Interview on October 31, 2022, with Yitzel, who is studying mechanical engineering, outside yakʔitʸutʸu Hall at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
Do you consider yourself religious?
Yitzel: Yes. Catholic. God before everything, thanking Him every day when I wake up because if it weren’t for Him, I wouldn’t be here. He created life, He created me. He knew me before my parents knew me. He created me in His vision of perfect. For that, I am ever so grateful. Grateful for my parents for raising me religious. I honestly don’t know how I would have turned out if I hadn’t been raised the way I was. I’m so grateful that my roommates, as well, their vision is God before everything. I love going to church with them and just being able to feel like I belong somewhere. I don’t have to feel pressure, “Oh, you’re religious, you believe in God,” and this and that. It’s like, “Of course I do. He’s my Father.”
If an atheist asked what evidence you have for the existence of God, what would you say?
Yitzel: That’s a good question. I’ve never had someone ask me that. Honestly, there’s not much evidence, besides what the Bible says. The Bible is a book and I choose to believe that it’s real, not everyone has to, that’s perfectly fine. Solely based on the Bible, God created the earth in seven days, although I am a science person so I’ve had my fair share of, “Do I believe this, do I believe that?” But I choose to stick to my religion as closely as I can.
Do you believe in life after death?
Yitzel: Yes. Kind of. Before I got here, definitely. But now that I’m here, I’m just like, “What if there isn’t?” Definitely being here and talking to people with other beliefs has opened my perspective on things and I’m trying to be as open as possible and I’m trying to stick to believing there is life after death, and I hope there is.
Has this freshman year been a challenge, leaving your Catholic community at home?
Yitzel: It’s kind of difficult because there are a lot of evangelical Christians and they’re like, “Oh, you worship the Virgin Mary,” and this and that. “You worship saints.” We don’t worship them. We love them because Mary gave life to Jesus. That is His mother. He said, “Love my mother as I love her.” So we love His mother, but it’s not worshipping. Definitely seeing everyone’s different perspective on God is kind of weird at first, because I was never exposed to all of that, but it’s very interesting to see how everyone in their different religion somehow all connect because we all believe in God.
Do you agree with the Catholic Church’s teaching that abortion is always wrong?
Yitzel: No. I don’t agree with that. I am very pro-choice. I do not care what other women decide to do with their bodies. It is a fetus. It does not have life within those first few things, there’s no heart, there’s no beating. It’s not a baby. It’s a fetus. It’s a clump of cells. I probably would never get one, but to anyone who does get it, “Okay, it happened, it was your choice. It’s your body. You can choose whatever you want.” The SCOTUS decision was absolutely heart-wrenching. We have people deciding, to this day, what women can do with their bodies? It’s 2022. Come on. We should all respect each other and our own decisions. That’s something I will always kind of dislike about my religion: “Oh, you must get married through the Church.” If two people are happy and they don’t want to get married in the Church, why does that matter? “Abortions, they’re wrong.” Sometimes it’s like a miscarriage and they have to get it out. That is an abortion. They have to get an abortion to get the clump out. They’re not wrong. It is sad when people get abortions because their kid will have Down syndrome or something like that but, it happens. Some people can’t deal with it, emotionally, and that’s okay.
How did you develop your views that differ from your Catholic upbringing?
Yitzel: Most of my high school was Catholic but the more me and my friends talked about these issues, it was like, “Well that’s not right.” And as more we learned, like when a baby is actually alive and is actually a baby, then it’s like, “How is it life if it’s still not alive?” My friends and I were like, “We didn’t learn about it in our health class, let’s do some research.” We started looking at other perspectives and that’s what started getting me away from all that. Being here, the only thing that’s changed is that I don’t go to church. That’s basically it.
yikes…where to begin…
If she approaches mechanical engineering with the same lack of rationality with which she approaches Catholicism, I don’t want to be in any vehicle nor use any product that she designs.
The Church has utterly, completely, totally failed to educate her own faithful about what Catholicism is.
This girl is very poorly educated, and is a very poorly catechized Catholic drop-out, with no active religious faith in God– she no longer attends Mass. Her “religious” dorm group does not sound very good. All kids need to be taught to RESPECT LIFE, created by God, when growing up. A baby in the mother’s womb is a responsibility, to love and care for, from the very moment God creates the baby, at conception. Only God can make a life, only God can take a life. Mankind must never “play God!” If a mother cannot care for her child, it is her responsibility to place the baby with an adoption agency, after birth.
“Yitzel is a Catholic but….” Join the club, Yitzel.
Fr. Thomas Reese is a Catholic but doesn’t believe in transubstantiation and doesn’t see the point of adoring Christ in the Eucharist at Mass.
Fr. James Martin is a Catholic but doesn’t believe in the immorality of homosexual acts and doesn’t see the point of calling homosexual acts intrinsically disordered.
Peter Kwasniewski is a Catholic but doesn’t accept Vatican II as a legitimate Church council nor the authority of popes over the liturgy and doesn’t see the point of continuing to celebrate the Novus Ordo Mass.
You cannot put Dr. Peter Kwasniewski into a category with a bunch of gay-loving, immoral, Catholic-bashing, dumb, low-life perverts– unworthy morons, cunning minions of Satan. Dr. Kwasniewski is a fine, highly-educated, extremely talented young genius, with a tremendous mastery of many subjects related to our Catholic Faith. He is a fine, devout practicing Catholic, with many fine gifts of God. He is extremely young, compared to me, so I am not that familiar with him– but I highly respect his fine work. There are many other fine Catholic lay and clerical leaders, who have similar views and beliefs to Dr. Kwasniewski– Abp. Vigano, the four Cardinals of the Dubia, the very great Dr. Dietrich von Hildebrand and his great wife, Dr. Alice von Hildebrand (both now are deceased) and others. Very great and holy men (and women)– geniuses, also. Very worthy of our respect. We are greatly blessed to listen to them speak, read their books, take their classes, etc. Pope Pius XII called Dr. Dietrich von Hildebrand the “20th century Doctor of the Church.” Pope Benedict– a great and holy Pope, also a great genius and master of many fields related to the Church— had many intelligent criticisms of Vatican II, also. He lived an exemplary life, and may become a Saint.
I think Peter K can be lumped in with the rest of them because he is also an example of “I’m Catholic but….”
All of them have dislikes about Catholicism, they only differ about what they dislike.
Peter K is no genius. He’s more of a blowhard. He might use more sophisticated language than Yitzel, but they are fundamentally the same. Raised Catholic, consider themselves Catholic, identify as Catholic, but…
It’s the “but” that matters.
No. There is such a thing as intelligent criticism by extremely fine and faithful Catholic scholars. Uneducated Catholics may not be able to understand what they are saying. The Hildebrand Project, with the works of Dietrich von Hildebrand, is located at the Franciscan Univ. of Steubenville. A very worthy institute.
Mother Angelica, as well as Abp. Carlo Maria Vigano– both very fine, faithful Catholics– have had some very excellent criticisms of Vatican II and its controversial New Mass.
I’m sorry, but if you reject the Second Vatican Council and claim that the post-Conciliar Mass should be abrogated with a universally mandated return to the pre-1955 Missal, you are a cafeteria Catholic. That’s what Kwasniewski is.
K might even be worse off than Y before the Almighty on judgment day, because he can’t claim invincible ignorance. She can.
No one is talking about “rejecting the Second Vatican Council.” There are great and holy Catholic prelates and scholars, great and holy nuns like Mother Angelica, great and holy popes like Pope Benedict– who all have some very good critiques of the Council, and the Novus Ordo Mass, to improve our Church. Cardinal Sarah and Cardinal Burke are two more very great and very holy prelates, with good ctitiques. Nobody has to “like” every word they say—- that’s not expected, and unintelligent. But they all do deserve tremendous RESPECT. You probably do not have the background and ability to understand and appreciate a great and holy Catholic prelate, pope, nun, or scholar– or read their works, or listen to their lectures. So be it. All you and a few other commenters can do, is act like babyish preschoolers, with the word “but.” None of you would perhaps qualify to attend a class given by great scholars like Kwasniewsic, von Hildebrand, Sarah, Burke, Vigano, Ratzinger, and many others.
I don’t think that Dr. Kwasniewski is realistic– but appreciate his great works, as a fine Catholic scholar. I would enjoy taking a course from him, if I were a fine, young Catholic student. Likewise, I appreciate the works of George Weigel—another fine Catholic scholar– but I do not always agree with him. I greatly appreciate and respect the fine works of the four “Dubia” Cardinals, including Cdl. Burke– and Abp. Vigano, too– Vigano is very honest, like St. John the Baptist — but have worried about the health of all of these aging prelates, and mistreatment by the Vatican. Half of the “Dubia” Cardinals are now gone. I worried about the poor health and aging of the two great nuns, Mother Angelica and St. Teresa of Kolkata, because they both had intelligent, wise, and holy critiques of Vatican II and its Mass, but were sadly ignored and persecuted by Pope St. John Paul II. I go along with these two nuns, and agree with their ideas and beliefs. I also loved Pope Benedict– sadly persecuted, releasing his final works after his death. He was too fragile and ill for the evil wolves in today’s Church. Pope Benedict may become a Saint. Mother Teresa became a Ssint. These are great Catholic leaders.
Mother Angelica and Mother Teresa were persecuted by John Paul II?
Yes, both Mother Angelica and St. Mother Teresa both clashed with Pope St. John Paul II on matters regarding Vatican II and the New Mass. They both preferred much of the pre-Vatican II traditional religious discipline and way of life for their nuns, traditional religious devotions, and loved the Tridentine Latin Mass. Mother Angelica and her nuns returned to wearing the traditioval, pre-Vatican II-era habit. Then, Mother Angelica wanted priests to face ad orietem to say the New Mass, for her nuns– but her bishop said no– they had a big clash over that– and much more! St. Mother Teresa insisted on having priests who came to say Mass for her nuns, to still recite all the traditional Latin prayers, as they vested. In the Sacristy, which were discarded after the Council. And much more! Pope St. John Paul II refused to go along with the ideas of both of these great nuns. He desired “modernization”– which broke their hearts and their health. Then, the Pope quietly supported the evil Cdl. Mahony, in Mahony’s fight with Mother Angelica, over teaching of false doctrine regarding the Eucharist. The Pope refused to support Mother Angelica, even though she was correct. A horrific thing! And much more!
There is an error in my comment of Feb. 8, at 3:55pm. The error is in this sentence, which I will type, corrected: “St. Mother Teresa insisted on having priests who came to say Mass for her nuns, to still recite all the traditional, Latin prayers, as they vested in the Sacristy, which were discarded after the Council.”
So they weren’t persecuted, but they clashed with Pope John Paul II?
How? Phone call? Telegram? Did they go to the Vatican and storm his office?
Why do people just lie? The fight between Mother Angelica and Cardinal Mahony was not about false doctrine on the Eucharist.
Catholic buts
If authentic faith in Christ through prayer, behavior, activity and relationships is not woven through the fabric of every day family life, day in and day out at home with mom and dad, the best catechesis in the world won’t prevent what has happened to this kid.
Fr. Bill Casey of the Father’s of Mercy used to say:. “Don’t go to hell on your buts.”
Depressing to read this woman’s inane comments on her “spirituality”. Please quit calling yourself a Catholic until you learn the meaning of the word.Would Jesus recognize you with your baptismal garment in the condition you have made it?
Yitzel, words fail me. I shall pray for you, and the lost of your generation. You have thus far been denied a genuine experience of the Living God through the graces dispensed by our Lord through the Church. And now cut off from the One who could enflame your soul you squander your energies in the desert of relativism and woke dogma. I shall pray you are able to leave the vanities of this world and devote yourself to God.
And why should we be subjected to this woman’s complete ignorance and her Biden-like insistence she is Catholic and loves God, but hey, she knows better than God what is right and what is wrong? This is Catholic Daily and it should be filled with Catholic news and views, not godless nonsense like this. If you cannot find true Catholics to interview, don’t subject us to this garbage.
She is living in the modern world’s “bubble” at a place like Cal Poly SLO. If she walked around saying she was pro-life, she’d be a pariah. Her friends have a strong influence on her, too. The undifferentiated Catholic is really a manipulated person by society’s forces; its zeitgeist.
Pity, the pro-life guy in her department probably would love her better.