Worshipping Leaders?

Question

Do you worship the President or the Prime Minister or the Leaders in your Country, or do just you listen to them, and do you call them Gods or do you show respect to your Leaders?

No? then neither do Catholics towards the Pope, he is our leader in the Church, he is not God and we do not worship him
We respect the Pope as our leader

Can you tell me what the difference is?

Myth Buster: very good point, I never thought of the Queen, interesting isn't it?

Answer 1

Well I am Catholic so perhaps my perspective is not what you are looking for; however, I am a convert and have been on "both sides of the fence" as it were.

I think there are too big problems with the perception that people have reagarding the respect Catholics have for their leaders. The first is historical. Much of the ceremony associated with church leaders has been passed down to us from an age where EVERYONE got more respect than we customarily give now. It wasn't even a generation ago when even average people weren't called my their first names because it was too familiar. If you go back a few more generations you enter an age where leaders were accorded far more physcial gestures of respect than we do today. You bowed to kings. You bowed to nobility. And nobody considered it worship. It was simply a matter of respect. The Catholic church has hung onto these gestures of respect long after most have abandoned them. I don't think that is necessarily a bad thing.

Second, I have found that part of the problem non-Catholic have with the respect we pay to non-divine entities stems very much from their definition of worship. Protestants tend to define anything that shows up in their morning worship services as worship. Sing a song...worship. Study the Bible...worship. Pray....worship. Worship is what THEY define it to be and so they look at anything Catholics do and say "Well if we did that it would be worship. They do that...therefore it's worship." What they don't understand, what they don't have, is the Mass which is worship as Jesus defined it. "Do this in remembrance of me." Because they don't worship Jesus ENOUGH, they tend to look at Catholics and say that we worship statues, and saints, and whatever, because they have been robbed of TRUE worship they confuse worship and respect.

Answer 2

There is no difference except that the Pope holds the keys to the kingdom (Matthew 16:18) and his authority was given by Christ himself, whereas the President and the Prime Minister were elected by the people. But I get your point. People do need to understand that we only worship the Father, Son and Holy Spirit - not the Pope.

And as for what he does to us if we don't obey the Pope's teachings and interpretations? Not a single thing. That is between us and God, but if we do disobey, we do so knowing that we have gone against the guidance of the Holy Spirit (John 14:15-17).

And yes, he can excommunicate us, but this rarely happens - only to people who claim to agree with Catholic teachings and then publicly demonstrate otherwise. More often, when people do not wish to follow the truth, they excommunicate themselves by professing another faith.

The Pope has not more control over us than your minister has over you. The Pope shows us the right way to follow Jesus, we have to choose to do it.

Budleit: When you proposed to your wife, did you kneel in front of her and kiss her hand? Were you worshipping her above God? The Commandment is to have no other gods BEFORE him - to make him #1. It doesn't mean that we can't love, respect and admire people. People bow and curtsey to the Queen of England, but nobody freaks out about that. What gives?

And he IS the Vicar of Christ - Christ's representative on earth. Matthew 16:19: "I will give you the keys to the kingdom. Whatever you loose on earth, I will loose in heaven and whatever you bind on earth, I will bind in heaven." The Lord is the King, Pope is the Prime Minister. Mayor vs. City Manager. He's a VIP.

Answer 3

Why do people kneel to him and kiss his hand? It has gone way past just respecting him. I was once Catholic and I knew thousands of people who just had to go see him when he was in the states because they felt he was Gods voice on Earth. You may not think of him like that but thousands do worship him as more than a man.

kneeling to your wife is not saying she is the voice of God on Earth it is humbling yourself. Many people do worship the pope as more than a man.

Do they say the queen is the voice of God on Earth? I would not kneel to the queen even if I was British. The fact that others do I feel is wrong.

Mathew 16:19 he is just talking to Peter how does that equate to future popes? Did the Pope who started the crusades, the inquisition, and masacred the Knights Templar, his own church knights, have God's blessing. We are commanded by Jesus to love thy God, love thy neighbor and love thy enemy. I fail to see how so many Popes did not do this.

Answer 4

I simplest recognise of 1 worship chief. His title is Jesus Christ. I do not placed any religion in guys. It is considering the fact that, fairly frankly, I sternly refuse to believe such a lot folks who declare to talk for God.

Answer 5

Sister Spitfire, may I thank you for your common-sense response -- which, around here, is a breath of fresh air?

I am in total agreement.

Answer 6

The difference is in which people are making the choices.

Answer 7

They do not hear us when we say this because they do not want to hear us. If they heard us and believed us they might not be able to continue to brow beat us with all of their junk and because they do this they think they are so much better.

Answer 8

They'll never understand. That or they refuse to understand. I'd have to say that's a great analogy though.

Answer 9

Does he interpret scripture for you? Tell you what is right and wrong? What if you don't do what he tells you to? What does he do anyway?

Answer 10

I have no leader, my government is broken. :(