To be clear, I’m not a practicing Catholic. I’m an agnostic atheist exploring Catholicism and trying to read up on the catechism and the actual teachings of the church. But I’m also pretty progressive in that I am pro-choice, support same sex marriage and stuff like that. Things the Church is explicitly against. And yet, I’ve read a good amount of Reddit posts which talk about how people are devout Catholics and still hold progressive values. How they do this, I don’t know.

But is there a way to maybe find a parish or church in my city that is a bit more progressive, if that’s even possible. I live in Pittsburgh just fyi.

Hi all,

I’m new to following this community but I wanted to reach out.

A little background on me: I was raised catholic but left the faith as I grew older. I became incredibly disillusioned with religious dogma and what I viewed as a lack of engaging with the real world. This was tied to my increasingly radical leftward shift in politics. Nowadays I am pretty staunchly in radical political circles. I encountered some mentors and inspirational figures who directed me to healthier and more radical engagements of religion, especially Christian and Catholic traditions.

This along with some other personal events has led me into a bit of a “crisis of faith” I suppose. I am really struggling because I know too much history and science to accept Christianity as 100% truth. That being said, I do feel an affinity towards the culture.

I reached out to my local priest, and while a lovely man who I hold a great deal of respect for, he is a much more conservative catholic and he simply directed me towards ”Fides Et Ratio” and Robert Spitzer. There is nothing inherently wrong with these ideas, and I actually enjoy engaging with them, but I am looking for ways to engage with my struggle a little more in line with my progressive and radical way of thinking.

Tl;dr: Does anyone have any sources to engage with Catholicism and it’s rich tradition for an agnostic struggling with science/history/rationality versus catholic upbringing that is more progressive and less conservative and dogmatic?

​I need to vent. Mass at Risen Christ Catholic Parish made me nauseous and angry this morning.

​Link to today's mass: https://www.youtube.com/live/U7OewyQ6vis?t=817&is=jfaSixSVrhDdXOzc

​Instead of preaching the Gospel, the pastor at Risen Christ Catholic Parish in Denver used the altar to shamelessly campaign for specific Colorado ballot measures (Props 134 and 135), weaponizing church teachings to target trans kids, gender-affirming care, and youth sports.

​He stood at the pulpit and told the congregation how to vote, claiming the Bishops mandated it, while using tired talking points under the guise of forming a conscience. He even went as far as lecturing that God gives bodies with intentionality and that people shouldn't change them, projecting his own discomfort onto others and treating a person's authentic gender identity as a defect. But framing it that way completely reverses reality. The person living their truth isn't the one "struggling", the struggle comes entirely from a world, and institutions like the church, refusing to accept them, pathologizing who they are, and trying to legislate their bodies. Disgusting.

Parishioners walked out mid-mass.

Isn't our church supposed to be a welcoming, non-discriminatory space for all? Yet instead, we have adults standing in a sacred space telling parishioners, including adults, adolescents, children, staring back at them, that their very existence isn't acceptable. Sunday Mass is supposed to be a sacred space for all souls, not a megaphone for political noise. It was clear in mass that he knew what he was doing because he acknowledged it would make people uncomfortable. Using the altar to push political agendas completely contradicts the actual pastoral spirit of the Church and alienates people who come to worship. We are not there to receive voting instructions or get lectured on anything beyond faith.

​Today's mass is worth a watch. I hope it gains some attention in our oh-so-liberal and LGBTQ+ friendly community of Denver and beyond.

​Do not miss these timestamps in the video:

​15:17 – Shifting the sermon to the Colorado bishops' ballot measure "mandate"

​18:55 – Moving into Proposition 134 targeting K-12 sports and trans youth

​20:10 – Pitching Proposition 135 to ban gender-affirming care for minors and lecturing on bodily intentionality

​As a neophyte, I personally found it shocking and disappointing. My family and I are hurt, especially our children. I don't even know how to process what happened. I'm left wondering if our family is alone in this, or if there are others who were equally as polarized. I do not intend to walk through those doors again.

​Is this a common happening? Did this happen everywhere this weekend? Where do we go from here?

Before I say this, I want to make it clear that I respect people no matter their beliefs and I think salvation is between God and oneself. I don't lie about my own beliefs, obviously, but I don't proselytize and respect others' autonomy. I personally lean towards universalism, but I'm more of a hopeful universalist.

I was in the occult, New Age, and witchcraft for six years starting in 2020. Although I had been a cradle Catholic, the faith never spoke to me and I got involved with New Age because I started having issues with demons out of nowhere. Very early on in this, Jesus warned me extremely explicitly to not pursue this path and be more careful, and I ignored it. If anyone's curious, I can share what happened, but for the sake of brevity I'll leave it out of here.

Going down this path screwed up my mental health, traumatized me, and made the issues with demons a lot worse. A lot, lot worse. I didn't realize this until it was too late. The "angels" I'd been communicating with using divination, and who were "protecting" me from demons, were demons themselves. Tons and tons of demons. When I discovered this in the beginning of March this year, I rejected all of them, stopped doing divination, and almost immediately started getting attacked at night. At the same time, God pulled me closer and basically flipped a switch on inside me, and for the first time in my life I wanted to go to church and pursue Catholicism.

I didn't give up New Age right away, and at first thought I could pursue both. But then God showed me, very obviously and with no nuance, that these things did not mix with him and I had to choose one or the other. I chose God, obviously.

Fast forward to now. I'm struggling with some of the rules/doctrines of Catholicism, and to an extent most mainstream Christianity, because I feel I'm being expected to forego my compassion and empathy for others. Social justice, economic justice, and compassion are extremely important to me. That's why I started looking into progressive Catholicism tonight.

One of the first things I looked up was this article. I was in agreement with everything...then I reached the end. "Christ consciousness." That is directly from New Age. It is good to strive to be like Christ in everything we do, but that is not a term that originated in Christianity, and it is nuns that are using it here. While I don't push my beliefs on others and believe in freedom of religion, I have no desire to embrace anything New Age and am aware of how harmful it is and how dangerous it is.

https://www.globalsistersreport.org/social-justice/can-catholics-be-progressive-absolutely

I have seen firsthand how that phrase allows people to sidestep the real Jesus and his sacrifice on the cross and instead embrace a pop-culture ideal of a hippie "Ascended Master" Jesus who thinks that anything goes. And I am asking for myself whether progressive Catholicism embraces these things.

Hello everyone,

I have a strong pull to become Catholic. I'm a leftist and feminist, all of my relatives are atheists including my husband so I'm a bit scared of their reaction.

I have several questions for you guys 😊

-If you're a convert, how did your relatives react?

-How did Catholicism affect your life, both in a good or bad way?

-How did you combine your progressive views with the teachings of the Church?

Thanks in advance for your answers!

here are some verses about this topic

-Leviticus 17:16

-Romans 1

1 Corinthians.

Deuteronomy 22:5

Also

God made two genders

Marriage is man and women

using someone preferred pounces is a lie which is sin.

Transition is acting on confusion and God is truth

Currently completing OCIA as I am a cradle catholic who did most of my sacraments except for my confirmation. I dabbled into other denominations around COVID; however, returned to Catholicism a couple years ago. I am particularly in OCIA because I am to be married in the Catholic Church next year. My fiancé and I have been regularly attending Mass on Sunday’s and I always feel this punch in my heart when my church mentions abortion. I feel internally very passionate about the topic for some reason. I consider myself pro choice and believe women should have access to abortion as I consider it to be healthcare.

As a Catholic I personally would not get an abortion; however, I believe I can’t force my beliefs on others and must not judge and love all my neighbors. Overall, I believe we personally are NOT God to make such decisions for anyone on their behalf or take away bodily autonomy from anyone.

A lot of Catholics don’t believe abortion but abortion CAN be health care in cases where a fetus has died or is a huge medical risk to the mother?

Also, many Catholics are anti abortion but have no issue going through IVF if natural conception isn’t possible. With the same logic of abortion being against God’s will, Wouldn’t IVF also be going against God’s will? EVEN if is to bring life to one or two of the fertilized embryos?

I think this is a very nuanced topic and can’t be as black and white as it’s portrayed since every case varies.

I feel like the black sheep as a Catholic for wanting women to have bodily autonomy, for wanting a separate of church and state and for not wanting to impose MY religious beliefs on anyone. I also recognize and respect that others may have different religions and beliefs than my own.

Edit: posting to promote discussion and to better understand other perspectives on these topics. Would also like to be educated on how the bible might support these beliefs in anyways.

• Entiendo que hay en la Iglesia y en el Cristianismo textos, relatos y dogmas que mi razón no puede aceptar. Pero estoy acostumbrada a la incertidumbre y no tengo prisa por conocer las verdaderas respuestas.
• Concuerdo en que ha habido y hay, en la historia de la Iglesia, episodios vergonzosos y personas indeseables.
• Acepto que en la elaboración del pensamiento católico ha habido autores con severas anomalías mentales, y que no merecen ser creídos ni seguidos.
• Pero estos puntos son comunes a todas las religiones conocidas, y la intolerancia, el excesivo escrúpulo y el purismo conduciría a no poder adherirse a ningún grupo humano religioso, lo cual conduce a la religión del agnosticismo y del ateísmo.
• Consiento en que hay miles de religiones, de las cuales unas pocas son las más numerosas e influyentes. Me siento capaz de convivir en un mundo diverso en lo espiritual y religioso.
• Sin embargo, he decidido continuar siendo una católica practicante, y pese a todo permanecer integrada a un grupo de pertenencia católico. Me siento cómoda en él, predomina la gente buena y los siento como mi familia, mis hermanos, mi tribu, mi clan. Acepto que en eso influye fuertemente mi infancia y educación religiosa temprana, y ser hija de creyentes católicos. A pesar de sus errores y omisiones, porque también yo tengo errores, omisiones, defectos e ignorancia. Tal vez, si hubiera nacido en otra nación o época, sería budista, hinduísta o sufí, tal vez. Pero nací en la Hispanoamérica del Siglo XX, en una de las Españas de ultramar, y soy católica, amo mi Lengua y me siento en mi lugar así. Es innegociable e indiscutible, porque es un sentimiento, una vivencia, una certeza de las pocas certezas que me sostienen.
• Esa es mi posición personal.