Are Catholics Mary-worshippers and do they practice mostly ritual rather than real bible truth?

Question

I was invited to go to church with my friend and she's Catholic. My family (they are Baptist) told me that Catholics's worship Mary and most of their practices are just based on tradition and ritual and are not found from the bible. What are your opinions?

Answer 1

i agree with your parents.

but i think baptists wrongly teach that Jesus is God, when the bible clearly says he is the son of God. It says he is a man, and that God is NOT a man.

www. truth or tradition .com

Answer 2

This is a good question, because I think there's a lot of misunderstanding out there about Catholic beliefs and practices. I was raised a Baptist and converted to Catholicism five years ago (as an adult). So I know both sides of the coin, so the speak! :-)

As a Baptist, I believed Catholics were evil and headed to hell because they hadn't been saved (in the sense that I understood it). One day it dawned on me that all Christian tradition (including the Bible, which was translated from Hebrew and Greek into Latin by Jerome) came through the Catholic Church. Think about it -- there wouldn't be Baptists, Methodists, Nazarenes, Presbyterians, etc., if Catholicism hadn't nurtured Christianity through the Dark Ages. There wouldn't have been anything for Martin Luther to "protest" at all. If you were Christian in the Dark Ages, you were Catholic; that's all there was.

The Mary question always bothered me a lot, too. The true teachings of the Catholic Church are that Mary should be honored, NOT worshipped. Of course, there are Catholics who take this practice too far, just as there are Baptists who take "getting saved" too far (i.e., just "walk the aisle" and go back to living any way they want). BTW, that last sentence is something that mystifies Catholics! :-)

Anyway, you are NOT required to pray to Mary as a Catholic, although I don't know any who don't.

Hope this helps. I'm sorry for the kind of rude posts from other Catholics, but we get a little upset about this issue since we're accused of it quite a bit! :-)

Answer 3

Catholics do not worship Mary, but rather honor her; for as Scripture said, "All generations will call me blessed." Also, Catholics do worship God through ritual, but ritual is nothing other than a formal order for a church service. When you think about it in those terms all churches have rituals of some form or an other. Catholic ritual just incorprates more elements from church history then, say, baptist ritual.
By the way, it is an error to think that Marian doctrine was a reason for the reformation. Martin Luther had a devotion to Mary even after he broke with the church. You will find that most disagreements like those involving Mary and also so-called "works rightousness" actually developed about fifty to one hundred years after the start of the Reformation.
I go to a school dominated by conservative protestants, and for the life of me do not understand the blind hatred of Catholics, and the sheer ignorance of catholic doctrine. If you get a copy of the Catholic catachism you can find out what Roman Catholics really believe.
I guess I have come to the point in my life where it is better to practice charity than find reasons to disagree. Someone ought to take John 17 seriously for a change.

Answer 4

Catholics in general (and I'm one) worship Jesus, as the Son of God, and follow (or try to) his Gospels and his message.
That much is, I understand, what the Baptists do too, for they are also Christians.
It is true that there are many Christians that have a devotion for the Virgin Mary. I do not see anything either sinful or terrible in that.
And the only ritual we follow is the Mass and the Eucharist.
Both can be found in the Bible (New Testament).

Curious98

Answer 5

As many Catholics have correctly pointed out, we do not worship Mary. We do have something called "Tradition" ALL faiths have a tradition, every one of them, even Baptists! Ritual? There is a method to the madness in the rituals, rites, rubics that Catholics aspire to. Below I provided a link for you to peruse and learn about the Catholic faith.

I don't know how old you are; but if you are under 18 no matter how I personally feel about my faith and my love for my faith I want you to listen to your parents. If they have strong feelings as most Baptists do about Catholics-- respect them and their wishes. You want to continue to live in a cohesive and happy family unit and this could unnecessarily create difficulty for you.

Again, if your interested take a look at this great site (below) I just recently found, very fun and interesting!

Many Blessings to you!

Answer 6

Catholics do not worship Mary, they hold her in special esteem being selected as the Mother of Christ, blessed by God.

Catholic Traditions date back to early Christian traditions before there was a bible because the Catholics collected the scrolls, compiled the bible and still safeguard the original records today.

Scripture is very sacred in the Catholic religion but remember Jesus was asked 137 direct questions in the bible and only 2 were answered directly. What scripture does not make clear we use sacred tradition that has been held by Christians throughout the centuries to aid us in.

Answer 7

>>My family (they are Baptist) told me that Catholics's worship Mary<<

Worshiping Mary would go against the teachings of the Catholic Church.

>>and most of their practices are just based on tradition and ritual and are not found from the bible.<<

Not everything was included in the Bible (John 21:25). That is why the Bible instructs, "stand fast, and hold the traditions which ye have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle." (2 Thessalonians 2:15) Thus, the Catholic Church teaches, "Sacred tradition and Sacred Scripture form one sacred deposit of the word of God, committed to the Church." (Dei Verbum 10)

http://bible.cc/john/21-25.htm
http://bible.cc/2_thessalonians/2-15.htm
http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19651118_dei-verbum_en.html

Answer 8

http://forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=137982

^^
Here you go. Catholic Misunderstandings 101. They are usual misunderstandings by non Catholics about Catholics.

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hahaha! Really funny about how many people actually think that we Catholics worship Mary! So the link is basically a list of misunderstanding with us. Dont worry its not offensive and some are pretty funny! Hope it helps ease the confusion. If you have any problems, just ask! The dudes in the link are really nice and friendly people.

=D

God Bless,

btw I have to thank you for not being abusive and biased in stating your question. Many people on Y!A are like that so thank you much Hannah B!

Answer 9

Catholics worship no-one but God Himself, the founder of our Church. The worship of anyone else would constitute idolatry, as plainly stated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church is also the only truly biblical Church. The Catholic Church compiled the Bible, from its own writings and those of the Jewish people; and the Catholic Church alone is the authorized and authoritative interpreter of its own book. This should be obvious from the doctrinal chaos we see in the manmade tradition that has "borrowed" the book from the Catholic Church, and then spent 500 years demonstrating their inability to correctly interpret it, fragmenting into more and more denominations every month in direct violation of the stated will of God, "that they all may be ONE".
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Answer 10

Your friend is mistaken. Catholics are NOT Mary worshipers. Catholics pray to Mary to intercede to God on their behalf. This is not worship contrary to what others may think or say.

Much of the Catholic Rite of the Mass is based on tradition. The readings are based on the Jewish/Hebrew custom of reading from the Torah. The priest's role is that of the Rabbi's in that he reads the readings and comments upon them (Sermon).

The rite of the Mass is taken from several traditions- including pagan- the sacrifice of the Mass replicates the sacrifices done in Jesus' time. It is also representative of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross.

The Bible is represented in the readings and in many of the prayers said during the Mass.

Go with your friend to Mass with an open mind and learn something. Every faith has its own way of praying and worship.

Answer 11

Well, go to church with her and make up your own mind.
I promise that you will not burst into flames when you enter the front door like you probably have been told that you will by the Baptists.
I am Catholic and I have to say that I don't know of any Catholic that worships Mary or any Saint or any images of Mary or of any Saint.
Catholics are Christians.
In fact the very first Christians.
The Apostle Peter was the first Pope.
They worship Jesus and the Holy Trinity of course.