When it comes to questions of doctrine, many Catholics pick and chose their own
By Lauren Seynhaeve
Like the cross rising from the new bell tower, the University of Portland's Catholic identity is a prominent part of its mission and image. While UP welcomes students of all faiths, about 45 percent of the student body identifies as Catholic. Yet many Catholics do not fully agree with every doctrine, dogma and tradition of the faith.
In his homily during a recent campus mass, UP President The Rev. E. William Beauchamp, C.S.C., cautioned against becoming "Cafeteria Catholics."
When someone is called a "Cafeteria Catholic," it means that he or she does not adhere fully to the faith. This person picks and chooses which parts of the religion to follow, similar to selecting what to eat in a cafeteria.
Junior Jacob Dupuy is one of those students who doesn't believe every part of the Catholic faith.
"I can't say that I would follow everything," he said. "I'm not sinful or anything, I just don't think it's realistic to know and follow everything."
Dupuy went on to say that students go through a phase in college where "we separate from families, and it's a good time to question faith even though we usually come back to it when we get older."
Rachel Ayersman, a freshman, doesn't necessarily believe that a person should have to follow every tradition.
"As much as I am Catholic, I don't believe that all of the doctrines make sense right now," she said. "Everybody nit-picks instead of focusing on being a good person."
It seems that more open-minded Catholicism is on an upward trend, at least in the U.S.
According to a Gallup survey released earlier this year, many Catholics in America are not on the same page as the Catholic Church on several social and political issues, such as homosexual relations, divorce, abortion, pre-marital sex and embryonic stem cell research.
The Rev. Jeffrey Allison, C.S.C., is the new pastoral resident for Fields and Schoenfeldt Halls. And since he has been at UP for only two months, he hasn't come across any students disputing the Catholic Church or any of the dogmas or doctrines associated therein.
But Allison does want to make it clear that people should "choose wisely the doctrines that you want to ignore; you should understand why you don't agree with something."
As to doctrines not being relevant today, Allison wondered why people would consider them irrelevant in today's society, and whether those people only believe doctrines to be outdated out of convenience.
"All of us, if we are truly honest with ourselves, follow those easiest to follow, but all of us sin," he said. One of the great things about Catholicism is that "reconciliation is always there."
Although what is considered morally acceptable varies from person to person, and may be influenced by a variety of factors.
Junior Raph Bansale believes that it's the time we live in that is influencing Catholics to change their morals beliefs.
"Look at today," he said. "The economy is falling apart, there's the war in Iraq," things are different now than they used to be.
The Rev. Jim Lies, C.S.C. believes that "the pick and choose phenomenon rises from the relativistic age in which we live.
"Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI have expressed concern that relativism is one of the most significant problems for faith and morals," he said. "While there is room for debate in any faith, and the Catholic Church prizes the primacy of an informed conscience, there are also matters of faith that are held as truth - as indisputable," he said.
