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First, the Catholic Church does not have, and does not claim, the authority to send people to heaven or to hell. We all face one and the same Judge, Jesus Christ.

Second, your "incorporates pagan elements" charge is not well defined. If by "pagan elements" you mean "elements of human culture not Christian in origin," a reasonable response would be "of course we incorporate pagan elements, those which are not contrary to the Gospel." This means, non-Christian customs which,purified of error are rendered harmonious with faith in Jesus Christ.

Within the world of classical antiquity, Christian poets used the existing traditions of Greek and Latin poetry. For instance. Paul quotes the pagan poets Aratus and Epimenides in Acts 17:28: "For in him we live, and move, and have our being: as certain also of your own poets have said, 'For we are also his offspring.'"

So St.Paul actually incorporated pagan poetry into the New Testament.

The hymnodist Venantius Fortunatus wrote poems that are still used in the liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church, such as the Vexilla Regis ("The Royal Standard") and Pange, lingua, gloriosi proelium certaminis ("Sing, O my tongue, of the glorious struggle"). These hymns are based on the rhythmic marching songs of Roman armies.

You can see that it's not enough to say someone "incorporates pagan elements." You have to examine the matter more closely, to see if the "element" is harmonious with the deposit of Faith which comes to us from the Apostles.

An example might be holding weddings in church. Do you think church weddings are objectionable? I don't suppose you do. Yet this is a custom not described in the Bible --- not anywhere, not once! --- not described and not prescribed. But we do it because it is a custom which is congruent with the doctrines of the faith. A church wedding fits in well with the Sacrament of Matrimony.

Here's something you'll like about Pagan roots of Christian Church practices.

Hat tip to our friends the Lutherans.

:o)