Please end this misunderstanding about Catholics, will you?

Question

to whom it may concern,
1. Catholics do not worship idols. Catholics do not worship statutes. If I have a picture of Jesus in my home and pray in front of the picture, do I pray to the frame, the glass, the paper, the ink? I pray directly to Jesus. The same goes with statutes. If you hate images so much, why do you keep photos? statutes of any kind in your garden? Please, wake up and understand what God really wants. He does not care about the food you eat, pictures or statutes, work or not during the sabbath, circumcised or not, HE cares about our hearts. If you want to keep the old testament's rules: then keep them ALL - not just part of them and then attack others for not keeping the rest. Jesus has redemeed us all.
2. Catholics do not pray TO the dead, we pray FOR the dead, so that they may found rest in God afterlife.

Mary and the Saints are worthy of respect because they are people who God Himself anointed. Catholics only ask their help to pray to the Lord for us. The truth behind if this is acceptable to God or not remains a mystery. As a charismatic Catholic, I can say that God knows a person's heart and if that person truly believes in Jesus and follow His good examples then I am sure that God will consider this more.
All these Christians are trying to find unimportant differences among themselves when they need to focus on what is important (Jesus) and what is common.

Acts 10:42
He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.

1 Corinthians 3
On Divisions in the Church
1Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly—mere infants in Christ. 2I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. 3You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? 4For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men?
5What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 9For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, God's building.

CAtholics are against any kind of MOLESTATION. Priests who abuse their power should receive punishment from men (the law) and God. If they TRULY repent (anyone who truly repents) will receive God's mercy through Jesus. WE should not JUDGE. We must hate evil. That's all!

Sorry, I do not want people to think I am angry. But I am shocked at the amount of people who do not know catholicism and their beliefs and say all kinds of things which are totally not true. I am merely stating what Catholics' beliefs are so that people will not misunderstood us.

Catholics DO NOT have any other gods beside The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Worshipping idols meaning worshipping the earth spirits, animal spirits, etc, like what pagans do. we do not do that. It was just an art, the statutes and all because the era had changed, the same as we take photos of ourselves or statutes.

I do not preach people to become catholics. I am just trying to make people understand the truth about catholic church.

PRAYERS Chanting or not what matters is the heart. If one likes the words of the prayer and use it occasionally then why not??? What God meant in the bible is not the chanting part - but the sincerity!

In every Church there is a hierarchy. In every country there is a hierarchy.

God clearly says for the pastors to be the "shepherds" of his flocks. What is the difference between a pope and the pastor? NONE.

rubbing the feet of Jesus is of course not rubbing the statute. They probably were praying and thinking about mary magdalene who washed JEsus' feet. What matter is the heart. Please people, do not misunderstand. We do not worship the statutes, we worship God.

we are praying FOR the previous popes. not TO the previous popes.

Any Catholics know who their God is.

traditions or no traditions.... both are acceptable to God as long as the heart is in the right place.

again, we do not pray to the dead meaning we exchange God's glory to some spirits like pagans. We do not! We pray FOR those who passed away, yes. but not TO them.

People BOW DOWN to statutes, so? NOT like they're praying for the statutes. Inside we pray to God. The statutes are rememberance.

Answer 1

The papal system is the anti-Christ

Martin Luther was not the first person to claim that the pope is the anti-Christ. John Wycliffe came to the same conclusion some 200 years before Luther did. Unlike Luther, Wycliffe had everything to loose and nothing to gain from proclaiming this, but he did it anyway because that is what he believed. Let us examine the facts.

What is the beast (the anti-Christ)? It is a religious power that rises out of Europe after the fall of Rome (and 3 of the tribes of the fallen empire are taken out) that acts as sovereign nation. It has much wealth and wants to change the laws of God.

"And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time. “(Daniel 7:24 - 25 KJV)

The history of Europe settles the matter. There were 10 kingdoms that formed directly after the fall of Rome. After three kingdoms were taken out (the Vandals, Lombards, and Huns), the "Bishop of Rome" rose to power and formed what we now know as the Roman Catholic Church and this position is now known as the pope. With this power, the pope has changed God's times and laws. Many Christians no longer observe the Sabbath (God's time and God’s law) because the pope has instituted Sunday worship; the Roman Catechism even has a different set of Ten Commandments in it than the Bible's. It is also obvious that this kingdom represented by the little horn is different from all the others. The Vatican is a nation that has great wealth (the little horn wares an expensive crown earlier in Daniel chapter 7) but is very small (like a little horn among big ones) and is wholly ruled by a religious leader unlike any other nation in Europe today. The Vatican is a nation because the USA has an ambassador to the Vatican.

There are even more clues to point to the papal system as being the anti-Christ.

"And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast." (Revelation 13:3 KJV)

The pope was taken out of power and made prisoner (wounded) in 1798 by Napoleon. But, the pope was miraculously healed from his deadly wound in 1929, by Premier Mussolini of Italy who gave the pope all his power back!

The whole world has wondered after the pope. Just look at everyone that attended the funeral of the late John Paul II - leaders of almost every nation in the world!

Also, we find this of the anti-Christ. " And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. (Revelation 13:5 - 6 KJV)

What is blasphemy? "The act of claiming for oneself the attributes and rights of God." (American Heritage Dictionary)

Does the pope blaspheme?

"Against this background of love towards Holy Church, 'the pillar and bulwark of the truth' (1 Tim 3:15), we readily understand the devotion of Saint Francis of Assisi for 'the Lord Pope', the daughterly outspokenness of Saint Catherine of Siena towards the one whom she called 'sweet Christ on earth'" (Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation VITA CONSECRATA, (On The Consecrated Life And Its Mission In The Church And In The World), March 25, 1996.)

"The Pope is of so great dignity, and so exalted that he is not a mere man, but as it were God. and the vicar of God." (Ferraris Ecclesiastical dictionary)

"All names which in the Scriptures are applied to Christ, by virtue of which it is established that He is over the church, all the same names are applied to the Pope." (On the Authority of the Councils, book 2, chapter 17)

"The Pope and God are the same, so he has all power in Heaven and earth." (Pope Pius V, quoted in Barclay, Chapter XXVII, p. 218, "Cities Petrus Bertanous")

"The Pope takes the place of Jesus Christ on earth...by divine right the Pope has supreme and full power in faith, in morals over each and every pastor and his flock. He is the true vicar, the head of the entire church, the father and teacher of all Christians. He is the infallible ruler, the founder of dogmas, the author of and the judge of councils; the universal ruler of truth, the arbiter of the world, the supreme judge of heaven and earth, the judge of all, being judged by no one, God himself on earth." (Quoted in the New York Catechism)

""To believe that our Lord God the Pope has not the power to decree as he is decreed, is to be deemed heretical." (the Gloss "Extravagantes" o.f Pope John XXII *** inter, Tit. XIV, Cap. IV. Ad Callem Sexti Decretalium, Paris, 1685)

I would say he dose!

I think the papal system matches up with the anti-Christ too much to be a coincidence.

Answer 2

Why have the statues if you do not worship them? Why is it that so many will go by and kiss the statue of Peter that is in Rome that they have had to replace the foot many times. If this is not worship of a statue, what is? God does not care about what you eat, or that you would work on His Sabbath? Why does he stress the difference between the clean and unclean meats then if what you eat means nothing? See Leviticus 11. And does not care if you work or not on the Sabbath? Best read the COMMANDment if that is what you think.
Ex. 20:8-11 Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy, Six day you shall labor and do all thy work but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do NO WORK: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your manservant, not your maidservant, not your cattle, not your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the Earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.

Did you get the part about the NO WORK on His day? Also that it was the Seventh day, not the first day, a pagan holiday? That the Catholic church boasts as having replaced with Sunday, the pagan day?
Exodus 31 : 14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that defileth it shall surely be put to death: for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.

So does this sound like God does not care if you work or not on the Sabbath day? Sounds to me like He really does care and does NOT want you to work or do your thing but His.

As for praying to the saints, if you do not pray to the dead, why is it you have prayer to Mary, to Joseph, to St. Christopher, to find things you lost, to St. Francis? I was in the Catholic church for a big part of my life, was educated in the schools and taught to pray to the saints so they will pray to God for us. So why do you deny something that is taught by the church you are trying to defend? When my mother, still Catholic, loses something, first thing she says is she has to pray to St. Christopher to help her find it. That is not praying to the dead? I did not know he was still alive and if so where is he so I can see him? Seems you are picking and choosing what things you are wanting just as you are accusing others of doing that don't do what you do. I do keep all the Ten Commandments and I reject the idea that any man or system has the power or authority to change any of God's holy laws to suit themselves and then even change the Commands to make it where they can worship the statues that are supposed to be just reminders. If that is just a reminder, why do they have long processions and decorate the statues of Mary and kiss the feet of the statue and have such reverence for that statue? Better wake up and smell the roses that adorn the feet of those statues and see it for what it really is. If you really want to know what the bible says, go to the site below. I am not against any person but only the system that God even says He hates.

Answer 3

Let me take this in order, because I can read your frustration. Unfortunately, your angry "tone" doesn't leave much of a question---more a demand.

"You shall have no other gods before me."

You wrote "Catholics do not worship idols."----that is NOT correct. Catholics have what are called Holy Relics, which are carved images or cards or even people that they do revere, worship, and pray to. Catholics pray to the "saints" for intersession, which constitutes "idols" or other entities which may be worshiped other than God.

Catholics do not worship statutes---that is NOT correct. I covered this above---the next time you are reminded of Our Lady of Lourdes, or Fatima, or Our Lady of Guadalupe---remember that people do pray to those statues located on those sites and people believe that those statues are inhabited by the spirit of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Actually, the food thing came into question between Paul and James, Jesus' brother. James said that the gentiles were eating meat sacrificed to pagan gods and that was a problem. The bottom line was that if eating those foods would be a stumbling block to someone's faith, then don't eat the food.

He does care about keeping the Sabbath Holy---it's one of the 10 Commandments.

Catholics, actually, do pray to the dead, as well as FOR the dead. When you pray to someone for intercession---intercession of the saints---you are praying to the dead to be a link between you and God. That isn't necessary. You can go to God directly. Jesus taught us that He is our Heavenly Father, Jesus is our brother, and you can talk to them directly any time you want. You don't need forgiveness from a priest. You don't need intercession from anyone but the Holy Spirit.

And your comment about praying for rest in God after someone dies----I'm sorry, but it's too late for rest with God after you die, unless you are saved before you die.

There you are. A bit calmer, perhaps, but those are the facts.

Answer 4

Ok, I'm not saying that Catholics are bad. But I want you to undertand the opposing point of view:

Born Agains would say that the Saints are dead.
So if you pray to them, you are praying to the dead.
They did die after all, right?

If you pray directly to the Blessed Virgin (which Born Agains
would also say is praying to the dead), why do you need
a statue of her to pray? Same with Jesus. The old testament
forbids us to have carved images. Born Agains would say
that even a carved image of Christ is still a carved image and is an imaginary god rather than the true Christ. And there
are some Born Agains that go so far as to avoid
photos and certainly statues in their gardens.

I think you make some fine points, but this is a place for questions, not a forum to post your unsolicited answers. Try alt.religion if you want that kind of forum. You will get all kinds
of crazies telling you what they KNOW is true.

Answer 5

I don't have a real problem with the crucifixes.....praying to Mary and the saints however, is a different matter!
You say that it is a mystery whether this is acceptable to God or not but I don't see any mystery here at all!!
Jesus gave us an example of an acceptable prayer and it was addressed to God and no one else!
Whenever Jesus told the people to pray, he told them to pray to their father in heaven!

Yes, Mary was anointed but she was no more anointed than Moses or King David before her! Also she was just human and she was not without sin, as the Catholic Church claims!
Also, she did not remain a virgin, but had other children after she had Jesus and those children were conceived naturally!
As for praying for the dead, that too is not biblicall! We have to decide to follow Jesus in this life, not when it's too late.
I just don't understand, why Catholic Christians (and I do believe you can be Catholic and born again, even though many Christians don't agree) keep holding on to traditions and rituals, that are clearly not founded on the teachings of the Bible!

I have to add a couple of points:
First, you don't need the assistance of the saints in praying to God because Jesus himself is our advocate before God the father. Please read 1. John, 2, 1
Secondly, the Catholic Church in the US may be a bit different in their traditions and their form of worship but I can assure you, that in many European countries, people do go on pilgrimages to visit churches where there is a special statue of the virgin mother! Why go to all this trouble if the statue itself was just for remembrance! I was in one of those churches and I have seen how people pray there and it did not look like they were praying to God at all, it looked like they were worshipping the statue !
Of course I don't know what was in their heart but people do kiss the statue and bow before it......

Answer 6

You are misguided and I hate saying that. The Roman Catholic church is not part of Christ's body. It has been corrupted by man and power. It has rituals that are not found in the Bible that mean nothing to God. Praying to ANYONE besides God is Idolatry. Asking for help from saints and Mary to pray is a prayer in itself. Pictures of Jesus cause the mind distraction from the spiritual connection and satisfy the flesh connection. Some can overcome this, but most can not. The Catholic faith has been split from because it became corrupted and out of the will of God. Although it is the most powerful and influential church on earth it means nothing in the kingdom of Heaven. Remember that the first will be last and the last shall be first. What is powerful and rich here is poor in heaven. The vatican is extremely rich and powerful. The catholic church needs to turn back to God and away from man and away from praying to anyone else but God.

Answer 7

1. If it is made by hands, it is graven.
2. Catholics say the same prayers repeatedly as in chanting, against what is written in the Gospel Way.
3. Catholics believe in a hierarchy to God, the Pope and all his official minions will have a higher place than you when it's time to see Jesus. This is certainly NOT the Gospel Way.
4. History proves that Catholics follow the ways of man and not the way of Jesus. Inquisition, etc...
5. Catholics want absolute power and dominion over the world. They want the power as man attains power, and disguise their ways of man with utter hypocrisy.
I hope this ends your "misunderstanding". Sorry, but the truth hurts. Truth is a matter of perspective. Someday all will see the perspective of Jesus, but not if the Catholics and every other denomination have their way with you and people like you (the sheep of this fold). (And Jesus said there is another fold besides this human fold).

Answer 8

Why do you pray to an object? Can you show me a scripture that the pic you are praying to describes what Jesus looked like while he was here on this planet. He is not in a frame, nor in the oils someone put into the frame. You call your leader "father" and God specified that no other man be callled this. Catholism started by man and not by Jesus, for He said "Upon this rock I will build my church" which is the church he started and began. To follow after him. He did not worship statues and what not, he looked to the heavens for the creator, not a painting. The Catholic church was not, and I mean emphasized not, started by Jesus. The old time catholics started their version because it tried to redeem itself after they killed Christ upon that cross. They did not believe him. Jesus did not start the catholic church...man did. Jesus has no part of catholisism

Answer 9

Diana,
You have given your argument some justice but worrying too much about the attacks on Catholics will only give you myocardial ischemia that may lead to infarction. Non Catholics will not listen and you are just wasting some effort in trying to make them. There are those who reverted back and I know a lot of them. But begging them to stop will not do it, it will only hurt you more. So, save your faith and be prayerful even if they say that you pray to Mary or idols or whatever because you know to whom you are praying to and I a Catholic knows to whom you are praying to. You are not alone, so better not be too sensitive with their hateful ire. You know who are the people doing that. They are definitely found and identified in the Holy Book even if they say they're right. Choose to answer only logical question because there are a lot of sensible ones. Don't dwell on their childish whims and just listen and ignore, that will be best, I guess.

Answer 10

In St. Peter's Basilica many devote Catholics will touch/rub the toe/foot of the statue of St. Peter. Although I don't know for sure, I could have sworn some of them were praying at the same time. I'm not sure if they were praying for intervention, as does happen when one prays to a saint, but is that praying to Jesus or another? Is that asking for Jesus to help you or asking another to help you? When one is down in the catacombs below the Basilica and prays to one of the previous popes, is that praying to Jesus or another?

Answer 11

That's your business and opinion, you can choose to belong to any so-called religious cult that you want, as well as allowing for your gullibility to absorb any info out there, be it truth, or be it false, but please keep it to yourself, for there are many people that do not share the same beliefs as you and your misguided control by fear freaks, so have a good life, and maybe I'll see you on a peaceful planet somewhere within our Universe, of which I, as well as many other people believe is Heaven, sometime after death, and we can sit down, nurse a beer and laugh about how foolish you were while living on Earth:)