Recovering Catholic

Not to be confused with Lapsed Catholic.

The term "recovering Catholic", is used by some former practitioners of the Roman Catholic faith to describe their religious status. The use of the term implies that the person considers their former Catholicism to have been a negative influence on their life:[1] something that must be "recovered" from.[2] The term first came into use in the 1980s by "gay and feminist activists" and "carried no goodwill towards Catholicism".[3] The term is sometimes used with humorous intent,[4] with a conscious parallel being drawn to the 12-step recovery programs often used by those recovering from addictions.[5]

References

  1. ^ O'Gorman, Bob; O'Gorman, Robert; Faulkner, Mary (2003). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Catholicism. Alpha Books. p. 239. ISBN 9781592570850. 
  2. ^ Flynn, Eileen Patricia (1992). Catholicism: Agenda for Renewal. University Press of America. p. 120. ISBN 9780819197221. http://books.google.com/books?id=6h5af2FMlw4C&pg=PA120&dq=%22Recovering+catholic%22+-inpublisher:icon&as_brr=0&cd=10#v=onepage&q=%22Recovering%20catholic%22%20-inpublisher%3Aicon&f=false. Retrieved 2010-10-17.  "These people call themselves Recovering Catholics and seek to put behind them the psychic scarring they endured as a result of their upbringing. They experienced the church as cult-like, programming them with rigid ways of thinking and robotlike ways of acting."
  3. ^ Jenkins, Philip (2004). The New Anti-Catholicism: The Last Acceptable Prejudice. Oxford University Press. p. 99. ISBN 9780195176049. http://books.google.com/books?id=cVwthOtTiI4C&pg=PA99&dq=%22Recovering+catholic%22+-inpublisher:icon&lr=&as_brr=0&cd=19#v=onepage&q=%22Recovering%20catholic%22%20-inpublisher%3Aicon&f=false. Retrieved 2010-10-17. 
  4. ^ Nielsen, Stevan L.; Johnson, W. Brad; Ellis, Albert (2001). Counseling and psychotherapy with religious persons: a rational emotive behavior therapy approach. Psychology Press. p. 243. ISBN 9780805839166. http://books.google.ca/books?id=gnMsyN3hYRUC&pg=PA243&dq=%22recovering+catholic%22+former&hl=en&ei=8_HxS-mQFtGllwfu_MSeDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=6&ved=0CEEQ6AEwBTgK#v=onepage&q&f=false. 
  5. ^ Howell, Patrick J.; Chamberlain, Gary (1990). Empowering authority: the charisms of episcopacy and primacy in the church today. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 24. ISBN 9781556123603. 

Further reading