Tired of correcting ...?

[theistgal]

Yeah why are you guys so offended by this? It’s not an insult. Someone corrected me in this way for the first time and very brusquely and I am wondering why this particular mistake is considered such an insult.

No, of course it’s not an insult, and I agree that sometimes people can be overly zealous in making this correction.

You’ll be happy to know that whenever I hear the person who first corrected ME (my husband) use the word “mass” in ANY capacity (like for example, “things at work have reached critical mass”), I always interrupt and say, “You mean critical LITURGY!”

 

[Peter_J]

I don’t really make a habit of correcting people.

I think I can understand where you’re coming from … but I think that if we aren’t going to correct people who think that “church” and “rite” mean the same thing, and other such errors, then we need an alternate way of dealing with the problem.

 

[Zekariya]

I am tired of…

1. Poster: “The Church teaches x.”
2. Zekariya: “Actually the Eastern Churches teach y. What you mean is that the Latin/Western Church teaches x.”
3. Poster: “You are incorrect. The Catholic Church teaches that y is wrong.”
4. Zekariya: “You mean the ‘Latin’ Catholic Church. The East has its own traditions/teachings and the West has its own traditions. You are speaking of a Western tradition/teaching.”

5. Poster: “The [name] forum is for Latin Catholic traditions/teachings.”
6. Zekariya: “No, the Traditional Catholicism forum is for Latin Catholic traditions/teachings. This forum is open to all sui iuris Churches. What you have stated is not the teachin g of the Church but, rather, the teaching of the ‘Latin’ Church.”

Repeat the posts 5 and 6 indefinitely.

 

[Peter_J]

I would add (if it hasn’t already been said before now) that I’m tired of “I read Blank on CAF, so therefore Blank must be the Catholic position.”

 

[Zekariya]

I would add (if it hasn’t already been said before now) that I’m tired of “I read Blank on CAF, so therefore Blank must be the Catholic position.”

And… “The CAF Apologist said it. It is, therefore, the teaching of the Catholic Church. You can’t post something contrary since you are not a CAF Apologist.”

 

[Aramis]

My most recent issue is an ex-Latin…

He doesn’t get that he broke communion with Rome when he was chrismated into the Antiochian Orthodox Church…

… while still holding office in the KofC…

And doesn’t grasp that I am still Catholic, in communion with Rome, and his parish isn’t.

 

[Peter_J]

He doesn’t get that he broke communion with Rome when he was chrismated into the Antiochian Orthodox Church…

… while still holding office in the KofC…

I’m no expert on the K of C, but that’s ^^ pretty weird.

 

[Aramis]

I’m no expert on the K of C, but that’s ^^ pretty weird.

Weird enough that I notified supreme.

 

[neokarny]

My most recent issue is an ex-Latin…

He doesn’t get that he broke communion with Rome when he was chrismated into the Antiochian Orthodox Church…

… while still holding office in the KofC…

And doesn’t grasp that I am still Catholic, in communion with Rome, and his parish isn’t.

If he didn’t realize something seemingly so basic, why did he even get chrismated to begin with?

 

[WetCatechumen]

Eastern Catholics, do you ever say to yourself “I’m tired of correcting people who say Blank. Maybe I should just stop trying.”? And, if so, what is Blank? (Note: Latin Catholics are also welcome to respond, as long as it’s something relevant to ECism.)

For example:

1. “22 Eastern Catholic Rites” (which should be “22 Eastern Catholic Churches”). That’s definitely #1 for me.
2. “Eastern-Rite Catholic” (actually, I’m not sure if that one is technically incorrect, but most of us prefer to be called “Eastern-]-Rite/-] Catholics”)

For me, I get sick of when people call the Church the Roman Catholic Church.

I always point out, 'I go to a Ruthenian Catholic church, not Roman."

 

[neokarny]

For me, I get sick of when people call the Church the Roman Catholic Church.

I always point out, 'I go to a Ruthenian Catholic church, not Roman."

I think this shows how terminology gets confusing.

The Latin Church is majority Roman in Rite, but it is not usually referred to as the “Roman Church” AFAIK. So it seems accurate to describe the entire communion of Catholic Churches as “Roman Catholic” because of the aforementioned, as well as 1) their universal foundation in communion with the See of Rome, and 2) the Bishop of Rome alone having universal ordinary jurisdiction etc.

Now obviously if the context is different, then the terminology used changes…

 

[TimothyH]

I will never grow tired of correcting people in my Roman Catholic parish when they comment about the odd looking yet beautiful “Rosary” with a tassel wrapped around my left forearm.

I just felt like saying that.

-Tim-

 

[Zekariya]

I think this shows how terminology gets confusing.

The Latin Church is majority Roman in Rite, but it is not usually referred to as the “Roman Church” AFAIK. So it seems accurate to describe the entire communion of Catholic Churches as “Roman Catholic” because of the aforementioned, as well as 1) their universal foundation in communion with the See of Rome, and 2) the Bishop of Rome alone having universal ordinary jurisdiction etc.

Now obviously if the context is different, then the terminology used changes…

The Council of Florence among others refers to the Roman Church, the Greek Church, etc.

 

[Peter_J]

I think this shows how terminology gets confusing.

The Latin Church is majority Roman in Rite, but it is not usually referred to as the “Roman Church” AFAIK. So it seems accurate to describe the entire communion of Catholic Churches as “Roman Catholic” because of the aforementioned, as well as 1) their universal foundation in communion with the See of Rome, and 2) the Bishop of Rome alone having universal ordinary jurisdiction etc.

Now obviously if the context is different, then the terminology used changes…

I for one strongly prefer if people say “the Roman Communion”, and not “the Roman Church”, if they mean everyone in communion with Rome.

 

[Peter_J]

If he didn’t realize something seemingly so basic, why did he even get chrismated to begin with?

Based on a lot of experience, I get the impression that there are many people, some Catholic and some Orthodox, who feel that they know better than both the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church.

Of course, I can’t say whether that’s true of the person in question. My point is that behavior like his no longer surprises me very much.

 

[Peter_J]

I think I can understand where you’re coming from … but I think that if we aren’t going to correct people who think that “church” and “rite” mean the same thing, and other such errors, then we need an alternate way of dealing with the problem.

If nobody minds (or even if you do ) I’m going to “tack on” a side question to the OP-question.

I can see how, in the process of trying to inform people about the difference between a church and a rite (and other such distinctions) it’s possible to come across as the “Byzantine Correctness police” as it were (or the “Syriac Correctness police” or whatever the case may be ). With that in mind, does anyone have suggestions for avoiding coming across that way – other than the obvious advice of just keeping one’s mouth shut (which is, sometimes, certainly the best advice )?

 

[CompSciGuy]

Is it possible that you guys are too easily offended?

 

[Peter_J]

Is it possible that you guys are too easily offended?

Yes.

 

[MorEphrem]

Is it possible that you guys are too easily offended?

Perhaps it’s less “us guys” and more so human nature. I’ve seen Latins swarm and explode when someone says something contrary to Latin praxis .

 

[RyanBlack]

Is it possible that you guys are too easily offended?

Is it also possible that we have historically been treated in such a contemptuous manner that it perfectly understandable that we are quick to take offense? Is it also possible that we still, from time time, are treated as if we’re not really Catholics, and that our liturgical and theological traditions are inferior, if not illegitimate?