# Cattolico praticante



## MrBlack83

Come può esser tradotto "cattolico praticante"?
"Catholic practiceing"

Grazie


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## k_georgiadis

A practicing Catholic.


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## pescara

MrBlack83 said:


> Come può esser tradotto "cattolico praticante"?
> "Catholic practiceing"
> 
> Grazie


 
Practicing Catholic.

Ciao.

Sorry k g, I'm too slow.


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## TimLA

...practicing Catholic...
Ma dipenderebbe della frase.


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## Lazzini

Just in case it's being translated for a UK readership, practi*s*ing Catholic.

Actually, I thought 'practise', not 'practice' was used for both verb and noun in US English - or have I got it the wrong way round?

For those who may not know, in British English 'practice' is the noun, and 'practise' the verb.


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## sloew00

Hello,
Could the term cattolico alone allude practicing catholic or religious?
For example (a play, sixties):

_La zia Filippa è *cattolica*. È *cattolica* ancor più di mia madre._

In the context is seems to me that he means that the aunt is strictly religious. Is it a common way of expression? Does it make sense?
Thank you!


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## london calling

I would understand her to be a fervent and therefore practising Catholic.


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## Paulfromitaly

sloew00 said:


> Could the term cattolico alone allude practicing catholic or religious?


Yes, especially in the sixties when it went without saying that almost everyone was Catholic in Italy.


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## curiosone

Lazzini said:


> Just in case it's being translated for a UK readership, practi*s*ing Catholic.
> 
> Actually, I thought 'practise', not 'practice' was used for both verb and noun in US English - or have I got it the wrong way round?
> 
> For those who may not know, in British English 'practice' is the noun, and 'practise' the verb.



I've always seen 'practice' for both verb and noun, in US English.  



london calling said:


> I would understand her to be a fervent and therefore practising Catholic.



As someone raised very Catholic (13 years of school with Ursuline nuns ), I'm accustomed to the term 'devout Catholic' (not fervent)
...and yes, practicing (US spelling) or practising (BE spelling).


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## Paulfromitaly

curiosone said:


> I'm accustomed to the term 'devout Catholic' (not fervent)


Do you mean that "fervent Catholic" would mean something slightly different in AmE or simply that you'd say "devout Catholic" although the meaning is the same?


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## curiosone

Paulfromitaly said:


> Do you mean that "fervent Catholic" would mean something slightly different in AmE or simply that you'd say "devout Catholic" although the meaning is the same?



I'd say 'devout Catholic' (I don't know if it's AmE; I think of it as Catholic idiom).  I agree that the meaning is (more or less) the same, but perhaps 'fervent' strikes me as slightly fanatical (shade of meaning).


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## Paulfromitaly

curiosone said:


> 'fervent' strikes me as slightly fanatical (shade of meaning).


Interesting.
I'd make the same distinction between _fervente_ and _devoto_ in Italian. 
To me devoto is someone very religious but in a somewhat passive way whereas fervente is someone not only very religious but also rather committed and involved.


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## Odysseus54

Another one : "Church-going Catholic"


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## You little ripper!

sloew00 said:


> Hello,
> Could the term cattolico alone allude practicing catholic or religious?
> For example (a play, sixties):
> 
> _La zia Filippa è *cattolica*. È *cattolica* ancor più di mia madre._
> 
> In the context is seems to me that he means that the aunt is strictly religious. Is it a common way of expression? Does it make sense?
> Thank you!


_Aunt Filippa is Catholic_. _She’s even more Catholic than my mother._

It’s a very common way of expressing the idea in English. Whether it is in Italian is a different matter.


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## london calling

curiosone said:


> I've always seen 'practice' for both verb and noun, in US English.
> 
> 
> 
> As someone raised very Catholic (13 years of school with Ursuline nuns ), I'm accustomed to the term 'devout Catholic' (not fervent)
> ...and yes, practicing (US spelling) or practising (BE spelling).


I'm biased. I tend to consider most believers of any deity fervent, being a confirmed atheist. We say devout in the UK too. 😊


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## Odysseus54

Mah, secondo me 'cattolico praticante' si riferisce piu' al fatto dell'osservanza di riti, festivita', sacramenti, prescrizioni tipo quaresima ecc., che al fervore o alla intensita' della fede.  

Hence my 'church-going'.


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## curiosone

london calling said:


> I'm biased. I tend to consider most believers of any deity fervent, being a confirmed atheist. We say devout in the UK too. 😊



Being a Catholic is often more cultural than religious.  After a Catholic upbringing in the US (which often included not knowing many 'non-Catholics' rather like the Jewish sending their children to yeshivas, many American Catholics send their children to parrocchial schools), I felt at home in the Catholic culture of Italy (and spending time in France, which also has a strong Catholic culture).  

Many Italians are not practicing (nor church-going, except for weddings, and wanting their children to be baptized and to receive the sacraments (mostly so they can party with the rest of their class). I had an atheist friend who had  his son do first communion so he 'wouldn't feel left out.'  Many Italians also resent the historical interference of the Vatican in Italian politics. But the Catholic culture remains, and is (sort of) taken for granted..

Immigrant Catholics to the US (Italians, Irish, Polish, etc) generally formed immigrant communities centered around their parish churches.  Part of this was because Catholics are a minority group, and faced discrimination from the Protestant majority (not persecution, but even in the 20th century my uncle faced job discrimination because of being a Catholic). By grouping, they helped each other.  Newer generations don't feel this need so strongly, so while retaining their Catholic culture, not all are regular church-goers (or agree with everything the Vatican has to say).

My brother-in-law was raised as a Christian fundamentalist, and disliked religion because of it.  But on the occasion of a wedding or funeral (or a family gathering that included going to church) he said he didn't mind going (to Catholic church), because he found Catholics to be much more relaxed about their religion, and certainly not fanatical about it.


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## london calling

My Catholic-raised father only goes to church if obliged or just to visit (same here, I haven't been to mass in years). I simply never found my faith but he had a very bad couple of years at a Catholic boy's school run by Jesuits. So, he isn't fervent, he isn't devout, he's a lapsed Catholic. 😊


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## elfa

I would definitely say "devout Catholic" to describe someone who goes to mass regularly and abides by Catholic tenets. You could say "fervent Catholic" but, to me, you would say this in the same way that you would say someone is a "fervent atheist" i.e. someone who is a little fanatical about a belief. "Church-going Catholic" is perfectly understandable but not something that trips off the tongue (or mine, at any rate).

And, yes, "lapsed" to describe a Catholic who was brought up in Catholicism but who no longer observes or pays lip service to the traditions.


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## symposium

What about "an observant Catholic"? We also say "un cattolico/ebreo/mussulmano osservante", and I've found many Google results for "observant Catholic" in English as well. Couldn't that work?


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## london calling

That's Italian for practising Catholic. 🤣


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## symposium

I'm not sure I understand what you mean. Yes, "cattolico osservante" and "praticante" are synonyms in Italian. "Observant" and "practising Catholic" also seem to be synonyms in English. The OP asked for a way to translate "cattolico praticante", that is, someone who goes to church often and observes the rules of the Catholic doctrine and I wondered if "observant Catholic" could be a good translation. The OP didn't ask for a definition of "cattolico praticante", just for a translation.


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## london calling

I mean it sounds like a translation. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it was wrong but it's certainly not idiomatic.


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## You little ripper!

elfa said:


> And, yes, "lapsed" to describe a Catholic who was brought up in Catholicism but who no longer observes or pays lip service to the traditions.


I call them ‘nominal Catholics’.  They have many names.


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## theartichoke

london calling said:


> I mean it sounds like a translation. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it was wrong but it's certainly not idiomatic.



For whatever reason, the idiom seems to be "an observant Jew" but "a practicing Catholic." And yes, switching the adjectives produces something that doesn't sound quite right.


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## tsoapm

Paulfromitaly said:


> To me devoto is someone very religious but in a somewhat passive way whereas fervente is someone not only very religious but also rather committed and involved.


I’d make the same sort of distinction in English, though rather than passive, I’d say it had more to do with their inner life, a spirituality which _would_ manifest itself in Catholic practice but not be limited to it.





elfa said:


> I would definitely say "devout Catholic" to describe someone who goes to mass regularly and abides by Catholic tenets.


And I don’t think I agree with this for the same reason. Devotion and following the rules are two different things, to my mind. Not absolutely separate, by any means, but different.





theartichoke said:


> the idiom seems to be "an observant Jew" but "a practicing Catholic."


Hmm. The dictionary definitions suggest that observance is somehow more strict. I think a practising Catholic would probably be a regular mass-goer, but might not be too fussed about following Church teaching. Observant I guess yes, but it does seem more closely associated with Judaism.


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## london calling

theartichoke said:


> For whatever reason, the idiom seems to be "an observant Jew" but "a practicing Catholic." And yes, switching the adjectives produces something that doesn't sound quite right.


That's why I said it wasn't wrong. 😊I think however that 'observant' should be avoided in a religious context as it could be misunderstood, given that we more often than not use it to mean 'dotato di spirito di osservazione'. 

It's also why it isn't idiomatic and sounds like a translation. 😊 It's not a usage that many people are used to. 🤣


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## You little ripper!

london calling said:


> I think however that 'observant' should be avoided in a religious context as it could be misunderstood, given that we more often than not use it to mean 'dotato di spirito di osservazione'.


I’ve never heard it used that way before. It was only when I looked it up in the dictionary that I saw that it had a meaning quite different to the one I’m used to.


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## london calling

You prove my point, Charles. 😊


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## elfa

london calling said:


> I think however that 'observant' should be avoided in a religious context as it could be misunderstood, given that we more often than not use it to mean 'dotato di spirito di osservazione'.
> 
> It's also why it isn't idiomatic and sounds like a translation. 😊 It's not a usage that many people are used to. 🤣


To me, it's the association of "observant" with "Catholic" that sounds strange. I think most people would understand the word "observant" on its own in a religious context.


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## london calling

elfa said:


> To me, it's the association of "observant" with "Catholic" that sounds strange. I think most people would understand the word "observant" on its own in a religious context.


Yes. 😊An observant Catholic sounds like a Catholic who is always aware about what's going on around them. 'Dotato di spirito di osservazione', as I said above.


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