Becoming Catholic

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joyfulseraph

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Does a person have to believe everything about Catholicism to become a Catholic?
 
To be Catholic in my opinion, a person should believe in all the dogmas of the Catholic church and obey all the laws of the church. Of course, when a new convert comes into the church it’s a work in progress. For cradle Catholics, many need more catechesis to understand the church and all its truths. But with all things, it starts with a leap of faith that the Catholic church is the church founded by Jesus Christ and handed down by apostolic succession to all the disciples and popes that followed and is guided by the Holy Spirit.

With all things pray…and welcome home to the Catholic church.👍
 
If you are already baptized, when you are received into the Church you are asked if you believe all that the Catholic Church teaches and proclaims to be true. So I would say if you can’t honestly answer yes to that question, then no, you should become Catholic.

For me, the deciding factor came down to whether or not I believed that Peter, and all of his successors, was given a special charge by Jesus to lead the Church. If the answer was no, then there was no reason to look further into the Catholic Church. If the answer was yes, then I had to trust that even if I didn’t necessarily “get” some things, I had to trust that they would come and just jump in and follow where Christ was leading me.
 
joyfulseraph said:
Does a person have to believe everything about Catholicism to become a Catholic?
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Everything that the Church teaches about faith and morals, yes. As an atheist professor of mine said (who by the way, attends mass every Sunday with his Catholic wife and kids, and reads the readings beforehand), “It’s an all or nothing deal.” That is, if you are going to disbelieve the Church’s teaching on purgatory, Marian dogmas, or sexuality, you might as well get it over with and disbelieve the teaching on the Trinity, or that Jesus existed in the first place. This doesn’t mean you have to fully understand the teachings, but merely that you assent to the Church’s authority to teach on the faith.
 
I am an adult convert to Catholicism. When I was baptized I believed absolutely in the Eucharist, but I had reservations about Tradition and certain Marian dogmas. Regarding the Marian dogmas my position was “I don’t understand it, but if that’s how God wanted to do it, it’s fine by me.” Now, 27 years later, my favorite doctrine after the Eucharist and the Immaculate Conception, is the Teaching Authority of the Church and the Infallibility of the Pope. We grow in understanding and in faith.

As long as you reject none of the doctrines, I think that you can be baptized and keep studying and growing.
 
No one really knows the whole faith when they come in. I don’t know if anyone knows the whole faith ever. But if you can confirm all the statements when baptised, then you’re okay. It’s about the will, to my understanding.

Sometimes the head comes along a little later from why I’ve seen from converts. 🙂
 
joyfulseraph said:
[Edited by Moderator]

Does a person have to believe everything about Catholicism to become a Catholic?
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In general if you agree with the Nicene Creed then you are fine. If you do not agree with the Creed we would need to work that out
 
Scottgun said:
if you are going to disbelieve the Church’s teaching on purgatory, Marian dogmas, or sexuality, you might as well get it over with and disbelieve the teaching on the Trinity, or that Jesus existed in the first place.
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Sorry, but I don’t follow your logic. There are many Christians (and probably a few Catholics) who whole heartedly believe in the existance of Jesus and the Trinity, yet reject the Church’s teachings on purgatory, Marian dogmas, and sexuality.
 
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