Are we Catholic if we disagree with Catholic teaching?

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Why do so many people call themselves Catholic and yet disagree with the Church’s teachings?

When i see polls about Catholics stance on gay marriage, and how so much percentage of Catholics think homosexuals should be able to marry. Why are they Catholic?

I understand having trouble fulfilling teachings of the Church. In fact, i think everyone does, or they would be Christ himself. So i don’t question peoples weakness or faillings. But those who say,“I am Catholic…but I don’t agree with X teaching”

For example, i have definite trouble with things like not using birth control but i dont say the Church is wrong. I say that I have too little of faith to depend on God to bless me without it.

God bless,
Michael
 
There is a tendency, especially for Americans, to be independents or mavericks. “To march to their own drummer.” They don’t like those old guys (Bishops, Cardinals, Pope) making them follow the rules. So they follow their own “god” (themselves) instead of the one true God and His Church.

But culturally,people may still think of themselves as Catholic. Anyone baptized Catholic is a Catholic for life. If you were raised Catholic, but leave the Church that remains part of your identity. That one chooses to live his/her life separated from the Church’s teachings is sad.

Yet all it takes is some of that Catholic seed to sprout again!
 
Some people say they are Catholic but only go through the minimum motions because the religion actually means little or nothing to them. They may even just do it because that’s what mom and dad did.

It is really up to God who is and isn’t Catholic. If however you do not practice and preach what the Catholic Church practices and preaches then it is like saying you are member of a group that you don’t pay your dues to. Make of that what you will.
 
One is never compelled to understand why a difficult teaching is as it is. It is OK to think “I do not understand why marriage is between one man and one woman” and even “I would have thought otherwise”.

But Faith is not merely an act of the intellect. It is also an act of the will, a choice. When one has faith, one says “I give my assent (choose to accept) that marriage is between one man and one woman, even if I cannot give a full explanation why it is”.

So it may be OK for someone to be in this situation. But things can get problematic from there if they start asserting publicly that they disagree with teaching X. This gives scandal to the intended audience, and is likely a grave occasion of the sin for the speaker, who can be tempted to forego his assent of faith due to Pride (thinking he knows better than the Church — Genesis 3 anyone?) and disobedience.

As an illustration of the willed component of faith, I like to point people to the end of section 251 of the Catechism, where it states “*[The Trinity is an] ineffable mystery, ‘infinitely beyond all that we can humanly understand.’ *”. The implication of this is that if someone comes up to you and says “I fully understand the doctrine of the Holy Trinity”, then they are actually contradicting the teachings of the Church! So when it comes to the Trinity, one has to assent to teachings one literally cannot fully understand. Yet notice how uncatholic it would be for someone to say “I do not understand point X about the Trinity, so I will assume this point is wrong.”

Why do some actually make this mistake? A mark of Evil, since the fullness of Truth subsists in the Church. It is the one institution where the Evil One might wish those who disagree with it to not renounce their identification with it, so as to damage it from within, at the expense of souls. To see this another way consider an opposite example. Say you joined a bridge club but after learning the rules thought some were stupid and that the game would be better if they were changed. Old Scratch probably is not too interested in this scenario, for while the game might evolve and some outsiders thinking of joining the club might get confused as to what the game really is, no souls are at stake. But in the case of the Church, not only are they at stake, but their salvation is the very reason for the Church’s existence.

Last, one is Catholic by virtue of one’s Baptism. But a Catholic can sin, sometimes gravely. And a Catholic can damage (or even break) his union with his Church.
 
Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who are Catholic in name only. They don’t want to accept what the Church teaches, they want to pick and choose bits and pieces out of the Bible to adhere to and disregard what doesn’t fit their lifestyles, and they generally just want to do their own thing. One thing I was told before I became Catholic (I did disagree with some of the Church teachings at the time) was that if you disagree with something regarding the Church, learn as much as you can about WHY it is the way it is. When I did that, I was able to see and understand things more clearly and realized I didn’t really disagree with it after all.

And for those who choose to disagree with Church teaching for whatever reason, it’s still important to fully understand why the Church teaches what it does. I guess they can disagree but they still need to do the right thing instead of whatever they feel like doing! 😉
 
Catholics who defy Church teachings really don’t understand what it means to be a Catholic. They think more like a Protestant than a Catholic; as if private interpretation of Scripture is all you need.

I rather like the remark of the great Catholic theologian Thomas Aquinas as he lay dying:

“Thee have I preached; Thee have I taught. Never have I said anything against Thee. If anything was not well said, that is to be attributed to my ignorance. Neither do I wish to be obstinate in my opinions, but if I have written anything erroneous … I submit all to the judgment and correction of the Holy Roman Church, in whose obedience I now pass from this life.”

Would that all Catholics could be so humble.
 
Baptism leaves an indelible mark on the soul. Once you are baptized into the Church, you are a member of the Church forever. I could no more renounce Mother Church than I could my own mother. My “spiritual DNA” has forever changed. Even excommunicated Catholics are Catholic, and even those who publicly denounce the Church and apostatize are still bound by canon law and are subject to the authority of Christ and his Vicar on Earth, the Pope. Not until they die unrepentant and go to Hell will they finally be completely and irrevocably set outside the Church. That is why we must always pray for inactive, lapsed, and renounced Catholics, and always be ready to invite them back to the sacraments.
 
Geat responses!
I see many reminding me of the power of Baptism. That this has brought us into the Church by God’s doing and only His judgement in the end will seperate them. Because, after all, even if we have a terrible relationship with Jesus and are given the grace to reconcile ourselves to a good relationship again, we do not recieve Baptism again.

Some compare these Catholics to our protestant brothers and sisters. And they do portray similar reactions to teachings they don’t believe. But they are not protestant. They were confirmed Catholic. Protestants are Baptized Catholic, for there is only one Baptism. And we accept them into our Church.

I should also confess, I would be wrong to act as if I am better before God than these. I do sin. And my sins are just as destructive. I exchange a truth for a lie when I sin. I reject a teaching even that I believe is true! So, my point isn’t to ridicule. Its to understand and be aware. To hear your good responses and be better able to encourage those who have doubts in the faith.

Thanks much,
Michael
 
I guess many people “identify” as Catholic without actually following Catholic doctrine. We have a similar situation here in Britain, with a majority of people identifying as “Church of England” because they were baptised, but don’t actually believe in God, go to church etc. That’s why we have the Church claiming that 75% of Britons are religious, when in fact it’s less than 20%. Lies, damn lies and statistics, etc.

It’s ironic in a way - Britain is a “Christian Nation” according to our constitution, yet it’s actually mostly secular. The US is offically a secular nation, yet has a predominantly Christian population who constantly try to reinvent history to support their beliefs. And a higher percentage of self-identifying religious US citizens actually do believe in God, attend church etc. than in the UK. The US is massively anomolous among first world countires regarding its religiosity, and I have heard of studies that suggest there is a correlation between religiosity and social dysfunction - although I have no citation to back this up.

I think the likely reason people who claim to be Catholic don’t agree totally with Catholic teaching is because the majority of people are actually decent-minded and follow good humanist principles (whether they admit it or not); and certain aspects of Catholic teaching are demonstrably bigoted and immoral. The only way to reconcile the two is to cherry-pick the bits you want to follow and believe in, and ignore everything else. Then, naturally, you get the few true haters who want to oppress the human rights of minorities, and call upon religious dogma to support their bigotry. And boom! - the Catholic Church is right there for them!
 
DaddyGirl said:
As one poster said above, Catholics are told that once they are Catholic, they are forever-- unless they are excommunicated (right?).
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Not correct. Excommunication is a juridical sanction. It does not cause the subject to cease being Catholic.
So even if a person disagrees with doctrine, they still call themselves Catholic because the Catholic church still says they are so.
Don’t forget…most Catholics become so when they are babies, before they can consciously choose to be so. They are too young to know the doctrine and decide whether they agree or not.
Thus, you will find a lot of adult Catholics who do not agree with the doctrine.
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Most disagree based on either pride or ignorance.
 
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