Catholics do not worship Mary, the Pope, or saints. Putting a statue of Mary in your front yard is the same as putting a gnome in your front yard. The Pope is like the president, it gives structure. Saints are just that, really awsome people in history. Even if someone prays to them, is it not just like talking to a friend? We dont worship them, God is God is God- no one else.
dont the words in the bible go something along the lines of 'dont GLORIFY a false idol' ? im pretty sure the pope is glorified like an egyptian pharoah.. the path to god is through the pope... is the pope decreed that he found an ancient scripture that revealed that all catholics must shave a stripe down the middle of their heads to show they are true to their faith a huge percentage of catholics would do just that, because their idol, the pope, said so.
OK...Thanks for straightening that out ...
Sadly, I let people vote on most of my answers. maybe you need to read up on catholisim. Report Abuse
Firstly I find your first king with no gold ect actually more glorious, for that king lives a more modest life, not falling in love with the glitter of this world.
Some people see statues of Mary and assume you pray to her. They see people kissing Popes feet and bow to the Pope and see that as idol worship. Others don't understand saints, as many think all men equal, only prophets being elevated as higher. Likely its all relative to where you live, what you may think about Catholic worship.
as i know catholics worship Jesus
I think the confusion comes when you aren't raised Catholic and therefore don't understand the doctrine. I no longer practice as I am a Buddhist but I do understand your point and I agree with it.
I think people assume many things and also many lies are spread in other churches. I wish that interfaith bashing would stop as it is hurtful. Blessings. Om Shanti.
The catholic church teaches that the Pope is infailable, since many religions believe that no human is infaliable therefore considering the Pope to be so is putting him on a higher level than us, and a closer level to God. This can be translated to worship.
Within the catholic church, prayers are offered to Mary and the saints asking them to intercede on our behalf. It is not like talking to a friend because we are asking them to provide, or assist in the provision of things that only God can provide. And why do catholic churches contain so many statues, not name plaques, not pictures, but statues of Mary and the Saints? Are they necessary in a place of worship?
Please note: I am not giving an opinion here, I am not saying that I agree with the above, merely these are the reasons that people say catholics worship Mary, the Pope etc.
Ignorance from lack of understanding, The pope is just a high priest we know that, Mary is mentioned in the Quran as infallible, and i know that is what cathlics say, people just hate things they do not understand,
you need to read up a little on catholic/christian history.
praying to saints, the pope, etc, is NOT like talking to a friend and its NOT like putting a gnome in your front yard.
these things do give structure, but there are reasons why people pray to them.
type "Icon" or "saints" or whatever into yahoo and start reading... its a very small start.... its a fairly complicated topic.
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I disagree. When you address prayers to someone, you are asking for someone to listen and do something about it. You are essentially regarding saints and Mary as though they have god-like power, to fix something on earth for you. Also, since Catholics are supposed to believe the Pope is selected by god, not just the tribunal of Catholic leaders that really do so, and that the Pope has the audience of god above what a normal person does, how do Catholics regard him only as part of a church-hierarchy structure? He lives in splendor, has massive power, and is supposed to have god's ear, so he is most certainly regarded as something more than the "president-elect" of the Catholics.
I am sure followers of Baal had their reasons and excuses too. Reverance is the same as worship. Praying to something is idolatry. Holding any graven (man-made) image in reverance is forbidden fruit.
You are right! The spiritual people are not like us and can be present in their images in such a way that we can address them through those images and they hear us, just like the phone with a video you use to speak to a friend.
to make it simple....
when Jesus was here, he said if we needed anything....to pray to the Father in His name....
He did not say pray to the saints or his mother....
Catholics worship little gold ornaments in churches. The whole religion is a joke, and it's one of the richest organisations in the world to boot.
Oh, and your god doesn't exist.
If you asked a person why do you pray to idols.Their answer will be we are know that there is only one God.We believe in one God.So it does not make much difference between catholics and the idol worshippers.
All Messengers of God preachers to worship God, not anything else.Not something you create and you adore and worship it.I think it's not right and it's not the right thing to do.Pray to God directly,seek his forgivesness,his blessing,
his guidance,the true path to eternity.
umm.. well its looked at as this most other religions dont have a "leader" like catholics do so big as the pope. personally the way i see it is that catholics do worship the pope, and i think it is wrong to believe in a man just as much as u believe in god. not taking a stab at any religion but also ya know how jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins, why do catholics confess their sins (that god already forgives because of jesus) to a man on earth that probably is a sinner himself? to me thats like saying "oh god ur son was not enough for me to believe in so i'm just guna tell this guy here who thinks he knows what hes doing" its not looked at as all catholics worship mary but if u look at the spanish culture they are mostly catholic and they do worship mary, alot. its not horrible, but i mean they have a parade for her and other things just to show their belief in her. god is god and nobody can change that! its true. i think faith in god and belief in jesus are enough to get u into heaven alone. I also dont believe in calling another man father (besides ur birth father) but thats how i was raised to believe. ya know i'm not trying to dis on one religion i mean no one really knows which one is right i think the idea of it is just to believe in god n jesus. i dont see why its so bad to worship god in your own way.
Same old, tired lies and misconceptions.
http://www.anawim.pair.com/CATHOLICS/INF...
Its because of ignorance and bigotry. I am an atheist, but I studied theology in college and was a catholic. I do not like lies of any kind that ignorant people tell. America seems to thrive on prejudices of all kinds.
They say things like that because they truly dont understand the Catholic Church and the teachings and sacraments established by Christ Himself. And by saying bad things about the Catholic Church they are trying to validate their broken off religion. They fail to realize, that every protestant religion stems from the Catholic Church, as does their bible.
It is usually fundamentalists who say this and it is from sheer ignorance, they claim everything in the scriptures as written especially for them alone and the truth is they do not consider Catholics to be Christian.
Let`s cut to the chase here and explain why there is so much animosity towards the Catholic church, firstly the Gospels make it quite clear that the church was founded on St,Peter and this Apostolic authority rests in one church only and it is the one holy catholic and apostolic church; Jesus Himself gave us the reason for persecution of this one true church when He said,`` Thou Art Cephas(The Rock) and on You Peter, I will build My church`` the next part explains the persecution; ``The gates of Hell will not prevail against it(the church)
Now this does not mean that Satan would not try to prevail and even until the end of time, and many are the ways in which he still does this, one of the first ways was to cause division in the church with heresy`s and schisms of which Protestantism is one, Jesus instituted not two or more churches but only one, He gave no authority to anyone other than Peter and the Apostles and yet hundreds of Protestant denominations have the ignorance to challenge this authority!
So now you know why these attacks happen regarding anything that is Catholic including attacks on the Mother of God Herself.
Roman Catholics attempt to "bypass" these clear Scriptural principles by claiming they do not worship Mary or saints, but rather that they only "venerate" Mary and the saints. Using a different word does not change the essence of what is being done. A definition of "venerate" is "to regard with respect or reverence." Nowhere in the Bible are we told to revere anyone but God alone. There is nothing wrong with respecting those faithful Christians who have gone before us (see Hebrews chapter 11). There is nothing wrong with honoring Mary as the earthly mother of Jesus. The Bible describes Mary as "highly favored" by God (Luke 1:28). At the same time, there is no instruction in the Bible to revere those whom have gone to Heaven. We are to follow their example, yes, but worship, revere, or venerate, no!
When forced to admit that they do, in fact, worship Mary, Catholics will claim that they worship God through her, by praising the wonderful creation that God has made. Mary, in their minds, is the most beautiful and wonderful creation of God, and by praising her, they are praising her Creator. For Catholics, this is analogous to directing praise to an artist by praising his sculpture or painting. The problem with this is that God explicitly commands against worshipping Him through created things. We are not to bow down and worship anything in the form of heaven above or earth below (Exodus 20:4-5). Romans 1:25 could not be more clear, "They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator who is forever praised. Amen." Yes, God has created wonderful and amazing things. Yes, Mary was a godly woman who is worthy of our respect. No, we absolutely are not to worship God "vicariously" by praising things (or people) He has created. Doing so is blatant idolatry.
People don't pray to gnomes. And we see Catholics kissing the hand of the Pope and bowing to him, it's strange. The Pope does think he's closer to God though, that's the problem. The church thinks their edicts are as good as God's word and how do they know what God wants?
people say that catholics worship mary because they were misinformed. when we (catholics) pray to saints, it is not out of worship, but as you said, talking to a friend or someone who wants us to live holy lives as Christians. we ask them to PRAY TO GOD for us, not BE a god.
very common misconception.
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