How should we deal with Catholics who are badly mistaken about matters of Catholic tradition?

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You make very good points, Michael and ‘obeying by default’ is a good approach for a Catholic to have. But no, I think my dialogue with Magdalenarita comes under discussion rather than fighting.

Someone posted some statistics regarding Catholics in either this or another thread. Can’t remember. But it is obvious that out there in the world there are many people that identify as Catholic but are not ‘obeying by default’. I find that oft repeated mantra of traditionalists that not all Church teaching is authoritative or that some is not as authoritative as others, to be a dangerous and ‘badly mistaken’ position to promote.
 
Emeraldlady said:
I find that oft repeated mantra of traditionalists that not all Church teaching is authoritative or that some is not as authoritative as others, to be a dangerous and ‘badly mistaken’ position to promote.
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Michael16 said:
some is authoritative and some aren’t thing
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I think maybe the issue is more of wording. It is not that all Church teaching is authoritative or not but that not all Church documents carry the same weight of authority.
 
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Thank you, @Emeraldlady 😁

I think it’s horrifying that there are so many cultural Catholics and that these folks may be also cafeteria Catholics who pick and choose what to believe. If I remember right, I’ve heard Fr Larry Richards discuss them.

As for the Trads and they’re some is authoritative and some aren’t thing: That sounds disturbingly Protestant to me and contradicts the whole Traditionalist Catholic position as I understand it.

That’s why I’m a conservative Catholic.
 
@MagdalenaRita,

I see your point. How can we be sure which is which?
 
Michael16 said:
I see your point. How can we be sure which is which?
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So, I just grabbed a couple websites here but from what I understand when writing documents the popes state what each document is and many times how he would like it to be considered and who is to consider what it says.



 
Thanks, @MagdalenaRita.

My next question is: If in doubt; do I go to my priest? Sorry if this is a stupid question.
 
Michael16 said:
My next question is: If in doubt; do I go to my priest? Sorry if this is a stupid question.
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It’s not a stupid question. Yes, you can certainly ask your priest or bishop or solid Catholic websites or catechisms. EWTN has a very good show with Father Pacwa called Scripture and Tradition where he explains Church teaching from both the catechism and the Scripture.
 
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Okay, @MagdalenaRita.

For me, the default go tos are:

1: The Bible

2: Catechism

3: Father
 
Michael16 said:
Okay, @MagdalenaRita.

For me, the default go tos are:

1: The Bible

2: Catechism

3: Father
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@Michael16

Please go to your priest and study your catechism. When you go to the Bible first, you’re preparing the way to once again become your own pope, and you told us that you’d left that type of understanding behind around four years ago. Please don’t go back to it. I’m NOT saying that you shouldn’t read the Bible. I’m saying don’t go there first. Read the verses referenced in the catechism, and join or form a Bible study group under the auspices of your priest. Use a Catholic-approved Bible and study guide. Best wishes!
 
Point taken, @Minks. Thanks.

So, basically reverse the list. Gotcha.

Actually, my Bible is a blessed RSV-CE and I have a blessed copy of the Second Edition Catechism from the official Latin text into English, promulgated by Pope Saint John Paul II.
 
Michael16 said:
So, basically reverse the list. Gotcha.
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Not necessarily. I think that both your list, and then “reversing it”, are over-simplifications.

You many not have heard that the Catholic Church teaches that the primary guide is one’s own conscience, “the aboriginal Vicar of Christ”.
Conscience is a law of the mind; yet [Christians] would not grant that it is nothing more; I mean that it was not a dictate, nor conveyed the notion of responsibility, of duty, of a threat and a promise. . . . [Conscience] is a messenger of him, who, both in nature and in grace, speaks to us behind a veil, and teaches and rules us by his representatives. Conscience is the aboriginal Vicar of Christ.50
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John Henry Newman, as cited in the CCC #1788

I suggest you read the whole section. It’s fundamental and is not long.
 
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