Winterr's words
Monday, January 16, 2006
Misconceptions of the Catholic Church
I have been inspired to write this post by past questions and recent questions that I have been asked since I became a Catholic.
There are many misconceptions regarding the Roman Catholic Church so I was thinking of the main questions that people have asked me and I hope to answer them clearly.
Here are just a few.
Do Catholics think the the Pope is God? Why do Catholics believe that the Pope is infallible in his teachings?
No Catholics do not believe that the Pope is God, or should be worshipped. The Pope is indeed the chief Shepherd of the Catholic fold and Catholics believe that the Pope is divinely protected from error when he acts officially. (ex Cathedra)
But Catholics do know that he is a human being and makes mistakes in his personal choices like we all do.
In order for the Pope to be infallible on a particular statement these conditions must apply some are: He must be speaking "ex Cathedra" (from the chair of Peter)or just officially.
Decisions must be for the whole Church, It must be a matter of faith and morals etc.
Remember that his ex cathedra teachings are not from personal choices made out of the blue, but they are a result of many years of consultations with other Bishops and theologians of the Church.
He is the head of the Church, and we know he is not Christ.
Do Catholics worship Mary?
I don't know how many times I have answered this one. No Catholics do not worship Mary. Addressing prayer to Mary is like asking a close friend for help, so when you ask someone for prayer, you are not calling them God.
So when you see a rosary, don't worry, it's not a worship tool, it's an inspirational way to pray, or as some say a prayer aid.
Catholics worship pictures and statues..
Oh yeah, sure...NOT ! Of course that is not true. Statues and pictures are just reminders of those who have pleased God, they are inspirational people who we can learn a lot from, so if a picture helps you remember I don't see the harm. I keep pictures of my dad (who passed away) so I can be reminded of him, and I look at one particular picture every day!
Only got time for 3 today, I hope to slowly post more from time to time. If I have made a mistake on any of my answers, hopefully some kind person can set me straight :D
11 Comments:
Oh man, this stuff is gold. Carmel. Roman Catholics get a major caining from everyone!! I have heaps more questions following another conversation tonight. I guess I need to (and so does the other person) resign myself that Ill never agree with an evangelical on things, just as they will see things my way.
Tolerance should be the key, but funnily, isnt.
This is so wonderful! I know that I have many misconceptions of catholics and I'm guilty of judging the religion without really knowing a whole lot about it. Keep up the info! It's great to read and learn from. Thank you!
Oh, doesn't it totally erk you, when people say these things without any backing. Like your rosary information. It kills me, we do not pray to Mary, rather we ask her to pray for us. You have a much calmer way about you than I... this is a great Idea! :)
What a wonderful post. Thank you Carmel. What a great job you are doing.
jess, Oh more questions huh, we will have to fix that up! Wont we :))
Frankie, I had many questions because of things I heard, until I searched for the answeres and found such a beautiful discovery. The key is, never take what you hear, but go to the real source and find out. I'm glad you like it yay!!
Sprite, AMEN, you got it!! I like the way you put it better. Oh I try to be nice but ya know.
St.P's
Thank you very much, having you like it means that perhaps I got all of it right for once. :D
Great blog! Nice to see other people - especially more people who like cats AND pathology - defending the faith!
Hi Steve!
Thank you! I visited your blog too and really enjoyed it, you have so much there! And are also defending the faith, I will be stopping by to read all that often. :D
thanks ... I try to keep it going, but I'm just too busy. Maybe one day I'll set the comments on ... and I must get my links to other blogs and sites going. What sort of pathology do you do?
Steve, I was looking for your comments section too! It does take a lot of time I know.
I am a phlebotomist and in october I finnished the blood and specimen collection classes, so I can take blood, skin and many other things that I thought were not collectable!
And yes I love cats and have one of my own, I joke that she is Catholic too. I notice that you are a virologist too that must be interesting and would keep you very busy.
I'm going to link to your page. :D
I forgot to mention that I think it's terrible that Lawless called you the Devil and wrote a post about you like that, that is not ok! It's terribly unfair and terribly un-Christian.
And that Jesus commanded us to hate? More un-Christian. I'm sorry that you had to go through all that and am glad you wrote about this on your blog.
I can sure see why they named it the Battlefield Church!
Well I couldnt comment on your blog so I did on mine :D
God bless
I have my cat's photo somewhere on my blog! And Lawless - with the type of website I have, I am used to being called all sorts of things. You can't defend Catholicism for long and not have that happen. I just convert the irritation-energy into writing-energy! Then it serves a purpose. Thanks for the link ... I'll reciprocate when I get to update again!
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