Stop Labeling Catholics

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I consider a Catholic but if asked to describe myself I’d say I’m a moderate to progressive Catholic.

I am absolutely not a “traditional” Catholic, I am just Catholic. I care deeply about social justice and mercy more than prayer and tradition. But I do care about prayer and tradition also just not as much 😀
 
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phil19034 said:
In my view, (when looking at Generation X and younger) the truly conservative Catholics typically go to Mass regularly, while the liberal Catholics, libertarian Catholics, & neo-con Catholics do not typically attend Mass on a regular basis.
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I go to mass daily, kneel on the floor because we got no kneelers, go to weekly adoration, lead a Rosary and pro-life group, and wear a crucifix and miraculous medal all the time. I am 20YO.

I am not a “conservative” or “traditional” Catholic.
 
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I agree with most of what you said except when it comes to the Eastern/Western distinction. Identifying as Eastern or Western tells us what “lung” of the Church you belong to, to use a St. Pope John Paul II analogy, and how you worship rather than your personal ideology which is what traditional, liberal, etc. tells us.

I wish more people knew about the other “lung”, because it always amazes me to hear Catholics talk about the “good old days when the entire Catholic world celebrated the old Latin Mass” and their shock when they hear that in fact, a lot of that entire Catholic world celebrated in their vernacular and had for done so for centuries and it wasn’t the Tridentine Mass.
 
GospelOfMatthew said:
I go to mass daily, kneel on the floor because we got no kneelers, go to weekly adoration, lead a Rosary and pro-life group, and wear a crucifix and miraculous medal all the time. I am 20YO.

I am not a “conservative” or “traditional” Catholic
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To be fair, he’s talking about trends, not saying it applies to literally every individual.

Although I agree generally that we shouldn’t subdivide and label each other.
 
The Roman Catholic and Eastern Catholic traditions are equal and needed. Just as you note, JPII refers to them as the lungs of the Church. One cannot live without the other
 
Youngling11 said:
Traditional Catholic, Progressive Catholic, Conservative/Liberal Catholic, Western Catholic, Eastern Catholic, Feminist Catholic
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🎶
Two of these things are not like the others ,
Two of these things just doesn’t belong,
Can you tell which things are not like the others
By the time I finish my song?
🎶
 
I prefer to be labeled. We are not the same. And labels help us identify what we are.
 
I’m with you. I’m Catholic that definition is complete enough for me. The Church Fathers didn’t say you must have that liberal Catholic Faith. They said that true faith is Catholic.
 
ioannes_pius said:
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GospelOfMatthew:
I care deeply about social justice and mercy more than prayer and tradition.
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Sorry, what? Does that not concern you?
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Doesn’t concern me much, either. Well, maybe the prayer part does.

As for labels, the only label I’d ever used for myself is Roman.
 
And who is to say “liberal Catholic Faith” isn’t True Faith. All types of Catholics and for that matter all believers praise and glory God in their own ways. This is what matters
 
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More and more it seems the division is Catholic or liberal but I’ll gladly label myself to make a distinction from liberals who identify as Catholic especially since the liberal left political party lays waste to the life teachings of Jesus as depicted in the five (now six…infanticide) Catholic non negotiables.
 
Depends on the liberal, since they could be going against Catholic doctrine.
 
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Kolbe1 said:
I agree that there is only one type of Catholic. The Catholic who hold to the faith; any one who rejects the faith, pure and simple is not Catholic.
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Anyone who is baptized Catholic remains Catholic.
 
It’s a label and completely useless in this case. Catholic means universal. By definition the Catholic faith already encompasses your addition of the word liberal. As for a need to distinguish yourself, there are various orders to do so. Liberal Catholic doesn’t make a lick of sense to me or conservative Catholic for that matter. Just acknowledges those who seek to divide themselves.
 
Hoosier-Daddy said:
I prefer to be labeled. We are not the same. And labels help us identify what we are.
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That’s fine to an extent, but I think it can easily lead us astray when we use labels to make snap judgements about a whole person.

For example, I have friends who are devoutly Catholic, go to Bible studies, make holy hours at a perpetual adoration chapel at least once a week, are extremely pro-life, etc. Yet they still aren’t convinced that gay marriage is wrong or that women can’t be priests. What “label” applies to them?

If someone decides, “Well, I’m going to label you heterodox” or “progressive” or “not really Catholic”, that’s going to totally short-circuit any progress being made as they gradually learn and come to embrace all the Church’s teachings. The are works in progress as are we all.
 
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But those labels help us understand others. A progressive Catholic might not agree with me or the church about say homosexual issues or married clergy or a host of other things but they are probably strong on social justice issues. When I’m writing a post on the boards or discussing things in person I have no problem saying I’m a traditional homeschooling stay at home dad. It helps with understanding perspectives in conversations. Also it tells about my perspectives.
 
Sure. It can serve as a shortcut to getting people up to speed on where we are generally at.

My point is that not everyone falls into the same neat little boxes. So if we use a label prematurely, we start to make assumptions about people that may not apply. That can hinder more than it helps.

I used to call myself “traditional” until I came across people who seem to think it must mean I prefer the EF to the OF, prefer the Baltimore Catechism to the CCC, and have an innate distrust of Vatican II.
 
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