Posted on 04/15/2008 9:06:36 PM PDT by Alex Murphy
ALPHARETTA, Ga. (BP)--Though in agreement with most Protestants on certain points, Roman Catholics diverge with Protestants on critical points concerning salvation. With more than 74 million followers in North America, Catholics make up the largest Christian denomination on the continent. Following is some basic background on Catholicism:
-- The Catholic Church was established as an institution around the fifth and sixth centuries. The current pope is Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger, installed April 24, 2005).
-- North America has 74,517,041 members of Catholicism.
-- The Catholic Church is headquartered in Vatican City.
Catholics believe:
-- the same as Protestants about God's nature and about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ.
-- in the same 66 books of the Protestant Bible, but they also affirm the apocryphal texts. In addition, they hold that authority is found in the teachings of the apostles as they've been preserved in the Catholic Church apart from the Bible. Thus the office of the pope has "full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church" (CCC, no. 882).
-- "through Baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God; we become members of Christ" (CCC, no. 1213).
-- priests can forgive sins
-- grace is administered through sacraments during Eucharist (Mass).
-- Mary was perfect. Catholics view her as a co-mediator of God's grace and as a collaborator with the salvation of Jesus her Son (CCC, nos. 510, 973). According to Pope Paul VI, "The Church's devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship" (CCC, no. 971).
--30--
Adapted from "Roman Catholicism" overview written by Bill Gorden, resourcing consultant for the North American Mission Board’s personal and mass evangelism team. For a more detailed overview, visit www.4truth.net and click on "denominations." Quotes are from Catechism of the Catholic Church. Liguori, Mo.: Liguori Publications, 1994.
I’ve always been a bit confused on the whole “Mary issue.”
If you ask a Catholic, “Do you worship Mary” they will say “no” but as I understand the word “worship,” that is what I have come to (possibly mistakenly) believe they do.
What is the real truth?
grace is administered through sacraments during Eucharist (Mass).
Grace Can be Administered through someone asking for Grace for you through Prayers , Special Novenas Special Papal Blessings, Priestly Blessings, Sacraments , Fasting.. Corporal works of mercy... and Taking the Body Blood Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ at the Eucharist. Attending Mass and Many More.. Novenas are really rich in Grace.. Praying for the Souls in Purgatory..
North America has 74,517,041 members of Catholicism.
I have never heard it put that way...”members of Catholicism”
we usually just say “Catholics”.
74,517,041 that number is really quite exact... there has to be a margin there somewhere.
Catholics ask Mother Mary to also petition the Lord with our prayers as we pray to the Lord.
They’re probably counting up baptismal records...The margin would then need to include people like me who don’t show up.
The Blessed Virgin Mary as was Said in The Gospel of Luke Mary FULL of GRACE>.. She is the Mother of Christ she was the Fullfillment of the Old Testament Ark of the Covenent.Just as the ARK carried the word of God she Carried the Son of God one in the Same.
May was Conceived without Sin...
She has appeared in Many times of Need to help People to follow her son.. Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico.. Our Lady of Fatima and Now she appears in Medjugorje in Bosnia.. The world celebrates Our Lady of Lourdes... This Years..as well.
Mary is the Mother of the Catholic Church.. she represents Love... ask her to help you understand how she works with Jesus her son.. she will!Like Jesus said on the Cross ... This is your Mother....
It’s in flux anyway, people dying and people being baptised.
But it is growing at an annual pecentage rate that I do not know. I thought it was 2% in the US but I am not sure.
Why not accept the Catholic’s answer? You want a non Catholic to tell you the “real truth”?
Well written.
grace is administered through sacraments during Eucharist (Mass).
Grace Can be Administered through someone asking for Grace for you through Prayers , Special Novenas Special Papal Blessings, Priestly Blessings, Sacraments , Fasting.. Corporal works of mercy... and Taking the Body Blood Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ at the Eucharist. Attending Mass and Many More.. Novenas are really rich in Grace.. Praying for the Souls in Purgatory..
“The margin would then need to include people like me who don’t show up.”
Well ...least you don’t leave early.
OK.
Of that 75 million number, does anyone have an idea of how many (or what percentage) would be considered ‘cafeteria catholics’?
ping
We worship God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - The Trinity). We *honor* Mary, our mother (Jesus gave her to us as our mother from the cross), as being a human being who was born pure (as in Luke, where the angel Gabriel addresses Mary as “full of grace”), because God intended, before she was born, for her to carry His Son in her womb and be His mother. Therefor, she needed to be a pure and perfect vessel (foreshadowed by the Ark of the Covenant in the OT). We also honor her because, due to the gift of free will, she was always free to say no to the role she was created for - but she didn’t. She said, “Let it be done according to your word”, and became the mother of our Lord, Jesus Christ. Additionally, she was the catalyst in Jesus beginning His ministry (at the wedding at Cana). So as you can see, she really played a most pivotal role in salvation history, and in facilitating the Lord’s plan to redeem the human race. Thus, she is quite deserving of our honor, love, and gratitude.
Simple, really!
What does that Cafeteria Catholics expression imply? I have never heard it before.
“Why not accept the Catholic’s answer? You want a non Catholic to tell you the “real truth”?”
I don’t care who answers me, but as I stated in my post, I already know what a Catholic is going to say; that they do NOT worship Mary, yet again as I understand the word “worship” they do. I guess the real question for a Catholic would be to define “worship” as they see it.
Well written.
I think she says “Do as He tells you.”
Haha I never understood that one, or the people who just show up on Christmas and Easter...I can’t imagine getting anything out of it if you only show up out of a sense of duty or obligation.
When I was a kid and my parents dragged me every Sunday (and we went in school on Fridays too) I’d just zone everything out and sit to read the Bible. At some point I realized I could do that without all the standing & kneeling & repetitious refrains.
Thank you.
Wrong. Peter was our first Pope. 6th or 7th century? Sounds like you are taking your reading points from the muslim disinformation board.
“the people who just show up on Christmas and Easter...”
you spot them a mile away ...they are always jumpy and figity in thier seats....no peace. To use a phrase...”out of practice” lol
and not exactly appropriately dressed but I don’t want to discuss it.
I’d be curious to get your take on Mark 3 32-33.
Ping for later.
The Roman Catholic Church became the official religion of the Roman Empire under Constantine in the 4thC. Throughout the Roman world, it was a common form of institutionalized worship well before that, with a chain of recorded popes going back to the 1st C. For example, by the 4th and 5th Centuries, it was already established in the British Isles.
You want to know who a Catholic worships yet you do not care who answers you on the subject. Again, why not accept the Catholics answer? Does it not fit into your agenda?
Roughly the same % that are cafeteria protestants.
Catholics do not believe a Priest can forgive sins! Catholics know that only God can forgive sins.
They believe that by confessing the sin to an ordained Priest, the act of confession and true repentance and the reconcilation through penance and contrition prayers reunite you in your relationship with God.
The Priest merely acts as a representative of the Church, passes on the forgiveness to any person sincerely repentant (the forgiveness that Christ granted through his sacrifice), and assigns the person with penance.
It’s not really exclusively a term just for Catholics.
‘Cafeteria Catholics’ is a catholic who picks and chooses which teachings and doctrines of the church they want to follow, and ignores the rest. Like going to a cafeteria and picking just the things you like and not taking the items you don’t like.
Do you know what that percentage is or not?
No. but my guess woould be 25-30%
When I have questions about Catholic teachings, I always ask a Baptist first.
:-)
Baptist Press ^ | Apr 15, 2008 | Staff
LOL
Yep, that struck me as pretty hilarious, too.
Using this same 'logic,' I suppose if one wanted to know 'what Baptists believe' one should (naturally!) consult the Vatican's website.
Personally, I think I'd go to a Baptist website to learn about Baptist beliefs, and to a Catholic website to learn about Catholic beliefs. But, that's probably just me. ;-)
We suffer a lot of that.
John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, Nancy Pelosi are examples.
But they might not consider me a Catholic.
I do believe that one cannot be a Pro-Choice Catholic and be a Catholic.
When Kerry bolted early on Bush’s state of the Union last year. I should have posted “...and that’s the kind of Catholic he is.” lol
The distinction is between adoration (Latria in Greek), which is offered only to God and veneration (Dulia in Greek), which is offered to the angels, Mary, and the saints.
There have always been certain groups like the Iconoclasts and Calvinists/Puritans who reject this distinction and argue that God alone should be revered.
“Again, why not accept the Catholics answer?”
I explained my reasoning to you. It really should not be this difficult to understand. If you were curious wether or not all Charismatics speak in tongues and flop around on the floor or dance around with snakes and drink poison would you seek an objective source or just take a Pentecostals’ word for it?
Good One my thoughts as well.
But...
you really would better off to consult a Jewish website to learn about Islam. lol
I suppose you could coin the term CINO for “Catholic In Name Only” for the appropriate people...
Look at the bright side, if we Catholics did not revere the Virgin Mother, football would be devoid of the name for its most dramatic game winning plays.
We believe in God, the Father, the Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and 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 men and for 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 fulfilment 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 worshipped 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.
Mark 6 3...is the Interpretation of that Line you quoted.
but Really when Christ dies on the Cross that is the Ultimate transfer of Mary to Mother.. now of John and the whole World!... and Mary operated Firstly as the mother of God in Public at the Cana Wedding instructing everyone.... to do exactly as he says!That was her Faith,, and beginning of Interveining and telling us what to do..to please her son!
LOL, good point.
I am a Cradle catholic..
Thank you for posting to me, but it really is not an answer to what I asked you.
Have a good night, I am signing off.
“The Catholic Church was established as an institution around the fifth and sixth centuries. The current pope is Benedict XVI (Joseph Ratzinger, installed April 24, 2005).”
The author should have consulted the Catechism on that one - the Church was established at Pentecost (see Acts), and thus Pentecost is considered the birth of the Church. (CCC - Part One, Section Two, Chapter Three). The Traditions and beliefs of the Church have continued virtually unchanged for 2000 years (including the Real Presence in the Eucharist, infant baptism, and the sacrament of reconciliation), and those Traditions are mentioned in numerous of St. Paul’s writings in the Bible(for example, 2 Thess. 2:15, or 1 Cor. 11:2), as well as being enumerated or specified in the writings of the earliest Christians, even in the 1st and 2nd centuries.
Just had to clarify that erroneous statement.
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