Why people believe in the Pope and worship Mary?

Question

Do you think that is the right thing to do.

Answer 1

Being a Catholic priest I assure you we do not believe in the Pope as we believe in God. The Pope is fallable as any human being. However, he is NOT fallable when it comes to teaching doctrine, because it is not himself giving an opinion of his own, but a movement of the Holy Spirit. Now the Pope is granted authority and power from Christ when he called Simon "Cephas" the rock on which His (Christ's) Church is built. Simon "Cephas/ Peter" is the visible image of Christ on earth. This office has been passed down from Peter to our present Pope Benedict XVI. We obey him just as any would obey those in authority, but we do not worship him.
We DO NOT worship Mary the Mother of God. Worship only belongs to God alone. We revere her because she is the Mother of God. Also, we revere her because she is the model of how all her children in the Church should be and behave (e.g.) Humble, Hopeful, Trusting, Obedient, Prayerful, Prudent, Receptive, etc. etc. She is the profile of how we are to be in order to receive Christ in our hearts and live according to His example. In spite of her importance to us, we DO NOT worship her.
May the Lord bless and keep you. May He let the light of His face shine upon you.
God's and your beast of burden
Fr. john

Answer 2

I'm assuming you are talking about Roman Catholics.

Roman Catholics DO NOT worship Mary. Mary is reverred as "first among saints" because she is a model of how to live a life of obedience towards God. (Being the mother of Jesus helps, too.) She is not God, nor is she divine. The official doctrines of the RCC state that when we are praying "to" Mary ("to" being a misnomer) that we are asking her to pray with us TO God and/or Jesus.

The primary purpose of the Papal office is to head the institution of the RCC. It's a JOB. An important one and one that we believe is influenced by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, but the Pope isn't some god-like man. In fact, one of the names for the office is "Servant of the Servants." The men who have held this office are human. Some did well; some didn't.

Answer 3

2Corithians 4:4 says that "the god of this system of things has blinded the minds of unbelievers." That scripture is referring to "god" as Satan, since he is considered a god, not God [Almighty].

These are the kind of things that Satan makes you do. He makes you worship things and people other than God. For instance, money, athletes, actors, actresses, priests, material possessions, Popes, Mary, etc.

However, such people who worship such things are in violation of Psalm 146:3, 4, which says "Do not put YOUR trust in nobles, Nor in the son of earthling man, to whom no salvation belongs. [v4] His spirit goes out, he goes back to his ground; In that day his thoughts do perish."

There is nothing difficult about that scripture. As the saying goes, if you want to hide the answers, put it in a book. The Bible has answers to every question that we fathom to wonder about and ask. This is one of them.

The ones that we put our trust in seem to disappoint us, or die. Pope John Paul II was adored by many, worshiped by many, but now he is dead. Now what? This is a fulfillment of Psalm 146:3. When one "worships" material things, they always seem to want more. They are never satisfied with what they currently have. Even those who worship money cannot even get a good night's rest becasue they are worried about someone taking their money.

Do I think it is right to believe in the Pope and Mary? Proverbs 3:5, 6 says to "trust in Jehovah with all your heart and do not lean upon our own understanding" Therefore, I answer that part of the question by letting the scriptures answer that question because when you give your own perspective on things, you are prone to run into problems and are a cause for stumbling.

So the question is, who does the Bible say we should worship?

Revelation 4:11 says "You are worthy, Jehovah, even our God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power, because you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created.” This scripture tells us the only person we should be worshiping and why definitively.

What better person to serve than Jehovah God, who has given us life, the water we drink, the food we eat, the place we dwell in, the air we breathe. Why worship someone who has not given you anything? What did Pope John Paul II, Mary, or anyone or anything else give you that Jehovah did not? People worship the Devil, who has not done anything good to or for anyone nor will ever do so because his very name means "Resister and Opposer."

Then again, people do not think about these things because they don't think nor read, nor reason. We just look at the surface and take off with it without looking at evidence to prove or disprove what we believe.

Answer 4

People worship the Pope and Mary because they have been deceived by the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church does not teach biblical Christianity, but instead a false one. The Pope is not even mentioned in the Bible, neither is the worship of Mary. These are things that were added to the Church's traditions later on. In short, I respect Mary and I respect the Pope but I do not deem their worship as being necessary for salvation as biblical.

Answer 5

The Catholic church established the Pope to be the highest authority on Earth. The Pope position is a man made position and not Bible based. As for worshipping Mary, this is based on the twisted idea of the Holy Trinity, in that Jesus, God, and the Holy Spirit are one being, and yet three different beings (makes no sense, huh?). When Jesus was born on Earth by a human woman named Mary, Mary was known as the mother of Jesus. Using the Trinity belief, Jesus is suppose to be God in the flesh, therefore, Mary was the mother of God. This supposedly puts Mary on a higher plane than God, thus creating the deity effect on Mary. People worship her for this.
Now if you read the Bible, there are many passages that show God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are three different entities. God is the only supreme being. Jesus is his arch angel, sometimes known as Michael, and the Holy Spirit is just a force used by God to accomplish all his needs. The Bible also instructs worshippers to pray to God only, through Jesus (Jesus is the intermediary for us). Because God is a jealous god, his commandments speak clearly of worshipping Him and only Him. Mary is only to be honored, but not worshipped.

Answer 6

Hi, I am a Catholic and will answer this for you, first may I say this and believe me I and others like me are really tired saying it (no offence ) but we do not worship Mary,we honour Her as the Mother of Jesus Christ, we do not worship anyone but God,and it`s time that this was laid to rest.
okay what do you mean by believe in the Pope exactly,for instance I believe in you because you posted this question and therefore you must exist.
the Pope is the successor of St. Peter and this is what Catholics believe,and as such he is the spiritual head of Christ`s church on earth.

Answer 7

Im not a Catholic or anythin, Im an atheist. The same can be said about Jesus since the ten commandments were made before his birth. I remember one commandment saying thou shall have no other idol before me or something like thet. This would apply to Jesus, Mary, The pope and any other idols other than God himself.

Answer 8

Traditionally, people believe in the Pope because he is the Bishop of Rome, the First Amongst Equals, the Bishop who sits in Peter the Apostle's place. While many of us (me included) do not believe that he speaks with the mind of the Church ex cathedra or is the Vicar of Christ on earth, the historic fact remains that he sits as Bishop of the most important of the ancient Churches.

People don't (or shouldn't) "worship" the Blessed Virgin. They venerate her as the Theotokos, the God-bearer, and only as she relates to her Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Answer 9

I swear I'm just going to start cutting and pasting my answers for this same tired old question....

Catholics do NOT worship Mary, the saints, or the Pope. God and Jesus alone are worthy of any worship.

Try a little research hon.

Answer 10

to worship mary, no because all she was was a human doing the will of God. The bible says that the dead lay sleeping until Christ comes to resurrect them so praying to her or any other human is pointless. I'm not catholic so I dont know what the deal with the pope is sorry