Can I disagree with church teaching and still be considered a Catholic?
OMG - YES! We would be VERY hard-pressed to find anyone among us who does NOT struggle with the teachings of the church on at least one point (or two…or ten). Think of our own families. Do we believe every, single thing that our parents believe about raising children? Money? Social issues? Politics? Even about what being a follower of Jesus concretely looks like? I hope not, because that would mean we have stopped learning…stopped growing… So why would we expect our global family/church be any different? Why wouldn’t “the Body of Christ” reflect the growth and conflicts that are going on at our most local level; our own dinner tables?
The discovery of truth and God’s revelation is not a “once-and-for-all” kind of thing. It is ongoing, dynamic and therefore always changing - and change more often than not brings conflict with it. The courageous yet difficult path of “faithful dissent” is often an indispensible route to our communal journey to deeper and fuller truth.
Our Catholic doctrine changes and develops over time. Conflict is often essential to our growth. As witnessed in the bible (Gal 2) when Paul “opposed Peter to his face” because he was avoiding eating with gentiles. Paul said this was not in line with the Gospel and Peter heard him and changed his ways. This is a model of how conflict can lead to clarity.
“Doctrines are ideas, and ideas always change because they exist, not in books, but in people. Ideas change the way people change, according to their different experiences and the new insights and understanding that follow from those experiences.” (Cardinal Newman)
Pope Francis says “If we go out and encounter new people, cultures, and religions, we grow and begin that beautiful adventure called dialogue. Dialogue is the only way for individuals, families and societies to grow and progress. All wars, conflicts and troubles we encounter with each other are because of a lack of dialogue. Dialogue involves asking the other, ‘Why do you think this?’ and then listening to the response.” So honest, heartfelt, passionate, sometimes opposing dialogue is not optional for us….
One out of every 10 Catholics have left the church mostly because they feel that our leadership is unwilling to really listen to the experience of women, gays, divorced, remarried, or plain ol' married couples, etc. But, 1 Cor 12 reads: “You ARE the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it… there should be no division but all the parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it.” Welp, it’s pretty plain to see that the Body of Christ is suffering…limping…and it’s no doubt because we are missing some indispensable limbs! Our leaders need to recognize this reality and really listen…but they can’t if no one is talking.
One of our parishioners recently wrote a thoughtful and passionate letter to our Archbishop about how she thought it was morally wrong for priests to announce at weddings and funerals that “only Catholics in good standing” are permitted to receive communion. She thinks this is a blatant and painful violation of the unconditional love and inclusiveness that Jesus taught and ultimately died for. I wonder what would happen if all of us sat down and penned an honest letter to our bishop about what we think we Catholics are doing well - and maybe not so well - in our efforts to follow Jesus? Or maybe even write to Pope Francis - he seems to be listening! His address is: His Holiness, Pope Francis, Apostolic Palace, 00120 Vatican City.
As Sr. Joan Chittister always says, "If you're going to leave, don't leave quietly, And if you're going to stay, don't stay quietly!"
Send your "Crazy Catholic Questions" to dre@ctredeemer.org.
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