(March 21, 2018 at 11:26 am)CapnAwesome Wrote: Really there is a lot of diversity in Catholic doctrine and in teachings between parishes, despite Catholic Lady liking to say 'Catholics believe this, or that' its really not that unified of a religion.
When I say "Catholics believe this or that" I'm referring to official Church teaching on faith and morals. The Church teaches, for example, that Jesus was conceived by the holy spirit. A person who is Catholic might reject that, but he is going against Catholic teaching by doing so. Likewise, the Church teaches that abortion is immoral. This doesn't mean there aren't plenty of Catholic people out there who think abortion is just dandy. But in doing so they are not adhering to official Church teaching on the matter.
That's why we have terms like "devout practicing Catholic" for those who actually adhere to Church teachings, and "cafeteria Catholics" for those who dont.
There are also grey areas, or areas where the Church has not officially spoken on. This is where Catholics may disagree without anyone going against Church teaching.
Anyway, a Catholic is free to either like or dislike the pope. Though that priest saying what he did publicly is pretty inappropriate.
"Of course, everyone will claim they respect someone who tries to speak the truth, but in reality, this is a rare quality. Most respect those who speak truths they agree with, and their respect for the speaking only extends as far as their realm of personal agreement. It is less common, almost to the point of becoming a saintly virtue, that someone truly respects and loves the truth seeker, even when their conclusions differ wildly."
-walsh
-walsh
