Venting The church keeps disappointing me.

[hoppybunny]

I already talked about how the fear of hell is the only thing keeping me religious. Well today i went to confession to clear my conscious before i CTB and honestly i felt much better after cause my priest was very kind and compassionate and offered to set an appointment to talk to me.
So i will talk to him again one more time before my CTB date (I've changed my method from shotgun to FSH in a hotel cause i didn't want my gun purchase to affect my family becoming citizens for any reason.)

But the reason i was dissapointed was because my priest told me to talk to a counseling service that specifically was based in the catholic faith and told me they would take me even if i had no money.

And i believed him cause the church is supposed to be about helping people. And i was just so disappointed after calling them. Their price per session was a whopping $150. I can't even imagine coughing up that money once a week even if i had it.

Like are we as catholics not supposed to help people out of the goodness of our hearts?!?!

And when i said i couldn't afford it, she offered to reduce the price but i told her i had no money and she instead recommended me to a program that "might" cover 5 sessions with them. So they would still be collecting money from a church that could be used to feed hungry and poor people.

I was extremely disappointed. It's things like this that have caused me to become disillusioned by the church.

My church in Nigeria was money hungry and told us we would go to hell if we didn't pay tithes and my current church and just American churches in general have no sense of community whatsoever.

It's so tiring.


I complain about this alot yet still believe so honestly it's my fault that i continue to be disappointed.

 

[LaVieEnRose]

Everything is for sale in America

 

[Unsure and Useless]

But the reason i was dissapointed was because my priest told me to talk to a counseling service that specifically was based in the catholic faith and told me they would take me even if i had no money.

And i believed him cause the church is supposed to be about helping people. And i was just so disappointed after calling them. Their price per session was a whopping $150. I can't even imagine coughing up that money once a week even if i had it.

I've never been referred to a therapist by a priest before (considering the fact that suicide is a sin), but I have gone to other institutions that were supposed to help yet passed me off to some stranger, who ultimately wouldn't help me in the end, just so they didn't have to deal with me anymore

I don't want to presume that I know how you feel, but the feeling of trying to get help and better yourself only to be met with people who don't care about your effort is relatable. It's always when things go south that people bring up "affordable resources", yet in practice, those resources are hardly affordable. At this point, they're probably just there to cover their ass if anyone CTBs

Regardless, you didn't deserve to have that experience. Recovery should be a thing that's accessible for all people, no matter what their socioeconomic status is

Like are we as catholics not supposed to help people out of the goodness of our hearts?!?!

As an American Catholic, it's likely because the church—and, by extension, their congregations—don't see mental illness as a real issue. Although, it's more accurate to say they believe it's an issue that can easily be solved by praying to God a couple of times

And when i said i couldn't afford it, she offered to reduce the price but i told her i had no money and she instead recommended me to a program that "might" cover 5 sessions with them.

Similar to the situation I was in. These people tend to have this preconceived notion that our issues are something that can be fixed in 5 sessions or less despite how deeply rooted they are. Either that, or they think your problem is something "irrelevant" like anxiety, depression, and/or other mental illnesses angsty teens romanticize to cope

American churches in general have no sense of community whatsoever.

American hustle culture and the hyper individualism that comes with it have metaphorically salted the earth for any and all communities within its borders. I'm not surprised that even the church has been affected

I complain about this alot yet still believe so honestly it's my fault that i continue to be disappointed.

There's nothing wrong with vocalizing your disappointment with an institution that promised to help you only to abandon you in your time in need. It's only natural to feel that way after your efforts to get better is just brushed off

 

[hoppybunny]

I've never been referred to a therapist by a priest before (considering the fact that suicide is a sin), but I have gone to other institutions that were supposed to help yet passed me off to some stranger, who ultimately wouldn't help me in the end, just so they didn't have to deal with me anymore

I don't want to presume that I know how you feel, but the feeling of trying to get help and better yourself only to be met with people who don't care about your effort is relatable. It's always when things go south that people bring up "affordable resources", yet in practice, those resources are hardly affordable. At this point, they're probably just there to cover their ass if anyone CTBs

Regardless, you didn't deserve to have that experience. Recovery should be a thing that's accessible for all people, no matter what their socioeconomic status is


As an American Catholic, it's likely because the church—and, by extension, their congregations—don't see mental illness as a real issue. Although, it's more accurate to say they believe it's an issue that can easily be solved by praying to God a couple of times


Similar to the situation I was in. These people tend to have this preconceived notion that our issues are something that can be fixed in 5 sessions or less despite how deeply rooted they are. Either that, or they think your problem is something "irrelevant" like anxiety, depression, and/or other mental illnesses angsty teens romanticize to cope


American hustle culture and the hyper individualism that comes with it have metaphorically salted the earth for any and all communities within its borders. I'm not surprised that even the church has been affected



There's nothing wrong with vocalizing your disappointment with an institution that promised to help you only to abandon you in your time in need. It's only natural to feel that way after your efforts to get better is just brushed off

Thanks for ur kind words. U were honestly spot on about everything. A lot of times I've sought help, i was just passed on to someone else. My only 2 helpful therapist were tied to my school so even though they were "free" it was more like they came with my tuition. Which was expensive for my first school. My parents paid for it but it was honestly a waste of my tuition to go to the school.

I was genuinely not prepared for how big schools treat their students. Literally was treated like an inconvenience many times. Switched schools but home situation didn't get better. As I was starting to get better the school suddenly decided to implement a 10 session limit because like u said most ppl think that our problems can be solved in like 5 sessions. And everyone who needs more help should shell out all the money they have to get help.
It's terrible.