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Otherwise, you're a huge friggin' hypocrite and, according to my (former) priest, "Not a Catholic." If you willingly do not march in lockstep with the mindset, rules and regulations, you are, in the eyes of the church, no longer "Catholic" and are barred from partaking in the Holy Eucharist. That's not excommunication, mind you.
When I confronted my priest with the fact that I fully support gay marriage, do not support pro-life legislation (although I personally abhor abortion with the exceptions of incest or rape), do not believe in transubstantiation or the infallibility of Papal statements, he told me that while I was always welcome to attend Mass, I should not refer to myself as Catholic and I could not take communion. That is, unless I go to confession, repent for my sins and completely reverse my beliefs on all my positions.
I liked our Mass. I was raised Byzantine Catholic and the whole service is sung by the congregation from beginning to end. And the things we sing (pray for) during the Mass are beautiful and compassionate things. If you've never been to a Byzantine Catholic church and you know of one, give it a go. Even if you don't believe one damn word of it, it's a chance to broaden your horizons. That's why I've attended Jewish, Hindu and Muslim services in their respective houses of worship. And if you've never been to a Hindu temple, give that a go too. Probably one of the most interesting places I've ever visited. However, I digress.
Anywho, I couldn't bring myself to keep going to Mass mainly because I was getting tired of the pomp and circumstance of it all. I was seeing all the fancy robes, and ornate artwork and gold chalices and jewel encrusted Bibles and hearing sermons every week about what we need to do to be better Catholics (like making sure to attend service every Sunday) and less about being good Christians (like volunteering at the food bank every Saturday). In fact, I never once in all my years of church attendance at various parishes ever hear one serum about volunteering to do anything, except volunteer for Bingo. So I would go on Sundays and be angry and stew over the wasted opportunities for this church to tell its congregation to go out into the world and be the hands and feet of Jesus: to bring good news to the poor, feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, comfort the sick and free the unjustly imprisoned. Never heard any of that.
So coupled with that resentment and my sharp disagreement on social and political issues, I resolved that I wasn't going to be a hypocrite like so many other Catholics. I wasn't going to pick and choose which Catholic rules I would follow. Doing that automatically makes you "not- Catholic." To rationalize your way around it is being, in my opinion, an asshat. So, I left. I left and am now a proud card-carrying member of the United Church of Christ. Next to starting a family and marrying my wife, it was the best decision I ever made.
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