Are you a Cafeteria Catholic?

By Charles Muchiri

Retail Roman Catholics: They choose what not to consume.

I have a close buddy of mine who is as staunch as the term can get when it comes to matters of faith, his Roman Catholic faith.

Recently though, he told me something that left me a little bewildered. He confessed to me, that every time the Church liturgical Choir directs the worshipers to sing a Marian song; He goes mum.

And that’s not all. According to his confession, his prayer menu does not include any Marian prayers; Like Hail Mary, Hail Holy Queen, name them.

So, during communal prayers, and especially during Holy Mass, he just automatically switches off every time there is a Marian Prayer being recited.

I didn’t have to ask him about his view on the Holy Rosary or the Litanies because I guessed that the answer would be as automatic as his negative impulse to anything Mary!

Suffice it to say; this Roman Catholic isn’t comfortable at all with the Mariology Doctrine.

Funny enough, he doesn’t have issues with any other Doctrine of the Church; and he opts to stay put in the Roman Catholic Church, despite the fact that he can as well opt out and into another denomination that doesn’t have the Marian Dogma in its menu.

Retail consumption

Interesting as it may be; welcome to the world of Cafeteria Catholics: Christians who choose to consume the Doctrines of their faith in retail other than in wholesale manner.

These are Catholics who may as well be referred to as liberal or even heretical Catholics.

And there are as many dissenting issues as the Church’s Doctrine is packed.

There are those who do not subscribe to the Magisterium (teachings) of the Church on various issues including: abortion, divorce, birth control, masturbation, premarital sex… name them!

One reason; according to me, why a Roman Catholic may decide to go the dissecting way with this or that particular article on the Church’s Doctrines is purely out of the formation that the Roman Catholic Christians get.

Without a doubt, most Roman Catholics are introduced to the Doctrines of the Church by a Catechist.

And a Catechist can be as deep in his or her faith, as it can get or be as shallow as it is practically possible!

Here in Kenya for example, Catechist have to go through a particular formation before they are allowed to take up the role of forming the faithful; in most cases, the new-coming faithful.

Formation Centers like the St Augustine’s Catechists’ Training Centre in Nyeri always come in handy.

But in the old, Catechetical formation wasn’t an issue that would be so stringently observed.

And even today; there are two main issues that come to mind.

Stop-gap-solution Catechists

One; due to a low number of individuals who opt to take up the role of Catechists, the (African) Roman Catholic Church finds itself, many times over, having to deal with big numbers of Catechumen against a single Catechist or two.

This obviously translates that either the Catechumen aren’t given quality formation. And in order to try and bring some balance to the equation, the Church often finds itself seeking to have Volunteer Teachers. Call them stop-gap-solution Catechists, if you like; who come in to mitigate against the demand.

This is another loop hole that means a shallow, formation that may as well fall short of the standards.

Two; there are some Catechists who may be in there, not as a result of a genuine call, but for money. Just like any other job that may be available. And this can be a very sad issue, which doesn’t need much expounding for you to perceive its pitfalls!

All said, let’s face it; there may be lots of half-baked Roman Catholics in our midsts!

That is; if all the Roman Catholics went through similar Catechetical formation as I went through. Most of it was geared towards passing the final test that was to be placed by the Parish Priest.

So, we did lots of poetry; lots of cramming, just so that we may not end up spending a 4th year at it!

And there is a little sad end right there; most of the Christians wouldn’t give a damn about Catechetical books right after their Catechism class is qualified to go line up for the Sacrament of Confirmation. And that is where we have the difference.

So, the little that we manage to grab off the mouth of a tough talking Catechist, is what we carry through-out our Christian lives, with no apologies to make, whatsoever, for our devastating ignorance of our faith!

As a result, what would you expect of a Roman Catholic who went through a formal Confirmation Sacrament process; just for the sake of going though it; and through the hands of a Catechist who was either strained by the numbers or was himself or herself not so immersed in what they were delivering?

Finally, there are those Roman Catholics who are choosy on the particular Doctrines they follow, not because they are not informed but because they feel like it’s their right to choose what to follow.

About those, I really get lost as to why they just don’t opt to seek some denomination; somewhere out there, which fits well with their hand-picked dogmas. I really do!

 (E-mail this writer: muchirimuchoki@yahoo.com)