Quotable Catholics #3: Mark Shea vs Liberal Catholicism

Question:
When a majority of the justices on the Supreme Court of the U.S. are Catholic and we still can't overturn Roe vs. Wade, we have a problem. When our leading Catholic University gives awards to pro-abortion politicians, we have a problem. When a pro-abortion President appoints Catholics to important positions within his cabinet and the pro-abortion stampede continues, we have a problem. When two leading Catholic intellectuals feel the need to have a debate over whether or not it is ok to support a pro-abortion President, we have a problem.

Mark Shea's (abridged) answer:
The first practical conclusion I draw from this is that we must fight sin and evil in the Church, but not waste time trying to figure out who is and is not "really" a Catholic or "really" a Christian. (I'm not saying you are doing this, only noting that it is an extremely common temptation and one to which the blogosphere is all too commonly prey.)

Question:
I have read through the Catechism (and Dr. Kreeft's wonderful simplification) and I don't see the problem. The Catechism is a lengthy read, but it's not hard to understand. The Church is very clear about what is right versus wrong and does a very good job of explaining why. And the thing that surprised me the most is that there are not a lot of basic rules to worry about (maybe rules isn't the right word. You're the wordsmith, not me). Actually, the Catechism reminds me a lot of the Rules of Golf. The rules themselves are very simply. It's the interpretations that get you in trouble.

Mark Shea's (abridged) answer:
One thing to bear in mind (which many of us converts overlook) is that many cradle Catholics do not encounter or experience their faith primarily as a body of doctrines to assent to, but as a family. That makes a big difference in perception. A convert knows he is going to be asked to say, "I believe all that the Holy Catholic Church believes, teaches, and proclaims to be revealed by God." A cradle Catholic never really quite has such a moment. So for a convert, it's a big deal to be able to say that honestly. While for many a cradle Catholic it's much more like the kid who grows up in the house and, when he hits adolescences says, "I love my Mom and Dad, but they think some crazy stuff and I don't buy it."

source: The good news about the Catholic Church is... it's like a big family. The bad news about the Catholic Church is... it's like a big family.

Quotes on Tradition (partim-partim)

In the combox of this post, a Catholic was denying that the partim-partim view of Catholic tradition was a legitimate viewpoint:

"I thought you should have known what it meant before stamping it on the Catholic Church. Partim-partim, even if it was discussed at Trent, has never been a Catholic principle." (source)

A quote from the Catholic Encyclopedia and Jimmy Akin had no effect, so my intention was to provide further documentation of the Catholic view of partim-partim in a new post. Unfortunately, I have still not had the time to get that post together, but Rhology was kind enough to provide his own post and some other Catholic commenters have agreed that partim-partim is an allowable viewpoint to hold (for more background, read Rhology's post and the comments there).

However, I still think the subject is worth another post and I have a fair amount of quotes to share. But it may be a few days to weeks before I have time to sit down and formulate the post. So in the meantime, I have decided to just post a quote here and there leading up to a full post sometime in the future. Comments will be closed on these quotes to reserve discussion for the final post.

Here is the first quote from a Catholic Catechism:

2. Why must we believe all that God has revealed?

Because God is the eternal and infallible truth.

3. What means 'all that God has revealed'?

It means all that God has made known for our salvation by the Patriarchs and Prophets, and last of all by His Son Jesus Christ and the Apostles.

4. How has divine revelation come down to us?

Divine revelation has come down to us partly by writing—that is, by the Holy Scripture, or the Bible; partly by word of mouth—that is, by tradition.

11. Is it enough to believe only what is contained In the Holy Scripture?

No; we must also believe Tradition—i.e., those revealed truths which the Apostles preached, but did not commit to writing.

13. What, then, must the Catholic Christian believe in general?

He must believe all that God has revealed and the Catholic Church proposes to his belief, whether it be contained in the Holy Scripture or not.

A Catechism of the Catholic Religion
by Rev. Joseph Deharbe, S.J. (1889 with imprimatur), pgs 51-53

Quotable Catholics #2

"Sola scriptura is a grave theological error that has led countless souls to doctrinal ruin, a purely human construct that all Christians who love and obey God's Word should reject as a tradition of men that nullifies and distorts that Word."

Source: Patrick Madrid, "Sola Scriptura: A Blueprint For Anarchy" in, Robert Sungenis, ed. Not By Scripture Alone, (Santa Barbara: Queenship Publishing Company, 1997), p.2.

Quotable Catholics #1

"You see, the problem with lay people trying to [do] exegetical work is this~without a proper foundation in theology, hermeneutics, literary and Bible criticism, ancient history, ancient Greek, Hebrew and Latin languages, and plain inspiration, we are literally stuck with having to take the word of someone "more knowledgeable" to understand even a single verse of Scripture. As our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, once said, "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak." In order to do this work properly, I have had to read and try to learn what I believe to be necessary for someone like me to write about a passage of Scripture." [source]