Testimony of former Roman Catholic priest
I was born in Michoacan, Mexico, into a devout and practicing Roman Catholic family. I spent my first years of school under the watchful eye of those who taught me to confess regularly and to take part in the liturgy daily. At the age of 12, I entered the diocesan seminary in Chilapa, Guerrero. For five long years I studied Cicero and Virgil's Latin. For three years, my head was filled with the philosophy of Greek writers. For the next four years, which were devoted to theology, I was carefully taught all the dogmas of the Roman Catholic Church. Finally, on October 18, 1951, on the day of St. Luke the Evangelist, I was ordained a priest.
Honestly, but deceived
On that day, by the laying on of hands by the bishop, I was given the incredible, deceptive, false power with which the Roman Catholic Church endows some people to mislead others. I was given the authority to forgive people's sins, both in the confessional cabin - ah, what a horrible place! - as well as outside it. On that day I also received the power to sacrifice Christ again on an altar, as I wished. I could now release souls from purgatory, a place invented by the Roman Catholic Church, through a false and lucrative ritual. This is the undeniable teaching of the Roman Catholic Church, that before reaching heaven, the souls of men must go through this place of torment. How far is she from the truth! What a heresy! And yet I believed this after four years of careful and conscientious study of dogmatic and moral theology. Therefore, when I was told that I had the power to forgive the sins of my fellow men, I accepted this fact wholeheartedly, without realizing that the forgiveness of sins is a divine attribute and cannot be entrusted to a man.
Scripture says , "I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for my name's sake, and will not remember thy sins" (Isaiah 43:25). "Who can forgive sins but God alone?" (Mark 2: 7).
For twenty years as a Roman Catholic priest, I performed this ridiculous, shameful, anti-biblical ritual. Every day we listened to the weaknesses of society; soldiers, workers and politicians came to me and confessed. I was also the spiritual director of some schools. For a year I held the position of vicar in a parish, and for 19 years I was a parish priest. I had helpers and vicars who helped me fulfill my absurd duties.
Christ - sacrificed once and for all
In order to repeat on the altar the bloodless sacrifice of Christ, I was given the power to transform the bread into His body and the wine into His blood through the words of consecration. I accepted this authority with joy and deep respect. No one but the Creator of the universe, the eternal God, who became Man for us, would be in my hands. Is it really possible to continue sacrificing Christ for twenty years? I did this four times a Sunday! What a parody, what a terrible and shameful distortion this was for me and for all those who took part in what the Roman Catholic Church calls the liturgy!
A man can never repeat what Christ did on the cross. Such an idea is a fabrication of the devil. The Bible says in Romans 6: 9, “Christ, being raised from the dead, dies no more; death no longer has dominion over Him “ How then can a priest cause Him to die a bloodless death? Hebrews 9:22 states that "without shedding of blood there is no remission." So what exactly does the liturgy accomplish? Does it cleanse and free souls from purgatory? The Bible states, "The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin" (1 John 1: 7).
God is Spirit
The Roman Catholic dogma declares that in every particle of consecrated bread and in consecrated wine the body and blood of Jesus Christ are fully present. What a lie! Christ said, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them" (Matthew 18:20). But the lie and deception of the sacrilege reach their climax when the priest, after the so-called consecration, raises the bread and the cup, while the people present at the liturgy bend and clap their fists in their chests, or look up at the sky and shout: "Lord my God and my God. " This is idolatry, the worship of a created matter. God is not a piece of bread. "God is Spirit, and he who worships Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth" (John 4:24).
Tradition against truth
But I believed, taught others, preached, and defended the doctrine of Rome, whether it was in accordance with God's Word or not. For me, at that time, the Church with its Councils and traditions stood above the Holy Scriptures. The pope's voice had more authority than the Holy Spirit's. Wasn't the Church of Rome the only Church that people had to believe and listen to? That is why I, like Paul, was an active persecutor of the Church of God (cf. Galatians 1:33). We challenged evangelical pastors — Protestants, as they were officially called in the Roman Catholic Church — in their own places of worship. I insulted, humiliated and forced them out of the parishes in which I was lord and master.
I do not know how much of their literature I have destroyed, but I remember a particularly shameful incident. I, along with a few so-called God-fearing men, rushed to a young Christian woman who was preaching God's Word to a group of attentive listeners gathered around her. I forcibly made my way through the crowd and began to make fun of the work he was doing as a servant of God and humiliate her. I threatened the crowd around her, telling people that they would die without the sacraments of the Holy Mother Church. I ordered those who were with me to gather all the Bibles that had been divided because they were false. They did not have the stamp of approval of the true Church, nihil congregation or Imprimatur. They gathered sixty-six freshly printed Bibles, which I broke with my own hands and threw into the fire. However, I did all this out of ignorance. My Savior says , "He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, shall judge him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge in the last day" (John 12:48). .
Called by God
Like Paul, I can say that when He pleased, God "called me by His grace" (Galatians 1:15). I heard his voice inside me saying, “Cipriano, this is not your place. Leave all this. " I listened and left. But the bishop called me to himself, and I returned to my parish with some banal excuses. However, the voice of the Lord continued to insist. As I listened to some confessions, He said to me, “Do not listen to the weaknesses of others. You can't forgive them anyway. " When I celebrated the liturgy or baptized babies, His voice interrupted me.
I left a second time, and the bishop called me back. But the irresistible voice of God did not leave me alone. Eventually I couldn't resist. I went to the bishop's office and told him I was leaving the church. He replied, “What do you say? Are you leaving the Church? If you are not satisfied with this parish, I will give you a better one ". My answer was, "No, what I'm trying to tell you is that I don't want to have anything to do with the Church anymore." The bishop replied, "What are you going to do?" Where do you want to go? ”I replied simply,“ I don't know what I'm going to do or where I'm going. All I know is that I have to leave. " Irritated, the bishop stood up and brought me some incomplete forms asking the pope to cancel the ordination as a priest. He wasn't so mad at me as a person, as well as the fact that he was losing a man with 18 years of training and 20 years of experience. I was not excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church, but I left it because my name was the Lord.
Saved only by the work of Christ
A month later I was in the city of Tijuana, Baja California, Mexico. There the Lord had a missionary who lived under the guidance of the Holy Spirit; God had prepared him to show me Christ as the only Savior. Eventually I came to understand the Bible verse that reads, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."(John 3:16). I trusted in Christ; I received him as my Savior and as the Lord [Master] of my life. For this reason, I know that I have eternal life. A man cannot enter heaven because of his deeds, sacrifices, or virtues, however great they may be. The only way to the Father is through the unlimited merits of Christ. No ceremony, no ritual, no sacrament can save man.
I did not write these truths to offend you or anyone else. My heart and life are now full of love because I am a born-again Christian. Acknowledge that you are a sinner, and confess your sins directly to God, as I did. Ask Him for forgiveness for your sins. Invite Christ into your heart and life, and He will give you eternal life.
Today I preach the gospel in churches, in public places, in prisons, and in private homes.
(Translator: Olimpiu S. Cosma)
Cipriano Valdés Jaimes serves the Lord in his mathematical language [Spanish] in Central and South America, as well as in various places in the United States. He also works with the "International Mission among Catholics" founded by Bartholomew Brewer.
[Source: https://bereanbeacon.org/ro/o-chemare-irezistibila/]
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