What is Authentic Catholicism?
Fair question! 100 years ago, most Catholics knew what it meant to be Catholic. Today though, we have many different types and flavors of Catholicism. We don’t all agree on what it means to be Catholic. Here are just a few examples:
Cultural Catholics - Baptized Catholics that rarely attend mass.
Pro-choice Catholics - Catholics who openly disagree with the Church’s teachings on life.
Cafeteria Catholics - Catholics that attend mass regularly, but consistently, and obstinately disobey church teachings on faith and morals.
Radical Traditional Latin Mass Catholics - Catholics who believe that the Latin mass is the only true mass, and that Vatican II was an illigitamate council.
And the list goes on and on. The obvious result is division. So what is an Authentic Catholic? Isn’t that just another divisive division?
No, and here’s why: Authentic Catholicism goes to the heart of what it means to be Catholic. In John 14:15, Jesus states: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” An Authentic Catholic is one who strives to live, love, and follow all the commands, or more specifically, the doctrines of the Catholic Church.
Jesus also states in MT 28: 19-20, “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you.” Here Jesus tells his apostles to literally make the world Catholic through baptism, and to teach them to observe His commandments. Hence, make them Authentic Catholics.
All of these commandments can be found fullfilled in the Doctrines of the Catholic Church - Her beautiful teachings on faith and morals. So when a baptized Catholic strives to follow all the Doctrines of the Catholic Church, he or she is striving to be an Authentic Catholic. The Authentic Catholic lives, loves, and follows all the Doctrines of the Catholic Church. Now nobody is perfect. We all sin. In reality, all of us fall short of true Authentic Catholicism whenever we sin. But that is why we have the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and the Mass for the forgiveness of sins. We should always be striving to be Authentically Catholic. Remember our Lord said in Mt 5: 48, “So be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
The Vision of Authentic Catholicism, does create some division. But division is not a bad thing in its proper place and context. Jesus states in Mt. 10: 34-36,
“Do not think that I have come to bring peace upon the earth. I have come to bring not peace but the sword. For I have come to set a man ‘against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and one’s enemies will be those of his household.”
The reality is, living and following the Doctrines of the Catholic Church in today’s modern culture is divisive in and of itself. So let’s call a spade a spade and be honest with ourselves: we are called to be divisive in some areas. Some of the most divisive people of the Catholic Church are now saints and martyrs.
On the flip side, within the Church itself, Authentic Catholicism actually breaks down division. As long as a Catholic is living and following the Doctrines of the Catholic Church, there is no need for division. Therefore, It doesn’t matter if you are a Charasmatic Catholic, Novus Order Mass attending Catholic, or a Latin Mass attending Catholic, as long as you are truly following the doctrines of the Church. Authentic Catholicism actually breaks down, and ends division.