Jesuit Fr. Thomas J. Reese, former editor in chief of America, a senior fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University in Washington, has done a deep dive into the Pew Forum’s U. S. Religious Landscape Survey to reveal that one out of every ten Americans is a former Catholic and that one out of three people who were raised Catholic no longer identifies as Catholic. Of those who have left the Catholic Church, half have become Protestant and half become unaffiliated with religion.
Why are Catholics leaving to affiliate with Protestant churches? Sadly, not because of doctrine:
The data shows that disagreement over specific doctrines is not the main reason Catholics become Protestants. We also have lots of survey data showing that many Catholics who stay disagree with specific church teachings. Despite what theologians and bishops think, doctrine is not that important either to those who become Protestant or to those who stay Catholic.
People are not becoming Protestants because they disagree with specific Catholic teachings; people are leaving because the church does not meet their spiritual needs and they find Protestant worship service better.
It seems the mitigating factor in the decision to move from Catholicism is feelings and not truth:
…those who are leaving the church for Protestant churches are more interested in spiritual nourishment than doctrinal issues. Tinkering with the wording of the creed at Mass is not going to help. No one except the Vatican and the bishops cares whether Jesus is “one in being” with the Father or “consubstantial” with the Father. That the hierarchy thinks this is important shows how out of it they are. While the hierarchy worries about literal translations of the Latin text, people are longing for liturgies that touch the heart and emotions. More creativity with the liturgy is needed, and that means more flexibility must be allowed. If you build it, they will come; if you do not, they will find it elsewhere.