Although this thread has ( like all vital threads ) moved on from it’s OP, I haven’t had much to offer to it lately. happyheathen’s last post does make me ask a question, and it’s meant without malice in any way. I’ve never heard the word before, is all.
I understand a lapsed Catholic, lapsed Jew ( I’m one of those…), etc. “Ex” is self-explanatory. What do you mean by a “cafeteria” Catholic??
That would be a Catholic who orders their faith a la carte instead of taking the full, sit-down meal. “I’ll take a serving of celibate priests, with a few Stations of the Cross, but hold the ban on birth control and can I get just a little bit of that Purgatory?”
This is one of the reasons that I originally lapsed. Rather than cheapen the faith of my mother, I decided that if I was going to disagree on the gay thing and the sex thing in general, I should probably just not be Catholic anymore. It’s also why I won’t just go up and take Communion when I do go to church with my family. Yeah, it’s just a piece of bread as far as I’m concerned, but I have enough respect for my mother’s and brother’s belief in its Jesusness that I won’t treat it like just bread.
jayjay
Cafeteria Catholic: You pick and choose those things of the catholic faith you want to adhere to, and leave out those things you don’t want.
You might want to post that query in IMHO to get a more involved discussion going. Might fit GD criteria also.
Where do you come up with these things? I seriously doubt that the Pope was thought to be the Second Coming of Christ at any time in the Church’s history. There has never been Catholic doctrine requiring worship of the Pope. There has never been a “the Pope is really Jesus!” movement. It’s certainly never been an article of faith. And the Curia today (and most likely throughout the history of the Church) would, far from not being happy about someone not holding this belief, consider it heresy and false teaching.
The word ‘Vicar’ has a very specific meaning, well beyond “Agent”.
The question of whether the Pope is “standing in” for Christ is a central issue for the RCC, as I understand it.
It is a topic on which a spectrum of opinion exists - could this be considered a “litmus test” for orthodoxy?
Thank you. Live and learn. 