Do Catholics Worship Idols

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No, Catholics do not worship idols. We worship God ONLY, not Mary, not statues, not saints. We give reverence and honor to the saints, including Mary, for the holy life that they led and the example that they set for us. We give extra honor and reverence to Mary because she is the mother of our Lord and because it was only due to her YES that our Savior was brought into the world. (and there’s many other reasons, but that’s the simplified answer).

Have you checked out the tracts on this site? There’s a lot of good information and if you poke around the forums for awhile, you’ll learn more than you could imagine. You’ll find the tracts up top under “library”.

Welcome to the forums! Hope you’ll stick around. 😉
 
Hi

Thanks for the info. Most of us in non Catholic denominations have lots of misunderstanding about the Catholic Church. I would like to clear those up on here. Peace and Love
 
Yes, there are A LOT of misunderstandings about what Catholics believe. You might want to post specific questions in the Apologetics forum. You’ll get a lot more replies with a lot of information. The Back Fence forum is more for off topic discussion and I don’t think this forum gets a lot of traffic from those posters that would be the most helpful to you.

I could dig you up some info but I have a Pharmacology test Monday morning and if I don’t get off this computer and start studying I’m gonna have problems! lol

You can re-post this question in the apologetics forum if you’d like.
 
themaccauk said:
Hi

Thanks for the info. Most of us in non Catholic denominations have lots of misunderstanding about the Catholic Church. I would like to clear those up on here. Peace and Love
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This is a great website for getting answers…
In addition I would like to direct you to the Catechism HERE. If you scroll to the bottom of the page there is a nice search engine that can help you to zero in on things.

Also - as related to your thread title…and being just a little bit “picky”…
It is important to distinguish what “Catholics” (as individuals) might believe or do from what the Church actually teaches.
I have known Catholics to have some pretty poor understanding of church teachings and I have seen Catholics take certain devotions to the point of being inappropriate. Thankfully the latter is quite rare while the former is, unfortunately, all too common.

So - know that when you ask a question here about what we believe, we will respond to the best of our ability with actual Church teaching.

Another thing to remember is that there can be cultural differences in how the faith is expressed. So bear this in mind as you move forward in your study of the faith.

Again - sorry if I sound picky in the above. I just don’t want there to be any confusion.

Peace
James
 
I get this question alot. The answer is no. Idolatry is a sin. The statues we venerate are like reminders and points of focus for our worship. Then we look at a statue when we pray, it can be for two reasons. We can venerate and make offerings to a statue as a way of making offerings to the saint. For instance when we crown statues of Mary, it’s because we can’t crown the real thing. The other reason is meditation. We may meditate upon a holy persons life by looking at a statue of them. Ordained religious often do this with crucifixes. I hope this helps. God bless!
 
It’s also pretty much the same thing as when we have a picture of our beloved deceased Grandma that we put in a special place on the mantle and maybe place some flowers around the picture because it’s very special to us. Obviously, the picture is not Grandma, but it’s a memorial to her and when we want to think about grandma, we might walk over to the fireplace and look at her picture and meditate about the memories we have of her. We do the very same thing when we place a statue of Mary or any other saint in a special place. We may even kneel in front of the statue. But we are not kneeling to the actual statue. We’re kneeling because we’re meditating on who that statue represents and while we meditate on their life, we’re also praying to God at the same time. Does that make sense?
 
themaccauk said:
Can someone tell me the truth about this
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No we don’t. Statues are like pictures or family portraits. We use them to recall our departed who have been faithful to the church. The saints are there for us to model after, Mary is there to intercede for us. Who we worship is God only.
 
No. An idol is a created thing that is worshiped/adored as divine- Catholics worship God alone. However, two Catholic practices can be confused with idol worship by those unfamiliar with the practices. The first is veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints. Catholics pray to these holy men and women asking them to intercede on their behalf before God. The second and more easily confused practice with idolatry is the use of icons (images and statues) in prayer and worship. Catholics make visual representations of Christ, Mary, saints, and other Catholic men and women to be utilized as…spiritual aids…for prayer and the liturgy. Catholics do not believe that these objects are gods nor that they possess any merit in and of themselves, but rather see them as a visual representation of a living being who glories God, and God has glorified. They are used in order to facilitate prayerful devotion, etc. not to be the recipient of said devotion.Now this does not mean that such icons cannot be considered sacramentals or channels by which God may deliver His grace and power unto the faithful on Earth. Miracles are sometimes attributed to icons or objects (we see this in the Bible) - but it’s important to remember that the source of this grace and power is not the icon or relic, but God Himself- the icon is merely the means by which it is delivered.
 
themaccauk said:
Can someone tell me the truth about this
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Welcome to CAF, themaccauk.

Here is one of the Catholic Catechism’s teachings concerning idolatry:

Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship. It remains a constant temptation to faith. Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not God. Man commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in place of God, whether this be gods or demons (for example, satanism), power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money, etc. Jesus says, “You cannot serve God and mammon.” Many martyrs died for not adoring “the Beast” refusing even to simulate such worship. Idolatry rejects the unique Lordship of God; it is therefore incompatible with communion with God. (CCC #2113)

As a side note, although Catholics honor and revere Mary and the saints, we do not do so in place of God. Rather, we honor and revere the power of God which worked so profoundly in their lives, and we honor and revere Mary and the saints for choosing to do the will of God in a manner demonstrating lives of heroic virtue. As such, we see Mary & the saints as role models, but we do not consider them to be divine beings. The statues we have of them are simply visible reminders of them (and the important events which surrounded their lives) but are not used as objects of worship. We pray to Mary & the saints asking them to pray for us and help us on our spiritual journeys, but this is an act of Christian fellowship and charity, not an act of worship.
 
well the answer is no if you believe it as “No”

and “Yes” if you believe it as yes–

it only functions as a mediator-- or middle-man–

like the Golden Calf did in the book of EX–

all though God didn’t like it then-- but it must be ok now-
  • because the roman catholic’s say it is
 
yahsure said:
well the answer is no if you believe it as “No”

and “Yes” if you believe it as yes–

it only functions as a mediator-- or middle-man–

like the Golden Calf did in the book of EX–

all though God didn’t like it then-- but it must be ok now-
  • because the roman catholic’s say it is
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The OP asked what the Catholics believe…not what non-Catholics believe that Catholics believe…
Since Catholics do not believe that statues etc act as a “mediator – or middle-man”…since the statues are not created for this purpose, there is no problem.

However - your last comment is quite correct. Since Christ Gave the authroity to His Church to bind and loose whatever…the prohibition on statues (as opposed to idols) is lifted.

Peace
James
 
MattofTexas said:
No. An idol is a created thing that is worshiped/adored as divine- Catholics worship God alone. However, two Catholic practices can be confused with idol worship by those unfamiliar with the practices. The first is veneration of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the saints. Catholics pray to these holy men and women asking them to intercede on their behalf before God. on Earth. Miracles are sometimes attributed to icons or objects (we see this in the Bible) - but it’s important to remember that the source of this grace and power is not the icon or relic, but God Himself- the icon is merely the means by which it is delivered.
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:tiphat::clapping::clapping:

Very well explained, Matt. Lots of kudos.
 
pablope said:
:tiphat::clapping::clapping:

Very well explained, Matt. Lots of kudos.
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Thanks pablope!

themaccauk, I hope I answered your question. I’ve been investigating the Catholic Church for a month and a half now, and coming from a Mainline Protestant background the parallels between idolatry and the use of icons was something that proved uncomfortable for me too, until I learned the theology behind the practice. The truth is, the use of icons in the Christian Church has not always been accepted without question, mostly for this exact reason: is it idolatry? Ironically it was the west that argued for and decided the issue that “no”- icons, when properly understood, are not idols- as opposed to concerns raised by eastern theologians if I’m not mistaken (this is ironic because icons play an even bigger role in Eastern Orthodoxy than they do in Catholicism). Christians have used icons for centuries as a way of teaching, remembering, and practicing the faith. Not everyone could read for most of human history, pictures and statues revealed the faith to the illiterate. When Catholics approach a statue of a saint today and pray for intercession they are not asking for favors from stone, but rather using the stone as a way of focusing on the one that is depicted and turning their attention to him or her. The saints are not gods. The Blessed Virgin is not a goddess (she may be venerated above every creation for her role in salvation history and her special relationship to the Lord- God is not a creation and no one, not even Mary may be worshiped, but the Trinity alone).
 
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