Short Answers to Common Catholic Questions

Scandal in the Church
The Catholic Church has always had scandal, starting with Judas’ betrayal and the other Apostles abandoning Christ during His passion and death. From a few bad popes to lay members committing evil acts, there are always some members of the Church who have been engaging in scandalous behavior for her entire 2000 year history. Scripture speaks about some of this scandalous behavior. Some of the Thessalonians refused to work, living idle lives, and being overly concerned with other peoples business. The scandalous behavior of individuals in the Church extends down to today’s priest sex scandal. This is a tragic chapter in the history of the Church, but does this prove that the Church is not the Church founded by and upon Christ? Of course not!
The Church has been full of sinners and saints from the beginning and Jesus never promised to protect the Church from sinners. In fact, He prepared us for it in Matt. 13:24-28 with the parable of the weeds and the wheat. In it, He showed us that in the Church (the Kingdom of God), the Devil would sow evil seeds that would grow with the wheat until the end of time, where the weeds will be separated from the wheat and thrown into the fire. It had to be done this way, because the sinners of today are the saints of tomorrow and only God knows who will end up where.
God gave each of us free will, because He desires our true love. In order for there to be true love one has to freely choose it and in order for it to be a free choice there has to be a choice for rational creatures to choose something other than love. God could have made us into obedient biological robots, as brute animals are, but this would not be love.
So do not despair, the Church has great sinners and great saints in it and always will, but Christ will preserve her from error, for she is His bride. She will never fail to bring us Christ, even if we fail to receive Him.

Why Do Catholics Worship/Pray to Mary and the Saints?
The short answer is we do not, we worship only the Trinitarian God. One confusion on this is how Catholics use the word "pray." In non-Catholic Christian circles the word pray means to worship, for Catholics it simply means to ask. When we pray to the saints in heaven we are asking for their intercession, just as Paul exhorts the saints here on earth to do in 1 Tim 2:1 (RSV): "First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all men"
Since the saints in heaven are not separated from Christ by their death (Rom. 8:38), they stand in the presence of God and therefore are perfect in righteousness. Scripture tells us that "The prayer of a righteous man has great power in its effects." (Jas 5:16 RSV) So when Catholics pray to the saints in heaven we are asking for their powerful intercessory prayers in the direct presence of God.

As for Mary, she is the greatest of all the saints, because God chose her to be the mother of God Incarnate, Jesus. "Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, 'Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! And why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?'" (Lk 1:41-43 RSV)

I Have Seen Catholics Kneeling Before and Even Kissing Statues (Graven Images). How is This Not Worship?
When you see a Catholic kneeling before a statue is not the statue that we have in mind, but the loved on in heaven whom that statue represents. It is similar to carrying picture of a loved one in your wallet. Sometimes we take the picture out and just look at it adoringly. We pray to God to watch over the loved one and then kiss it before we put it back in our purse or wallet. We all understand what is happening and no one would accuse you of worshiping the picture. It is the same concept with the statues. We are simply asking the loved one in heaven for their prayers and intercession and sometimes we express our love for this person by kissing the statue, most especially if it is a Crucifix or some other depiction of Christ.
The Old Testament prohibition against graven images is a prohibition against the worship of other gods, such as the golden calf. (Exodus 20:3-5 RSV) "You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them or serve them; for I the LORD your God am a jealous God…" The image of the calf itself was worshiped as a god, in contrast the Crucifix is a representation of the Second Person of the Trinity and used only as a reminder of how much the True God loves us. In addition, God commanded Moses in Ex 25:18-20 to create the graven images of two cherubim of gold on top of the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark was so holy that if a man touch it he would die, which happened to Uzzah in 2 Sam 6:6-7. So the commandment was not a prohibition against all graven images, but against the graven images of the false gods worshiped at the time.

The Bible says that we are saved by faith alone, so why do you Catholics think you are saved by your works?
The Catholic Church has never taught that we are saved by our works alone. That is a misconception that, unfortunately, even some Catholics have. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that "it is by grace that we are saved" (CCC 1667) and that "Faith is a gift of God…and before this faith can be exercised, man must have the grace of God to move and assist him" (CCC 153) and "faith is necessary for salvation." (CCC 183) The Catechism also teaches that works do play a role in our salvation, "and again it is by grace that our works can bear fruit for eternal life." (CCC 1667) So the Catholic Church teaches that it is by grace alone that we are saved and grace shows itself by both faith and works. Faith and works are gifts of grace from God.
When the Bible speaks about works it is talking about works of the Mosaic law (Rom. 3:20 and 28, Gal. 2:16, Gal. 3:2) In addition, James is adamant about the role that the works, given to us by God, play in our salvation (Jas 2:14-22.) The only place in Scripture where the words "faith" and "alone" are together are in James 2:24 (RSV) "You see that a man is justified by works and not by faith alone."
Scripture is clear that it is not by faith alone that we are saved, but by our response to the grace God gives us by our faith in Him as well as the works, which complete our faith. (Jas 2:22)

Why don't Catholic believe that the Bible alone is the sole authority for Christians?
In the early Church the only Scripture written down was the Old Testament or Hebrew Scriptures. The New Testament was not yet written, so the early Church relied on Apostolic Oral Tradition, which was the predominant way that information was passed on in that time, as few people could read or write. After a number of years had passed some of the Apostolic Oral Tradition was written down in what became the first books of the New Testament, so the Bible came out of the Apostolic Oral Tradition (The earliest book may have been written in 42 A.D.) By this time the Church had already spread throughout many parts of the Roman Empire and by the time John wrote his Gospel (Around the year 100) the Church had spread throughout the entire Roman Empire, all before there was a complete New Testament. The final twenty seven books of the Bible (The New Testament) were not put together into one canon (List of books) until around the year 400.
So what does the Bible say about it being the sole authority for Christians? A diligent search will turn up 2 Tim. 3:16-17, but this passage only says that Scripture is profitable, not that it is the sole authority. As Catholics we do believe that all Scripture is inspired by God, but we also hold that the Apostolic Oral Tradition is also the Word of God. As alluded to above this Oral Tradition was handed down from the Apostles to their successors. We see this in Scripture in 2 Thess. 2:15 (RSV) "So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter."
So what is the sole authority? Scripture tells us that it is the Church. 1 Tim 3:15 (NAB) "But if I should be delayed, you should know how to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of truth."

Why do Catholics have to go to Confession with a priest rather than directly to God?
The short answer is that it is how Jesus set up His Church. The Catholic Church was established by Christ himself and He also instituted the Church's Sacramental system. The reason He did this was to give mankind the greatest possible way to salvation by establishing stable conduits of God's Grace. God gives every human being sufficient Grace to be saved, but He wanted to provide a way to receive superabundant Grace and this is what the Sacraments are. In the Church there are seven Sacraments, each established by Jesus himself.

To understand Confession (also called Reconciliation or Penance) it is necessary to speak a little bit on the Sacrament of Holy Orders. At the Last Supper Jesus instituted the priesthood. When a man becomes a priest he is changed internally to become "another Christ." This does not mean that the man is "preserved from all human weaknesses, the spirit of domination, error, [or] even sin." (CCC 1550) Holy Orders means that it is Christ himself that is working through the priest when the priest is administering the Sacraments, such as celebrating the Eucharist and Confession. So in the Sacrament of Confession it is Christ who is forgiving the sins of the person through the action of the priest. The institution of this Sacrament can be seen in John 20:21-23: "Jesus said to them again, 'Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.' And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, 'Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.'" (RSV)

For the sake of clarity there is nothing to prevent us from asking God directly for forgiveness of our sins. In fact this is a highly laudable practice which Catholics are encouraged to do every day in what is called the examination of conscience. However, since the power of God is associated with all the Sacraments, in Confession we are guaranteed forgiveness of our sins as long as we are truly sorry before God, hold nothing back that we are aware of that offends God, and promise to try our best not to commit the same sin again and, in addition to this guarantee, God also give us the Grace to help us to keep our promise not to offend Him again.

Chip Awalt is a graduate of Ave Maria University's Institute for Pastoral Theology where he earned a Masters Degree in Theological Studies. He has also been evangelizing the Catholic faith since 1999.