The Fundamental Question.

There is an article in Life Site News concerning Speaker Nancy Pelosi's recent interview with Eleanor Cliff where Pelosi defends her views on abortion and homosexuality as being consistent with Catholic teaching.

It matters not to Pelosi that her Archbishop (and several other Bishops) tell her that her understanding of Catholic teaching is seriously flawed and filled with error. Like far too many people, she believes herself to be a faithful, practicing Catholic while ignoring what the Church has to say on a wide variety of issues.

The list is staggering; from abortion, to gay "marriage" to women in the priesthood, Left leaning Catholics will, on the one hand, tell us of their deep and abiding faith and then regale us with a number of "church errors".

Unfortunately, this cafeteria style Catholicism isn't limited to the Left. The Right can be just as guilty in picking and choosing what to accept or reject. For every liberal Catholic who attempts to justify abortion, there is a conservative attempting to justify capital punishment.
Those otherwise conservative Catholic who do not follow the Church's teaching on artificial contraceptives number in the millions.

It really boils down to one fundamental question.
Is the Catholic Church the one true, Holy and Apostolic Church as founded by Christ? Naturally, if you don't believe it is, then claiming to be a Catholic is an absurdity beyond words. If you do not believe the Catholic Church is Christ's true Church, then calling yourself Catholic is to live a lie.

On the other hand, if you do accept the Church as Christ's Church, it behooves you to take a second look at those areas where you are in disagreement with the Church - be it abortion, birth control, capital punishment or immigration. This includes your views on divorce, or war or women priests.

Many will argue that to do this is to give up our free will and blindly allow someone else to tell us what to think. It would be more accurate to say that the Church gives us the truth and we are free to reject this truth at our own peril.