What exactly is the Catholic religion?

Question

My fiance is catholic and I dont want to pick at his religion so is there anyone out there that can give me a good idea of the catholic religion?

Answer 1

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 2

As a religion, I have seen worse. You get to have the relationship with Christ, but there are many distractions and rituals which can be confusing. Also there is always the looming specter of political manipulation behind any large, wealthy organization.

It was really the Romans way of controlling the early Christians who were channeling and speaking in tongues and doing hands on healing in the first two centuries after Christ's execution (by Romans, yes, but only because it was not currently legal for locals to do so). The Romans were into the mystery cults of Egypt and wanted the Christians to be more disciplined and homogenous instead of wandering the earth like a bunch of lovey-dovey hippies healing people and eschewing economics.

Plus, there was a threat of anarchy since many communities boiled with violence over the conflicts that arose regarding the authenticity of teachings and spritual practices.

So they found a candidate, Iranaeus, who chronicled the many "bizarre" and chaotic behaviours of the many new Christian cults and reported to the Roman authorities with an interest to quell the unrest created by the strong competition of religious beliefs.

He worked with Roman leaders to create a unified "catholic" church, and after the initial uprisings were put down, we had the foundation of the the modern Roman Catholic Church.

As to your personal interest, you should be able to see how important religion is to people. One or both of you will have to compromise your positions, otherwise your marriage will suffer. Belief, communication and sacrifice are the foundation of any relationship. If you don't worship together, your minds will always be separate.

Advice from a Taoist.

Answer 3

Why not ask him? If he is a true Catholic, he should know the answer and give it to you in a loving response.

I am Catholic, been one for 35 years. Christ started the Church by appoint Peter as the first leader (pope) and allowing the other 11 apostles to travel and teach others. The apostles had buildings built so people could come together and learn about God and Jesus. They are originally called Christians, followers of Christ. About 120 years later, some men decided that they didn't like having the authority of a pope and they broke off from the Church to start their own. They remained followers of Christ, thus were still Christians. But they refused to follow the pope, a human being. The original Church began to call itself Catholic, meaning 'universal', that it is The Church for everyone. The Catholic Church IS the church that Christ gave His authority over first with Peter and the other apostles. So, the Catholic Church is the one, true Church. The pope is a human and errors like all other humans, but during Pentecost, Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to the Church and the Holy Spirit (God's spirit) oversees the Church and when the pope talks about scripture, he is infallible, without error. If you read all the encyclicals that all the popes have written, they are all in junction wiht Holy Scripture, and do not contridict scripture. When the pope talks about other things besides scripture, I hope he doesn't lie, but the Holy Spirit is not overseeing those words. Jesus told us of the Spirit during Pentecost and promised this to us, His church, during Pentecost. There were popes in the past that did some bad things, but when you read their history, their talks about Holy Scripture (God's words) are without error-infallible.

Answer 4

Yes. The Catholic Church is the one true Church founded by Jesus Christ on the Apostles, as the channel of salvation for all human beings. It is the Church that wrote the New Testament and compiled the Bible, and has taught the full truth of Christianity faithfully for 2,000 years, without fragmenting into thousands of conflicting denominations like manmade religion. It is the only Christian Church that existed for most of the history of Christianity, and the only Church Christ ever intended to exist. Catholicism is simply Christianity as Christ founded it, not as men redefined it. This is plainly evident to anyone who takes an honest look at the history of Christianity. Which is why Protestants avoid real history like the plague. And which is also why hundreds of thousands of Protestants who do explore the history of Christianity become members of the Catholic Church every year. You might try www.catholic.com for answers to specific questions you might have.

Answer 5

Take my advice and don't get involved with the Catholic Church as the Lord will destroy it during the tribulation as per Revelations Ch.17 V.1-9 for the reasons given in these verses.

Answer 6

It is the practicing church that came about through history after Christ. It is the parent church of all "Christian" denominations, but most Christian churches split from the Catholic church in the 1500's because they put more emphasis on tradition and the pope than scripture. Read the article below for a good description.

Answer 7

I'm not Catholic, but dang there are a lot of haters on here.

Don't become an atheist. Ditto on reading the Chatechism, and there are other credible online sources about Catholicism that are helpful.

Answer 8

Look up Catholicism on the internet for indepth information. The Apostles Creed will give you a general idea. You can find this on the internet as well.

Answer 9

it's not all that it's cracked out to be ..in the real sense..it's very hypocritical and a waste of time really.

u are better off being an atheist really..

I used to be catholic..not anymore..i felt like the whole time i was a kid practicing Catholicism, there were so many lies told, so many hypocrites....doing what they said is against the bible...

Answer 10

You will find the answers to all your Catholic questions at www.catholic.com