Is it acceptable for me to claim to be a Catholic Athiest?

Question

Speaking faith-wise, I am an agnostic atheist - I believe that there is not a God, but science will never prove that he does not exist just as you can't prove purple-spotted unicorns don't exist.

Cultural-wise, I identify as a Catholic because my family is Catholic and I was raised, and baptised, a Catholic. I know that I'm going to marry a Catholic and that I want to have a Catholic wedding. I call myself a Catholic in this sense because culturally, I am one. I was raised like one and still live like one. I set the same morals, the only difference is that I don't believe in God.

So with the logic I used above, may I consider myself a Catholic Atheist, more specifically a Catholic Agnostic Atheist? or is this a taboo/bad/unacceptable? I don't want to offend any atheists, agnostics, or Catholics by calling myself any of these.

And I am aware that in the Catholic church, it is required to believe in ~all~ of the churches teachings, but I simply do not, and cannot help it, so I know that I won't be a Catholic to the church.

Answer 1

As I recall, the catechism says atheism is pretty much the worst thing in existence, worse than even abortion (and you know how they feel about that).

I mean, I get what you're saying, but Catholicism is a religion 100x more than it is a 'culture' ... I say that "went to Catholic school" or that "my family is (lapsed) Catholic(s)" but I would never ever claim to be Catholic myself, nor would I ever get married in the church, because I consider that very hypocritical when I don't believe in the most fundamental part of the religion.

My advice is don't worry about labels.

Answer 2

Why don't we go through this one piece at a time:

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It's not possible. In claiming to be a "Catholic Atheist", you are claiming to be both a believer and an unbeliever at the same time.


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Again, you cannot claim two opposing "isms". One is an atheist when they do not believe in God. One is Agnostic when they have no believe whatsoever. Therefore, in claiming to be an "agnostic athiest" you are claiming not to have any beliefs at all, while you maintain a belief system.

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"I believe that there is not a God," you say. This is the claim of an atheist, not an agnostic. If you were agnostic, you would not have a belief at all. You wouldn't care, nor have an opinion, on whether God exists or not.

By the way, while some bogus versions of the Bible actually do mention unicorns, Catholic Bibles are not among them.


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It's good that you think enough of the Catholic Moral Code to live by it. However, Catholicism is a univeral Church. That is, beliefs and practices are not subject to line-item veto. You cannot choose which elements of Catholic Doctrine you wish to follow and which one's you wish to ignore. It all comes in one package.

If you really, truly, want to be a Catholic, you MUST make an effort to believe in God. Everyone has struggles in their Spiritual life, even doubts about whether God is really there or not. But working to find answers to those doubts will help you develop spiritually. Put simply, eventually you will find Faith.


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No. You cannot have your cake and eat it too - for the very reasons I have already explained. I cannot recall the citation at this moment, but there is a verse that goes something like this, "Not everyone who says LORD, LORD, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven."


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Like I said, everyone struggles through some element in their spiritual life. I think you're closer to God than you realize.

Answer 3

As someone who was raised a catholic, who could not accept the teachings, and am now an atheist I would say you are no longer a catholic. Deep down I bet you know that too. You are keeping up the appearance of being a catholic because of your family, and probably the fears and guilt you have been subjected to over the years. I bet you do not go to confession, receive the sacraments, and seldom if ever go to mass. All of this is part of being a catholic and is in direct opposition to being an atheist, as well as, your views of god. I do not think you are offending anyone, you are just stating your position today as you are starting your journey away from the church. You have seen and understand the things which do not add up when it comes to the religion, so many of these things are tied to a belief in god as your thinking expands and as time goes by you will become less tied to the church and will find your own path. Good luck to you.

Answer 4

I agree that being a Catholic Athiest is an oxymoron. Also, getting married in the Catholic church (so long as you are making the sacrament) consists of you confirming your faith in God and all he asks of your marriage. Though, if you decide to not make it one of your sacraments and just have the ceremony that would not be an issue. This would depend on what this also means to your Fiance and his faith.

You are never turned away from the Catholic church and your beliefs, as many people remain Catholic with choosing what they believe is right. Just make sure you and your fiance agree on your seperate beliefs. One or both of you may be secretly hoping the other will one day agree with them.
Just consider that your husband may become more deep in his faith as years go by, like so many people do as they get older. And may expect you to participate with him.

But if you know you are going to have a Catholic ceremony, which obviously consists of a lot of prayers and traditions, then I have to wonder why you want to participate in something you don't believe in. Are you trying to make those around you happy or are you just having a hard time with your faith right now?

No matter what, people in life will judge you on just about everything, and those are the ones who don't matter. Good luck on your quest to find yourself :)

Answer 5

It's not unacceptable, just an oxymoron. Catholic and atheist contradict one another. It doesn't sound like you're actually a Catholic, more like a complete agnostic. But that's not a bad thing, I'm an atheistic-agnostic myself.

Answer 6

Sounds like you are searching for truth and relying on 'how you feel' to define what you believe. Your family raised you Catholic which gives you a good background on which to base your future religious beliefs and practices.
We all doubt our faith at times. Many people have questions and have periods of strong and weak faith. Mother Theresa's book was interesting but what 'the media' picked up on the most were her doubts. But I liked her advise - keep putting one foot in front of the other and do what God would want you to do. WWJD, so to speak. And the faith and blessings will follow. Imagine how hard it was for her to do good when she had so little support in her work at times, her work was very trying (helping sick and shunned people that even their families wouldn't get near), and her rewards were few.
I'm going to consider you a doubting Catholic and hope that you will attend classes, bible studies, etc. to discover the richness of your faith legacy. May God bless you now and for always.

Answer 7

I don't understand why you would want to get married in a Catholic church if you do not believe in Catholic teachings. Also, I think it would be hard to find a Catholic priest that would allow an athiest to get married in their church.

Answer 8

I would just say I am a Atheist. I was raised Catholic 2. I no longer want to be a part of that evil organization. 620 million paid in a recent lawsuit for molesting kids. No thanks. Not even as a cultural thing.

Answer 9

Dearie to be catholic is to be Christian and to be Christian is to believe in the Divinity of Jesus Christ and his sonship to God, therefore belief in God is NECESSARY
Being catholic is cultural in many respects but it is all about believing in God and Jesus Christ so if you don't stop calling yourself Catholic
It's offensive...you asked I tell

Answer 10

why would you marry a catholic when your an athiest....it makes no sense...im an agnostic but i mean....it just doesnt make sense to me...dont try to cover up who you are..be proud of it because thats all you sound like your doing to me.