Upvote:4
It's better to be a Protestant than an atheist, from the Catholic point of view.
A Protestant believes and is baptized. Furthermore, a Protestant raised in a state of schism, or brought to belief by Protestants already in a state of schism, may not be culpable for the sin of schism.
An atheist might also convert people -- to atheism -- or give to atheistic causes, which would be worse for than the same for a Protestant.