This is a support group for Roman Catholics and ex-Roman Catholics who have been abused or hurt by the RCC and need to talk about it. You may have serious questions about your beliefs and either have left, want to leave or are thinking about leaving the Roman Catholic Church.

(Note: The image at the right is Pope Leo X (1513 - 1521) who said, "How well we know what a profitable superstition this fable of Christ has been for us")

Sudden interest in this group may be from the attitude of the Pope and church officials regarding their stand against homosexuality and lesbianism and the attempt of the Pope to interfere with the American political process by demanding that no legislation be passed legalizing gay marriage. There is also increasing interest in the Roman Catholic Church because of the Pope's obvious poor health and fraility.

The anti-gay stance may also be the 'last straw' for many Catholics who have finally decided to leave or at least distance themselves from the Roman Catholic Church.

If you have suffered abuse from the Roman Catholic Church, feel free to discuss your pain and hurt here. At the time of this writing, it appears there are not many places to discuss abuse by the RCC. The high interest in sexually abusive priests is a great part of the pain caused by the church but there are other issues also. While they may be considered lesser issues by some, if they have touched you, you know they are very important and need to have exposure so that they can be discussed.

My personal experience is from having a foster son who attended a Roman Catholic grade school. The teaching methods and punishments employed were at first, shocking to me. The obvious "fix" was to get the child out of the school and away from the abusive RCC but that's not as easy as it may seem.

This discussion/support group is for those who have had hurtful experiences. Each of us have our own methods for coping with the hurt and abuse. Some may decide to leave the Church. Others may decide to simply attend mass at a different RC Church. Some remain Roman Catholics but refuse to attend mass or be involved with the Church. Whatever your method is yours, you can talk about it here and share your thoughts. If you want to remain anonymous, you can obtain an email address at HotMail or Yahoo and post with that address.

Many Catholics have decided that Catholicism may not be what they first thought and have begun to realize that the Bible and Catholic traditions are not necessarily of God. They may wish to seek spiritual values elsewhere or just 'get out' and give it a rest for awhile.

This is a place where you may freely discuss spiritual conflicts, guilt, fear of losing good friends, dealing with Catholic family members, clergy, fear of losing salvation, fears of losing fellowship with God. You will not be admonished or preached to or witnessed to!

Others have been where you are and understand what you're experiencing, your deep concerns and why you may want to distance yourself or even want out! You'll find support and understanding here.

There will be no attempts at re-converting or preaching 'salvation' on this group. This is a group to help and support persons who have left or may want to leave or distance themselves from the abuse and hurt of Roman Catholicism.

References to websites which encourage joining or returning to the RC Church are not acceptable nor will they be tolerated. Contacting members off list for the purpose of bringing them back to the RC Church will result in their being permanently banned from the group.

If after joining, you are contacted by a RC missionary, let me know, I'll deal with it.

This is NOT a forum to convert, 'witness', admonish, block their exit or suppress questioning of beliefs.

DID I MENTION - NO ATTEMPTS TO CONVERT OR RE-CONVERT ANYONE!

If you are a Roman Catholic or an evangelical Christian and join the list with the idea of evangelizing or converting, you'll be moderated immediately. You may get one shot in but you won't get anymore!

There will be Romans Catholic who wish to discuss the Bible and/or Catholic tradition on the list. That's not a problem as long as it doesn't cross the line into RCC missionary work.

(NOTE: Image at the right is of Bishop Eusebius (260 - 339) who said "It is an act of virtue to deceive and lie, when by such means the interest of the church might be promoted")

There is also a newsgroup, Alt.Recovery.Catholicism, which is available to those folks described above who are able to access newsgroups. Unfortunately, the newsgroup is not moderated so anyone may post anything they wish.