I am Catholic.
In times past, that simple declaration would have been enough to tell you, gentle reader, a great deal about me, your humble writer. It would have given you substantial insight, not merely into various externals of my life, such as my religious habits, the kind of company I prefer to keep, the places I tend to frequent, and my opinions regarding the proper governance of life, both private and public, but also into my very soul, revealing my most fervently held beliefs and my most cherished hopes. By uttering those three simple words, I would have made known to you my deepest love and my most precious treasure: my physical and spiritual incorporation into that perfect society which is none other than the Mystical Body of God the Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ (miserere nobis), known to the world as the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, outside of which there is no salvation. The times, however, have changed.
Today, the once decisive proclamation, "I am Catholic," is frequently used to preface the introduction of any number of ideologies, spiritual or otherwise, the majority of which bear little resemblance to the Catholic Faith as it was taught by the Holy Apostles (orate pro nobis) and as it has been passed down, developed and defended by the infallible Magisterium of the Church over the course of her two-thousand-year history. Indeed, many are those who would lay claim to that most noble heritage while displaying nothing but contempt for the teachings of the Saints, Fathers and Doctors of the Church (orate pro nobis). As a result, a number of qualifiers have made their way into common usage to delineate one 'kind' of Catholic from another 'kind': "traditional," "conservative," "liberal," "progressive," "modernist," "cafeteria," "recovering". Such a thing being a blight in the eyes of Our Lord (John 17:21), I am loath to add a qualifier of my own. Nonetheless, I feel compelled to do so.
If, then, I must qualify my Catholicism, let me be known as a Radical Catholic.
If, then, I must qualify my Catholicism, let me be known as a Radical Catholic.
Deus, in adjutorium meum intende: Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.