My answer to: "Are you really Catholic?"
Since starting this business, I've been told by at least one priest and a few lay people that I'm "not really Catholic." If I'm honest with myself, my 18-year-old self would not believe I am "really Catholic," so I understand where these folks are coming from. And here's why I do claim my Catholic identity:
I was baptized, confirmed, and married in the Catholic Church. My relationship to the Catholic Church is somewhat complicated--I imagine yours might be as well. I believe in Jesus as God incarnate. I believe in the Mystical Body of Christ as the truth of humanity’s ultimate unity with each other and with God. I can say the Nicene and Apostles’ creed with authenticity, some skepticism, and trust (or faith) in the wisdom of the Tradition. To me, that confirms my Catholic and Christian Identity.
All that said, I do not believe that the teaching branch of the Church is infallible. I believe they have dismissed important aspects of sexology (the study of what people think, feel, and do sexually) much to the detriment to the LGBTQ+ community, as well as heterosexual, cis-gendered individuals. I am committed to ensuring that at least in some area of the Church incorporates accurate sexology into theology so that all people can experience their sexuality as graced by God, and have a community of faith that celebrates their sexuality alongside them.
In my work I do not simply be share the teachings of Humanae Vitae and The Theology of the Body, though I am familiar with them. Since I believe that no document can be 100% inaccurate, I do find aspects of those documents to be useful (if recontextualized and expanded upon). I’m all for using what’s available in the Tradition to craft a more caring and sexologically accurate theology of sexuality. A theology of sexuality that can be readily applied to our lives and relationships in psychologically and spiritually enriching ways.
If you either want to only stay within the confines of Magisterial teachings, my work is not for you. If you want to throw away every teaching the Church has ever said, my work is not for you. If you believe that Catholics aren’t Christian, my work is not for you.
However, if you want help to parse through the Tradition, learn more about sexology, and discover for yourself where the Tradition, Science, your Experience, and Scripture can align to help you find God’s grace in your body--then I am totally your girl, and let’s go on this journey together!