A Cafeteria Catholic ???

Let's all get over ourselves, shall we?

Whoa!  I haven’t heard that phrase for a while!  And for me it’s not a very happy return. To my mind, this phrase has never been particularly helpful.

Way back when – maybe 50+ years ago  -  it was spoken to me by my Dad when I complained about not liking a particular teaching of the Church - probably why we had to go to Mass every Sunday, or why we had to eat fish on Fridays. Catholicism, I was told, was an all-or-nothing proposition.  You couldn’t pick and choose which Church teachings you wanted to follow, and which you wanted to skip.  Either you were in or out, and believe me, he said, you didn’t want to be out!  

This old-time Catholic term is having a moment, apparently.  I heard it mentioned in an interview with Cardinal Wilton Gregory, the Archbishop of Washington, DC, and I read about it in a recent article in the National Catholic Register.  

Cardinal Gregory mentioned the phrase specifically in relation to President Joe Biden, pointing out the inconsistency of Biden professing himself a faithful, practicing Catholic, while backing abortion rights for women as President of the United States.  The implication was that “real” Catholics must be against abortion, not only privately, but publicly and politically.  

But it turns out that Cafeteria Catholicism is not just a problem from our past, and although Cardinal Gregory would like it to be, not just an issue with troublesome Democrat Catholic politicians. 

In a May 7, 2024 article in The National Catholic Register, New Study Suggests Rampant Cafeteria Catholicism, writer Peter Pinedo quotes a statistic from Ryan Burge, noted researcher on religious trends in America, that says that only 0.9% of self-identifying Catholics agree with the Church’s position against abortion and capital punishment (the death penalty) and euthanasia (assisted suicide).  You read that right - less than one percent of self-identifying Catholics!

You can read the article if you want the specifics. The “what” of this statement is of less interest to me than the “why.”

Just as Americans seem woefully uneducated (or maybe I should say mis-educated) about the American Constitution, so American Catholics seem woefully uneducated or miseducated regarding Catholic moral teaching.  Since (human) nature hates a vacuum, people and groups with various agendas (mostly political) are happy to fill the void.  It’s a problem only made more serious by social media and search engines that are designed to confirm our biases.

One thing that gives me hope?  The acknowledgement of the seriousness of this issue by Synod on Synodality participants.  In their report at the end of the first session of meetings in October of 2023, they recommended that Catholic education on all levels - from priests in seminary, to adults in pews, to children in religious education programs - needs to be updated, made more accessible, and clearer.  If Catholic Education stops at the age of 10 or 13, or even younger, the world will be more than happy to fill in the gaps. 

Maybe the Catholic Church will get its act together with regard to better teaching its important tenets. I hope so.   At least it acknowledges it has a problem.  America, not so much.  It remains willfully blind.  And plenty of groups seem to be fine with that.

P. S. :  Pope Francis recently added fuel to this Cafeteria Catholic fire when he pointed out that both candidates for the American Presidency are against the Catholic Church’s moral teaching on the life and dignity of the human person:  Donald Trump for attacking immigrants and refugees, and Kamala Harris for maintaining legal access to abortion. 

For me voting is a political act, a vote I make as an American citizen to preserve our democratic form of government. A moral act is the way I choose to love, or not love, the person standing in front of me.  Even if we are on different sides of political issues.

I guess that tells you how I’m going to vote.  So be it.