What does in mean to be Catholic?

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As the culture continues downward, and more than half of Catholics today claim they don’t follow traditional moral church teachings of faith, family and tradition, I thought I’d pose the question “what does it mean to be Catholic”?

And, my second question is: “should a catholic be a Christian first and a catholic second, or a Catholic first and Christian second?
 
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The typical Catholic answer is that it is not either/or but both/and to the last question. We are equally Christian and Catholic. One can’t be separated from the other.
 
Sadly, you’re right about the first part. I read saw a video once that that a Catholic is someone who interprets Matthew 16:18 literally. A Catholic would be a Christian who believes that Jesus wanted Peter to literally build His Church on earth, and therefore follows the Catechism and Church teachings.
 
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Yes it is sad what is happening around us, but let us not focus on that but on our own relationship with God. Do not follow the herd but follow the truth.
 
Walk-worthy said:
As the culture continues downward, and more than half of Catholics today claim they don’t follow traditional moral church teachings of faith, family and tradition, I thought I’d pose the question “what does it mean to be Catholic”?
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If it’s true that half of today’s Catholics don’t faithfully follow the tenets then that half would answer differently to this question. They might say that they have taken it upon themselves to relax the rules so to speak.

I’m sure that God has not relaxed the rules so that night leave them in a somewhat precarious position eventually.

If it’s true that half have not abandoned their faith in the way you suggest then their answer would very different and they would conform to what it has always been to be a faithful Catholic, along the lines of what you have suggested In your question. Obedience to the Church and the Catechism, attending religious days of obligation and the Lords day and participation in the sacraments. Frequent prayer and the practise of charity with good will towards all. And so much more…
 
Why do you people think is this happening too much in these days? For me is important.
 
When someone quotes a statistic about “Catholics”, they need to follow up with a clear definition of whom they are speaking.

In the mid 1950’s, Mass attendance was somewhere between 60% and 70%. It has gradually been going downhill since then to somewhere between 23 and 25% (source, CARA).

So if someone says today 50% of Catholics don’t follow the moral teaching of the Church, we need to see if the 50% they are speaking about are those attending Mass regularly (which 50% would actually be about 10 to 12% of all Catholics), or anyone who self-identifies as Catholic (which includes the @75% who don’t attend Mass regularly.

Another statistic is the one trotted out about how many Catholics follow Humanae Vitae (often cited as 20%), so it is again debatable as to who exactly we are talking about.

Then we can slice up the demographics further, to those who were well catechized (those born well prior to Vatican 2) and those, perhaps, being catechized post 1990 when catechesis, at least in some areas, took a turn for the better.

The short of it is that we have a lot of people who were baptized but no longer practicing, and many of them if not the great majority of them were never catechized much beyond a pablum goo of loving one another (without any clear definition of what “love"means”).

To answer the OP: To be Catholic means following the Magisterium. To be fully Catholic is to be fully Christian; the two are not separable
 
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The word Catholic literally translates to the word Universal.

We are THE Universal Church of Christianity.

The earliest Christians were call the Holy Catholic Church until a group of Christians split away creating the Eastern Orthodox Church.
 
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you’r referring to the East-West schism of 1050! When you read the history of that time you might find, as I discovered, that the 11th century was the beginning of a great upheaval which eventually led to the reformation.
 
The short answer is we are living in a fallen world. The believer shouldn’t worry about this world, but the next.
 
With respect, I regard myself as Christian and do not use the terms interchangeably. It’s just how I prefer it.
 
With respect, that is your preference, but your personal preference for use of the term does not change the fact that Catholics are Christians, and like I said, were the original Christians.

We need to make this very clear as there are certain sects of Protestants who contend that Catholics are not Christians or are somehow different from Christians.

Your personal use of the term also simply muddies the water for anyone engaging in discussion using the generally accepted use of the term. Being a Catholic does not somehow make one un-Christian, so it is impossible to logically answer your question. Every Christian principle is embraced by the Catholic faith, and can and should be fully lived out as a Catholic.
 
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Perhaps you’re right. I don’t want to muddy the waters. The terms are and should be unquestionably bound together. But, as the church lurches more and more to the left, I find I’m more comfortable identifying as Christian, a believer in Christ.
 
“What does it mean to be Catholic?”

Good question, seems like the entire Church herself is asking the same thing these days.
 
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