Tuesday, March 31, 2009

On Being A Catholic Expert

There has been a lively increase in recent times in people who purport to know what the Catholic Church is all about, what they should believe, and how they should go about conducting their business.

So many experts to choose from -- except they're not. Not Catholic, that is. That would sorta disqualify them from having an expert opinion on the matter, or so you would think.

We have people weighing in from all quarters on what Catholics should do about:
  1. Who should receive honors (Notre Dame scandal)
  2. Who should receive communion (pro-abort politicians)
  3. Who is in or out of the club (SSPX / Holocaust deniers)
  4. What Catholics sexual/moral teaching should be (condoms)
  5. Who should run the parish and Dioceses (Connecticut anti-Catholic legislation)
  6. Who can be a priest (Wymen priests)
... and a whole bunch more.

Although in a free society everyone is entitled to their own opinion, outsiders shouldn't make the mistake of thinking they are experts on the internals of things Catholic. A number of our own members are poorly enough catechized as it is; we really don't need self-appointed experts muddying the waters with their ignorant bombast. Even the few outsiders who have taken the time to educate themselves need to take a back seat when it comes to being Catholic.

So many secular pundits are trying to divide the Catholic world into right/left politics. Meanwhile, social radicals and schismatics who wear the label Catholic have taken up the call to "modernize" the Church into its politically correct analog, then complain when they find out they have thrown themselves out of the club.

Pretty soon only the adults will be left to carry on the conversation. We have our own way of doing things, our own beliefs. Outsiders (and those who have placed themselves outside of the Church) can like it or not -- but it's not a voting matter. The only ones who can say what it means to be authentically Catholic and live authentic Catholic lives are -- surprise -- the Catholics.

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