On his web page the Catholic Wise Guy proclaims himself a “Traditional Catholic (TC).” This means, he adds, that he believes in “traditional Catholic theology and morality.” To further understand Traditional Catholic thinking, the Wise Guy advises the reader to pick up the Catechism of the Catholic Church for details.
The Catholic Wise Guy believes his readers want a deeper understanding of “Traditional Catholicism,” so here goes.
Why is the phrase “Traditional Catholic” even necessary? One might think all Catholics believe what the Church teaches, but alas, that is not the case. Romans Catholicism is far from monolithic; like most religious bodies, it is divided into factions and groups, some of which disagree with fundamental teachings.
Modern writers both Catholic and secular employ different words to describe the factions. Many attempt to transplant political terms to religious soil. Two common ones are “Conservative” and “Liberal.” Their use in the political world often muddies the waters of discourse; they clarify even less in the religious world. The Wise Guy considers these terms useless for his purposes.
Even more useless is the word “Progressive.” The proponents of “progressiveness” claim to believe in “progress” and imply their opponents do not. This type of self-righteousness is laughable. And dangerous.
The Wise Guy narrowed his word choices down to “Orthodox” and “Traditional.” The problem with “Orthodox” is that one of the primary Christian groups calls itself “Orthodox,” so to avoid confusion the Wise Guy decided “Traditional” best fit his purpose.
So, what does a “Traditional Catholic” believe?
So, what does a “Traditional Catholic” believe? And how does he live? The best, clearest, and most reliable source in delineating traditional Catholicism is the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Many Christians ask – especially my Protestant brothers and sisters – why the Wise Guy is not turning to The Bible. Isn’t that our foundational document? Shouldn’t that be our primary source for beliefs, practices, and morality? The Bible is a source of belief and practice, theology, and morality for all Christians; for many Christians, it is the only source. However, the Bible does not interpret itself and over the centuries different interpretations of The Bible have led to thousands upon thousands of Christian denominations and significantly different theologies and rules of Christian behavior.
In the mid-20th century C.S. Lewis wrote Mere Christianity, a Christian classic that identified core beliefs and practices across thousands of Christian denominations – Catholic and Protestant alike. However, less than 75 years later the Christian “consensus” has collapsed.
Under the leadership of Pope John Paul II, the Catholic Church, torn by internal factions and attacked from without (nothing new here), issued the Catechism of the Catholic Church in 1994 to proclaim clearly Catholic beliefs and practices. The Catholic Wise Guy considers the Catechism a magnificent gift from the Holy Spirit, an example of the Spirit of Truth guiding us to all truth as Jesus promised it would. (Jn 16:13)
The Wise Guy believes, however, that parts 1 and 3 are critical to understanding what he means by “Traditional Catholic.”
The Catechism consists of four parts:
1 The Profession of Faith
2 The Celebration of the Christian Mystery
3 Life in Christ
4 Christian Prayer.
All parts are essential in Catholic belief and practice. The Wise Guy believes, however, that parts 1 and 3 are critical to understanding what he means by “Traditional Catholic.” “The Profession of Faith” describes what we believe and “Life in Christ” depicts how we should live.
The Wise Guy offers a clarification on understanding the “Life in Christ.” People across the world admire the lofty morality of Jesus Christ and His Church. However, a frequent criticism throughout the centuries has been that Christians and their leaders do not follow the teachings. Many call Christians hypocrites.
This criticism is valid. Christians do not consistently live up to the teachings of the Lord. Most of us spend a lifetime trying to become a better and truer disciple of the Lord. But failure to follow a teaching you believe in is completely different from ignoring, denying, or attacking that teaching. This is where Traditional Catholics differ from Non-Traditional Catholics (NTC): the TCs continue to believe in the teachings and try to follow them, despite occasional failures. The Non-TCs deny the validity of the teachings and make no attempt to follow them.
The Wise Guy closes by saying he offers no judgment on the Non-Traditional Catholic. Some – many(?) – may be closer to the Lord than he is.
The meager merit of the Wise Guy consists in believing in the Lord and His Church and attempting to climb the hilly rocky narrow path laid out for us. He invites you to join him.