Does it make me a bad Catholic if I don't believe in Marian apparitions?

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I have nothing against them. I like the stories. Guadalupe, Lourdes, and Fatima are intriguing.
I however choose not to devote myself and beliefs to it. Do I not believe? I don’t know. There are some questionable circumstances behind all if the Appartitions. I feel like believing some teenagers about seeing an apparition is like believing Joseph Smith saw what he says he did.
I am not rejecting that it can’t be true. I however just choose not to acknowledge it much. We as Catholics do not have to believe in private revelation because it can’t add or subtract anything which was revealed through the Apostles with public revelation.

Does this make me a bad Catholic?
 
do you pray the Rosary at all?

we are not obligated to believe in the approved apparitions.

we are obligated to know the truths of Our Lady.
  1. Our lady is the mother of God
    2.Our Lady is the Immaculate Conception
  2. Our Lady is free from sin
  3. Our Lady is Queen of Heaven.
 
It’s not about the Apparitions. It’s about honoring the mother of God.
Don’t be one of those who are embarrassed when he asks you on the last day:

“hey! What was up with dissin my mama???” j/k

God bless you.
She loves you. She really does. 💕💕💕
 
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I don’t mind so much that people choose to not believe in a private revelation that the Church says they are not obligated to believe in.

But why do they feel a need to talk constantly about their unbelief? There are so many threads on this, it’s like “the lady doth protest too much.”
 
you are good to go! the rosary teaches us now to pray and allows us time to reflect on the life and ministry offJesus and the holy family
 
Does this make me a bad Catholic?
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It does not. The Church does not require us to believe in Apparitions, not even the ones the Church herself approves.
 
jas84173 said:
Does this make me a bad Catholic?
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No . . . you are not required to believe in any private revelations from or about Mary and aren’t a “bad” Catholic if you don’t. I don’t and also don’t worry about it.

You ARE required to honor the Theotokos – our Lord’s mother – and believe what the Church teaches about her.

🙏
 
jas84173 said:
I have nothing against them. I like the stories. Guadalupe, Lourdes, and Fatima are intriguing.
I however choose not to devote myself and beliefs to it. Do I not believe? I don’t know. There are some questionable circumstances behind all if the Appartitions. I feel like believing some teenagers about seeing an apparition is like believing Joseph Smith saw what he says he did.
I am not rejecting that it can’t be true. I however just choose not to acknowledge it much. We as Catholics do not have to believe in private revelation because it can’t add or subtract anything which was revealed through the Apostles with public revelation.

Does this make me a bad Catholic?
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We aren’t required to believe in private apparitions. However when the Church approves and declares feast days around certain approved apparitions, it’s good to put your personal scepticism aside.

 
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i’m not sure why you would ask this question

believe or don’t believe; it is not a requirement
 
Tis_Bearself said:
I don’t mind so much that people choose to not believe in a private revelation that the Church says they are not obligated to believe in.

But why do they feel a need to talk constantly about their unbelief? There are so many threads on this, it’s like “the lady doth protest too much.”
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So, in other words, you’re saying you can’t bear it? 🤔
 
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No, it doesn’t make you a bad Catholic. Catholics aren’t even obligated to believe in these apparitions. That being said, you are missing out on some good spirituality.
 
Roseeurekacross said:
we are not obligated to believe in the approved apparitions.

we are obligated to know the truths of Our Lady.

Our lady is the mother of God

2.Our Lady is the Immaculate Conception
Our Lady is free from sin
Our Lady is Queen of Heaven.
Click to expand...
also, perpetual virginity of Mary; and the Assumption

Re: private devotions: Think of them like church music. It should not be your main source of doctrine; it does not in any way come close to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, or Baptism, or any sacrament. Yes, it is possible for a few to overemphasize church music, to see Mass as a kind of concert where some religious activity also takes place.

That being said, music is a gentle background. The fact that it is optional does not mean you should quickly ignore it or dismiss it.
 
Roseeurekacross said:
do you pray the Rosary at all?

we are not obligated to believe in the approved apparitions.

we are obligated to know the truths of Our Lady.
  1. Our lady is the mother of God
    2.Our Lady is the Immaculate Conception
  2. Our Lady is free from sin
  3. Our Lady is Queen of Heaven.
Click to expand...
👏

Very true thnk u.
 
It’s a tad different as there are actual evidences for these miracles like Lourdes you have a spring that wasn’t previously there and it heals people.
Fatima you have thousands who were there when the miracle of the sun took place.
Guadalupe you have the Tilma which has numerous miraculous properties.

You are not required to believe them but I believe it is better if you do, for instance, still do the 5 Saturdays and say the Fatima prayer.
Even if you don’t believe in the apparitions why not do the 5 Saturdays? Are there still not so many offenses against the Blessed Mother of God?
Or of saying the Fatima prayer? Do we not have sins to be forgiven of? Do we not pray to be saved from the fires of Hell?
 
The question is a polemic that I’m not going to answer. i.e. “You are a bad Catholic” or “You are a good Catholic”.

There isn’t a need to know about any Marian apparition, since they are repeating & reinforcing public revelation. They don’t add or take away anything in terms of doctrine or official teaching. What was contained in Fatima? Prayer, damnation, salvation, penance, perseverance. It’s all just renewing what has already been taught since the Apostolic Age.

I would ask yourself why it is that you don’t believe in them. Is there an event or detail related to them that offends you? That might, objectively speaking, be a poor reason. Do you feel a lack of spiritual connection? That isn’t so strange, because as human beings, spirituality doesn’t necessarily come to us naturally. But, if something doesn’t click for us, that still doesn’t mean it can’t be cultivated.
 
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TK421 said:
What was contained in Fatima? Prayer, damnation, salvation, penance, perseverance. It’s all just renewing what has already been taught since the beginning.
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Yeah this is the thing about approved apparitions. They are pretty much just restating things that we should all be doing as Catholics anyway, all the time. It’s not like any of the approved ones have told us to do anything that odd. Therefore, I can’t figure out why people get so bothered by them.

If you don’t want to believe Mary appeared in a grotto or on a holm oak, fine, no one’s making you believe that…but you should be praying and doing penance anyway.
 
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