>>9139575No, no, no.
The major point of catholicism is that it is all-encompassing. The major theological thesis of catholicism and the reason why it is so dominant and why it was so dominant even after two major schisms is that it is truly all-encompassing. It does not matter what you believe in, the church does not demand "faith", it demands participation in the unified rite and crucially the acceptance of the dogma. Other than that, you can do whatever you want.
This is how Catholicism is distinct from the other two major branches of the Christian faith and even the predecessor and the successor.
And if you think about religion in a more abstract sense, this is correct. You do not follow a religion unless you participate in the rite. Everything else? It's just window dressing and no clergyman can see inside of your heart. They can only see you participating in the rite.
The thing that sets the protestant branch apart is the lack of adherence to any rite "sola fide". Faith alone.
As long as you believe hard enough you can be saved. This is intentionally vague and weasly. "I guess you didn't have enough faith after all, sorry". The catholics tell you what it takes, "participate in our rites, even if it's just once every few years, it's enough".
>>9139919That is a very strange perspective to take, when it's simply not true. Keep in mind that the Americanized form of catholicism as much as it is part of the all-encompassing church, it is also a splinter group that was heavily, heavily influenced by the protestant rite. It is hardly representative of the will of Rome
