Have you ever seen To Tell the Truth? In the popular 60s and 70s television gameshow, three contestants would claim to be the same person, and a panel of judges had to figure out who was being honest. After all of the panelists had made their guesses, the host Bud Collyer would dramatically ask, “Will the real [contestant's name] please stand up?” and the truth would be revealed.

Today, we face a similar challenge in the Catholic Church. There are at least three different interpretations of the faith vying to be believed, each claiming to be the real Catholicism. On one side, some traditionalist Catholics argue that the Church has gone far off-course in the past sixty years in her efforts to adapt to the modern world, and the only solution is to return to the traditional Latin Mass and set aside more recent teachings of the Church. On the other side, some progressive Catholics argue that Catholicism must go still farther to be radically inclusive of the modern world, even disregarding biblical teachings about sin and conversion to be more welcoming. Then, finally, there are many in the middle who struggle to remain faithful to Catholic tradition while engaging with the modern world in the mission of evangelization.

But which Catholicism is the real one? The Nicene Creed outlines the four “marks” of the Church that Jesus established: one, holy, catholic, and apostolic. And it's this final mark, "apostolic," that gives us some valuable clues. The Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 857 tells us that being apostolic means that the Church 1) is built upon the foundation and witness of the twelve apostles, 2) continues to guard their teachings with the help of the Holy Spirit, and 3) is guided by the successors of the Apostles, the pope and bishops.

Traditionalist Catholicism correctly guards the Word of God, i.e., the inspired teachings of the Apostles handed on in Scripture and Tradition, but often dismisses the legitimate guidance of the successors the Apostles today. Traditionalist YouTube channels, websites, and books routinely appeal to the writings of past popes to disregard the guidance of the Magisterium today, as if the Church back then was guided by the Holy Spirit, but the Church now is not. The Second Vatican Council of the 1960s and the post-Vatican II Mass are considered suspect or heterodox, rather than being accepted as authentic exercises of the Church’s apostolic authority.

Progressive Catholicism, on the other hand, often claims to be advancing the missionary agenda of the pope today but seems ready to disregard the Word of God in order to do so. When German bishops, for example, assert that the Church can and should bless same-sex relationships, or when bishops imply that sins against the sixth commandment should no longer be considered grave sins or obstacles to the reception of Holy Communion, they are setting aside Apostolic Tradition in the name of inclusivity. The Second Vatican Council is held up as a license for innovation to advance the Church’s modern appeal, and Catholic teaching of the past is considered an obstacle to progress. This is a distortion both of the teaching authority of the Church and of the Second Vatican Council: “This teaching office is not above the word of God, but serves it, teaching only what has been handed on…” (Second Vatican Council, The Dogmatic Constitution on the Word of God, Dei Verbum 10).

“Will the real Catholicism please stand up?”

Authentic Catholicism must balance adherence to the unchanging Word of God and engagement with the modern world in which we live, in communion with the pope and bishops of today. We face the sometimes-complex task of being faithful to Scripture and Tradition, responsive to the legitimate concerns of the modern world, and docile to the current leadership of the Catholic Church. Catholics do not have to applaud every administrative decision or off-the-cuff remark of the pope and bishops, of course, but we do have an obligation to assent to the official teachings of these successors of the Apostles (CCC 891-892). The documents of the Second Vatican Council, the encyclicals of recent popes, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church are especially important expressions of the teaching authority of the Church in our times.

I’ll readily admit that I’ve oversimplified the challenges facing the Church today, but I hope the summary is helpful nonetheless. A very practical way to reliably learn the Catholic faith is to prayerfully read Scripture, which is the written Word of God, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which is an authoritative summary of the Catholic teaching for the world today. Being well-formed by the unchanging Word of God, unwavering in apostolic zeal, and docile to the authority of the successors of the Apostles is the best way to ensure that the real Catholicism always stands up.