Being a Catholic?

Question

If ur a catholic can u please give me an insight into this religion. I work with some ppl who are Catholic bt don't know much abt their religion. Only basic/simple explanation pls and some rules they follow etc.

thanx.

Answer 1

What a good question! I wish people were as open-minded and curious about all religions.

Catholics are Christians. So you can pretty much take what you know about Christianity and apply it there. In a nutshell, here are some basics to Catholicism:

* We don't read the bible literally. And to be honest, as a whole, we are not the best when it comes to bible study. We have great scholars, but your average Catholic doesn't know as much as, say, your average Lutheran.

* The Virgin Mary has a special place in our faith as a model of sainthood, but she is not anywhere NEAR the same plane as Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit. We don't worship her, either.

* The Catholic Church teaches that what we receive at Communion is THE Body and Blood of Christ, not just a symbol. Don't get hung up on this point - outside of theologians, most Catholics won't talk in these terms and won't be able to explain the difference between the two. It's a pretty heavy topic involving philosophy, theology, and linguistics, and one for another time.

* We are a religion full of ritual. We have masses, prayer services, devotions, etc etc etc.

* Most of us don't eat meat on Fridays during Lent (about the 6 weeks leading up to Easter) as a sacrifice. Once upon a time, we didn't eat meat on ANY Friday, but that's not such a big thing anymore.

* We have the sacrament of Reconciliation where one confesses to a priest, but we believe that forgiveness itself comes from God and God alone. (But we love our rituals!)

* Catholic priests (and nuns, and brothers/friars/monks) do not marry or have sex. Yes, there are some who violate these vows and some who do terrible things to children, but contrary to what the media shows, they are few and far between.

Answer 2

I'm Catholic.

A new Catholic at that, but what I've found to be true is: practice what you preach. Catholics do less preaching and instead do the acting part. Just look at the Shriver family, and you'll see it. :)) Did you see the Shriver family on Oprah last season?

We believe in the Trinity like any other Christian religion. The whole purpose of mass is to received the Eucharist. It is the center of the mass. You'll find there is not much socializing compared to Protastants.

Cathlocism was taught to me as something I needed to work out for myself. Just like the apostiles said to work out your salvation with fear and trembling. There are of course guidlines but no rudamentry rules.

Basically, look at the creed and you'll find the necessary beliefs of all Catholics!

___edit___

Don't take communion because we don't adhere to that Church's beliefs. We should not accept the body of Christ if we are not in communion with the Church itself. And, vice versa. Only if you accept the Catholic beliefs (baptized, confirmed Catholic) you should not be accepting the Eucharist.

FYI: I belive in abortion and am Catholic. Not all Catholics believe abortion is wrong. That being said, contraceptives is an old addage, lol. Not followed any more...although you'll still see a large family out of WANT not because they didn't want to buy condomns because it was a sin.

Answer 3

Catholics are christians. They do not worship the pope. The pope is simply like a CEO, although he's considered infallible.

Although they're big on statues and crucifixes, they do not worship idols as I've seen suggested. They're just visual.

They do not worship the saints. They just sort of use them as agents of god, so to speak. They say "Hey Mary, I've got female problems. Do you think you could ask god to go easy on the cramps for me?" Like that.

Catholic aerobics. Sit stand kneel. Sit stand kneel. Genuflect. A reading from a letter from Paul to the Corinthians.

Novenas. Confession. None of that "ask god to forgive you" stuff for catholics. Oh no! You have to confess your sins OUT LOUD to a priest.

Rosaries.

St. Jude - patron saint of lost causes who will not answer your prayers unless you thank him via personal ad in the newspaper. I've never understood this one.....

No women allowed in the priesthood; they can only be nuns or join Christian Mothers (not sure what they all do, but they always provide the meals after funerals).

In sum, catholics are not all that different from other christians. As a rule, they do believe that they are part of the one true religion; all others are SOL, and they always do things the hard way. For example, the confession thing - while others can simply ask god to forgive them, catholics have to confess to a priest. And birth control - NOT ALLOWED! Rhythm method only.

That's why you're often safe in asking "are you catholic" when you see a very large family.

Answer 4

A summary of Catholic beliefs is contained in the Nicene Creed (from the year 325):

We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen.

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in being with the Father. Through Him all things were made. For us and our salvation He came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit, He was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered, died, and was buried. On the third day He rose again in fulfillment of the scriptures: He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son, He is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

For a complete description of what Catholics believe, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/index.htm

With love in Christ.

Answer 5

Wow, some of these people are giving retarded answers. Please just read a summary of beliefs from Wikipedia. I believe someone linked it above.

If you're ever curious of all the beliefs of Catholics and where they get each idea from, check out the book "Catechism of the Catholic Church". There is a lot of information in that book.

Just in case you didn't know, not only are Catholics Christian, but they founded Christianity. There's your lesson for the day! Lol.

Bye bye!

Answer 6

Catholics belive in Jesus Christ as savior. We honor the Virgin Mary and the saints in heaven. We believe that at Mass (worship service) the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Christ. We confess our sins to a priest for forgiveness. We do not believe that a divorce by itself allows a person to remarry.

A good place to start is by going to http://catholicism.about.com/od/teachings/ and start reading.

Contact me if you have specific questions after reading

Answer 7

Shame doggiewater can't spell or talk English . Being Catholic is a way of life, and can't be summed up here. And just so doggiewater knows Catholic has a big C and bollocks is how to spell that .and he is talking it.

Answer 8

Check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catholic It gives you a detailed insight of the beliefs of Catholic people.

Answer 9

i'm a catholic all u have to do is not direspect thier religion. and the main catholic belief is to treet people the way u want to be treated.

Answer 10

I just need to say that there is no way to sum up an entire religion briefly. I've been Catholic all my life and am still learning about it.