But wait a minute doesn’t that doctrine change? I mean already Pope Benedict had recently created some wiggle room for people in Africa on the issue of contraception. Who is to say that more wiggle room will be created to accomodate another group being affected by not being able to use contraception?There is no wiggle room on doctrine. As a Catholic in good standing with the Church you can not have views on contraception, abortion, marriage etc that deviate from the Church’s teaching
I think you may have misunderstood what he said/wrote. Please reference your source.But wait a minute doesn’t that doctrine change? ** I mean already Pope Benedict had recently created some wiggle room for people in Africa on the issue of contraception.** Who is to say that more wiggle room will be created to accomodate another group being affected by not being able to use contraception?
As far as the teachings on contraception go they are not mere disciplines, but consistent magisterial teaching, dating back to the Didache of the 1st century i believe, and accordingly, whether you believe it or not, there is no wiggle room on them. Since that is the only concrete example you gave, it is the only one we can speak to.
Another example: In the past there were no female altar servers. Liberal catholics may have wanted female altar servers. Conservative catholics did not. Neither view was wrong.So far nobody has answered my question, but only skirted around the issue. Maybe it is because there is no such wiggle room. I do not believe this. There are many things that the Church has no stance on. Some things are a matter of discipline. Maybe a liberal catholic would prefer priests to be able to marry. They respect the authority of the Church, but hope that this discipline might be changed in the future. If they hope that women can be priests then it is not liberal, but heterodox or heretical, etc. These were the kind of examples I was looking for.
There may be disagreements on matters of discipline and practice, never on matters of faith, morals, doctrine, or dogma.Another example: In the past there were no female altar servers. Liberal catholics may have wanted female altar servers. Conservative catholics did not. Neither view was wrong.
Another example: Catholics may have different opinions on liturgical customs.
In the original post I explicitly stated that I was not talking about people who disagree with dogma or doctrine. I am not a liberal catholic but am trying to see things from their perspective. We are obviously not all robots who think 100% the same. The basics we must agree on to be orthodox–I am trying to find out where the points of disagreement may be.
Socially, we are quite conservative in terms of doing good for others…I think our new Pope Francis is a good indication of what we ideally should be: personally conservative – living a chaste, simple, and spiritual life – but socially quite liberal in terms of doing good for others (and supporting gov programs that do good for others).
It’s very pitiful that in such a very rich country we cannot find it in our hearts to help others.
The reason why “liberals” want female altar servers is that that position is the entry path to a female priesthood. And by creating an artificial shortage of priests, the “liberals” hoped to increase the strength of the argument for ordination of women.Another example: In the past there were no female altar servers. Liberal catholics may have wanted female altar servers. Conservative catholics did not. Neither view was wrong.
Another example: Catholics may have different opinions on liturgical customs.
In the original post I explicitly stated that I was not talking about people who disagree with dogma or doctrine. I am not a liberal catholic but am trying to see things from their perspective. We are obviously not all robots who think 100% the same. The basics we must agree on to be orthodox–I am trying to find out where the points of disagreement may be.
I concur with this analysis. This pretty much sums of the description of liberal Catholics, at least in the U.S.The term “Liberal Catholic” is many times associated with the phrase “Cafeteria Catholic”.
These people tend to want to pick and choose which dogmas and rules of the church they wish to observe. This goes anywhere from not attending Mass on a regular basis to espousing Civil Divorce, Abortion, Contraception, Gay Marriage, and Women Priests. In their error, they actually believe they are Catholics in good standing.
Other Liberal Catholics are those who were born to non practicing Catholic parents, yet were Baptized in the Church, but were never Catachized to any great extent. Most of these people consider themselves as Catholics, even though they attend Mass only on the Holidays,
I would say the term “Liberal Catholic” precludes those who are practicing Catholics in full recognition of the Faith.
If one is truely a Practicing Catholic, one is educated in their faith and is orthodox in their beliefs and practices. This, in itself would preclude their being political liberal, unless you are using the term liberal in place of tolerant.