Catholic, what do you call yourself?

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Peter_J said:
Catholic, what do you call yourself?

A list of possible suggestions (which I had to shorten down to 10 for the poll):
  • an affirming Catholic
  • a cafeteria Catholic
  • a conservative Catholic
  • a lapsed Catholic
  • a liberal Catholic
  • a moderate Catholic
  • a nominal Catholic
  • a progressive Catholic
  • a practicing Catholic
  • a serious Catholic
  • a thinking Catholic
  • a TLM Catholic
  • a traditional Catholic
  • a traditionalist Catholic
  • a tridentine Catholic
  • a Vatican II Catholic
  • other (please tell us in a post)
I apologize in advance if there are any adjectives that should have made the list that I didn’t think of.

Two caveats:
  1. The primary question here is how you see yourself. You may also answer variants of that question (which is where “non-Catholics” can get into the discussion) e.g. what you’ve heard others call themselves.
  2. I realize that for some the first self-description that comes to mind might be “Republican Catholic”, “Irish Catholic”, “big and tall Catholic” and so on. With that in mind, let me specify: no descriptions about age, sex, location, nationality, ethnicity, politics, social concerns, social status, marital status, career, education, health, well-being, physical characteristics, mood (I’ll just assume that anyone who has read to this point is bored and impatient), or forum participation.
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Sinner, trying to get things right with God!
 
jeannetherese said:
Hi Zabdi.🙂
My experience does not fit with this assertion.
I grew up using the words Catholic and Christian as interchangeable nouns and would not have put them together as that would have sounded redundant to me.
Perhaps experiences vary from place to place?
May God bless you and all who visit our thread.
Amen.
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Well, certainly “Catholic Christian” would sound redundant. I just meant that Protestantism is normative in American society, and people tend to assume “Protestant” when they hear “Christian.” I believe there is also some vestigial influence from prejudice against Catholicism and the fact that there is a certain kind of Protestantism that uses the word “Christian” to mean a particular kind of Christian, which would not include Catholic (and perhaps Catholic-esque) Christians. These things have influenced how many Americans use the term “Christian,” even if they do not subscribe to either worldview mentioned.

You are correct, though, that my observations may not be reflective of every region in the US. It is a big country, after all. This Floridian has never been to the Pacific NW. I am happy if your experience there has been different than mine though.
 
This may be slightly off-topic, but I have found that I prefer being described as a “loyalist Catholic” rather than a “cradle Catholic”, even though the latter is far more common. It is certainly true that I am a “cradle Catholic”, but to me that has the emphasis in the wrong place, i.e. on the fact that I was brought into the Catholic Church as an infant, rather than on the fact that I stayed (which is where “loyalist Catholic” places the emphasis).

I just wish that the word “loyalist” didn’t have such a strong political association (i.e. association with loyalty to a temporal ruler).
 
I am a traditional Catholic who just loves the Faith and desires closeness to Christ
 
Peter_J said:
This may be slightly off-topic, but I have found that I prefer being described as a “loyalist Catholic” rather than a “cradle Catholic”, even though the latter is far more common. It is certainly true that I am a “cradle Catholic”, but to me that has the emphasis in the wrong place, i.e. on the fact that I was brought into the Catholic Church as an infant, rather than on the fact that I stayed (which is where “loyalist Catholic” places the emphasis).

I just wish that the word “loyalist” didn’t have such a strong political association (i.e. association with loyalty to a temporal ruler).
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How about “lifelong Catholic” then?
 
I call myself an ‘orthodox Catholic’. That is, neither conservative nor liberal, neither progressive nor traditionalist, but just a guy who tries to do what the Church teaches. 😉
 
Gorgias said:
I call myself an ‘orthodox Catholic’. That is, neither conservative nor liberal, neither progressive nor traditionalist, but just a guy who tries to do what the Church teaches. 😉
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Oh, I am Orthodox Catholic too. 😛

Sorry, couldn’t help myself. 😉
 
This is just slightly off-topic, but it seems better to post it here than start a new thread.

In the past I have sometimes adopted the practice of some traditionalist Catholics, of applying the term “neo-conservative Catholics” to Catholics who are almost traditionalist but not quite.

But recently I got to thinking: wouldn’t it make more sense to say “neo-traditionalist Catholics”, or something similar?
 
Peter_J said:
This is just slightly off-topic, but it seems better to post it here than start a new thread.

In the past I have sometimes adopted the practice of some traditionalist Catholics, of applying the term “neo-conservative Catholics” to Catholics who are almost traditionalist but not quite.

But recently I got to thinking: wouldn’t it make more sense to say “neo-traditionalist Catholics”, or something similar?
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What is the difference between a typical traditionalist Catholic and a typical “almost traditionalist” Catholic?
 
Zabdi_Premjit said:
What is the difference between a typical traditionalist Catholic and a typical “almost traditionalist” Catholic?
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That is a good question, but since this is the “Catholic, what do you call yourself?” thread, I will give my answer in the form of a reference:
TRADITIONALIST: One who challenges the novel practices and teachings of Catholics (including bishops and priests) which appear to contradict the prior teaching of the Church. A traditionalist questions the prudence of new pastoral approaches and holds the belief that those things generally deemed objectively good or evil several decades ago remain so today.
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“CONSERVATIVE”: One who upholds and defends the current policies and positions of the Church hierarchy regardless of their novelty. A “conservative” extends the definitions of “infallibility” and “Magisterium” to include most every action and speech of the Pope and those Cardinals around him, but may exclude those Cardinals and bishops outside of Rome. A “conservative’s” opinion is also subject to change depending on the current actions of the Holy Father. “Conservative” will be used it in quotation marks to avoid the misleading connotation of being diametrically opposed to liberalism or on the far right of the spectrum. Also since there only exists a desire to “conserve” only those traditions and practices of the past deemed appropriate at any given time by the present Pope. The quotation marks will also ensure a proper dissociation between the actual conservatives active prior to and during Vatican II (Ottaviani, Lefebvre, Fenton, etc.).
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Note: That’s from Peter Miller, a traditionalist – as you may guess e.g. from the fact that he doesn’t say “neo-traditionalist” but conservative-in-quotation-marks, which I think shows his bias even more than if he said “neo-conservative”. But I still find the above quote helpful for understanding the traditionalist perspective on the matter. (You can read more here, seattlecatholic.com/article_20011221_A_Brief_Defense_of_Traditionalism.html .)

I’d be interested in hearing your perspective as an Orthodox.
 
Peter_J said:
But I still find the above quote helpful for understanding the traditionalist perspective on the matter.
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P.S. You might have been looking more specifically for my own definition of the distinction between traditionalists and “neo-conservatives/neo-traditionalists”, but I don’t think I have one.
 
Peter_J said:
That is a good question, but since this is the “Catholic, what do you call yourself?” thread, I will give my answer in the form of a reference:

Note: That’s from Peter Miller, a traditionalist – as you may guess e.g. from the fact that he doesn’t say “neo-traditionalist” but conservative-in-quotation-marks, which I think shows his bias even more than if he said “neo-conservative”. But I still find the above quote helpful for understanding the traditionalist perspective on the matter. (You can read more here, seattlecatholic.com/article_20011221_A_Brief_Defense_of_Traditionalism.html .)

I’d be interested in hearing your perspective as an Orthodox.
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Okay, it’s more-or-less as I’ve seen “traditionalist” and “conservative” usually used. I thought maybe “neo-conservative” was something in-between the two. I understand now though. 🙂

I don’t have much new perspective to add as an Orthodox. The Traditionalist vs. non-Traditionalist divide always reminds me somewhat of the Old Calendarist vs. New Calendarist debate. Both divisions are often not an explicit theological debate, as much as a debate over the extent to which certain traditional practices have become so intertwined to the ethos of the Faith that changing them will inevitable lead to deterioration of praxis and the threat of theological shift.

At least that’s how the debates seem to me. Maybe you disagree. 🙂
 
Zabdi_Premjit said:
Okay, it’s more-or-less as I’ve seen “traditionalist” and “conservative” usually used. I thought maybe “neo-conservative” was something in-between the two.
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I think that’s more-or-less true.

A footnote about the aforementioned article: although I’m not a “traditionalist” Catholic (or at least not as that term is typically understood), Miller’s article is somewhat dear to me, because it helped me to re-evaluate myself. I don’t know if I was precisely what he means by conservative-in-quotes, but some at least of his criticisms were close to home. (As a matter of fact, I think I should reread it, because I have probably fallen back into “neo-conservative”, or whatever, habits of thought a little over the past few years.)
 
I’m Catholic period nothing else.
I have been ask if I was ready to become a Christian a few times and been told that Catholics are not Christian which is baloney.
Anyone who is a lover of Christ is a Christian in my humble opinion.
Some may not see it that way,but I do.
For anyone to say Catholics are not Christian is tantamount to passing judgement.
Have a blessed day
 
“Catholic”, “Orthodox Catholic”, or “Supreme Knight Commander TK421 the Great of the Papal Legion” are all acceptable. I would normally just call myself “Catholic”.
 
Other;
One year my Catholic bible instructor fell ill and required surgery. He asked me to take over the class for him until he returned. Our Pastor attended my first three bible studies. Later Upon visiting my bible instructor, he informed me that he had a discussion with our Pastor about my bible study group. Father informed him; “Oh, Gabriel, he is very Orthodox”. By witness of my Pastor, I would call myself Orthodox Catholic of the Latin Rite.😃

Peace be with you
 
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