Catholics do you and the Church consider Protestant Christans?

I'm a ex-RC and I was taught that Protestants were heretics. That the RCC was the only true church. I was also told the salvation thing. Of course, back then the mass was in Latin and fish the only acceptable meat on Fridays. So much for unchanging church doctrine. I haven't heard the marriage/children thing, except with marriages with non-Catholics. It may well be that many do not know or remember that these were the teachings at one time... I'm glad to see it is changing.

Hey Fr. Joe...

Protestants say the same thing about Catholics -

"... may have an imperfect union and a knowledge of less truth".

It is why I left. I became a Christian, in the true sense of the word, 15 years later. It was not the RCC that changed my mind... it was God through His Spirit touching my heart. I also found the Protestants are closer to the truth... Charismatic Catholics are too. May we all be in unity, serving our living God.

I have never heard that we don't consider Protestants Christians. I'm a Catholic and love my faith but many of my friends are Protestants and I believe that when we're done here, we'll meet again in heaven.

Catholics are also baptized in the name of the father, the son, and the holy spirit. Say you are a Protestant and want to become a Catholic - or vice versa - only one baptism is necessary (in other words, you don't have to be re-baptized) because the baptism brought you into Christianity not a particular church group. I am a king, a profit, and a priest! (I like saying it!!!)

To be a Christian, you must accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior - Catholics and Protestants both do this.

**I just read DAVER's comment - he is correct. Did you know that, at least in the Catholic church, any Christian can perform a baptism with any water if there's an emergency?

Suppose that I was walking past someone who was suddenly struck somehow, sudden illness, injury, etc., if that person asked to be baptized, I can baptize this person and it will be valid? Pretty cool.

Catholics do consider Protestants Christian. However, Catholics, believing they alone possess sacremental priesthood authority, do see Protestants at a disadvange because they can never take a true communion or have their last rites, etc. But that does not mean they think all Protestants go to hell.

Now, as for the marriage thing. No, they do not believe that a Protestant marriage (marriage being a sacrement in the Catholic church) is as recognized by God in the same way a Catholic marriage is.) However, you go too far to say it's "illegitimate" (i.e. God considers it fornication.)

By the way, Catholics see Catholic marriages not performed by the Church the same way they see a Protestant marriage.

So while you might be "technically correct" you are saying it in a way that a knowledge Catholic would have to disagree with.

Yes, Catholics consider Protestants Christian.

We do not believe that there is salvation outside the Catholic Church but we do consider all Christians to be Catholic although Protestants may have an imperfect union and a knowledge of less truth. Here is a URL on your marriage question:

http://www.usccb.org/laity/marriage/marriagefaqs.s...

In Christ

Fr. Joseph

<<If a Catholic person is baptized a second time, but this time in a Protestant Church, what happens?>> Nothing happens. Valid Baptism is a Sacrament that can only be received once because only once will Baptism leave an indelable mark on the soul. <<Like suppose if the person was baptized as a Catholic when he/she was a child, but later gets baptized again in his/her adult life as a Protestant, is the person classed as Protestant, or still considered a Catholic?>> The person will cease to be Catholic and become a Protestant by virtue of the act of leaving the Catholic Church and joining a Protestant, not be virtue of getting "re-Baptized".

Ditto to everything Fr. Joseph said.

While many Protestant teachings are heresies, Protestants themselves are not considered to be in "formal heresy" as the Reformers were centuries ago. In their case, the Reformers deliberately rejected the Church and her teachings.

But Protestants in our day were born into their faith and so it cannot be said that they willfully and deliberately rejected the Catholic faith.

As the true Church on Earth, the Catholic Church has jurisdiction over all Christian denominations. This is why she can make declarations about which marriages and baptisms are truly valid.

Ecumenism is good, but Catholics should not compromise their beliefs to make progress with Protestants. As always (pre-Vatican II or post-Vatican II) the goal should be to eventually bring all Christians into union with the Catholic Church.

This was the prayer of Jesus Christ Himself.

By the way, the teaching of the Roman Catholic faith regarding salvation is that person must be baptized.

God bless you.

Wrong the Catholic church considers all marriages valid. In the case of two baptized adults the marriage is considered sacramental and permanent. There children too are legitimate. As for salvation we believe that all Christians are part of the body of Christ.

As a former Catholic, I will say that is exactly what I was taught. I keep getting told (on here) that they no longer believe you have to be Catholic to be saved though. And if they now will let anyone be saved, that just throws the whole sacrament thing into the water....

Fr. Joseph... did you just admit that you don't need sacraments for salvation?

Catholics consider Protestants Christians and yes Sacraments are necessary (ordinarily) for salvation most particularly baptism. It's right there in Scripture in black and white. Children born of Protestant marriages are considered validly conceived and even now days more and more marriages of Protestant people are looked at as being Valid to the point where an annulment needs to be obtained for another marriage to take place.

THese are all lies. If you received a sacrament(like baptism or marriage) and you came to a Catholic church they honor that sacrament as valid as long as it came from a true Cristian church that Believes in the Trinity and the Divinity of Christ.

For instance if you were to become Catholic, they would not rebaptize you but accept your first one as legitimate, same with Marriage.