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Rev. James V. Schall, S.J., teaches political science at Georgetown University. His latest book, The Mind That Is Catholic, is published by Catholic University of America Press.

Perhaps I should rename the ping list to “Ultra” Catholic ;-) because you all fit this description.

I guess the definition of an ultra-Catholic is anyone who takes his faith seriously...

“What is dangerous is not some heretical notion of Christianity; it is Christianity itself, especially in its Catholic form.”

CS Lewis likened this idea to his times, too.

Odd really, ultra-Catholic of the 21rst C is simply an observant Catholic from my mother’s time. Not so very long ago and yet a civilization and society removed from sanity and morality and faith.

Sadly, there are those within the Catholic faith who use parishioner's sincere and devout faith as a way to raise money under false pretenses. Catholic Charities is neither Catholic or a charity. It is just part of the social services system. Money has been donated to ACORN and other leftist, anti-Catholic groups. Be very wary of those who prey on your generosity and sincere faith to take your money.

Clearly, I cannot resist taking a stab at defining what a modern ultra-Catholic is. Some temptations are difficult to resist. Briefly, in today's multi-descriptor world, an ultra-Catholic is one who is a believing Catholic, a fairly rare bird. The country is full of ex-, disagreeing, non-practicing, right-to-choose, leave-me-alone Catholics. They tell us that they are better than their hapless co-religionists who naively think Catholicism is credibly the most intelligent thing on the public or private scene. In the public area, the most often cited "authority" on what Catholics believe is the dissenter. Catholics are the one group about which no one has to speak accurately.

A be-knighted ultra-Catholic holds the Nicene Creed as true. He thinks divine authority exists in the Church. He knows that he, a sinner, needs forgiveness. But he does not make his sins into some social-justice crusade. He does odd things like go to Mass on Sundays, even in Latin. He thinks it is fine to have children. He prefers to work for a living. He also knows that the Church is under siege in the culture. He belongs to the real minority.

The USCCB would have us believe that there are 69+ million Catholics in this country. If the USCCB is sufficiently content with the "cafeteria" Catholics' faith to count them as real ones, why should we ignore those bishops who (supposedly) sit in authority over Catholics, and listen only to conservative instead? If one must be a weekly-mass-attending, sweat-the-details Catholic to really count, are the Catholics on FR prepared to admit that the size of the "real" Catholic Church in America is at best double the [professed] size of the Southern Baptist Convention?

Catholic tradition fading in US (Evangelical Protestants now outnumber Catholics)

"Roman Catholics, the largest U.S. church with a reported 69 million members, start counting baptized infants as members and often don’t remove people until they die. Most membership surveys don’t actually count who’s in the pews on Sunday. To be disenrolled, Catholics must write a bishop to ask that their baptisms be revoked..."
....it is possible, for example, to be born Catholic, married Methodist, die Lutheran and still be listed as a member of the 1 billion-member Roman Catholic Church....
"...The Catholic understanding of membership is that a person becomes a member upon baptism and remains a member for life," Gautier said. "Whether you show up at church or not is not what determines whether you're a member."
-- from the thread When It Comes to Church Membership Numbers, the Devil's in the Details

...let me once again share the four-pronged typology that a veteran priest here in Washington, D.C., gave me a few years ago. There are, he said, four kinds of Catholics in this country and, thus, four “Catholic votes” on almost any issue. Any news report that lumps these groups together isn’t worth very much.
* Ex-Catholics. Solid for the Democrats. Cultural conservatives have no chance.
* Cultural Catholics who may go to church a few times a year. This may be one of those all-important “undecided voters” depending on what’s happening with the economy, foreign policy, etc. Leans to Democrats.
* Sunday-morning American Catholics. This voter is a regular in the pew and may even play some leadership role in the parish. This is the Catholic voter that is really up for grabs, the true swing voter that the candidates are after.
* The “sweats the details” Roman Catholic who goes to confession. Is active in the full sacramental life of the parish and almost always backs the Vatican, when it comes to matters of faith and practice. This is a very small slice of the American Catholic pie.
-- from the thread Bare Minimum Catholicism

An ULTRA Catholic is a BELIEVING, PRACTICING CATHOLIC....period.....a follower of Jesus and the rules of the Church.

The opposite is a Cafeteria Catholic......or a Jesuit.

I will stick to the Conservative Catholic label.

I prefer UberCatholic.

Hey what’s up homies? Bdeaner is back after a long and needed break from last summer’s intense conversation. I hope everyone is doing well. Good to see the Catholic threads still going strong! God bless.