Catholicism here in the south is often misunderstood and misguided. As a child, I didn’t know there was a difference between Catholics and protestants. I grew older and although I knew we weren’t all that different from one another, but much to my surprise, many if not all of my protestant friends, ex-boyfriends, and their parents were overwhelmingly misinformed on my denomination. Whenever I’d meet someone new and they learned I was Catholic, a strange look would come across their face and the entire atmosphere would change. I have racked my brain for all the wild comments and questions I’ve been asked throughout my life here in the Bible Belt and compiled a list of answers to hopefully shed some light on this otherwise misunderstood denomination. Or otherwise enjoy some Catholic humor depicted in memes.
1. “Are Catholics even Christians? Do you even believe in Jesus?”
I have been asked this question more times than I can count. I was taken aback at how few people realized that Catholicism was a Christian denomination. In fact, Catholicism is the first and oldest Christian denomination simply because there were no other branches of Christianity. The word “Catholic” literally translates to the word “universal.” Before the reformation in the 1500s, if you were Christian, you were a member of the Catholic Church. Simply put, yes. Catholic people are very much Christians.
2. “But Catholic people worship Mary, too. Don’t they?”
Another overwhelmingly common question asked by curious protestants, and the answer is no, absolutely not. However, I can understand how gestures of reverence can be mistaken for gestures of worship. In our eyes, Mary holds a high honor. She was the first saint and the mother of God, she certainly deserves a little respect. She carried, birthed, and raised Jesus (you know, the Son of God?) Give the woman some credit!
3. “The Ten Commandments specifically say that you shouldn’t make false idols, but the Catholic church is full of statues?”
The whole statue topic became an issue way back in the day when Rome was splitting between the Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox. We Catholics certainly do not worship the statues we have of Jesus, Mary, and many other saints. God said no to the worship of statues. He didn’t say no to the religious use of statues, in fact, He encouraged it. There are many passages in Biblical text where God commands humans to make statues.
"And you shall make two cherubim of gold [i.e., two gold statues of angels]; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end; of one piece of the mercy seat shall you make the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be" (Ex. 25:18–20).
4. “Why did Catholics add more books to their Bible?”
The misinformation behind this question can be exasperating at times. Especially when it is accompanied by the look of accusation. The Catholic Bible has seven more books than most Protestant Bibles. Reason being is during the Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther felt as though the books did not meet his idea of Divine Scripture, so he simply removed them. Catholics did not add more to the Bible.
5. “Catholic people aren’t saved, so they can’t get into Heaven. Confessing to a priest is just confessing to another human, not to God.”
This part gets a little touchy for some. Many protestants I’ve encountered are uncomfortable with the idea that Catholics literally go into a room and tell a priest all the nasty things they’ve done, receive forgiveness after their penance and go about their merry way sin-free until the next time they sin. I understand how it seems weird, the priest isn’t God. However, in scripture, it is stated that Jesus instructs his apostles to carry on His work. Jesus tells the apostles "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained." Making the apostles the first priests. Jesus made the apostles a sort of mediator between God and us humans. That doesn’t mean we can’t pray directly to God and he won’t hear us. But just as a protestant can’t get saved without witnesses or a pastor, Catholics can’t become sin-free without the help of our priest. Confession is also a humbling experience. Catholics go into the confessional guilty, embarrassed, and carrying the weight of their sins. After Catholics have been forgiven, there is a sense of rejuvenation and freedom. When we are able to come face-to-face with our sins in the presence of the priest, ourselves, and God, we are better able to recognize the gravity of our wrongdoing and become less likely to repeat the offense.
Catholics and Protestants are not so different. Catholic people follow God and the Bible just as any protestant. We may practice in different ways but the fundamentals are all there. I hope to one day see the stigma placed on Catholics here in the Bible Belt lifted and a common understanding between the two established.
