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.”
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