Globally, Protestant churches are experiencing a very different trend than what we are seeing here in America.
Worldwide, Protestantism is growing, especially in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and overall, more people leave the Catholic Church for Protestantism than the other way around.[1]
However, the situation in America is quite different. Protestantism has been in serious decline for the last two decades.[2]Six in ten converts to Catholicism were raised as Protestants (59%).[3] Along with the decline in numbers, Protestant pews face a significant aging problem. Across all mainline Protestant denominations (LCMS, RCA, UMC, ECUSA, PCA, PCUSA, etc.), most attendees are elderly and retired. In other words, these congregations are facing a severe shortage of young people. The youth either leave organized religion altogether or attend other denominations. And where do many of the seriously minded people go when fleeing American Protestantism? Into the waiting arms of Rome.
Now the question is, why?
What Draws People to Rome?
What appeals to people about the Roman Catholic Church?
Catholics believe that people join because they recognize Rome as the true church. They maintain that they are divinely appointed, with the Pope’s primacy established through St. Peter, and as a horse is drawn to water, or more accurately in this situation, as a fly is drawn into an electric zapper, so are people drawn to Catholicism. But oddly enough, it isn’t the doctrine that draws most people in. It isn’t even on the radar initially. Over 2/3 of those going through adult catechesis in the Catholic Church began attending due to the liturgy.[4] A whopping 77% wanted to grow in goodness and virtue, and 65% were “attracted to the wisdom of a 2,000-year-old Church to help me navigate life.” A total of zero people cited doctrinal truth as their reason for beginning to attend a Catholic church.[5] That doesn’t mean no one ever becomes Catholic primarily for doctrinal reasons, but it is to say that it is not a popular reason for becoming Catholic.
Every reason given always seems to come back to tradition or a desire to seek God.
Summary: aesthetic and emotional needs are leading people to Catholicism.
This is extremely important. It’s not as though people are studying the Bible and converting to Catholicism because of it.
No; instead, people attend Catholic churches because of the public claims the church makes about itself and their desire to be part of ancient ceremonial practices maintained in most congregations. Catholicism boasts that it holds the unique line to the apostles and is a united, 2000-year-old establishment of truth. But it is neither, as we will discuss in a moment. It claims to hold eternal treasures, and on that claim, people attend their churches. But not all that sparkles is gold, and what is found in Catholicism proves empty, hollow, and void of God’s truth as clearly revealed in Holy Scripture.
The Claim of Catholic Unity
On the unified front, Catholics tend to point out Protestantism’s divisions and contrast themselves as though they are united, but the Catholic Church is as divided as it comes, as polls clearly show. Half of Catholics don’t even believe in the real presence,[6] an issue that would divide Protestants immediately into different identifiable groups. Large percentages of Catholics do not agree with everything the church teaches; for example, 21% of those ages 35-54 and 16% of those 55 and older agree with everything.[7] Meaning people aren’t attending Catholic churches because they believe in what is being taught, even after learning what that is. They haven’t found the truth, and they know it, but they don’t know where else to look.
Even at the most fundamental levels, Catholics are at odds with each other, with about half leaning politically toward the Republican Party, while 43% affiliate themselves with the Democratic Party.[8] Almost 80% of Catholics who align with the Democratic Party believe that abortion should be legal in most or all cases.[9]
So the church of Rome has almost half of those within its walls aligning themselves with a woman’s right to choose an abortion, gay marriage, and transgenderism, in essence… Again, these are all topics that fiercely divide the Protestant churches into different denominations, something Catholics pride themselves on pointing out as an earmark of their waywardness.
Catholicism puts on a unified front that draws people in, but beneath those whitewashed walls lies extreme division and decay. They do not agree with each other, even on the most essential aspects of the Christian faith. When it comes to matters of salvation, “a majority of Catholics (73%) believe that doing ‘good things’ is enough to secure a place in Heaven.” And “…over half of Catholics (54%) believe that ‘There are many paths to eternal salvation; you can choose whichever one you prefer.’[10] Shockingly, only 9% of Catholics are trinitarians.[11]
Scripture, Tradition, and Authority
Admittedly, this does not address the Roman Catholic Church’s actual doctrines. Several other articles could easily be devoted to this subject, and those doctrines are rife with errors and contradictions to Scripture. The root issue with Catholicism is that it believes that Scripture is only part of the truth. The truth is based on three things: the Church (i.e., the Popes), Church tradition, and Scripture. You need an equal dose of each, you see, and you do not compare church tradition or the Pope’s declarations ex cathedra against Scripture. Scripture is not the arbiter of truth, in other words. Nothing is held up against it and thrown away for failing to adhere to what it says or for contradicting it—not if it falls under the Pope’s authority or Church tradition. This is why it is common knowledge that many Catholics simply do not read the Bible. They will freely admit this if asked.
Broadly speaking, they do not consider Biblical knowledge to be very important. They can rely on the Church to teach them what they need to believe. If they need to know it, they’ll hear about it. And they figure it’s enough to hear the Bible read once a week at Mass.
Reverence, Tradition, and Belonging
New attendees often don’t know much about Catholic doctrine when they first begin frequenting a Catholic church. The doctrine simply seeps in after they make their home there. It’s the visual display that impacts them. It’s the appeal of what looks and feels like tradition, reverence, and awe. There is such pomp and ceremony within a Catholic church—such ritualism. And that ceremony—that sense of being part of something serious and grand—is long since missing from many Protestant churches. The Catholic church has maintained those things because tradition is one of the pillars of Catholicism and is therefore highly valued.
Many Protestant denominations in America have lost an understanding of the value of tradition. They try to attract people by promoting what they believe will appeal to them visually. These ideas mainly come from the older generation—specifically, the Baby Boomers. They are the generation that thinks they know what’s cool and what the youth are looking for. But they’re clueless. The youth aren’t looking for cool and hip—something you’ll never find within the Christian church, even those overflowing with resources and money! The youth are looking for something different, something unique, something meaningful. They’re looking for purpose, reverence, ceremony, and distinction between God and the world. The youth are looking for a place of belonging that feels set apart. In essence, the youth are looking for a church, not a feeble social club.
Peter, the Rock, and the Church
Scripturally speaking, the Catholic Church hinges its entire truth claim on Matthew 16:18, which is when Jesus said to Peter, “And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.”
The following translation shows the Koine Greek of this passage word for word with the exact English translation next to it. Koine Greek was the language the New Testament was originally written in, and it is the language of the earliest extant manuscripts:
κἀγὼ (kagō): And I
δέ (de): but / also
σοι (soi): to you
λέγω (legō): I say
ὅτι (hoti): that
σὺ (sy): you
εἶ (ei): are
Πέτρος (Petros): Peter (masculine, meaning detached stone you can throw or small rock or pebble)
καὶ (kai): and
ἐπὶ (epi): upon
ταύτῃ (tautē): this (feminine)
τῇ πέτρᾳ (tē petra): rock (feminine- a foundational mass of bedrock)
Jesus tells Peter, whose name means tiny pebble, or small rock, that the church will be built not on such a pebble as Peter, but on Jesus Christ Himself, who is called the chief cornerstone. Jesus is referred to repeatedly as such in the following verses:
“Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.”[12]
“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”[13] “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the Lord has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes.”[14] Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’”[15]
“The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone”[16]
Christ, the Church’s Foundation
The foundation, therefore, will be solid and eternal. It will be infallible and perfect because it is not built on a sinful man but on God Himself. Peter is not a solid foundation, as seen only several verses later when he commands Jesus not to fulfill the purpose for which He came to earth, namely to suffer and die for the sins of the world![17]
Peter is completely unable to bear the weight of this eternal building. He is a sinner, prone to sin. However, this salvation is built on Jesus Christ, and as such, this building will last forever, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. Jesus will give His people the ability to forgive sins. He will send His Holy Spirit to sustain them. He will then call them to Himself, enlighten them with His gifts, and sanctify them. What a friend we have in Jesus. What a gift we have in the Holy Scriptures, which give us contact with the living God, the Word made Flesh. This and this alone must be what we hold onto all the days of our lives, and nothing—nothing—can be allowed to stand against God’s Holy Word.
A Call to Reverent Protestant Worship
We must pray for Protestant churches to return to the historic liturgy and be bold in offering people a place of refuge from the world, where they can feel set apart and stand in reverence and awe of the living God.
First published with Reformed Dogmatika at https://reformeddogmatika.com/the-allusion-of-the-catholic-answer/
[1] https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2026/04/23/catholicism-has-lost-people-to-religious-switching-in-many-countries-while-protestantism-has-gained-in-some/
[2] https://realclearcatholic.com/2023/02/02/christianity-isnt-dying-but-protestantism-is/
[3] https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/06/16/profile-of-us-converts-to-catholicism/
[4] https://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=69798
[5] https://www.catholicculture.org/news/headlines/index.cfm?storyid=69798 and https://www.ncronline.org/news/diocesan-survey-new-catholic-converts-looking-virtue-truth-joining-church
[6] https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/poll-young-adults-more-likely-than-older-catholics-to-accept-all-of-church-teaching
[7] https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/poll-young-adults-more-likely-than-older-catholics-to-accept-all-of-church-teaching
[8] https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/03/04/10-facts-about-us-catholics/
[9] https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/03/04/10-facts-about-us-catholics/
[10] https://www.christianpost.com/news/most-christians-say-doing-good-things-is-enough-to-go-to-heaven.html
[11] https://georgebarna.com/2025/04/most-americans-including-most-christian-churchgoers/
[12] Ephesians 2:20
[13] 1 Peter 2:6
[14] Matthew 21:42
[15] Acts 4:11
[16] Psalm 118:22
[17] Matthew 16:22-23
