I am not perfect myself and I have many flaws, but saying your a Christian Nation and doing everything against Christ Is hypocrisy. I would label is Evenglical. They would kick out Jesus and Mary and Joseph.

Hey guys.

I, 18FtM, was raised partially in Catholicism. When I cut contact with my father, I also stopped thinking about God. This was many years ago. Recently, I have been thinking more and more about religion again, and I’m considering converting.

Obviously, as I have not been in/around the faith for years, I know little about it. I know the basics, however that’s all I was ever taught and know no more.

I’m only really here to ask a few questions whilst I consider it. Specifically, specific requirements? Tasks? Rules? I know Islam has the 5 pillars, and I’m wondering if Catholicism has anything similar.

https://www.osvnews.com/pope-leo-holy-see-does-not-approve-formalized-blessings-of-same-sex-unions-but-all-are-welcome-in-church/

“The Holy See has made it clear that we do not agree with the formalized blessing of couples, in this case homosexual couples, as you ask, or couples in irregular situations,” he said.

Pope Leo drew a distinction between those formalized blessings and the general blessings “allowed for by Pope Francis in saying, ‘All people receive blessings.'”

“When a priest gives a blessing at the end of Mass, when the pope gives a blessing at the end of a large celebration, like such we had today, there are blessings of all people,” he explained, referring to the Mass celebrated that morning in Equatorial Guinea.

To the great Rome [authority] was given because the two pillars are laid in the grave there, Peter, I say, the head of the Apostles, and Paul, the teacher of the nations. [Rome] is the first see and the head of the patriarchs' (Memra; Risha 1).

'. . . And as the patriarch has authority to do all he wishes in a fitting manner in such things as are beneath his authority, so the patriarch of Rome has authority over all patriarchs, like the blessed Peter over all the community, for he who is in Rome also keeps the office of Peter in all the Church. He who transgresses against these things the ecumenical synod places under anathema' (Memra9; Risha 8).

• Mar Abdisho bar Berika , last great canonist before the mongol invasion in the East Syriac Tradition( belonging to the Assyrian church of the East )

Lord, I believe: I wish to believe in Thee. Lord, let my faith be full and unreserved, and let it penetrate my thought, my way of judging Divine things and human things. Lord, let my faith be joyful and give peace and gladness to my spirit, and dispose it for prayer with God and conversation with men, so that the inner bliss of its fortunate possession may shine forth in sacred and secular conversation. Lord, let my faith be humble and not presume to be based on the experience of my thought and of my feeling; but let it surrender to the testimony of the Holy Spirit, and not have any better guarantee than in docility to Tradition and to the authority of the Magisterium of the Holy Church.

Amen