Am I automatically excommunicated for this

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hbri39

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a couple of months ago I started to learn more about Christianity and I was new to all of the Anti-Catholic stuff so it got to me and I started doubting/struggling to accept some of the church’s teachings but then I got convinced of some. I turned 16 so excommunication now applies to me but I am still struggling to accept some teachings like Mary’s queenship and immaculate conception.

I’m convinced of a majority of the Church’s teachings but I can’t really wrap my head around these. I want to find evidence for the teachings even though I am struggling to believe them and it may take some time and prayers. Could I still be automatically excommunicated for this?
thank you.
 
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In your profile, you say that you are “discerning Catholicism”. If you are not actually a Catholic, can you even be excommunicated? I assume not. I also struggle to understand some of Catholic doctrine, but I assume that I am not excommunicated as I am not a Catholic!

To incur excommunication latae sententiae you have to be guilty of heresy (or apostasy or schism). I don’t think that “still struggling to accept some teachings” counts as heresy.
 
Yes, I am Catholic. I put discerning catholicism because I am still looking into the teachings and I always see others say that one cannot call themselves catholic if they dont agree with all of the teachings
 
In that case, probably best to listen to @RolandThompsonGunner.

😃
 
hbri39 said:
I put discerning catholicism because I am still looking into the teachings and I always see others say that one cannot call themselves catholic if they dont agree with all of the teachings
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This is categorically UNTRUE.

If you were baptized a Catholic, you are a Catholic and always will be.
 
I do have scrupulosity actually. I didn’t think it would be obvious for this question. I just wanted to see if anyone had an answer, thanks.
 
hbri39 said:
I always see others say that one cannot call themselves catholic if they dont agree with all of the teachings
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Those who say this mean that one is failing to practice Catholicism if one runs around telling people: “I know the Catholic teaching against abortion but I firmly believe the Catholic Church has this one wrong! I know the Catholic teaching on the all-male priesthood but I firmly believe the Catholic Church has this one wrong!”

Even the most hardcore defenders of distinguishing between baptismal reality and concrete daily practice, agree that the problem starts when someone knows what the Church teaches but state that they definitively believe that the Church is wrong. It’s not a problem if someone simply struggles to understand a teaching (that’s lifelong for most of us, though different people struggle to understand different things). It might not even be POSSIBLE to agree with all the Church’s teachings in the sense of consciously knowing what all of them are (there are just literally too many things for most of us to ever find out about). And even once we know about a teaching, we’re allowed to ask questions and wrestle with it. We just wrestle from a position of trusting that somehow the Church is correct and we haven’t figured out how to understand that yet.

We’re allowed to wrestle with God, like Israel himself (Jacob) wrestled with the angel. What we’re not supposed to do is look at a definitive Church teaching on a matter of faith or morals, say to ourselves “The Catholic Church is definitely wrong about this and my opposite idea is definitely right,” and then go around telling other people how wrong we’ve decided the Church is.

It doesn’t sound like you’re anywhere close to this situation, so you’re golden.

As another comment noted, since you struggle with scrupulosity, it would be advisable to speak with a real life priest. They can help you organize your thought-life about this sort of concern (at least if you trust God to direct you through them).
 
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In hopes of helping connect the dots to Mother Mary as the Queen of Heaven, consider Revelations 12. The lady in Heaven, who gave birth to Jesus, is crowned. There is only one person this could be: Mother Mary.

One connection to consider for Mary as the Immaculate Conception, consider her title, “Full of Grace,” in Luke 1. Full of Grace means to be completely without sin.
 
I would understand how the woman is referring to Mary in Revelations 12 because even Jesus called his mother “woman” but I’ve seen others interpret as Israel which also makes sense.
But the part about being “Full of Grace” does seem interesting, thank you.
 
This is the answer. Please be at peace. Find that priest, don’t let the scruples get to you :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:
 
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@hbri39, there is something to be said about how easy and accessible to anti-catholic information especially via the internet. It is easy to be caught up in and believing websites that have a hatred towards Catholicism as a whole. As other posters mention talking to a priest who has a deeper knowledge in theology to help you discern the difference between truth and false truths. Attending a Catholic Apologetic’s class’s solidifying your Catholic Faith and dissolve the myths and misconceptions that you have recently learnt. Your prior knowledge may then assist you to help others in similar circumstances the future.
 
hbri39 said:
a couple of months ago I started to learn more about Christianity and I was new to all of the Anti-Catholic stuff so it got to me and I started doubting/struggling to accept some of the church’s teachings but then I got convinced of some.
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First of all, if you’re struggling to understand the Catholic Faith better, avoid anti-Catholic stuff like the plague. Read a good Catholic catechism and ask your parents or a priest to help you.
hbri39 said:
but I am still struggling to accept some teachings like Mary’s queenship and immaculate conception.
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  1. Jesus is “Lord of Lords and King of Kings” (that’s from the Apocalypse/Revelation - the last book of Holy Scripture). Also c.f. Luke 1: “…He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and his kingdom shall have no end.”
Since Jesus IS King, his Mother MUST be a Queen (that’s from St. Alphonsus Liguori’s awesome book The Glories of Mary - highly recommend!).
  1. Re Immaculate Conception: God created Eve immaculate (that’s in Gen. ch. 1 and 2) so WHY would He not do the same and even more for the Woman who would bear His Only-Begotten Son? “Death through Eve, life through Mary” was the watchword of St. Irenaeus, who lived in the 2nd century A.D. (i.e. shortly after the close of the Apostolic age). All the Fathers and Doctors of the Church agree with him.
Mary had to be immaculate in order to bear the All-Holy Eternal Son of God, Who would assume His human nature from her alone. So God preserved her from original sin for that reason - the infinite holiness and dignity of His Divine Son demanded it, which is what Blessed Pope Pius IX wrote in his encyclical Ineffabilis Deus when proclaiming the infallible dogma of the Immaculate Conception:


Btw, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception is the Patronal Feast of the United States of America. 😉
 
Please consult a priest, @hbri39.

@camoderator
 
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