How do you deal with the seemingly murky bits of Catholicism

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Lyllie

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Hi everyone,

I’ve been a Christian for the last 2 years and started by going to a Pentecostal church. I stopped going after a year and have spent the time since reading my bible, studying a multitude of books, watching videos, reading articles, praying and just generally searching for God and some semblance of truth.

I first felt a pull towards the Catholic church about a year ago and I ignored it out of fear. It seemed very scary to me and of course, I’d heard every negative thing that Protestants have to say about it. But that slight pull turned into a fully fledged yank made even more insistent because my 18-year-old son who I’ve been trying to get to go to church with me says he will, but only if it’s Catholic. To me that was reason enough to take the first steps and enquire about RCIA.

Anyway long story short, the journey so far has not been easy, I’m losing close relationships over my choice to join RCIA and I keep hearing vitriol and disturbing stories about the Catholic church. The latest being about a headless Mary Magdalene being paraded through streets in France in some creepy looking gold contraption.

My question is, and I hope this isn’t disrespectful, but to an outsider, there are some Catholic practices that can come across as a little creepy. How do you wrap your head around those when you’re first getting to know the Catholic faith? I want to be as open as possible, it’s just hard to find accurate information.
 
Wait, that’s the veneration of Magdalene’s skull, I think. I had no idea the French did that.
 
Would there be a reason for it? Like is it a sign of respect or something?
 
Yeah. That’s Mary Magdalene’s skull, and it’s how the people there venerate her.
 
Sure, so some of the things include:

The above Mary Magdalene skull thing, which was worded as “Catholic’s walk through the streets with Mary Magdalene’s head on a stick”. (not quite accurate).

Paedophilia in the church and the cover-ups that followed.

The crusades and putting enemies heads on spikes.

Killing other Christians in the Roman Inquisition.

Burning witches.

Selling indulgences etc.
 
You’re gonna love Fr. Mike. He’s so good at explaining the faith for us to understand.
 
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Thanks adgloriam. My biggest problem is that I can’t really defend my position because I just don’t know enough to do that. Maybe I’ll see if I can find a Catholic Church history book or something. I want my family to understand the decision I’ve made but it’s hard because although there’s an intellectual and choice component there is also a component that’s unexplainable to them because it’s unexplainable to me. I don’t know why I think that the Catholic Church is where I should be and I don’t know why I’m willing to overlook everything else, it’s just a magnetic thing at the moment.
 
I’ve subscribed to his channel 🙂 I think I’m going to love him too!
 
A good topic really, others have these same concerns that pop up from time to time.

To start with, consider that there are over a billion Catholics in countries all over the world. Many of those countries have cultural practices vastly different from ours, and religious expression gets included with that.

Knowledge is power they say. For those who like you, ask questions, getting the answers puts things in a whole new light. If you were to read about the lives of the Saints, you would run across stories where God acted through those Saints in order to heal people. It all comes from Jesus / God. God chooses to do this because of the exemplary way the Saints lived, served, and died for the glory of God, and the help they gave to their fellow man.

God encourages us to live the way of the Saints by healing those around them, as an example. The fact that a healing has taken place near the skull or a lock of hair of a Saint is proof that the miracle is from God, not from the person who was once alive. These things are not magic, they never were, it is about God only.

Finding out about these practices, these examples really, brings understanding, not only about cultural distinctions, but the lengths our Merciful God is willing to go for us all over the world, in ways that each culture can understand. I really hope this helps.
 
Lyllie said:
The above Mary Magdalene skull thing, which was worded as “Catholic’s walk through the streets with Mary Magdalene’s head on a stick”. (not quite accurate).
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Saints relics have been venerated from the beginning of the Church when Christians carefully retrieved the bodies of martyrs and buried them in the catacombs. Mass celebrated in the catacombs were celebrated on the tombs of the martyrs. As Christianity came out of the catacombs, altars retained relics in them.

Relics of the saints are venerated. Always have been. They are holy people worthy of honor.
Lyllie said:
Paedophilia in the church
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Bad people do bad things. Predatory people are drawn to places where they can prey. These sorts of things were not well understood in the past, and prior to the 80s almost no institutions had a concept of screening for such people (including secular institutions).

People who knew about abuse allegations and did nothing were wrong.
Lyllie said:
The crusades and putting enemies heads on spikes.
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I suggest you read some history books on the Crusades. I can suggest Hilaire Belloc and William Carroll.
Lyllie said:
Killing other Christians in the Roman Inquisition.
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And again, lots of misinformation, so read some Belloc or Carroll.
Lyllie said:
Burning witches.
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Was a Protestant thing
Lyllie said:
Selling indulgences etc
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Where such a thing happened, that was a sin on the part of the person who did it. Such a thing has never been something the Church taught or did.

Yes, you do have a lot of misinformation.
 
@Lyllie
Veneration of Saints

Jos 5:14 – Joshua fell prostrate in worship before angel
Dan 8:17 – Daniel fell prostrate in terror before Gabriel
Tob 12:16 – Tobiah & Tobit fall to ground before Raphael
Mt 18:10 – angels in heaven always behold face of God (we venerate angels because of their great dignity, which comes form their union with God. Saints also are united with God)
1Jn 3:2 – we shall be like him, we shall see him as he is
1Thess 1:5-8 – you become an example to all the believers
Heb 13:7 – remember leaders, consider/imitate their faith & life

Relics

2Kgs 13:20-21 – contact with Elisha’s bones restored life
Acts 5:15-116 – cures performed through Peter’s shadow
Acts 19:11-12 – cures through face cloths that touched Paul
 
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I am happy you are responding to the Holy Spirit who is leading you to the Catholic faith.

Even after I converted, there were still some things I had trouble understanding. I will say that the answers I found always had an unmistakable ring of truth. I never had that when I was in the A of G or other non-d church.

Take it in small doses and perhaps focus on the sacraments first. Also, always consider the source.
 
Okay this makes sense, I read this and Googled it as well and it looks like it wasn’t just a church thing but a government thing as well? As in the decision wasn’t always in the hands of the church, they were somewhat at the mercy of the government?
 
Thank you so much! That is the first thing that I noticed when I started seeking to have my early questions answered was that I felt the answers were actually there, sometimes difficult to find for a layperson to find, but definitely there, and they made sense.

Catholics also seem really lovely about helping others to find the answers they’re looking for, not judging them for questioning and sometimes doubting. One of the reasons I stopped going to church was that I read the bible cover to cover in 6 weeks and ended up with a million questions and was then told all I was doing was looking for problems. All I’m really looking for is the truth, not MY truth, just the truth. I just want to honour God but doing what he wants me to and being where he wants me to be and I can’t do that if I don’t discern and ask questions.
 
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