What is the difference between catholic and non catholic christian?

Question

I am asking this question because I have always wondered but never really got a clear answer. My parents were calling themself christians but didn't really go to church or had a bible. Now I know the story in the bible so no need to explain that to me.
It is just that someone that wasn't even a catholic once told me that the difference is this: non catholic christians pray to Jesus and catholic pray to Virgin Mary.
Is this true?

Answer 1

There is a lot of correct information in the answers already, and some pretty bogus stuff, too. There are two biggies. Basically, Catholics believe that Jesus named Peter as his "successor" and thus became the first leader of the Christian church. Each pope of the Catholic Church is believed then to be a successor to Peter. You can visit this whole tradition by going to St. Paul's a few kilometers south of Rome, where St. Paul is purported to be buried. The second one is that Jesus is physically present during the Catholic mass ceremony through communion (bread and wine). Neither of these beliefs are accepted by non-Catholic Christian denominations. Most of the other beliefs of the Catholic church are accepted by one non-Christian faith or another, but not by all. And in comparison to the two big ones above, they're all pretty minor, aren't they?

Answer 2

I believe that while at the time of the reformation their were large differences between the Catholics and the Protestants, over the centuries they have moved closer again. There are still some differences, but we agree about many more things than what we disagree.

BTW, the reason we (Protestants) do not have the body of Christ on the cross, is to symbolise that He has risen from the dead. Also, the pulpit is in the middle of the front of the church (mostly) to symbolise the centrality of preaching the gospel. They also protested about to much being made of statues in the church, that is why protestant churches generally have very little artwork inside. But there is a movement where we realise that symbolism is important, and that we might have thrown the baby out with the bathwater.

Another example is the fact that protestants do not have a priest, they have a "pastor", which tends the flock. We believe that each person is a priest, not just the leader of the congregation. Each person also acts as prophet and king, following the example of Christ.

Answer 3

There are very few differences, but the differences are important. First of all, fundamental Catholics believe that the Pope is a representative of God, and what he says is important. I emphasize "fundamental" because most Catholics believe the Pope is a holy man and has insight like many holy people, but he can make mistakes. The Pope is the leader of the Catholic Church. Protestants (non-catholic christians) do not follow the Pope's guidance. It is true, we pray to the Virgin Mary and other saints and holy people, but we do not worship them. We believe in one God only. We don't pray to saints the same way we pray to God. We believe there are people who are specially loved by God, like his mother, and we ask them to ask God to answer our prayers. He did actually say in the Bible " I cannot deny my mother anything." Many non-Catholics are under the mistaken belief that we pray to statues in our churches, but we do not. We often look at the statues when we pray in order to keep an image of that saint, or Christ, in our minds as we pray. Catholics also have a different cross than non-Catholics. Our cross has an image of Christ on it to remind us of the pain he went through in order to save us. Non-Catholics' cross has no image. But the similarities are more important: We all believe the Christ was the human form of God, we all celetrate the Last Supper, most of us go to Church on Sunday. St. Peter, the apostle, was essentially the father of the christian church. Throughout history, "the church" was the only church and there were no non-Catholic Christians. But some of the leaders in the church became corrupt and people started to protest (protest-ants) and founded churchs of their own. But being mere humans many of them became corrupt too and people broke off from them. That's the reason there are so many Christian churches. The people who didn't break away from the corrupt Catholic church decided to reform it and the corrupt people were removed. Just for your information, other apostles founded other Christian churches. Matthew went to Egypt and founded the coptic church, for example. They were following Christ's order to spread his word. Then there are the moral issues like abortion and birthcontrol. Although the Catholic Church is adamant that neither one is okay, most Catholics think otherwise about birth control, and some Catholics think otherwise about abortion. Many non-Catholics think both are okay. Wikepedia may give you more answers.

Answer 4

Catholicism was one of the first Christian faiths. Some people are a little bothered by the excessive 'tradition' and many religions have branched off from Catholicism, including the Anglican and Lutheran faiths.

Like all faiths, the Catholic church has had some challenges. It is a powerful church in numbers and with that comes the increase in a possibility for corruption. The church has had some corrupt leaders, but it has also done a lot of good. Pope John Paul II is a man worthy of mentioning. He attempted to bring all Christians together and believed that there should be a respect for other faiths (Muslim faith, Jewish faith, Buddism, etc.) Although I don't agree with all of his politics, I think he did some good and meant well.

Catholic mass is a little more structured. Catholics do believe in the value of Saints and Mary. From what I understand, Catholism uses Saints as a way to illustrate average human beings are capable of great things. In a way, the easiest way to explain this is to say that Saints are thought of almost like angels after their death - not quite, but almost. Catholics pray directly to God and Christ like all other Christians, but Catholism puts great emphasis on the woman they call Mary.more than other Christian faiths. They value Mary as a symbol for all women. She is viewed upon as the ultimate mother. In this sense, they have a female figure head for the Church. Mary is viewed upon as human, not a god, but she was still Christ's mother and is often prayed to. I believe Catholics pray to God and Christ primarily. They say the Our Father, etc. They just also value the strength of martyrs and Mary and ask to be watched over on behalf of Christ.

Praying to the Virgin Mary is not necessary to be Catholic, but acknowledgement of her sacrifice is.

Answer 5

Catholics pray to both j & m, but protestants do not accept the virgin mary as a patron. all to do with martin luther rejecting Rome's rule etc.
the cult of the Virgin Mary was the replacement for the pagan Vesta that the Romans worshipped before Christianity. Then when the official Roman religion got replaced with Christianity it was that brand that stuck.
When the church split in the 16th century, protestants associated the Virgin with Rome which was a big no-no.

Answer 6

As ever, Samian is right, though the catholic and orthodox churches didn't actually split until 1054 CE. Not to mention the Nestorians and Copts and other eastern churches that split away earlier. But yes, catholics and orthodox are the originals that can trace themselves right back to the time of jesus. And in fact they make the most logical sense, insofar as Christianity ever does. Protestants pointing the finger really need to learn some church history.

Answer 7

Kind of. Catholics believe in many different things that were added to the religion outside of the Bible. All of these things were voted on and passed at one time or another. Such things include but are not limited to:

Praying to Mary
The Infallibility of the Pope
Purgatory
The Seven Sacraments
The Seven Deadly Sins
Making the sign of the cross after prayer
The Rituals

The Clergy actually voted on whether or not to make Mary divine a few years ago. The vote was very close, but didn't pass.

Answer 8

Catholics are members of the Catholic Church and accept Catholic doctrines (big ones: Papal infallibility, the Immaculate Conception, etc.). Non-Catholics reject some of these doctrines; which ones depends on which group. Orthodox Christians, for example, have a church hierarchy and ritual very similar to Catholics, but do not accept the authority of the Pope. High Church Anglicans are the same. Other Protestants reject the episcopal church structure (i.e., they don't have bishops), most of the ritual, etc.

Edit: Catholics don't pray to Mary, they ask Mary to pray for them. Some Protestants don't think that's OK.

Answer 9

Simple difference between the two is that if your a catholic your not aloud to get divorced and remarried in a church and there can only be male priests.where as non catholic christians can get married in a church even if they have been divorced and they allow female priests(look at your history of henry the 8th)

Answer 10

It's funny, but a lot of Protestants believe in "Bible Only", and yet the books that are in today's Bible were chosen by a Catholic Priest in the 4th Century.