Can you be liberal and catholic

It is "here comes everybody. My correspondent reduced the rich life of the Catholic faith to a set of propositions, as if Catholicism was an intellectual enterprise. It is such an enterprise, to be sure, but it is also so much more than that. And we are not Protestant, because we believe being Catholic is about belonging to a church, not because we were born in a time and place where the Bible was readily available.

The final item was found on Twitter. University of Virginia theologian Nichole Flores posted a wonderful thread about hearing a sermon at Mass that made her want to walk out, but she didn't. Trying to grow as a Catholic. I heard a homily this morning that would have sent me running for the hills or another parish five years ago. In fact, the same priest did give a homily that sent me running for another parish five years ago. She explains her decision, noting, "The disagreement made me pause, listen, and pray instead of needing to assert, fight, and win.

Maybe it was because I am so acutely aware of my need for Jesus right now, and how much it exceeds my need to be right. Then Flores said something I hope all Catholics, left, right or center, will feel in their bones:. Also, I have decided that I am not ceding the Church to anyone. I am a devout, daily mass going, Rosary saying, Guadalupe devotee Catholic, whether secular or Catholic!

I am not giving up my pew or my place. Amen, amen, I say. No priest, no bishop and no bishops' conference can force us out of this church. We all need each other as Catholics because the teachings of the church are always developing. Catholics live in real time with real challenges. Liberals must challenge conservatives and vice-versa. Each generation brings with it a new set of questions to ask of the ancient verities. The verities remain, but if they are to remain alive, they will change and develop.

Only dead things do not change. A century or two hence, Spiritualism may be a tradition and Socialism may be a tradition and Christian Science may be a tradition. But Catholicism will not be a tradition. It will still be a nuisance and a new and dangerous thing. That is why we liberal Catholics never went away and never could go away. The Holy Spirit is at work in every human heart, liberal hearts and conservative hearts, among extroverts and introverts, beckoning the cautious and the carefree.

Case in point, my recent post about the National Coalition of American Nuns. I found it interesting that an established group of progressive nuns, whose work has in the past received coverage by the New York Times and the National Catholic Reporter , announces their support for contraceptive access under the Affordable Care Act and receives virtually no media coverage.

Yet when the Little Sisters of the Poor, an obscure order of nuns who run nursing homes, filed suit against the contraception mandate, it was front page news around the country.

When 24 nuns signed a statement that was printed in the New York Times in saying that there was a diversity of Catholic opinion on abortion, the Vatican hounded them until 22 recanted and the other two resigned.

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Tags: None. Issue: November 21 , Vol. More From: James P. This article is from the November 21 issue. Log in. November 21 More from this Issue. Now it sneaks out when I least expect it. It was one thing after another, after another, after another…. The Nonsense of Liberal Catholics.