Phorum Guidelines

“If obedience doesn’t give you peace, it’s because you’re proud.” – St Josemaria Escriva

Personal Attacks

A post or comment that has nothing to do with the topic, but is specifically meant to upset or criticize another person or group of people. This includes, but is not limited to, calling people “heretics” (used in a derogatory manner), “democrooks”, etc.

“Never reprimand anyone while you feel provoked over a fault that has been committed. Wait until the next day, or even longer. Then make your remonstrance calmly and with a purified intention. You’ll gain more with an affectionate word than you ever would from three hours of quarreling. Control your temper.” – St Josemaria Escriva

Negative Criticism of Other Religions

A post or comment that negatively criticizes (as opposed to constructively criticizes) a different religion in a way that is harmful to open ecumenical dialogue.

“The Church knows that she is joined in many ways to the baptized who are honored by the name of Christian, but do not profess the Catholic faith in its entirety or have not preserved unity or communion under the successor of Peter.” Those “who believe in Christ and have been properly baptized are put in a certain, although imperfect, communion with the Catholic Church.” – Catechism of the Catholic Church, 838

Catholic vs Catholic Bickering

A post or comment that results in doctrinal debates that might cause scandal among the faithful. *Effective immediately, any negative criticism of religious or the current Magisterium will result in deletion, and a warning from the moderators. This includes but is not limited to criticism of the Novus Ordo mass and/or our Holy Father.

Mature Content

A post or comment that has a subject matter not appropriate for underage visitors. The moderators will be asked to use good judgment, so please use common sense. Note: This should not be confused with theological or intellectual restrictions–this guideline only applies to the subject–not the level of discussion.

Public Criticism of Moderators

All criticism of moderators or administrators should be handled in private via e-mail or private messages. Any public posts will be deleted and a warning issued. Message moderators here: https://www.phatmass.com/phorum/staff/

Multiple Accounts

Multiple accounts are prohibited. Creation of an account to bypass a suspension may result in a deletion of all accounts.

Tags/Groups (click on group to learn more)

[accordion title=’Catholic Clergy / Catholic Religious’]

Priests, deacons, nuns and brothers that have been ordained or have taken their final vows in religious communities formally recognized by the Church.

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[accordion title=’Church Scholar’]

Phatmassers who have formal degrees in Church teaching and/or theology.

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[accordion title=’Church Militant ‘]

Phatmassers that show 100% fidelity to the Church. Not everything they say always represents the Church, but they are truly trying to be obedient to the pope and the magisterium–and are willing to be corrected when they are wrong on Church matters.

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[accordion title=’Chummy Commoner ‘]

The default group after a phatmasser survives their first few posts.

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[accordion title=’n00b ‘]

The new people. We don’t know how to act around them. They are quite strange, and have a peculiar odor.

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[accordion title=’Mediator of Meh ‘]

The Phatmass moderating team. Unpaid. Under appreciated. Please be nice to them.

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[accordion title=’Cordial Non-Catholics ‘]

Phatmassers who are not Catholic. They are allowed to disagree and engage in Catholic debate with Catholics because they are not claiming to represent the Church. The non-Catholic tag is given so visitors who are unfamiliar with their posts may see that they do not represent Church teaching.

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[accordion title=’Phishy ‘]

Phatmassers who claim Catholicism, but have made unrecanted posts that contradict Church teaching. The Phishy tag is given so visitors who are unfamiliar with their posts may see that they do not represent Church teaching.

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