Do I have to agree with everything to be Catholic?

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Dovekin said:
Since Francis became Pope there has been a lively discussion abut whether the Church is a “field hospital for the wounded” or a home for the perfect.
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I think that’s a gross oversimplification of the position that a number of those who are not fans of Pope Francis take, if not outright a strawman. I don’t know of a single person who is critical of Pope Francis who does not agree with his statement that the Church is a field hospital for the wounded. The differences between the two groups arise in what exactly that treatment looks like.
 
The Catholic Church has writings that covers almost 2000 years of Theology and Philosophical thinking. It is impossible to learn everything. You can start with learning the basics and then learn more in areas which you find more interesting.

What is helping me is actually to realise that "I don’t know/understand it yet but I have the intention to learn more about X, Y and Z and why the Church teaches A, B and C.
 
I have been through a very similar journey to yours and, no, I’m not offended. Thinking, intelligent people do not change their beliefs because someone tells them, “You have to believe X and Y.” To paraphrase a favorite theologian, “must” and “believe” are two words that simply cannot be paired together; belief isn’t belief unless you arrive there authentically.

I like the aforementioned recommendation to get your hands on Church documents addressing everything with which you struggle. But my strongest suggestion is to process this struggle in the presence of a priest or deacon. Call a nearby parish, tell them you’re exploring the Catholic Church, and set up an appointment.
 
I am a Catholic revert myself. When I first started going to Mass again, there were definitely some areas where I struggled with the Church’s teaching. However, I understood that it is God’s will that our faith not just be theoretical but that it impact how we live. We wouldn’t really need to know about God’s existence at all unless this knowledge was supposed to understand how we ought to be living. So, it made sense to me that if Jesus gave us a Church to teach us about God, that he would also give that Church the ability to guide us in understanding what God wants from us.

It has been a long journey for me, but I believe that the Catholic Church is the Church that Jesus gave us. I try to approach the individual teachings of the Church with the mindset that I want to believe what is true, even if the truth might not be what I want it to be at the moment. If I find myself at odds with the Church, I try to learn as much as I can about the issue so that, if the Church is right and I am wrong, I can hopefully be corrected.

Sometimes I’ll find that my understanding of Church teaching was incorrect and that what my preexisting beliefs were closer to Church teaching than I realized. Other times I’ve changed my mind. There are a few things I am still working through.
 
The just be a cafeteria catholic…seems to be a lot of those these days…
 
@annunciationbaby325

Anybody is welcome to attend Mass.

The Church is counter-cultural on a variety of subjects. You can learn more at RCIA (the process for becoming Catholic) and you don’t have to actually plan on becoming Catholic in order to participate in RCIA.

Peace.
 
You have to believe everything that the Catholic Church believes in order to remain Catholic. That includes the Church’s stance on abortion and same-sex “marriage”
 
I am simply an attendee of Holy Mother Church and her most Holy Spouse.
 
I do think you are on the right track, God will often speak to us through thoughts, dreams, and other people or situations. it’s happened to me many times as well. and I definitely needed those promptings to get where I needed to be

first and foremost, get to know and love God, without that, the other teachings will be difficult to understand.

as a catholic, your life will be eventually transformed, it will not happen overnight, it’s a long process, but if you embark on the journey, in the end you won’t regret it.

you are in my prayers
 
Imagine that you make a new friend, and they invite you over to their house for the first time. When you get there, everything seems just so right and cozy. The carpets are clean, the garden is blooming, and you just love the the curtains they picked out for the windows. You feel great being there, and your new friend is super-cool.

As you get to know your friend, you might discover that they have personal rules and habits that differ from your own. For example, they might take off their shoes when inside (that’s why the carpet is so clean) or they might talk to their plants because they think it helps them grow.

Now your friend, being super-cool, is always happy to have you over, and they don’t expect you to do everything exactly the same way they do. They’re just glad to have your around and maybe hope that you remember to take off your shoes.

But the funny thing is that after spending enough time with your friend, you may find yourself adopting their habits. Their habits, after all, are what created the home that you’ve felt so comfortable in.

And all of this is to say that no one, especially a friend, expects you to change all your beliefs when stepping foot into a new home. But if you stay long enough, and love that home enough, you may find not only your beliefs changing but yourself as well.
 
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It sure sounds like God is trying to get your attention. I’m 52 and was away from my faith for around 30 years before a demonic attack to my wife and I led me back and my wife into the Church. Before then I was a pick and choose Catholic, I never believed in all of what the Church professed. Why? I will tell you why… Pride!

I looked at the Church as a gathering place and not as what it truly is, the living Body of Christ. “I” wanted the Church to conform to my ideas, and if I disagreed with the Churches teachings, and I did, then too bad. Contraception felt right, being divorced felt right, a little pornography felt right, etc…all seemed minor until the demon attack. True story! After that night my (our) eyes were open with a different point of view.

When my rear (#*!) was that close to hell, real evil, trust me, I realized real quick how petty my ideas of right and wrong were. My wife and I cleaned house the day after, in more ways than one. We knew with a thousand percent certainty that what the secular world was telling us was ok and what the Church taught were total polars. Look at it this way, who influences the secular world? Satan. Now, who founded and influences the Church??? Christ.

As I found out the hard way, the Church does not exist to repress you, to bore you, or to restrain you. It exists for one reason, to lead you to salvation, eternal life. God invites us into His Church because He loves us, the least we can do is to listen to Him and try to see things through his perspective, such as that every life is sacred and that love should be holy.

Hey, I was at that same crossroads, the day before the attack, I didn’t want to give up my world views either. Life was good, real fun, so I thought. The day after the attack I gave up ALL of my worldly views. I never realized the bondage I was in until Christ set me free. You would not believe all the miracles now and how there is rest and peace in even the hardest circumstances in life. When we stopped believing in the world, sure we lost friends and gave up some really fun things. But all that has been replaced with God’s love and nothing can touch the grace of God!

Your dream was no accident, God is speaking to you, If today you hear His voice harden not your hearts. Fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. God can and will transform your wordly thinking. If He changed an old stubborn fool of a mule like me He can change anyone’s way of thinking.

I will be pulling for you and praying for you.

God bless,
Christopher
 
Maybe sometime you can tell us about your experience. It sounds intense.
 
Would love to share the story, it’s kind of a long one since things led up to it, then it happened twice in one night, followed by some pretty awesome miracles. You can request my email and i will send it to you if you would like.
 
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