Most Catholics Are Functionally Protestant - And That’s Why We’re Dying

When I go to Sunday Mass - whether in the morning or the evening - the pews are full. But the confessional? Empty. Always.

Every week I go. I fall, I fail, and I know I need God’s mercy. So I line up for the sacrament Christ gave us through His apostles - Confession. But most of the time, I’m the only one there. You’re telling me no one else in the whole parish has committed a mortal sin? Not even once?

I don’t believe it. Not for a second.

And I’m not saying I’m better than anyone. But I do know this: if you fall into mortal sin - especially through something as common today as masturbation or porn - you don’t just shrug and march up to Communion like it’s nothing. You go to Confession. You humble yourself before God. You confess, you repent, and only then do you receive the Eucharist. That’s not old-school legalism - that’s literally how the Church has always taught us to live.

The problem is, most Catholics today live like Protestants.

They reject Church authority. They treat the Mass like a self-help seminar. They decide for themselves what’s sinful and what’s “just personal.” They don’t confess. They barely fast. They receive the Eucharist without a second thought. They don’t care what the Catechism says or what Christ handed down through the apostles. They want Catholic vibes with Protestant theology. It’s spiritual schizophrenia.

Let’s be clear: this wasn’t always the case. There was a time when Catholics knew what it meant to fear God - not in a neurotic or scrupulous way, but in a holy, reverent way. Before 1953, the Eucharistic fast began at midnight - no food or drink from that point until Mass. It was a real fast. A real preparation for receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. Then it was shortened to three hours. And today? It’s a joke: one hour. One. As if we’re doing God a favour just by showing up.

This wasn’t just about food. It was about reverence. Pope Pius XII upheld the midnight fast to instill serious preparation in the faithful. When it was relaxed, it wasn’t meant to invite laziness - but that’s what crept in.

This trend doesn’t stop at fasting. Confession used to be common. In the early Church, public confession was practiced, and penance could last for years. Even centuries later, Catholics were expected to confess weekly - or at the very least, during the Ember Days, First Fridays, or before Holy Days of Obligation. St. John Vianney, the Curé of Ars, spent 12–16 hours a day in the confessional - because people came in droves. Now we scroll in pews and act like we’re saints.

Penance used to be preached. St. Padre Pio told people bluntly: “You must be harsh with yourself and merciful to others.” Now the reverse is true - we’re harsh with tradition and endlessly merciful to our own sin.

Kneeling was the norm. Silence was kept. Reverence was expected. There was no applause during Mass. No jeans and sandals. No chewing gum in the Communion line. But now? Now we’re told to “relax,” to “lighten up,” to stop being so “rigid.” As if God is just our spiritual buddy instead of the Holy, All-Powerful Judge of the living and the dead.

The Church is not in decline because of secularism alone. We’re in decline because we’ve become lukewarm. Pacified. Soft. And the blame falls not just on bishops and priests, but on us - the laity - who have adopted a Protestant attitude without even realising it.

Most Catholics today don’t even believe in the Real Presence. A 2019 Pew Research poll found that only 31% of Catholics believe the Eucharist is truly the Body and Blood of Christ. That’s not just confusion - that’s heresy. They treat the Eucharist like a symbol and treat Confession like an optional bonus. They pick and choose doctrines like it’s a buffet. That’s Protestantism. That’s rebellion. And rebellion - especially spiritual rebellion - leads to rot.

You want to talk about revival? You want to rebuild the Church? Then it starts with repentance.

We need to kill this Protestant spirit that’s invaded our souls. Not by hating Protestants - God forbid - but by returning to the discipline, hierarchy, reverence, penance, and total submission to Christ’s one, holy, Catholic, and apostolic Church.

That means going to Confession. That means fasting like it matters. That means receiving the Eucharist like it’s the living God - not a snack. That means obeying the Church even when it’s hard. That means fear of the Lord, not fear of standing out.

I go to Confession every week not because I think I’m better than others - but because I know I’m a sinner. I fear God more than I fear looking “overly religious.” If I fall on Saturday, I won’t receive on Sunday without absolution. That’s how the saints lived. That’s how we must live again.

Scripture says: “Whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 11:27)

This isn’t a game. This is salvation.

The modern Church is dying not because the gates of Hell have prevailed - but because we’ve thrown the gates wide open. We’ve become passive, permissive, and polite to a fault. And in doing so, we’ve lost the edge, the fire, and the strength that once made the Church a force that shaped civilizations.

We need to be saints. We need to be warriors. We need to be Catholics again -

not Protestants in disguise.

Glory to God.