The Catholic Church and its views and teachings on specific subjects.
2
votes
1answer
19 views
Are those instructed before baptism considered catechumens before entering the catechumenate formally?
This question and its answer reminded me a question I wondered about a long time ago: the ritual of entering catechumenate usually takes place some time during the process of pre-baptismal catecheses ...
4
votes
1answer
61 views
What is the origin and basis for the Catholic teaching regarding Mary's vow of celibacy prior to her betrothal?
In the answers to this question it is asserted that Mary had taken a vow of celibacy prior to her betrothal to Joseph. Thus, Joseph already knew that he and Mary would never have marital relations ...
9
votes
3answers
125 views
Did Mary know she was sinless, according to Roman Catholic teaching?
The Roman Catholic Church teaches the Immaculate Conception that asserts Mary was conceived without sin and remained sinless for her entire life.
Assuming this to be true, did Mary know that she ...
8
votes
2answers
268 views
In Catholicism, what are the different kinds of sins?
I have heard various persons refer to different 'kinds' of sins on this site and in other places.
I have heard of
mortal sin
grave sin
venial sin
Are there others? What is a basic definition of ...
11
votes
3answers
195 views
When did Mary and Joseph learn that they were never supposed to have marital relations, according to Roman Catholic doctrine?
Roman Catholic doctrine teaches that Mary remained a virgin her entire life, even after marrying Joseph. It would seem that Joseph and Mary, at their betrothal, had likely expected to have, and ...
3
votes
1answer
73 views
According to the Catholic Church, what happens to a person who is in the process of learning about Catholicism, if that person dies?
Suppose a person is learning about the teachings of the Catholicism, and dies before that person has reached a conclusion whether he or she would like to join the Church. According to the teachings of ...
4
votes
1answer
88 views
What is the Catholic biblical or canon basis saying some moral works without grace (transient or permanent) are good (or not have the nature of sin)?
I am trying to clarify the difference in my own mind between a traditional Catholic and traditional Protestant view of grace, specifically in terms of the 'works of unbelievers'. It seems hard to ...
8
votes
1answer
81 views
Why is the word ‘concupiscence’ so important in understanding the difference between a Catholic view and a Protestant view of ‘Original Sin’?
I have noticed this word ‘concupiscence’ a lot while studying Catholic Theology. It seems to significantly change what ‘Original Sin’ means, making a Catholic meaning of ‘Original Sin’ very different ...
6
votes
3answers
160 views
What do the words Catholic and Protestant mean?
Also, what is the history of use and what languages do they come from? Is it a fitting name today or is it outdated? How do the two relate to each other?
7
votes
1answer
173 views
Reformation objections to lectio divina?
It is becoming popular in Protestant circles to embrace traditional Roman Catholic (RC) mysticism, such as the practice of lectio divina. For example, see this page on the website of Timothy Keller's ...
2
votes
3answers
217 views
How can common believers in the Roman Catholic Church be sure that the Church's decisions are correct and not erroneous?
There have been some councils, the decisions of which were later reversed by some latter councils. Thus, if your position on a particular matter that was being considered at those councils was too ...
12
votes
1answer
580 views
Are Catholics allowed to read the NIV translation?
I know this is kind of an odd question. However, there is a question that has popped into my mind while considering these quality standards that we've been starting to implement.
My thoughts are ...
2
votes
1answer
72 views
What is the Protestant biblical basis for those concluding that 'all moral works' without grace have no good in them (or have the nature of sin)?
I am trying to clarify the difference in my own mind between a traditional Catholic and traditional Protestant view of grace, specifically in terms of the 'works of unbelievers'. It seems hard to ...
18
votes
2answers
262 views
According to Roman Catholic doctrine, why does Mary refer to God as her Savior if she was born without sin?
In the Magnificat, Mary refers to God as her Savior. According to Roman Catholic doctrine, Mary was born sinless and remained sinless throughout her life.
So, why does Mary refer to God as her ...
2
votes
1answer
136 views
Is it true that John Paul II restored the practice of selling indulgences in 2000?
Is it true that John Paul II restored the practice of selling indulgences in the Roman Catholic Church in 2000?
EDIT:
two sources: here and here
1
vote
2answers
112 views
What difference does baptism make when it comes to marriage?
Here is a hypothetical example of what may be a very common situation.
Bill and Martha have been seeing each other for four years. Both were raised in Catholic families, but were not baptized. They ...
3
votes
1answer
124 views
What is the Roman Catholic position on literally reading the Flood account in Genesis?
Elsewhere on this site, the question of whether the Roman Catholic church supported evolution was answered with evidence that the Catholic position is that evolution could be true. That is, because ...
5
votes
1answer
43 views
Do Catholics have an “Apocrypha” or just a “Bible”?
Pardon my ignorance here, but I am just wondering if the Apocrypha is labeled as such by Catholics?
To clarify, a Protestant would refer to the 66 books of Protestant Scripture as "the Bible", and to ...
2
votes
2answers
105 views
If the old priesthood is abolished, what is the point of having Catholic priests?
Before Christ, there would be two tabernacles in the temple: an outer and an inner tabernacle. Priests would minister at the outer tabernacle by caring for the lamps, by burning incense to God twice ...
2
votes
2answers
89 views
Which Roman Catholic doctrines are infallible?
I know that the Pope can speak infallibly (ex cathedra), and that this has officially been done once, as well as three times before Papal infallibility was formally declared. I would assume that any ...
6
votes
2answers
136 views
Have different Popes ever contradicted each other?
I understand that Roman Catholics do not think that everything the Pope says or does is infallible. However, has a sitting Pope ever revoked or contradicted an infallible statement made by a previous ...
9
votes
0answers
128 views
Where does the Catholic church procure most of its Bibles?
I was recently doing some research on Bible publishing and distribution in order to compose this answer over on the Skeptics Stack Exchange site. In spite of the result being well received, I have a ...
4
votes
1answer
123 views
Does intelligence or rationality belong to other animals by participation?
In the Summa Theologica, Question 108(5), St Thomas Aquinas writes:
Therefore, if anything is to be called by a name designating its
property, it ought not to be named from what it participates ...
6
votes
1answer
68 views
Why does any Archbishop get to decide if alligator is okay for Lent?
NPR ran an interesting piece about the saga of whether or not Catholics could eat alligator on Fridays during Lent. According to the story, an alligator merchant by the name of Jim Piculas advocated ...
8
votes
4answers
580 views
What is the Catholic position on Exodus 20:4?
This weekend my son and I participated in our Scouting council's annual Ten Commandments hike in which we walked to 10 different churches and heard a short talk on each of the 10 commandments from ...
6
votes
2answers
235 views
What is the Biblical basis for the Catholic teaching that infant baptism cleanses from original sin?
The Catholic Church, possibly the Orthodox Churches, and even some Protestant churches practice Infant Baptism. However, I understand that Catholicism teaches that infant baptism cleanses the infant ...
9
votes
1answer
68 views
In Catholic understanding, did Paul speak/write ex cathedra while Peter was serving as Pope?
Catholic doctrine teaches that Peter was the first Pope and that Popes may speak "ex cathedra". When they do, that is considered infallible.
However, while Peter was alive and presumably serving as ...
3
votes
2answers
63 views
What is “Traditionalist Catholicism”
Pure curiosity, I see that Mel Gibson is an adherent of Traditionalist Catholicism. Is this a part of "normal" Roman Catholicism, or some distinct branch? What are the differentiators here?
10
votes
1answer
78 views
What does the Catholic Church mean when it calls humans co-creators with God?
The Catholic Church says that human are co-creators with God.
To human beings God even gives the power of freely sharing in his
providence by entrusting them with the responsibility of ...
2
votes
2answers
122 views
Baptising someone without consent
Stemming from this question Is it valid to baptize multiple persons at once?, the question gives the scenario of one person baptising multiple people on a plane that is going to crash. The bit that ...
6
votes
1answer
67 views
Is life imprisonment in accord with Catholic social doctrine?
I recall hearing an old religious sister talking on Relevant Radio a few years ago about her experience in Mexican prison ministry. She said that life imprisonment is just as bad as the death penalty ...
5
votes
1answer
78 views
If Genesis is not to be taken literally by the Roman Catholics, what is the basis of the original sin?
According to this answer, Genesis is not to be taken literally by the Roman Catholic church due to the scientific evidence contradicting it. In this view, what is the basis of the original sin?
5
votes
1answer
46 views
How is excommunication handled during the interregnum?
Not that I'm plotting anything heinous, but can one be excommunicated or have excommunication lifted during the interregnum?
I think, but I'm not positive, that some offenses that carry ...
5
votes
3answers
87 views
Do Catholics really believe in contemporary miracles?
I know beatification requires a miracle. And, I keep reading statements like this,
"On 19 December 2009, John Paul II was proclaimed venerable by his successor Pope Benedict XVI and was beatified ...
12
votes
1answer
78 views
Is the marital act of consumating marriage part of Sacred Tradition in the Catholic Church?
How far back does the idea of consummating a marriage go?
Is it tied to the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony? Is it like going to confession, but not fully receiving the sacrament of reconciliation ...
12
votes
3answers
2k views
The differences between Roman Catholic and Irish Catholic
I've heard the terms Roman Catholic and Irish Catholic since i was little, but i never understood what, if any, where the differences between the two. Why the differentiation of the two? What makes ...
3
votes
1answer
436 views
When did the practice of Confession in the Catholic Church begin?
Confession, specifically the practice of confessing one's sins to a priest, is a quite common practice in the Catholic Church. When and how did this sacrament first originate and become codified as ...
4
votes
2answers
165 views
Is the Pope morally obliged to submit to every secular authority?
Among the Protestant faith a believer is to submit to the government:
Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to ...
-6
votes
1answer
78 views
Is feminism somehow connected to Protestant ethics? [closed]
It seems to me that the highest political success feminism and gay rights movement achieved in Protestant countries, especially the Scandinavian ones, such as Sweden.
On the other hand, in Catholic ...
-1
votes
1answer
116 views
Why Christians wear some elaborate costumes which sometimes outshine those of the pre-Christian epoch? [closed]
What is the need to use elaborate costumes at services and on other occasions? Costumes of some Christian confessions much outshine those of some other religions, including the pre-Christian ones.
...
4
votes
2answers
124 views
In Catholicism, what distinguishes a priestly blessing from a lay blessing?
Lay Catholics are encouraged to bless their children [and homes?] using particular formulas or patterns. As I understand it, these ought to differ in "manner" and formula from blessings performed by a ...
5
votes
3answers
163 views
Can dogma ever be modified, and how does this relate to papal infallibility?
I have two questions related to the concept of dogma in the Catholic church. I appreciate any guidance. Also, references would be helpful.
Is there any point in the history of the Roman Catholic ...
13
votes
1answer
646 views
Why did Rome and Constantinople split in 1054 AD?
The Great Schism represents the break between the Eastern and Western churches. I know that a primary bone contention that the East had with the West was Rome's insistence on Papal Supremacy. My ...
3
votes
1answer
85 views
Why did it take so long for papal infallibility to be defined?
I have a question about papal infallibility. According to this source,
That the Church is infallible in her definitions on faith and morals is itself a Catholic dogma, which, although it was ...
6
votes
3answers
59 views
What is the “Way of the Cross”?
Our local Roman Catholic church has started advertising the "Way of the Cross" for Easter. I think I have seen this mentioned at other places I have visited and isn't a just a local event. Is the "Way ...
7
votes
2answers
141 views
What is the difference between icons and idols in churches that permit icons?
There are a number of Protestants that say the use of the images and statues in the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church is idolatry. I know that these churches call certain images "icons", but I ...
6
votes
1answer
57 views
Why would popes choose the name Pelagius in light of the Pelagian Heresey?
I was checking out the list of pope names by frequency on Wikipedia in search of minutia to defend my assertion that Pope Francis was the first new Pope name a long time and noticed that there were ...
3
votes
1answer
147 views
What personal possessions did Pope John Paul II have at the time of death?
The pope recieves no salary, but from what I understand, popes do have some personal possessions. A personal possesion is something that you own. For example, Pope Benedict XVI, I believe, had a ...
1
vote
1answer
33 views
Do Catholics consider Job to be historical?
The Book of Job is taken by some Protestants to be an historical document, whereas others hold that its position in the Ketuvim (the Writings) never assumed that it was anything other than what we ...
8
votes
2answers
143 views
According to the Roman Catholic church, who can baptize a new believer?
As far as I remember, there is no rule in the Bible as to who can baptize a new believer. However, I'm almost certain that sometime in the early history of the Roman Catholic church, someone or some ...
