Spiritual Catholics?

[stbruderklaus]

Good morning, all.

I have heard a term bandied about over the last few years, which at first I thought was just an eccentricity… but am beginning to think the term has some official definition and standing by the frequency in which I seem to encounter it.

The term: “Spiritual Catholic”

The context: usually used by a person(s) who are not in full communion with the Roman Church, but who espouse nearly all Roman dogma, and have a particular affinity for the Roman communion while remaining in their own.

Is anyone out there familiar with this term, and it’s proper usage / application (if there is one)?

Cheers.

 

[paarsurrey]

Good morning, all.

I have heard a term bandied about over the last few years, which at first I thought was just an eccentricity… but am beginning to think the term has some official definition and standing by the frequency in which I seem to encounter it.

The term: “Spiritual Catholic”

The context: usually used by a person(s) who are not in full communion with the Roman Church, but who espouse nearly all Roman dogma, and have a particular affinity for the Roman communion while remaining in their own.

Is anyone out there familiar with this term, and it’s proper usage / application (if there is one)?

Cheers.

Hi

Well, I am not in fact familiar with such a term. Never heard or read about it here; but I thin it is flawed. May be “virtual catholic” or “catholic in the making” could be a better usage.

Thanks

 

[spoiltvictorian]

“Spiritual Catholic” is how a Catholic I know refers to herself. She doesn’t want to be associated with the “religious and dogmatic” parts of her Church.

 

[stbruderklaus]

I’ve witnessed similar usages.

I was becoming curious if, perhaps, this was a phrase inspired by post Vatican II papal pronouncements, or maybe inferences, that there are catholic Christians outside the Roman communion who are, by nature of their faith in Christ and baptism, united to the Roman Church, though imperfectly. Or, that catholicity as it pertains to particular Christians, can be defined in broader or narrower terms than a central submission to the Bishop of Rome (i.e., confession of the faith as pronounced in the first seven ecumenical councils, for example.)

Perhaps this phrase suggests that such a relationship exists, where there are Catholic Christians outside the Roman communion? As a very catholic minded Lutheran this sentiment rings true to me, but I would be curious whether or not Rome recognizes any other Christians as potentially authentically catholic, despite their lack of overt submission to the See of Rome.

Peace.

 

[Ahimsa]

Good morning, all.

I have heard a term bandied about over the last few years, which at first I thought was just an eccentricity… but am beginning to think the term has some official definition and standing by the frequency in which I seem to encounter it.

The term: “Spiritual Catholic”

The context: usually used by a person(s) who are not in full communion with the Roman Church, but who espouse nearly all Roman dogma, and have a particular affinity for the Roman communion while remaining in their own.

Is anyone out there familiar with this term, and it’s proper usage / application (if there is one)?

Cheers.

I might be called a “spiritual Catholic”, in that my espousal of Roman dogma is based on a “spiritual” interpretation of said dogma, while I am (currently) not “officially” under the Roman dispensation.

 

[MarcoPolo]

It sounds like a spiritual Catholic is someone who rejects all material aspects of the Church: i.e. hierarchy, effectiveness of the material side of sacraments, etc…
But I really can’t say for sure who is using this term in what context.

 

[stbruderklaus]

That was part of my problem, as well. I couldn’t tell if a handfull of individuals simply coined this term to reflect their own perceived condition, or if this was a more ubiquitous term that Roman Catholics used to describe folks outside their communion who were still very sympathetic to their cause.

For instance, Anglo-catholics and some high-church Lutherans accept all the physical aspects of the historic Church, and the dogmatic pronoucements of the first 7 or 8 centuries of the united Church, but are not under the authority of Rome. These folks tend to speak of themselves as catholics but not Roman catholics… but I don’t think this is the sense in which I’ve heard this term used previously / recently.

A closer tie within the Lutheran tradition, is the pejorative term “crypto-catholics.” This referred quite negatively to those within the Lutheran communion who had significant sympathies toward Rome, even longing for reunion. I think there were similar parallels with the Anglicans and the Oxford Movement.

Anyway, I’m still curious if this term “spiritual catholic” has any currency among Roman Catholics, since they seem to be a central focus of the folks who use the phrase.

Cheers.