Can I still call myself Catholic?

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char1963

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I am having some major problems with the Catholic faith. I thought my problem was with opposing gay marriage, women priests and priests not being allowed to get married. When I started looking into what I am supposed to believe , I realized I had much bigger issues. The Pope is infallable, Mary was a virgin the rest of her life, Purgatory? I have never believed any of that. I have always gone to Church to hear the word of God, not for any of the sacrements. If I keep going to the Catholic Church but dont go to communion, can I still say I am Catholic? I am certainly not in communion with the Church. I am sure some of you will say that I shouldnt be going to a Church I dont believe in, but where am I going to go?
 
Why not go to RCIA at your church (it isn’t just for people who are planning to become Catholic, you know). Before you brush off various teachings with “I don’t believe”, make sure you actually know why the teaching exists and the entirety of the teaching. It might be that once you learn more you’ll find yourself understanding and accepting what right now you have difficulty with.

I couldn’t imagine walking away from the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Christ. . .to be able to receive Him in the Eucharist. . .in order to take only a part of Him (the written word of God is less than the living Word of God which is Jesus). That’s like walking away from a wonderful 5 course meal at the best restaurant in town in order to grab a cheap burger at a fast food restaurant.
 
I agree it sounds like its time to learn about your faith. You will find the reasons for all these issues but you have to take the time to research & learn.
 
I agree: I think it will be helpful for you to take some kind of catechism classes, or read some books on catholicism. Why not an online catechism class? That way you can pace it out.

It will answer your questions and explain some beliefs that you’re questioning.

I do urge you to not give up until you’ve at least tried. 🙂
 
You’re only required to receive communion once a year and during the Easter time. You do need to go to Mass every Sunday though. I don’t see why you couldn’t call yourself a Catholic if you do that. One still obtains many graces from Mass alone and you might want to attend outside Sundays as well. Or just visit Church and pray. Or just pray alone or with others. You sound solid to me. 🙂
 
Hi Char1963,

I’m going to second what everyone else on this forum has said: You need to learn more about the Church. I was in the same boat as you are for a long time, but as soon as I learned more about what the Church actually teaches rather than what people *think *she teaches, all of my disagreements were resolved. Here’s a link to the book that helped me:
amazon.com/Catholicism-Dummies-John-Trigilio/dp/0764553917/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262392540&sr=8-1
You also mention that you don’t attend Mass for the sacraments. I suggest that you try to receive them more frequently, namely Reconciliation and the Eucharist (in that order if you’re conscious of mortal sin). Both of these are amazing and will help you grow in understanding of and love for Jesus.👍

I truly hope you arrive at an understanding of what the Church teaches. When you do, it will be the best thing that ever happened to you. Believe me.
Love,
FishHookOpenEye
 
As you undoubtedly know, the term “Catholic” is synonymous with Universal. I am the Priest of the Universal Life Catholic community for St. Jude. A

All of us questoin our faith throughout our lives. When we due wander from what we’ve been taught, it is God’s Call to you personally. God see’s and hear’s your pain, and is calling you to “come back in out of the cold”

Regardless of your denomination or theology, when things seem to be the darkest or most confusing, God is really re-fueling your Spirit

Father Roland
 
Hi Char1963
I am sorry for how you are feeling.Once baptised you are always a catholic by the way!(Just whether you are practising or not)!
My suggestion is speak to a priest.If you feel comfortable with your own parish priest thats great and he should be prepared to have a nice chat with you.Write down beforehand what you want to say and take it along to your meeting with him.
If you don’t feel comfortable with your parish priest then find another to chat to.
Hope this helps.God bless
 
I echo everyone else:

What you might want to consider is getting spiritual direction through a trusted priest or religious and find out why those areas are troublesome to you. Perhaps it’s simple misunderstanding? Or the fact that you were not catechized correctly? Talking out your frustrations with someone would be a good idea. Perhaps you could take some RCIA courses? These would help you find out if it’s simply a lack of catechesis or something deeper. Whatever the case may be, I would advise you to work at it for a while before simply giving up and leaving. You are correct when you mention attending Mass and not receiving the Eucharist. To do so would put you in a state of mortal sin, thus adding to the problem. When you receive the Eucharist, you should be doing so with a free and clear conscience and after you understand and accept the doctrines of the faith. It’s ok to keep attending Mass, but do so without accepting the Eucharist at this time.

I hope this helps. God bless.
 
Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith. “We walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7) If we wait for everything to make perfect logical sense before we allow ourselves to believe it, faith may elude us for a long time.

There was a time when I chose not to believe some of the Church’s teachings. They didn’t make logical sense, it seemed. Or they didn’t fit with my chosen lifestyle. I did a lot of picking and choosing of what I accepted from the teachings of the Church I had been raised in from infancy.

In retrospect, it was a very unsettled and unhappy time of my life.

And then, about ten years ago, with the help of a good holy priest who was teaching some adult religion classes at our parish, I discovered I had been doing things backwards. I learned that often FAITH MUST PRECEDE UNDERSTANDING. I had to place my trust in God, who is Truth, and make a firm decision to believe what He teaches us through His Church, because He is Truth. For me, making a firm act of faith came first; understanding followed.

And once I had made that decision to put my own pride aside and just believe and trust in Christ and His Church, understanding followed rather quickly. Rather than challenging a teaching of the Church and saying in my mind, “That teaching must be wrong because it doesn’t make sense, and I don’t agree with it,” I tried to say, “Lord, that teaching must be true because You teach it through Your Church. I don’t understand it yet; help me understand.” And with faith, prayer, and studying authentic Church teachings, it all began to make sense, and I realized how wrong I had been on some issues.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
156 What moves us to believe is not the fact that revealed truths appear as true and intelligible in the light of our natural reason: we believe “because of the authority of God himself who reveals them, who can neither deceive nor be deceived”.
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But that does not mean that faith must be blind; we can certainly seek understanding to support our faith. The Catechism further says:
158 “Faith seeks understanding”: it is intrinsic to faith that a believer desires to know better the One in whom he has put his faith, and to understand better what He has revealed; a more penetrating knowledge will in turn call forth a greater faith, increasingly set afire by love … In the words of St. Augustine, “I believe, in order to understand; and I understand, the better to believe.”
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As an exercise, pray this line from the Act of Faith several times a day, and make this prayer your own (tape it on your bathroom mirror if you have to!). Pray it every time you find yourself disagreeing with one of the teachings of the Church:
I believe these and all the truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches, because Thou hast revealed them, Who canst neither deceive nor be deceived.
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With frequent acts of faith, along with prayer and study, I hope you will find the peace I found when I finally submitted my will to the will of God as taught by His Church.
 
Isnt the most important thing that I believe Jesus died to save us from our sins? What does the rest matter? I am actually in line with the majority of the Church’s moral teachings , its the dogmas that I am having trouble with.
 
Char as said before.One baptism is recognised in the Catholic Church.When you were baptised a Catholic, you are catholic whether you lapse or not etc is another thing.
Whether you are a practising catholic is up to you.I think talking to your priest would be really useful to you and comforting.
If you have questions you need answers to, your priest is the best person to talk to.Tell him how you feel about particular things that concern you.Im sure he would be able to alleviate any concerns.Also Fr Vincent Serpa here at CAF (Apologist) is a mine of helpful information.He is very approachable too.

My love and prayers for you in this.God bless
 
char1963 said:
Isnt the most important thing that I believe Jesus died to save us from our sins? What does the rest matter? I am actually in line with the majority of the Church’s moral teachings , its the dogmas that I am having trouble with.
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Catholics Love Jesus! To love someone is to strive to know him. To know Jesus in part is to learn of the dogmas which all relate to the person, the God Jesus. The better we know Him, the more we can love him.

We have all been there and done that when it comes to having questions about our faith. Please take the advice of the above posters and take a RCIA class, talk to a priest, or post questions on this forum. Just learn about one topic at a time. Get to know the God of the Universe and prepair to be amazed!
 
I am having some major problems with the Catholic faith. I thought my problem was with opposing gay marriage, women priests and priests not being allowed to get married. When I started looking into what I am supposed to believe , I realized I had much bigger issues. The Pope is infallable, Mary was a virgin the rest of her life, Purgatory? I have never believed any of that. I have always gone to Church to hear the word of God, not for any of the sacrements. If I keep going to the Catholic Church but dont go to communion, can I still say I am Catholic? I am certainly not in communion with the Church. I am sure some of you will say that I shouldnt be going to a Church I dont believe in, but where am I going to go?
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**You should continue to go the church AND NOT receive the sacrament of Holy Communion./U]

**Heb.6: 4 **"For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit,and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they then commit apostasy, since they crucify the Son of God on their own account and hold him up to contempt. For land which has drunk the rain that often falls upon it, and brings forth vegetation useful to those for whose sake it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God. But if it bears thorns and thistles, it is worthless and near to being cursed; its end is to be burned This passage is intended precisely for Catholics.

***The second largest “christian” denomination according to the PEW Report is “lapsed and fallen away “catholics”.😊:o” ***

One may choose to “call themselves” what ever they wish. BUT should one? NO!

Identification with a particular church ought to confirm ones personal beliefs. Otherwise one is in addition to being in schism, is giving bad example to those who know you to be a self-professed-catholic.

The broad range of your points of lack of understanding and agreement are so broad and numerous, that should you choose to remain in the Catholic Church [and that is key to your personal salvation], you ought to consider attending RCIA classes and gain a better understanding of not only what we believe, BUT ALSO why and how we are able to hold these views.

You would also be well advised to discuss these issues with your pastor, perhaps he can give you one on one instruction?

Love nd prayers,

Pat**
 
Your key mistake is you take your personal beliefs as fact. Determine if the Church is who she claims to be. If so believe what she teaches. If not then get out. This applies to any and all religions only one of which is the religion given by God.

I am not going to try and convince you of our beliefs. I willl argue on behalf of our origins. It is by our origins that we recieve our authority and by our origins that we have our power. Our origins will either be our glory or our shame. We are either built upon solid Rock or we are not. we can not change this. It is either so or it is not.
 
Some, if not most, people question at least one aspect of their religion. I know I have. That does not mean that I cannot call myself Catholic. For the only way to receive answers is to question. I agree with everyone that suggests to take classes or talk to a priest.

I have also asked myself, “Can I still call myself Catholic?” I don’t go to church regularly or receive communion, but I do believe in the Lord and I pray to him every night. However, I feel bad for not attending church. Therefore, I have taken it upon myself to take action. This year, I am going to work on finally getting confirmed Catholic and hope to attend church more often.

I wish you the best in your journey, and I hope you find the answers you long for. God bless and best wishes for the new year. 🙂
 
For many years I felt exactly like you; partly cut off from the church. I was not sure of my salvation. This was due to lack of information regarding who God is; understanding the deity of Christ, the meaning of the crucifixion and resurrection of our Lord, and what is involved in receiving Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. Christianity is nothing more than a personal relationship with the living Christ. Being Christian means receiving the Lord Jesus Christ, the gift of God’s love and forgiveness by faith.
I attempted to reach Christ through my own effort but no human effort enables a person to reach God. I could only experience God’s love and plan for my life through Jesus Christ; God’s only provision for our sins. Receiving Christ began by turning away from myself , repenting of my sins and turning to God. I trusted Christ to come into my life, to forgive my sins and make me the person He wants me to be.
I humbly suggest you forget for the moment the issues that trouble you. Turn to Our Lord Jesus Christ and sincerely tell Him you need Him; thank Him for dying on the Cross for your sins; open the door of your life for Him and accept Him as Saviour and Lord. Thank Him for forgiving your sins and giving you eternal life. Ask Him to control your life and make you the person He wants you to be. Then go for confession and Holy Communion.
If you sincerely pray to Jesus, you’ll be filled with the Holy Spirit and you’ll begin to experience a greater love for God. You’ll want to spend more time with Him in prayer and in studying His word. You’ll want to share your love of Christ with others who do not know Him. This has happened to me. Hope and pray it will happen to you as well. God Bless.
 
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