Roman Catholic

They are making a man a Saint to be worshiped (the last Pope before the one now). He failed to stop a whole bunch of Priest from molesting little Altar boys but only had them transfered to other Parishes. He should have known if he didn't because it was his job to know. One miracle they credit him with even two or three cannot make up for all the ruined lives and money spend paying lawsuits for it. I would not follow this kind of religious organization if you paid me!

Martin Luther was a German Roman Catholic Priest that read his bible and was never the same. One sentence turned his life around:"The Just Shall Live by Faith." He learned Salvation is the free gift (Salvation and being saved is by the Lord's grace) by having faith in Jesus not by working to try to earn it. He wrote how he was trying to reach God by his good deeds and keeping the Roman Catholic liturgy and rituals, until he read the bible for himself. He felt betrayed by the church for teaching him they were saved by the rituals of the Roman Catholic Church but read Ephesians 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast. The Pope and his henchmen tried to put him to death but he went into hiding. We would not have the Protestant Church if Martin Luther had not read the bible. The Pope kept the bible from the average layman until Vatican II the Mass was in Latin. All believers in Jesus need to educate ourselves by reading the (authorized version of) the Bible and not take anyone'... Read more

Most of the Catholics that I've met did not convert but are traditional Catholics born into this religion and raised that way. Most of the ones I met did not have a good grasp on the bible or spend time much time reading it for themselves. In speaking to them I learned most followed the dictates of the Priest who follows the dictates of their Pope who follows the dictates of their own rituals, teaching and (Catholic) doctrine which has added more than a few teachings not found in the bible. To be fair this could also apply to the most religions minus following the dictates of the Pope.

Not a true christian religion, but a mixture of Christian beliefs with pagan influences. Gay priests, pedophile priests, pregnant nuns, nuns having abortions. Mary was truly blessed, but would she really want the worship she receives. More than 68 million murdered for not becoming catholic and being under the pope. Doesn't sound like the church christ set up. Purgatory, Mary worship, transubstantiation, Papal infalability, infant baptism, shrines, priests just to name a few unbiblical and unchristian theologies. Jesus came to be our high priest. No man or woman should be between man and God. This is true for protestant denominations as well. No pastor should be held in higher esteem than that of any other church member.

All in all they teach the TRINITY but with no POWER . Mary is held in high regard. To those of you who are in this faith plz look this up.HAIL MARY FULL OF GRACE THE LORD IS WITH YOU BLESSED ARE YOU AMONG WOMEN AND BLESSED IS THE FRUIT OF YOUR WOMB JESUS IS IN THE BIBLE. Holy Mary mother of GOD pray for us sinners now and in the hour of our death is NOWHERE TO BE FOUND IN THE BIBLE!!...

Catholicism has never recovered from Vatican II. It's no longer the mystifying and all-power force delivered via Latin language with exclusive authority. And the Church's silent and overt support of dictatorships and like regimes during the 20th century is a horrible mark on its bleak history of attempting to block science and inquiry. This is hardly a zero-sum gain even if the artistic and literary contributions of the church are considered. Oh, and historical permission (via silence) to ass-rape children isn't the best endorsement of this church founded on stories, violence, and damaging sexual repression.

I have a dim view of people/churches when they place themselves before Christ!!! But on the whole I have found Catholics to be very devout and sincere!

Roman Catholic doctrine has many many problems. While the Bible teaches us to "call no man Father" (in the spiritual sense) yet Catholics call their priests "Father." The Bible teaches that when a person dies "Absent from the body is present with the Lord" this means that the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory does not exist. There is no halfway house. The Bible teaches that "there is one mediator between man and God, the man Christ Jesus" This means that praying and confessing to a Priest is not the Biblical model. Thus going to confessional booths is useless. The direct approach is the Biblical model. The Catholic doctrine of praying to saints is also unbiblical. People are to pray to God the Father in the name of Jesus. Catholic doctrine of making a virtual Quadrinity by their excessive veneration of Mary is yet another issue. The Godhead is a Trinity, not a Quadrinity. Catholic doctrine on Infant Baptism is also unscriptural. Baptism is to be after salvation, the order is impo... Read more

Not really a faith, in the sense defined by the dominant evangelical Protestantism of the United States. Not really an inheritance either, in the sense that Judaism is. Nonetheless, it bears marks of both. As an inheritance, Catholicism has left its permanent claw marks in many of us who were raised under the aegis of this particular sect, including me; ex-Catholics are more likely to keep calling themselves Catholics than ex-Protestants are likely to call themselves Protestants, though they are still far less consistent than Jews, who tend to choose to keep the designation regardless of whether they retain the faith. As for the issue of doctrine, Catholicism will always have people who try to give it the consistency of a faith, whether it be the pope, Bill Donohue, or the other dumb&*@es who claim to speak for the entire group. Catholicism is really more of an institution, a massive network of living practices which have very little consistency: it'd be impossible to say whether a Cat... Read more

She is The One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. Historical and filled with awesome traditions and a richness matched by no other. She continues to withstand the test of time as Jesus said She would. In spite of anyone who has tried to stand against Her. She is a Fullness of faith in truth and justice; In Moral (Natural) law, passion and charity. Isn't it incredible how the lineage of Christ's Church is here with us in her majestic beauty just as Christ's lineage is defined for us in scripture? Humanity is strong and weak yet Our Father in heaven is ever visible and ever present in spite of those who abuse Her. Wouldn't it be humbling and selfless to make a difference in Christ's visible Church rather than relying on our own understanding and our own condemnation? If She isn't revealed to you, then wouldn't it still be fitting to love one another as Jesus has loved you - even though you despise Her? Scripture was never intended to be used as a weapon nor was scripture left up to a... Read more

They do not preach the truth, and actually, they have the devils stamp of approval.

The Roman catholic church as far as I know is based on the traditions of men. "Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? [Y]e made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites." --Jesus Christ Matthew 15:3, 6, 7 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked [Jesus], why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is WRITTEN [Jesus is quoting the Bible], This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men... And he said unto them, Full well YE REJECT THE COMMANDMENT OF GOD, THAT YE MAY KEEP YOUR OWN TRADITION. Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.... Read more

AutzenMaven:  You explained the mass in detail on your other post.  Believe me I know exactly what goes on during mass.  You asked what is blasphemy about the mass???  How about Transubstantiation or Jesus appears at Mass for starters.  You crucify Christ every time you have the euchrist. You should re-read what Illusionbuster wrote. It is all MAN's religion! I can see that you will never have ears to hear what Jesus is saying in His Word.

Catholicism is the oldest Christian denomination. It maintains the apostolic traditions and charisms that go back to the original disciples and Jesus Himself. Jesus is Lord!

As a practicing catholic (with two uncles who dropped out of that school to become a priest) I have a lot of stuff I dislike about the church. Not catholic people in general, but definitely the church. The problem with the Catholic church is that through modernization, they have yet to update any of their beliefs. They condem birth control (If you don't believe your ready for a child, good for you for taking the necessary precautions) and they condem abortion (which is ok in most cases, but the fact that if there is a health risk to the mother if she has the baby and they believe you should just place your trust in God and have the baby, is assinine!). The fact that women can't become priests is also a little sad. In addition, they actually believe that at communion you are eating and drinking the REAL body and blood of Christ...isn't that canibalism? I also think that there would be a whole lot less trouble with priests if they would let them get married! Again, I have no problem with... Read more

The Catholic Council of Trent denied every Reformation Bible based doctrine, including Scripture alone and grace alone. Trent proclaimed 125 anathemas (eternal damnation) against all Bible-believing Christians. The official statements of the Council of Trent are considered to be infallible, therefore, the anathemas of the Council of Trent cannot be changed or revoked. Don't let anyone tell you these 125 anathemas have been revoked in any kind of way because they haven't! Pope John Paul II in 1996 commemorated the 450th anniversary of the opening of the Council of Trent by affirming that Trent's declarations “maintain all their value.” The statement of the doctrines approved at Trent were issued in 1566 in the Roman Catechism. Here are examples of 5 anathemas, remember you only need one according to Rome be damned forever! “If anyone shall say that justifying faith is nothing else than confidence in the divine mercy pardoning sins for Christ's sake, or that it is that confidence al... Read more

All churches in my view have strengths and weaknesses, but anyone who's donated cash to the sweatin' goober preacher of their choice who holds a 'degree' out of a matchbook university or marched in an Orange parade oughta keep their mouths shut. Theological disagreements are one thing... this type of foolishness is fine on the 'net, but I can assure you it doesn't go over so well with the white and Hispanic urban working and middle class... but that's ok, cause you probably regard them as just micks, wops, polacks, wetbacks,etc from your computer anyway...

I'm one of the largest growing denominations..the ex-RC. I spent a miserable 5 years of my childhood at a RC boarding school where they brainwashed us daily with their propaganda and often as not handed out regular thrashings for minor offences. I mean, telling kids they'll burn in hell if they indulge in so much as a 5 knuckle shuffle in the company of a copy of Playboy. Yet, here we have had thousands of priests across the world being exposed as kiddy-fiddlers. The RC church is one of the most evil organisations in history.

If you want to learn about the false teaching of catholicism go to www.BIBLEBB.com and type in the word "catholic".

While I have nothing against individual Catholics,I have a REAL problem with a "Church" that helps child molesters escape justice while condemning and attempting to control the private lives of consenting adults.The Vatican has a very checkered history of corruption,has supported despots and pirates when it suited them,and let's not forget the Inquisition!

While I am no longer a Catholic, I still have great respect for its teachings and tradition. Catholism's influence on modern American society is generally a positive one. Unlike the evangelical branches of Protestantism (its mainstream branches are increasingly indistinguishable from agnosticism), Catholicism accepts human imperfection, and strives for social justice rather than individual perfection. While such tendencies can go too far, in the US Catholicism helps to balance Protestant extremism and vice-versa. Catholic educational institutions, from primary school to post-graduate education, are mostly excellent, and almost universally better than their public-school equivalents. Historically, great harm was done by the Inquisition and the Church's opposition to those branches of science conflicting biblical authority. However, one must also take account of the benefits derived from the Catholic Church's stuggle against despotic government authority (from the Roman Empire to t... Read more

Oooh! Seems like some of the wacko born agains have been worshipping at the altar of fundamentalism again!!! The rest of us are just an abomination to them, I guess.

Most people here who diss Catholicism are blindly following stereotypes they see on T.V. We don't believe you have to participate in sacrements to find salvation. We don't even believe you have to be Christian to get to Heaven. We simply say that if you try to lead a good life to the best of your ability and are truly sorry for your sins, you will go to Heaven. Sacrements, rosaries, Communion, and all of the other things people put us down for are just ways to help us feel more in touch with God and His love for us. They are not blind chants and rituals, but are deeply rooted in prayer and self-examination. If you don't want to confess your sins, you don't have to, but believe me, there is something spiritually helpful about it. Don't believe any of these other posters here. I am currently attending a Catholic high school, I have been taught all of this in the past year. There have been doctrine changes time and again. We are improving. This is not the same Church of your great-grandfa... Read more

If you have to belong to an organized religion, at least being a Raman Catholic gives you history, tradition, bible based faith and a world wide family. Every Christian denomination has its pluses and minuses. It's a matter of what works best for you (except for the blood sucking televangelist kind).

This site is not very user frendly for posting is it? Someone mentioned the Lamb of God and I remember that phrase well from my Catholic education ... Lamb of God who takest away the sins of the world, etc - but at the time I was too young to question why there had to be any need for blood sacrifice at all, either of an innocent lamb or of Christ himself. There was not a lot of difference betwen the God of the Jews and the gods of the various pagan sects. A lot of death was wanted. What kind of thing is it that demands the sacrifice of life? It is a horrible thought, and Christ is to be congratulated at bringing the horror of animal sacrifice to an end, at least for those who followed him.

While they may go off on some religious tangents, they do stick to the core beliefs of the Christian faith pretty closely. Our sacraments (the Church collectively, not just Catholicism) are more the superstitious nonsense to us. Holy Communion, also called the Eucharist, is a way for the Body to gather together, to share in a simple meal of bread and wine the body and blood of the Christ, and to be in communion with our fellow believers and with God. The remission of sins you refer to is the core belief of Christianity, that Christ by his virgin birth, death, and resurrection became the perfect sacrifice, the Lamb slain for the sin of the world. We hold that sin is death to the flesh. Because we sin, we are doomed to die. We believe that God became flesh and divine comingled in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. We believe that he died on the cross to pay the price of our sin, which is death. We believe that in rising from the dead, Jesus broke the power of death over us and enabled the ... Read more

Supporters and condoners of child molestation and criminal conspiracy/coverups for decades. Were integral in bringing us such cheery events like the Crusades and the Spanish Inquisition. Their leader, the f**king Pope, could have bought off Hitler and averted the holocaust, but deigned not to. Believers in venerating the Virgin and those slackers and hangeroners known as the Saints. Big time champions of such nonsense as the remission of sins, the eucharist, virgin birth and the rest of that magic and malarky. The most pukesome sect of a truly gutter religion.

The granddaddy of them all! This is tradition! This is the one and true church!

Well, they're okay. Their idea of salvation does conflict with salvation as mentioned in the Bible. Plus, the idea of purgatory isn't EVEN in the Bible. However, I really like how some churches celebrate Midnight Mass during Christmas time.

I was a baptised and confirmed Catholic. I never felt involved in the church, and it never seemed to try and do anything besides going through the motions. At least they aren't pushy evangelicals.

Better than the fundamentalist born-agains, baptists, and evangelicals who think they have a monopoly on the bible.

One particular day this past June, I thought I should really go to Confession. I hadn't gone in a few years, and had accumulated a long list to confess. I woke up early and for some reason it really ate at me to go, so I went to St. Dominic's on Steiner. I had no idea how Confession worked there. I walked around aimlessly for about ten minutes, when I see this older woman in the pews giggling at me. I asked what was so funny, not in a rude way, I just generally was wondering what was so funny. She started giving me the run down of how everything worked, and started giving me all kinds of info on the Catholic religion and her travels. She was such a genuinely sweet person, and she asked for my address and a few weeks later she sent me all kinds of religious items, including a book on Medjugorje, a rock she took from Medjugorje, a Bible, a cross that was blessed by the Pope, and a video about Father David, a guy who lived a ridiculous party type lifestyle and wound up being a prie... Read more

It is with a heavy heart that I a roman catholic holds steady to two thousand years of traditions,doctrines,majesterium,and canon law up until Vatican II due to subversion of our beloved Mother Church we deal with neo-modernists,jewish,communists,freemasonic infiltraitors who have swelled the ranks of the Church's most senior officials(bishops,cardinals)also with the novus ordo(new order of the mass).In 1969 the new mass was revised with six protestant ministers to insure the resemblance of protestant services and head for a one world religion and the break down process is on-going so the mass most catholics attend today may be far from catholic from the catecism through to the music(sacred latin hymns,gregorian,motets to rock bands)needless to say modesty in dress.One of our Popes(I will not mention)told a priest he believes he was being poisoned by one of the cardinals?They(infiltraitors)know only too well there is no postmortem examination(autopsy)performed on a Pope.Not only do we ... Read more

Yes the only church that can say Jesus founded it. All other christian churches broke off the catholic church or another church some way or another. The church represents the truth even if its hard, some churches tell people what they want to hear, but the catholic church tells only TRUTHS.

Historically it is the organization from which all other Christian groups evolved. UPDATE I really hate to respond to comments but I must protest about the comment from Lovelane that I am brainwashed. I am from the Depression Generation who learned to read and write and decide for themselves. I have read literally hundreds of works of history and I stand on my comment. I reviewed your comments and you have reviewed primarily television preachers. My suggestion is to turn off the tube and go to a library! If you look at the CV of most of those preachers, you will find they attended Goober Bible College for nine months and studied little but the Bible. Widen your horizons and read! History shows us that the Catholic and Orthodox Churches have plugged along for about 2000 years and really don't show much sign of going away. History also shows that the various sects that split from Orthodoxy and Catholicism have a tendency to die out. I don't see why history shall not repeat... Read more

I could not rate this very high OR very low because Roman Catholic is much too broad and too vague a designation - for instance, are you talking about the kind of Catholicism practiced by people like Ted Kennedy, Phil Donahue, and Mario Cuomo, all of whom seem to openly identify themselves with this group? Or do you mean people like Pat Buchanan, Joseph Sobran, Mother Theresa, and all those readers of the New Oxford Review, who take their faith more seriously? A similar thing could be said about the term Baptist here on RateItAll. You could be referring to the faith as practiced by people like Clinton & Gore - or you could mean a faith that is practiced with integrity, as it is by people like Billy Graham or Adrian Rogers. In fact, we could broaden the question to include all Christians in general - which ones are genuinely denying themselves, taking up their cross, and seeking to put Christ first - and which ones are simply exploiting the Christian faith to get things they want ou... Read more

You gotta start somewhere. A five for the good that they have done and a one for the times when it seemed that they might be more evil than the evil they claimed to be fighting will make for a solid three.

I think the catholic church is wrong. For one thing they name themselves the catholic church because it's in the Apostle Prayer and therefore think they are special because it says we should honor the catholic church. But they pray to saints, and I find that wrong. The churches are really ornate and I don't think God appreciates that, especially all of the statues and stuff. I don't find it right that the priests cannot marry, I believe that a man cannot give up his sexuality, it's just not healthy, they end up committing sins because of this sacrifice, that was in actuallity at one time made on behalf of the child by the parents, as it was the first son was to become a priest. Also they don't teach the whole Bible, they leave some parts out. There is too much superstition mixed up in the religion. I believe Roman Catholic is more of a cult than a religion. EDIT: In my religion, we say the apostle's creed, or prayer and according to how I was taught, catholic church refers to the churc... Read more

I'm a pretty thoroughly lapsed Irish Catholic. The lapse is due less to any dissatisfaction with the religion than with developments in my own persona. As a denomination, its nothing special, either good or bad, and while it is easy to point out its excesses, or some disgraceful individuals, it is far from unique among denominations in either category. I find myself at mass about once every two years, and confession about as often, and while I have no desire to return to the bosom of the church, I find my periodic visits somewhat comforting. I also find the catholic bashing on here more than a touch ignorant of history.

Read Mark Chapter 15 v. 37-38...afterwards, why do Catholics still have confession?? The Catholic faith is based upon doctrine manifested in the Vatican Council sessions, not the Word of God. Do you know where the doctrine of pergatory came from? 2 Maccabees 12:43-46. It is stated in there that somebody said that we should pray for the souls that were killed in battle. And that's it ! The whole doctrine came from one passage interpreted into a theology. The Roman Catholic Church survives because of it's members. The only way for a church to keep it's members in such great numbers is to form a reliance. The people of the church have to depend on the church for all resource of the interpretation of doctrine, support and salvation. Priests were no longer needed the day that Christ died. Mark ch. 15 v. 37-38 states that the curtain was torn. What curtain? The one between man and God. God and man can now be one again through Christ who payed the sin debt. If Christ didn't do the WHOLE job, ... Read more

People seem to forget that with out the church of Rome Christianity would not have spread as quickly as it did. Do I agree with all there beliefs, no. That said there are many so called Christian denominations that I don't totally agree with. New church types seem to make a sport out of attacking the Catholics which makes about as much sense as the sheites and sunnis. Update: I was read some of the other comments and it appears that some do not even know what Catholic means, it is latin for universal.

As an EX-catholic, I am here to tell you that Catholicism teaches a false gospel and a false Christianity.(Gal 1:6-9) They teach that you cannot know that you are saved and have eternal life here and now. The truth is that what they are really teaching is that Christ sort of half saved you and YOU have to do the rest with penance and good works to complete the work of your salvation. They want to put you under the slavery and yoke of legalism. (Gal 3:1-6) If there has been a great deception all along by Satan in Christianity it is Catholicism! Friend, learn what I learned the hard way: don't be lured into their religion. Stay clear of their counterfeit Christianity and trust only in what the word of God tells you in Scripture about what the church is, and what a Christian is, and who you are in Christ. Read Paul's epistles and don't listen what man has corrupted Christianity into, namely the Catholic religion.

I have to admit to proudly being a Roman Catholic. It is for me the most fecund theology as accounts for the whole of the human being and man's great capacity for reason. You textual zealots are akin to those you despise greatly by reducing man to only half of his being: The secularist reduce man to a composition of human desires you reduce man to a robotic being absent the ability for true reason. This is why every discussion you have becomes a debate on what you think the text of the bible means- is that the limitation of human reason? I think not! I must chuckle at the various fundamentalists who spew their venomous bile toward other religions with which they dogmatically disagree and then cry- yes this means you GoneAway- when the secularists attack your most sanctified beliefs. The Natural Law principles that are the core structure of Catholic theology are also those most consistent with true human freedom, constitutional republicanism and liberty. You wonder why you make such... Read more

More tolerant then the Southern Baptists.

This is the organized religion which I was part of when I was a kid. First, in their defense I can say without any question, that in the years that I had to deal with them on a day to day basis (approx 1958 until 1969) never did I once experience, or hear of any of my friends or classmates experiencing, any kind of sexual misconduct on the part of any nuns, brothers, or priests. As for the religion itself, I look back on it today with less ambivalence or hard feelings than I did when I was in conflict with my teachers and the doctrines that I was supposed to learn and then live by. Today I say that the Catholic church put me on the right street but did not point me to the correct address. Even when I was a very young boy in the first and second grade I never bought the ridiculous lines that were sometimes said by a nun trying to control a room full of rambunctious youngsters. Looking back as an adult I don't think the nuns realized that we would remember the simple lines forty or fifty... Read more

Well, I am highly biased against the Catholic church based on my experiences while being raised in the Catholic church and Catholic school. I saw a lot of hypocracy, power trips and a constantly present aire of supremacy. Needless to say, when I got older I left the Catholic Church because of what I experienced. I do not regret that decision.

I'm too lazy to say the same basic thing about all the other groups of christians, so i'll say the same thing hear, and you can apply it too your group of christianity (baptist, lutheran, anglican, etc.) I want to start by saying I am a Christian and I do try to follow Jesus' teachings. But I do not believe in an organized religion. I am non denominational and think that so many of the corruptions in our society come from organized religions, especially the catholics. I think its bad enough when Christians can't get along with other religions, but when they argue with other chrisitans it goes to far. What i do is read my bible on a regular basis, follow what it says, and just enjoy my life. Simple as that.