[Catholicguy]

"I would hardly expect William Donohue to point this out, but most Catholics do NOT believe the clearly stated teachings of their own church, especially in the areas of sexual morality (birth control, remarriage after divorce, etc.)"

What follows may seem a "technical point," but it really isn't. During the Creed, we all stand and profess "...I believe in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic..." That "Oneness" is "Unity" and that unity is a unity of Worship, Doctrine and Authority. (Vatican Two, in Lumen Gentium if I remember correctly,has the same explication of what is necessary to be Catholic)When one stands and professes the Creed while rejecting Doctrine, he is professing a lie. By rejecting Doctrine he is declaring he is not a Catholic.

It is easy to see that any "Catholic" who rejects Doctrine really is not a Catholic. He may profess publicly he is; but he is lying. He may answer polls intending to survey Catholics but his answers are invalid because he is not Catholic.

I don' think I have EVER seen a poll that surveys Catholics qua Catholics. When one hears a "Catholic" opposing Doctrine, remind yourself you are listening to a non- Catholic.

[Catholicguy]

I forgot to add that anyone at Mass who really does reject Doctrine should not profess the Creed anymore than one ought to go to a court room and bear false witness under oath.

It really is the same thing.....

[Notwithstanding]

Your line bears repeating: "When one hears a "Catholic" opposing Doctrine, remind yourself you are listening to a non-Catholic."

[ikanakattara]

So if you have a poll, let's say, which shows that for instance 80% of US Catholics don't agree w/ Humanae Vitae, that means that it's safe to extrapolate that 80% of US Catholics aren't really Catholics? I'm really not trying to bait or bash anyone's religion here; I'm trying to make sense of this whole phenomenon with the sex scandals w/in Catholicism.