The Catholic Church and its views and teachings on specific subjects.
5
votes
1answer
109 views
Why do Evangelicals like a spirituality book by a 16th century Catholic monk?
I recall in my early days as a Christian I remember reading a book called ‘The Practice of the Presence of God’ by a Monk called Brother Lawrence in France. It always baffles me a bit that this book ...
4
votes
1answer
92 views
Does the great great grandmother in George MacDonalds Princess and the Goblin represent a Catholic conception of God?
I just finished reading the Princess and the Goblin and the Princess and Curdie written by George MacDonald, a prolific author of Childrens books and a congregationalist minister (albeit not one ...
5
votes
1answer
101 views
When do catechumens go to confession?
I thought I'd answer a question asked here about non-Catholics receiving the sacrament of reconciliation by using the RCIA book, but in skimming all the steps, there doesn't seem to be much said about ...
12
votes
2answers
826 views
Why does Vatican require “Yahweh” not to be used?
This news article by Catholic News Service tells of the removal of the Tetragrammaton from Catholic masses.
"Yahweh" -- a name of God that the Vatican has ruled must not "be used or pronounced" in ...
7
votes
1answer
94 views
What makes a confession sacramental?
In the Catholic tradition, confession to a priest is treated with special protection as a sacred rite. The priest is charged with maintaining the confidential nature of the confession, something they ...
10
votes
2answers
1k views
Do Catholic priests have to report child abuse confessed in secret?
Is there any canon, regulation, norm or diocesan norm which requires priests to report confessions of child abuse? Are priests obliged to follow laws to this effect?
I'm not asking in regard to ...
0
votes
1answer
4k views
Approximate amount of money per year the Catholic church spends for charity?
I'm curious of how much money the Catholic Church spends globally for charity per year. I could not find the information I wanted by a simple Google search, and even on Wikipedia, I could only find ...
-1
votes
5answers
262 views
Catholicism and Christianity [closed]
Is Catholicism considered orthodox Christianity? Things like praying to saints, the pope, praying to Mary, etc could be considered heretical... no?
1
vote
1answer
148 views
Is it true that Luther claimed Popes and priests commonly practiced sodomy?
This is a simple historical Q & A question regarding the rumor that Luther made this fairly inflammatory accusation. The question is simple. Is there any solid proof that Luther really thought ...
5
votes
1answer
218 views
Why did the authors of the London Baptist Confession of 1689 callout the pope as being the antichrist?
In chapter 26 paragraph 4 of the 1689 LBC, the authors called the pope the antichrist:
neither can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof, but is that antichrist, that man of sin, and son ...
7
votes
2answers
140 views
How can a particular trade of modern times get a patron saint?
In days of yore, tradesman and guilds had patron saints. These days patrons seem to only be attributed to profession in vague ways via papal declaration (i.e. St. John Vianney is the Patron of all ...
4
votes
2answers
206 views
Is the Catechism of the Catholic Church considered scripture?
Is the Catechism of the Catholic Church considered scripture? Does it have the same authority as the Bible? If not, what is its place in the church? Is it considered heresy to preach or believe ...
-3
votes
2answers
129 views
How did the Catholic canon that Christians could not 'share a meal with a Jew' differ in spirit from the Pharisees traditions concerning Gentiles? [closed]
Anyone who has studied the New Testament knows that possibly the greatest offense that the Jewish leaders had against Christ was that he did not respect their traditions. Jews at that time put the ...
5
votes
2answers
145 views
When and where did Pope Paul VI say the “Mass is the most perfect form of prayer”?
I was trying to source this quote,
The Mass is the most perfect form of prayer - Pope Paul VI
but the Google, in her wisdom, seems to think I only want to see what my fellow zealous Mary lovers ...
4
votes
1answer
141 views
The soul's progression through purgatory
Does anyone know of any folklore in Christian mythology about what happens to the soul as it progresses through purgatory and into heaven? (Plus, of course, for systems that hold universal ...
4
votes
1answer
217 views
What's the tradition behind hand holding during the Our Father at Mass?
In traveling around my diocese I've noticed that there are some parishes that are hand-holders and some parishes that are non-hand-holders and some people in the non-hand-holder parishes who persist ...
0
votes
1answer
216 views
According to Reformed Theology, are Catholics Christians?
In John MacArthur's Scandal of the Catholic Preisthood, Catholicism is not portrayed as the zenith of Christianity.
Question:
Is this
a John MacArthur only view, not held by the majority of ...
7
votes
2answers
81 views
Pre-Crucifixion Transubstantiation
The Roman Catholic church teaches the doctrine of transubstantiation--that the bread and wine literally become the body and blood of Jesus. It seems that the sacrament of taking the body and blood ...
12
votes
1answer
147 views
How do Catholics support transubstantiation?
As I understand it, the doctrine of transubstantiation maintains that bread and wine literally* become the body and blood of Christ...yet it is impossible to detect this. That is, they do not ...
7
votes
2answers
116 views
Has the Roman Catholic Church ever issued an official response to the accusations of the Reformers?
I just started reading Luther's Tabletalk, and the preface, written by Dr. John Aurifaber in 1569, roundly condemns the Roman Catholic Church, presenting an analogy which compares Christians' ...
4
votes
1answer
69 views
Were Catholics originally offended by the Sacred Heart?
According to a comment by Mr. Hayword, the Sacred Heart was something which was originally opposed in Catholicism, but I have not found clear evidence of this, only a citation of an Anglican who cites ...
5
votes
3answers
554 views
Do they use icons in the Roman Catholic Church?
Do they use icons in the Roman Catholic Church like they do in the East Orthodox Church? In my limited experience, I've only seen statues in the Roman Catholic Church, but not icons. I don't just mean ...
2
votes
1answer
138 views
Is it true the term 'pontifex maximus' was the name of the high priest of the Roman Cult of Emperor Worship, before being adopted by the Pope?
This has always seemed strange to me that the Pope would not want to distance himself with emperor worship as much as possible. If pointifex maximus was a term used by the government of Rome in its ...
8
votes
2answers
120 views
Were paid indulgences compulsory prior to the Reformation?
Luther's 95 Theses were a refutation of selling indulgences on the part of the Catholic Church. Did he, or others, believe that the Church was saying that:
The only way to be a good Christian was ...
4
votes
1answer
103 views
Was the Apostolic Tradition of rejecting soldiers from the church ‘permanent’, or was this ‘tradition' briefly enforced?
In the Bible Jesus encounters Roman soldiers but does not tell them to 'quit their day job'. Jesus encountered a centurion with 'great faith' as recorded in Matthew 8. Peter as well baptized a ...
4
votes
2answers
102 views
In what order were the Sacraments added?
In his book The Pursuit of God, A. W. Tozer has this phrase:
'The sacraments' were first two, then three, then four, until with the triumph of Romanism they were fixed at seven.
What were these ...
13
votes
3answers
923 views
Significance of virgins in the Catholic church
Why are virgins so popular in the Catholic church (specifically in Mexico or Latin America)? Aside from the obvious, virgin Mary, there are "virgins" of practically every major Catholic church ...
6
votes
1answer
60 views
What is a “Pentecostal Catholic”?
One of my new neighbors is a "Pentecostal Catholic" from India. I have heard of this denomination before, during an Evangelical Missiological Society conference, but didn't have a reason to ...
3
votes
2answers
194 views
Why aren't I considered illegitimate?
So, my dad is a baptized Catholic, but was raised Presbyterian. When he was in his twenties he married a woman in the Catholic Church who left him within a year (and got married to his best man... sad ...
6
votes
2answers
278 views
What's a Papist exactly?
Is a papist always a Catholic who is wholly supportive of the Pope?
Must one be some sort of cleric or theologian to be considered by detractors as a papist or were every day catholic peasants and ...
5
votes
1answer
197 views
How common is intinction in the Catholic Church?
Intinction at communion is "the practice of dipping the bread in the cup and partaking the elements simultaneously".
The Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) at their 2012 General Assembly narrowly ...
-1
votes
1answer
215 views
Did the Jews use icons and images to help them worship as Catholics or Orthodox worshipper do?
I understand that some worshippers use icons to 'lift up their minds from earthly things to the heavenly things'? I am not interested about those using them as stage-props for a play (in comparison), ...
4
votes
2answers
148 views
What is the earliest record of using icons to worship God in the Catholic or Orthodox traditions?
The question is as simple as the title. I am simply wondering, ‘When is the earliest recorded date of this tradition?’
23
votes
7answers
2k views
As a protestant, may I participate in the Eucharist (Communion) when visiting a Catholic church?
I think the title sums it up. I'm a protestant Christian, and have many Catholic friends. When I visit their churches, is it permissible for me to participate in the Eucharist/Communion ceremony by ...
5
votes
1answer
304 views
What is the status of St Malachy's prophecy within Catholicism?
As might be well-known to some, and perhaps especially to Catholics, the name of Saint Malachy, a former Archbishop of Armagh, is often associated with the Prophecy of the Popes. Much of the recent ...
2
votes
1answer
190 views
Martin Luther's take on Roman Catholic clergy individuals living (immediately) before him
Is there any evidence that Martin Luther considered any of the Roman Catholic clergymen who lived in the centuries preceding his own lifetime (evidence related to those living in the centuries ...
3
votes
2answers
156 views
Why do some Catholics file up for commmunion?
My wife was telling me about how in Spain, it's common practice to just go up to receive communion pretty much at random whereas in my experience I've always filed up (even when I was in Germany for ...
10
votes
1answer
202 views
Which doctrines are based solely on the apocrypha?
What Roman Catholic doctrines are based only in the 7 books canonized by the Roman church, but not accepted by Protestants. (e.g., Tobit, Judith, Maccabees, the additions to Daniel and Esther, etc...)
...
2
votes
4answers
621 views
On what grounds does the Catholic church reject sacraments of protestant denominations?
While there is a wide range of opinion among adult-baptism protestants as to whether a Catholic (or other infant) baptism is or can be considered valid, there seems to be (at least in my experience) a ...
4
votes
1answer
86 views
Has the matter of salvation - whether it is by works or by faith alone - ever been considered on any councils of the Catholic and Orthodox churches?
Prior to Luther's Reformation, has the matter of salvation - whether it is by works or by faith alone - ever been considered on any councils of the Catholic and Orthodox churches?
6
votes
2answers
322 views
Why did priests begin to sacrifice?
I attended a class on the Sacraments last night and the presenter was talking about how Bishops, priests and deacons were specifically mentioned in the NT. It made me wonder, how did Christians get ...
4
votes
1answer
121 views
Any Roman Catholic Church martyrs from 10 - 15th centuries?
Do we know of any martyrs from among the Roman Catholic Church that lived during the 5 centuries before Martin Luther (i.e. 10 - 15th centuries). I am especially interested in those who have been ...
5
votes
2answers
225 views
What is the purpose of godparents?
I was looking through Catholic baptismal records, while doing genealogy, when I realized that I didn't know what the purpose of godparents is. What is their purpose? Why are they recorded? Are the ...
5
votes
1answer
272 views
Which nuns get new names?
I know that some Catholic nuns chose new names, like Mother Teresa (previously Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu), and others didn't, like Sister Helen Prejean.
What determines whether a woman changes her name ...
5
votes
1answer
171 views
What's so great about the Canticle of the Sun?
A few years ago, I tried to explain to the 7th-8th graders in my catechism class how awesome St. Francis was. I told 'em about him giving up all his stuff and rebuilding the Church etc... but, for ...
5
votes
2answers
215 views
Mary's painless birth
Where does the Catholic tradition that Mary's birth was painless come from?
My wife just got home from a non-denominational study about Mary and she said she thought everybody knew this, but ...
4
votes
1answer
151 views
Did Pope Benedict XVI grant permission for hetrosexual couples to use artifical birth control methods?
In a book of interviews by Peter Seewald "Light of the World" the Pope is quoted as saying something to the effect that homosexual prostitutes would be better off if they used condoms than if they ...
3
votes
0answers
38 views
How does an adult become a Catholic? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
What are the requirements for a Protestant joining the Catholic church?
So, a Protestant decides he wants to become a Catholic. What does she need to do?
6
votes
1answer
642 views
What are the requirements for a Protestant joining the Catholic church?
What are the requirements for joining the Catholic church as an adult?
I'm interested in all the requirements, including whether a previously baptized Protestant would be required to (or forbidden ...
4
votes
1answer
2k views
Does the Roman Catholic church recognize marriages outside of the church?
I'm curious about the status of marriages performed outside the auspices of the church. For example, if a non Catholic converts to the Roman church, but was married beforehand, does it "count". Based ...
