Former Roman Catholic priest for 22 years Richard Bennett (website: http://www.BEREANBEACON.ORG; see his book "Far From Rome, Near to God") on the question - "Why Did 50 Roman Catholic Priests Leave the Priesthood?" There are serious reasons afoot when a person forsakes their "priesthood" as well as their religion. Find out what made the difference in these priests' lives. INTRODUCTION TO THE PRIESTHOOD BY A CONVERTED PRIEST RICHARD BENNETT A common thread that runs throughout the experiences of former priests is this: we had a great yearning to be different from those around us. We wanted to be more pure, nearer to God. We wanted to be free in conscience before God, and we sought the priesthood in which we thought we could administer salvation stage by stage to our fellow man. The nobility and charm of the priesthood also drew us, as priests around us were signally honored with special privileges and dignity. Hearing confessions, forgiving sins, bringing Christ down upon the altar, the wonder of being "another Christ", all of these attracted us. In the words of Graham Greene's novel on the subject, we were drawn by "the power and the glory". We did not question: 1. That there is an office of sacrificial priesthood in the New Testament. 2. That the priest's life revolves around the sacraments. 3. That we were fit subjects to be elevated to this honor. We had all worked hard at being "holy" so we took for granted that a right standing with God was something that we could merit. 1. The Office of the Priesthood In the early 1970s we who gloried in being priests were shocked to read the word of one of our best Romanists.
SERMON ACTIVITY
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Richard Bennett spent twenty-one years as a RC priest in Trinidad, WI. After a serious accident in 1972, he began to study seriously the Bible. After fourteen years of contrasting Catholicism to Biblical truth, he was convicted by the Gospel message. In 1986, he saw that...
