When it comes to the faith I am very ignorant of a whole lot. That is one thing about the Catholic faith, none of us will ever know it fully in this lifetime. The more we know, the more we realise we don't know much at all.
There are many 'celebrity Catholics' who keep us informed on things that are presently going on in the Church. Yet, many of these Catholic 'influencers' disagree with each other. When someone gets a sort of celebrity status, egos can get enlarged and pride creeps in. This is not a criticism of those who inform us on the on goings within the ecclesiastical Church. These things just happen if you are not alert and stay aware.
This though shows that many of them know no better than the rest of us when they disagree on certain things. We all must try and discern what that truth is.
That being said I see a lot of back biting and attacks by these Catholic 'influencers' on other Catholic 'influencers'.
Now we should never compromise on truth, we should always point out error when and where we see it. We can though be tactful when we do so.
Conservative Catholics are confused and have conflicting ideas on many topics. For instance this current Pope is he the Pope? Is he an anti-pope? Are the SSPX in full communion with the Church? What are the differences between the SSPX and FSSP? I myself have my own ideas, my ideas could very well be wrong, I would like to hear all the arguments, and make more informed opinions.
I have seen many hit pieces on certain people. People like Mother Angelica the foundress of EWTN, and Michael Voris the founder of Church Militant. I've seen people attacking Christine Niles from Church Militant. Saying vile and disgusting things, that to me served no purpose and was just an attack on their character and not on what they said or done. I know both Mother Angelica and Michael Voris were/are not tactful and they shot from the hip, maybe sometimes too blunt. I do believe though Mother Angelic is now a saint in heaven that she spoke in all honesty and sincerity. I also believe Michael Voris speaks in sincerity, though I do not always agree with everything he says. I believe Michael Matt, Taylor Marshall, Patrick Coffin, and many more, all speak with sincerity, but I do not agree with everything they say. Speaking with sincerity does not make you right. Someone can believe they are right, that though does not make it so.
I try gather the information and from what I'm told I make my own conclusions. It's okay to disagree, hash out the arguments, maybe you'll find you are the one in the wrong, be able to have the humility to admit it if you are. No one should resort to ad hominem attacks.
I guess what I'm trying to say, remain humble, remember the mission God has given you. Don't make everything about yourself. As St. Therese said 'remain small'. Pride is the root of all sin.
If any of these Catholic influencers happen to read this, my humble advice is stay small, and God will make you a giant.
I agree that in-house backbiting is unedifying and even self-destructive. Too much of that going around to signify the unity God asks of His children. Stay small; follow St. Therese's Little Way.
This is very thought-provoking, Sean - and something I have been thinking a lot about recently myself.
First and foremost, Pope Francis is definitely the Pope - and not an "anti-pope." While we may sometimes struggle to comprehend some of the things that we hear coming from Rome, I firmly believe we should always respond with charity and not hasten to judge. Situations are very often more nuanced and not as cut and dried as they first appear. I have stopped reading / viewing 99% of on-line material because much of it is polarising and can even be quite toxic - which can be harmful to the faith. Both FSSP and SSPX have valid sacraments (Pope Francis has affirmed this…