Does a Catholic have to believe in all Catholic teaching?

[Abira]

I ask the above question because since I have been reading about Catholicism and speaking to people when I find out they are Catholics I have come across some issues.

I understood that a person had to be in full communion with the Catholic church before taking communion or being Catholic…slightly different to the protestant communion which hopes that the act of communion will bring us all together…
Basically I have met some Catholics that do not agree with all Catholic teaching and I wondered how this can be.

How far can they differ before they should not call themselves Catholic?

I can give examples if you like but I’ll keep the question simple for now.

thanks , S

 

[jmcrae]

Ian MacLean (SecretAgentMan) once wrote that there is no such thing as “a Catholic” - rather, we are 1.2 billion people who are on various stages of a journey to becoming Catholic; a journey whose destination will only be found in Heaven.

That having been said, someone who deliberately rebels against the teachings of the Church ought not to be receiving Holy Communion until after he has made a good Confession and repented of his rebellious ways. In the mean time, he can certainly continue to call himself a Catholic - he’s just not a very good Catholic. But none of us is perfect, and we all have areas that we need to be working on, in order to become perfect.

I hope that helps.

 

[Mannyfit75]

I ask the above question because since I have been reading about Catholicism and speaking to people when I find out they are Catholics I have come across some issues.

I understood that a person had to be in full communion with the Catholic church before taking communion or being Catholic…slightly different to the protestant communion which hopes that the act of communion will bring us all together…
Basically I have met some Catholics that do not agree with all Catholic teaching and I wondered how this can be.

How far can they differ before they should not call themselves Catholic?

I can give examples if you like but I’ll keep the question simple for now.

thanks , S

Yes. They do.

Apologetics 101 by John Martignoni

If you want to call yourself Catholic, but you want to pick and choose for yourself which of the Church’s teachings to accept and which to reject, you give everyone else who calls themselves Catholic the right to do the same thing.

For example, you believe women should be priests…in the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1577 states, “Only a baptized man validly receives ordination…For this reason the ordination of women is not possible!” You don’t believe that…well, that’s fine…[RIP] just tear that page out of your Catechism…you just made it a Catechism of your Catholic Church…not mine.

But remember, if you can throw doctrines out, so can everyone else who calls themselves Catholic. That gives Joe Parishioner over at St. Doubting Thomas Catholic Church the right to throw out the Church’s social justice teachings…he doesn’t feel like feeding the hungry, caring for the poor, and all that other “bleeding heart” stuff - Paragraphs 2401 -2463 [RIP]…he just made it a Catechism of his Catholic Church…not mine and not yours.

You believe contraception is okay? Paragraph 2370 says contraception is intrinsically evil! [RIP] Joe Parishioner doesn’t like what the Church teaches on the death penalty - Paragraphs 2266-2267[RIP]. You don’t like what it teaches on pages 55-60 [RIP]. He doesn’t like what it teaches on pages 128-140 [RIP]

Can you see what’s happening? I heard it said once that there is a shortage of vocations to the priesthood in the United States, but no shortage of vocations to the Papacy! If we don’t believe in all of it, if we each appoint ourselves Pope and throw out a doctrine here or a doctrine there, then our faith is no longer Catholic.

If you don’t believe, you might as well call yourself a hyprocrite.

 

[Abira]

ok this difference of opinion is what confuses me…

these people, one a priest, the other a Catholic. Both nice people, I connected with them very well…but I couldn’t distinguish between them and protestantism.

person one believes that all faiths are true. That there is no one true faith and that all are one but interpreted through different cultures.

person two believes that priests will marry and that one day women will be priests. He didn’t believe in intercession…as it’s something that troubles me and I asked about it…

these are just some of the things which confused me…

even as a protestant I have a hard time accepting that someone could think that all faiths are true and that there is not a true faith in Christianity…let alone a true faith solely in Catholicism

 

[awalt]

There are some things we are not required to agree on, such as interpretations of the Bible that the Church has not commented on, Latin Mass vs. vernacular, etc. But any Church teaching per the Magisterium we are required to agree with - check the CCC as a good guide. Now sinning against those beliefs is a different matter but atonement from sin requires us to truly resolve not to want to sin again (vs. "yeah I “agree”, but I sin against it, and I will forever…)

 

[Mannyfit75]

ok this difference of opinion is what confuses me…

these people, one a priest, the other a Catholic. Both nice people, I connected with them very well…but I couldn’t distinguish between them and protestantism.

person one believes that all faiths are true. That there is no one true faith and that all are one but interpreted through different cultures.

person two believes that priests will marry and that one day women will be priests. He didn’t believe in intercession…as it’s something that troubles me and I asked about it…

these are just some of the things which confused me…

even as a protestant I have a hard time accepting that someone could think that all faiths are true and that there is not a true faith in Christianity…let alone a true faith solely in Catholicism

Catholics who do not agree with the Teachings on morality, and other issues are often called Caferia Catholics. They pick what they believe to be acceptible but reject all the rest. They are hyprocrites, and sadly call themselves Catholics.

They are not even practicing Catholics, or go to Church. I have meet many Catholics who are caferia, and I think they are the hardest to evangelicize within the faith.

This is common amongst most American Catholics. There are only a few devote Catholics who have no issues with the Church.

The priest has no authority, but he is to remain loyal to the bishop. The bishop loyality is to the Cardinal, and the Cardinal loyality to the Pope.

They ought to adhere to the teachings of the Catholic Church defined in the Magisterium, which is clearly stated in the Catholic Catechism.

 

[Church_Militant]

ok this difference of opinion is what confuses me…

these people, one a priest, the other a Catholic. Both nice people, I connected with them very well…but I couldn’t distinguish between them and protestantism.

If this is so then you really need to study your faith more…because that will make the differences quite evident.

 

[Mannyfit75]

If this is so then you really need to study your faith more…because that will make the differences quite evident.

Caferia Catholics are pseudo-Protestants in my opinion.

 

[jmcrae]

Person one believes that all faiths are true. That there is no one true faith and that all are one but interpreted through different cultures.

It’s true that all religions have some elements of truth in them, but it would be wrong to suggest that all religions are equally true.

person two believes that priests will marry and that one day women will be priests.

It’s possible that some day there might be more married priests than we have now (there are some, even right now) but it isn’t possible for there ever to be women priests.

He didn’t believe in intercession…as it’s something that troubles me and I asked about it.

What did you mean by “intercession?” It’s hard to imagine not believing in intercession; we all intercede for one another in prayer, after all. I don’t think it’s possible to be any kind of a Christian without praying for other people at least some of the time, and without asking other people to pray for us, too.

 

[Abira]

If this is so then you really need to study your faith more…because that will make the differences quite evident.

lol…militant i’m protestant…so that’s why i’m asking questions.

what I mean is that if Catholics can protest if you like against church teaching…then what is the difference between these Catholics and a protestant.

I’m in the process of learning more not just about mine but about other peoples aswell… so you really need to be a little less flipant lol. I thought a Catholic forum might be a good place to start with a Cathlolic question!!

 

[Other_Eric]

To be in full communion with the Church and to be in a state fit to receive Christ in the Eucharist requires nothing less than 100% submission to all teachings. The slightest doubt on even the smallest teaching jeopardizes the soul.

 

[Trevelyan]

This is what the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches:

(CCC, Part Three, Section Two, Ch. 1, Article1
I. “YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD AND HIM ONLY SHALL YOU SERVE”
…
Faith

2087 Our moral life has its source in faith in God who reveals his love to us. St. Paul speaks of the “obedience of faith” as our first obligation. He shows that “ignorance of God” is the principle and explanation of all moral deviations. Our duty toward God is to believe in him and to bear witness to him.

2088 The first commandment requires us to nourish and protect our faith with prudence and vigilance, and to reject everything that is opposed to it. There are various ways of sinning against faith:

Voluntary doubt about the faith disregards or refuses to hold as true what God has revealed and the Church proposes for belief. Involuntary doubt refers to hesitation in believing, difficulty in overcoming objections connected with the faith, or also anxiety aroused by its obscurity. If deliberately cultivated doubt can lead to spiritual blindness.

2089* Incredulity *is the neglect of revealed truth or the willful refusal to assent to it. “Heresy is the obstinate post-baptismal denial of some truth which must be believed with divine and catholic faith, or it is likewise an obstinate doubt concerning the same; apostasy is the total repudiation of the Christian faith; schism is the refusal of submission to the Roman Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him.” [Code of Canon Law, can. 751: emphasis added.]

And all Catholics are bound by the Church’s Canon Law, insofar as it pertains to them. Canon 750 teaches:

Canon 750 – § 1. Those things are to be believed by divine and catholic faith which are contained in the word of God as it has been written or handed down by tradition, that is, in the single deposit of faith entrusted to the Church, and which are at the same time proposed as divinely revealed either by the solemn Magisterium of the Church, or by its ordinary and universal Magisterium, which in fact is manifested by the common adherence of Christ’s faithful under the guidance of the sacred Magisterium. All are therefore bound to avoid any contrary doctrines.

§ 2. Furthermore, each and everything set forth definitively by the Magisterium of the Church regarding teaching on faith and morals must be firmly accepted and held; namely, those things required for the holy keeping and faithful exposition of the deposit of faith; therefore, anyone who rejects propositions which are to be held definitively sets himself against the teaching of the Catholic Church.

So if we want to do God’s will and keep his commandments, we must hold all things taught by the Magisterium. However, jmcrae is right, a person who ‘sets himself against the teaching of the Catholic Church’ (and has not been excommunicated) may still be considered a Catholic, BUT (I would add) - as the Vatican II document Lumen Gentium says - ‘He remains indeed in the bosom of the Church, but, as it were, only in a “bodily” manner and not “in his heart.”’
(The sentiment that we are all ‘becoming Catholic’ shouldn’t be exaggerated - practically speaking it is not true that there is no such thing as ‘a Catholic’.)

Lumen Gentium 14:
They are fully incorporated in the society of the Church who, possessing the Spirit of Christ accept her entire system and all the means of salvation given to her, and are united with her as part of her visible bodily structure and through her with Christ, who rules her through the Supreme Pontiff and the bishops. The bonds which bind men to the Church in a visible way are profession of faith, the sacraments, and ecclesiastical government and communion. He is not saved, however, who, though part of the body of the Church, does not persevere in charity. He remains indeed in the bosom of the Church, but, as it were, only in a “bodily” manner and not “in his heart.”(12*) All the Church’s children should remember that their exalted status is to be attributed not to their own merits but to the special grace of Christ. If they fail moreover to respond to that grace in thought, word and deed, not only shall they not be saved but they will be the more severely judged.(13*) [emphasis added]

 

[jmcrae]

To be in full communion with the Church and to be in a state fit to receive Christ in the Eucharist requires nothing less than 100% submission to all teachings. The slightest doubt on even the smallest teaching jeopardizes the soul.

What we need is to give assent to “all that the Church teaches me” whether we understand it (or even know about it) or not. This means that although we don’t know everything, if we are told “The Church teaches …” then we are to give our assent and obedience to that teaching.

Otherwise, we would be unable to allow seven year olds (or even the majority of those who complete RCIA) to receive Holy Communion.

 

[Abira]

What did you mean by “intercession?” It’s hard to imagine not believing in intercession; we all intercede for one another in prayer, after all. I don’t think it’s possible to be any kind of a Christian without praying for other people at least some of the time, and without asking other people to pray for us, too.

intercession…as in he doesn’t pray to or through saints etc etc… I didn’t ask about intercession with living people as that’s not an issue for me … it’s a learning curve

S x

 

[jmcrae]

intercession…as in he doesn’t pray to or through saints etc etc… I didn’t ask about intercession with living people as that’s not an issue for me

Oh, I see. Well, God is the God of the living, as you know. The Saints are with God, and as such are even more alive than you and I, right now. I think it’s okay to ask them to pray for us, since they are right up there, sitting right next to God.

… it’s a learning curve

Always - I don’t think we will ever run out of new things to learn about God and His Church.

 

[Incense_Baby]

lol…militant i’m protestant…so that’s why i’m asking questions.

what I mean is that if Catholics can protest if you like against church teaching…then what is the difference between these Catholics and a protestant.

I’m in the process of learning more not just about mine but about other peoples aswell… so you really need to be a little less flipant lol. I thought a Catholic forum might be a good place to start with a Cathlolic question!!

The first poster summarized it best. Catholics can never know all there is to know of Catholic theology. And there are no conservative or liberal Catholics either. There are only Catholics who are faithful to what they know, and Catholics who reject what they know is taught.

 

[Gene_Church]

Thank you Abira for your concern on this important issue.

 

[sing]

I am a Catholic who does not believe all that the Church teaches. I have struggled with it, but I cannot force myself to believe anything that I disagree with. I have prayed about it, cried about it, talked to countless priests, and in the end, all that I can do is know that God sees my heart, and knows that I am trying my best to be faithful to Him. But while I do not believe all that the Church teaches, I try my best to follow all the rules, which, of course, no one can fully succeed in, because we are all human and imperfect.

 

[Mannyfit75]

I am a Catholic who does not believe all that the Church teaches. I have struggled with it, but I cannot force myself to believe anything that I disagree with. I have prayed about it, cried about it, talked to countless priests, and in the end, all that I can do is know that God sees my heart, and knows that I am trying my best to be faithful to Him. But while I do not believe all that the Church teaches, I try my best to follow all the rules, which, of course, no one can fully succeed in, because we are all human and imperfect.

Have you read the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the Bible?

I recommend fellow Catholics who are new at this to read both.

I must ask you one important question.

As a Catholic, do you believe that Jesus Christ is Truly Present Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Blessed Sacrament, or do you believe the Blessed Sacrament as Symbolic?

 

[DeFide]

I am a Catholic who does not believe all that the Church teaches. I have struggled with it, but I cannot force myself to believe anything that I disagree with. I have prayed about it, cried about it, talked to countless priests, and in the end, all that I can do is know that God sees my heart, and knows that I am trying my best to be faithful to Him. But while I do not believe all that the Church teaches, I try my best to follow all the rules, which, of course, no one can fully succeed in, because we are all human and imperfect.

Imagine you were following Jesus, knowing him to be God, and he had a hard-to-accept teaching (and he did). Now, if you say, “I refuse to accept this”, you are really saying that you know better than God, and are putting yourself above God.

This is similar to your relationship to the Church Christ established and vested with teaching authority. Manny made a good suggestion to read the Catechism, and I would also add that you might want to read the tract library at Catholic.com and browse throught back issues of This Rock magazine.

Start here:
catholic.com/library/church_papacy.asp
catholic.com/library/scripture_tradition.asp