MAGA Catholics
Some thoughts about MAGA Catholics based on my own experiences as a TradCath when I was in college....
This tweet, a simple tweet that is completely in line with Catholic teaching and with the teachings of Jesus,1 has caused problems for MAGA cultists2 who also say that they are Catholic. The seditious traitor has predictably reacted with his normal toddler-like temper tantrums. Somewhat surprisingly, most US bishops3 have very vocally backed up Pope Leo. But for rank and file MAGA cultists, the reaction has been4 to either say nothing or to go sedevacantist5 or Protestant. Let’s look at a couple of representative tweets.6
Before we get to the tweets, I want to lay some groundwork. First off, as I have talked about before, I was a TradCath when I was in college. Traditional Catholicism is a brand of Catholicism that prefers the pre-Vatican II teachings of the Catholic Church. The particular branch I fell in with were called “Feeneyites” because they followed the teachings of Fr. Leonard Feeney.7 The main teaching was a strict definition of the doctrine of Extra Ecclesiam Nulla Salus (“outside the Church there is no salvation”), which meant that we believed that only people who had been baptized into the Catholic Church with water would go to heaven. I later drifted from them and fell in with the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX). Eventually, listening to a sermon from “Bishop” Williamson of the SSPX and the congregation’s reaction to the sermon made me realize that I had fallen in with another cult.8 All in all, I spent about 3.5 years deeply involved with TradCaths of one flavor or another.
Second, there is a strictness and a structure to Catholicism that is not present in most Protestant churches. One basic belief is that Catholics need to believe certain beliefs that are essential to the faith. Another is that the pope is the Vicarius Iesu Christi (Vicar of Jesus Christ) and the Summus Pontifex Ecclesiae Universalis (Supreme Pontiff of the Universal Church). In other words, the pope represents Christ on Earth. While Catholics do not believe that every statement out of a pope’s mouth is infallible, when the pope says something that is grounded in the traditional teaching of the Church,9 it should be assented to. In other words, the pope and his teachings should ordinarily be followed.
One thing that both TradCaths and Protestants have in common is that in both cases, you have the individual’s interpretation of Tradition or Scripture taking precedence over the Church’s interpretation of the same.10 As we can see above, this view is not compatible with being a Catholic. That is why I left the Catholic Church. I found that certain deeply held beliefs I had were incompatible with my remaining in the Catholic Church. The teaching above is grounded in the magisterium and should be assented to by all who call themselves Catholic. Unlike this person:
From the first and last statements, I can tell you that ginamilan_ either does not understand what it means to be Catholic or is deliberately ignoring what it means to be Catholic. Because Pope Leo is the Pope which means that he literally represents the Catholic Church. Her view is a very Protestant or TradCath view that an individual’s understanding of Tradition can supersede the Teaching of the Church. Pope Leo has been teaching in line with what the Church has consistently taught,11 that we must take care of the poor and the downtrodden. There has also been a consistent teaching regarding just wars that Pope Leo has been following. ginamilan_ is demonstrating that her devotion to the seditious traitor and the MAGA cult is stronger than her devotion to the Catholic Church and Her teachings.
Let’s look at another one:
Once again, we have someone who has put their devotion to the seditious traitor and the MAGA cult above her devotion to the Catholic Church and Her teachings. She is also has no clue what she is talking about because she is claiming that Pope Leo is a “political hack”. He is political, absolutely, but what he is teaching is flowing from the magisterium. It is not some new, “woke” teaching that is being taught because the Pope is opposing the seditious traitor.
In both these cases, we have people who I would say are de facto sedevacantists because both are claiming that Pope Leo is not the pope. Granted, they don’t use those words, but it is the only understanding that makes sense given what they are saying. If you asked them, I don’t know if they would describe themselves that way, but realistically, that is what they are.
To the MAGA cult, any deviation from what the seditious traitor says or does12 is wrong and must be opposed. There have been some cracks in the cult,13 but for the most part it has remained attached to him and what he teaches. MAGA Catholics are MAGA first and Catholic as a distant second. If the church teaches something that is contrary to what the seditious traitor says, they deny the church’s teaching which leads to question: Are they really Catholic?
Meaning that it can be defended on either ground, not that the two necessarily contradict each other.
Yes, MAGA is a cult. You can find explanations elsewhere, I am not getting into them now. I grew up in a cult and know the signs when I see them.
Every one that I know of offhand, but it is possible I am wrong, hence the word “most”.
That I’ve seen anyway.
Sedevacantist (more or less “one who believes the See is vacant”) is a group of people who believe that there is no pope for various reasons. The most well-known declare that there has been no pope since Pius XII (or Pius X, depending on how far they will go).
I’ve previously talked about another meltdown due to a tweet from Pope Leo here if you want to see a more snarky side than I will display here.
They, of course, insisted that they were following the “pure” teachings of the Catholic Church that had be bastardized by the post-Vatican II Catholic Church.
The first one being the Mother of God Community that I grew up in.
The magisterium.
Of course, TradCaths insist that they are following the true teachings of the Church.
Not always lived up to, but has taught.
With the exception of the recent post where the seditious traitor portrayed himself as Jesus, which did garner a certain amount of backlash.
For example, from people who oppose his illegal war against Iran.