Cathoics have been following Christ for 1,600 years before there was a protestant....we have ALWAYS led people to Christ,
Detestable rituals which include fondling and kissing desicated corpses does NOT lead people to Christ.
Your fellow posters have admitted that even if the Church was founded by Peter it has strayed far from the practices of the Apostles. Even Elvis would look at the vestments and bling and say “Dang, that’s gaudy!”
Is this what Catholics do? Can you show us Catholics where this is recommended in the Catechism?
Because, as a practicing Catholics, this isn't something that I've ever seen a Catholic do, or heard a priest recommend.
You know, this kind of rhetoric comes across as a bit... hysterical. If I can make an analogy, it would be like a Catholic saying something like, "Protestants teach that kissing and fondling poisonous snakes leads one to Christ!"
Would that be a fair characterization of Protestantism?
Finally, FWIW, I found this in the Bible:
2 Kings 13:21I found this in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.
Popular pietyThat's the only mention of relics that I found.1674 Besides sacramental liturgy and sacramentals, catechesis must take into account the forms of piety and popular devotions among the faithful. The religious sense of the Christian people has always found expression in various forms of piety surrounding the Church's sacramental life, such as the veneration of relics, visits to sanctuaries, pilgrimages, processions, the stations of the cross, religious dances, the rosary, medals,180 etc.
1675 These expressions of piety extend the liturgical life of the Church, but do not replace it. They "should be so drawn up that they harmonize with the liturgical seasons, accord with the sacred liturgy, are in some way derived from it and lead the people to it, since in fact the liturgy by its very nature is far superior to any of them."
1676 Pastoral discernment is needed to sustain and support popular piety and, if necessary, to purify and correct the religious sense which underlies these devotions so that the faithful may advance in knowledge of the mystery of Christ. Their exercise is subject to the care and judgment of the bishops and to the general norms of the Church.
The following is from the Catholic Encyclopedia regarding the Council of Trent's teaching regarding relics:
"the holy bodies of holy martyrs and of others now living with Christ—which bodies were the living members of Christ and 'the temple of the Holy Ghost' (1 Corinthians 6:19) and which are by Him to be raised to eternal life and to be glorified are to be venerated by the faithful, for through these [bodies] many benefits are bestowed by God on men, [2 Kings 13:21] so that they who affirm that veneration and honour are not due to the relics of the saints, or that these and other sacred monuments are uselessly honoured by the faithful, and that the places dedicated to the memories of the saints are in vain visited with the view of obtaining their aid, are wholly to be condemned, as the Church has already long since condemned, and also now condemns them." Further, the council insists that "in the invocation of saints the veneration of relics and the sacred use of images, every superstition shall be removed and all filthy lucre abolished." Again, "the visitation of relics must not be by any perverted into revellings and drunkenness." To secure a proper check upon abuses of this kind, "no new miracles are to be acknowledged or new relics recognized unless the bishop of the diocese has taken cognizance and approved thereof."