Ask a Catholic

[Arkansasguy]

Plasma's "Ask a Christian" thread seems to be mainly getting responses from Protestants, and as best as I can tell doesn't have any practicing Catholics replying. Rather than giving contrary answers, and thus starting debates, I decided to start a separate thread.

This is both for other Christians who have questions regarding the distinctive beliefs and practices of the Catholic Church, as well for non-Christians who want the Catholic perspective on more basic questions regarding Christianity.

[Living For Love]

What does the Catholic church say about the death penalty?

[Arkansasguy]

The Church teaches that the state can legitimately have recourse to the death penalty when it is necessary to protect society from criminals.

Whether it is necessary in modern conditions, whether or not it deters crime (and whether or not that is a valid consideration), and other questions regarding it are hotly debated topics among theologians. The most common opinion used to be that its necessity was clear, now the opposite is the most common opinion. This change has occurred relatively recently, over the last fifty years or so.

"Another kind of lawful slaying belongs to the civil authorities, to whom is entrusted power of life and death, by the legal and judicious exercise of which they punish the guilty and protect the innocent. The just use of this power, far from involving the crime of murder, is an act of paramount obedience to this Commandment which prohibits murder. The end of the Commandment* is the preservation and security of human life. Now the punishments inflicted by the civil authority, which is the legitimate avenger of crime, naturally tend to this end, since they give security to life by repressing outrage and violence. Hence these words of David: In the morning I put to death all the wicked of the land, that I might cut off all the workers of iniquity from the city of the Lord." - Catechism of the Council Of Trent - The Fifth Commandment

"Assuming that the guilty party's identity and responsibility have been fully determined, the traditional teaching of the Church does not exclude recourse to the death penalty, if this is the only possible way of effectively defending human lives against the unjust aggressor." - Catechism of the Catholic Church #2267

"While the Church exhorts civil authorities to seek peace, not war, and to exercise discretion and mercy in imposing punishment on criminals, it may still be permissible to take up arms to repel an aggressor or to have recourse to capital punishment. There may be a legitimate diversity of opinion even among Catholics about waging war and applying the death penalty" - Worthiness to Receive Holy Communion: General Principles
Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger
Prefect, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

[PlasmaHam]

I know recently there has been some notable Catholics who've been pushing the idea that Muslims and Catholics worship the same God. This has gotten mixed responses from other Catholics. What is your thoughts on the matter, and why?

[Arkansasguy]

"They (the Muslims) adore the one God, living and subsisting in Himself; merciful and all- powerful, the Creator of heaven and earth, who has spoken to men" - Nostra Aetate #3

There is only one God. Ergo, it is impossible that Muslims worship a different one. This is different from the case of those who worship creatures (whether real or imaginary).

Islam is of course, an erroneous way of worshiping God, and is not salvific.

[rioo]

was Jesus married?
and what you guys opinion on some holywood movies like The Davinci Codes or other about catholic issue?

[Arkansasguy]

was Jesus married?

No.

and what you guys opinion on some holywood movies like The Davinci Codes

The Da Vinci Code was a work of pure fiction that represented itself, falsely, as being fact-based. Opus Dei considered suing for Dan Brown for libel, but unfortunately this was determined to be inadvisable due to the extremely liberal nature of America's libel laws.

or other about catholic issue?

Specifically?

[Falcons_11]

I read recently that Pope Francis wants to allow priests in Latin America to be married. Isn't this a reversal of Catholic Churches' centuries old doctrine of celibacy? What are the reasons why the Catholic Church prohibits their clergy to be married and have a family?

[Brandon-19Bi]

I read recently that Pope Francis wants to allow priests in Latin America to be married. Isn't this a reversal of Catholic Churches' centuries old doctrine of celibacy? What are the reasons why the Catholic Church prohibits their clergy to be married and have a family?


That's because Jesus was never married and never had sex. You give up everything to represent Jesus Christ

[PlasmaHam]

In Catholicism, can animals go to Heaven?

[Arkansasguy]

I read recently that Pope Francis wants to allow priests in Latin America to be married. Isn't this a reversal of Catholic Churches' centuries old doctrine of celibacy? What are the reasons why the Catholic Church prohibits their clergy to be married and have a family?

There are several distinctions which must be made here.

In the first place, the doctrine of the Church on celibacy is that it is a higher state than marriage. The prohibition on priests being married is a law of the Church, which she has the power to amend.

The second distinction concerns the situation of a married man being ordained, versus the situation of a priest getting married. While the Church has in the past allowed the ordination of married men, the evidence indicates that the prohibition on priests getting married is of apostolic origin. Even today, married deacons are not permitted to remarry if their wife dies. If married men were admitted to the priesthood, the same would apply to them.

The reason why the Church does not ordain married men to the priesthood is because priests need to be totally committed to serving their flock. having a family would diminish that. Allowing priests to get married after ordination would be even worse, because then the possibility of romantic involvement would exist between a priest and his female parishioners.

"If any one saith, that the marriage state is to be placed above the state of virginity, or of celibacy, and that it is not better and more blessed to remain in virginity, or in celibacy, than to be united in matrimony; let him be anathema." - Council of Trent, Session XXIV, Canon X

"Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.” - Mt 19:12

"Now to the unmarried and to widows, I say: it is a good thing for them to remain as they are, as I do" - 1 Cor 7:8

http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/pope-francis-approves-amazon-debate-on-ordaining-married-men-to-the-priesth

[AussieNicholas]

What are the beliefs that separate Catholics from Protestants (I'm someone who knows next to nothing about religion)?

[Falcons_11]

That's because Jesus was never married and never had sex. You give up everything to represent Jesus Christ

Thanks Brandon for clearing that up for me.

[Arkansasguy]

In Catholicism, can animals go to Heaven?

No. When an animal dies it is gone.

What are the beliefs that separate Catholics from Protestants (I'm someone who knows next to nothing about religion)?

The essential differences are:

1, Catholics believe that Revelation consists of both the Bible and in Apostolic Tradition. This is so since the writing of the New Testament occurred after the Apostles had already been spreading the faith for at least a decade, and in any case no written text can be exhaustive (that would be logically impossible given the nature of human language). Protestants believe that the Bible is the ultimate source of Christian doctrine, the value of Apostolic Tradition is a point on which different types of Protestants disagree.
2. Catholics believe that the Pope, as the successor to St. Peter, is the head of the Church on Earth, and has the authority to make definitive decisions on matters of faith and morals. Protestants do not recognize any supreme authority.
3. Catholics believe in infused righteousness, whereas Protestants believe in imputed righteousness. What this means is that, in the Catholic view, God's grace actually makes men good. On the other hand, Protestants hold that becoming good is not part of becoming saved, and the extent to which it is possible is the subject of internal disagreement among Protestants.

Other issues on which Catholics and Protestants differ:

1. Catholics hold that the Eucharist really becomes the body and blood of Jesus Christ, with only the appearance of bread and wine remaining, whereas basically all Protestants hold that the bread and the wine really remain. Whether Christ is really present physically, whether he is present only in a spiritual sense, or whether it is purely symbolic, are matters of disagreement among Protestants.
2. Catholics hold that Jesus Christ instituted seven sacraments, Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Confession, Marriage, Holy Orders, and Anointing of the Sick. Protestants hold that only Baptism, Eucharist, and (according to some Protestants) Confession were instituted by him. Whether and to what extent the others are observed is a matter of internal disagreement between Protestants.

There are also a number of issues which many but not all Protestants disagree with Catholics regarding, such as:

1. Catholics believe that the saints, Christians who have gone before us and have been formally recognized by the Church as being in Heaven, are to be venerated, and can intercede for us before God. Many Protestants reject this.
2. Catholics believe that salvation can be lost by serious sin, if not repented of. Protestants disagree regarding whether and how salvation can be lost.
3. Catholics believe that the sacraments really confer grace. Many Protestants hold that they are merely symbolic.

[Dalcourt]

No. When an animal dies it is gone.



Could you maybe elaborate this a little bit more? I feel it's rather interesting, since a lot of people, even a priest, gave me a different answer here.

I read that there had been different opinions about whether animals have souls or not since Pope John Paul II made a statement accordingly. And obviously Pope Francis is known for having said something that made people interpret it like he said animals could indeed go to heaven.

[BlackParadePixie]

Do you go to a church where the mass is all in Latin? Do you understand any of it?

[ShineintheDark]

No. When an animal dies it is gone.


I don't think it's too clear cut with that tbf. St Francis of Assisi (the saint the current Pope named himself after, actually) disagreed with that view and promoted the idea of animals and humans both being eligible for Heaven. If I remember correctly, he argued that we were all created as equals by God and only humans committed Original Sin, meaning animals technically die sinless.

[Arkansasguy]

Could you maybe elaborate this a little bit more? I feel it's rather interesting, since a lot of people, even a priest, gave me a different answer here.

I read that there had been different opinions about whether animals have souls or not since Pope John Paul II made a statement accordingly.

A soul is simply the form of a living thing. As such all living creatures have souls. The souls of animals and plants however, are not spiritual (since unlike humans, animals can sense only matter, and do not have the ability to reason about abstract concepts), and therefore do not survive the death of the body (1). I am not aware of any serious theologian who denies this.

Some modern theologians have argued that animals will rise again in the general resurrection, but their opinion is refuted by Aquinas (2), and no one can explain how it is that animals raised back to life can be identical with animals that had previously died, nor in what mode an animal would exist in a world with no corruption or decay.

And obviously Pope Francis is known for having said something that made people interpret it like he said animals could indeed go to heaven.

That never happened (3). It was fake news spread by members of the media, who as everyone knows are wont to tell lies and to repeat whatever they hear without doing diligence.

1. "Hence it is clear that the sensitive soul has no per se operation of its own, and that every operation of the sensitive soul belongs to the composite. Wherefore we conclude that as the souls of brute animals have no per se operations they are not subsistent. For the operation of anything follows the mode of its being." - Summa Theologica I.LXXV.III

2. "If plants and animals are to remain, either all of them will, or some of them. If all of them, then dumb animals, which had previously died, will have to rise again just as men will rise again. But this cannot be asserted for since their form comes to nothing, they cannot resume the same identical form. On the other hand if not all but some of them remain, since there is no more reason for one of them remaining for ever rather than another, it would seem that none of them will. But whatever remains after the world has been renewed will remain for ever, generation and corruption being done away. Therefore plants and animals will altogether cease after the renewal of the world." - Summa Theologica Suppl. XCV.V

3. http://www.ncregister.com/blog/jimmy-akin/did-pope-francis-say-animals-go-to-heaven

Do you go to a church where the mass is all in Latin? Do you understand any of it?

The church that I attend has Mass in English, with only some parts in Latin. I understand only a little Latin at present.

[PlasmaHam]

What kind of music is done during your typical Catholic service? As in, is music stressed or largely put to the side; is the music mainly choir or congregational; are chants or hymns more common; are Protestant hymns accepted; and how accepting is Catholicism of contemporary 'Christian' music?

Sorry, this got a bit long. I'm just not sure how to ask, as I'm really not familiar with how Catholics worship.

[Arkansasguy]

What kind of music is done during your typical Catholic service? As in, is music stressed or largely put to the side; is the music mainly choir or congregational; are chants or hymns more common; are Protestant hymns accepted; and how accepting is Catholicism of contemporary 'Christian' music?

Sorry, this got a bit long. I'm just not sure how to ask, as I'm really not familiar with how Catholics worship.

Nearly all the parts of the Mass can be sung, although usually only some are, while the rest are recited. Hymns can also be used, although they are secondary. Mass without any singing is strongly discouraged.

Hymns must be approved either by the episcopal conference (which is composed of all the bishops in a given country or region) or the local bishop. In practice this is done by approving hymnals as a whole. No rule prohibits the use of hymns composed by Protestants, but hymns that contradict Catholic doctrine are obviously not allowed.

If by contemporary Christian music you're referring to things like Christian rock, then the answer is not very. Music which distracts from the Mass itself is not supposed to be used.

[Just JT]

That's because Jesus was never married and never had sex. You give up everything to represent Jesus Christ

Are you sure he never had sex?

What are the beliefs that separate Catholics from Protestants (I'm someone who knows next to nothing about religion)?

From what I’ve learned that in principal it’s a few seeming (IMO) small things. Like in communion, Catholics believe the host and wine become the body and blood of Christ, where Protestants believe it is represtative of the body and blood of Christ. Also the catholic faith does not allow the use of birth control, where the protestanr faith does.

I’m sure there’s more to it than that, that’s just what I remember from religion class in catholic schools for a couple years

[maddogmj77]

If god created the entire world, why did he make the Earth so dangerous?

There's:

Cyanide
Uranium
Mercury
Poison Ivy
Poison Oak
Nightshade
Oleander
Tobacco
Poisonous Frogs
Poisonous/Toxic Snakes
Scorpions
Earthquakes
Floods
Lightning
Hurricanes
Tornadoes
Tsunamis
Asbestos
Anthrax
Smallpox
Bubonic Plague
Polio
Aids
Ebola
Tetanus
Tuberculosis
etc.



If god created humans, why did he make them so faulty?


Our eyes have a blind-spot. (Squids do not have this problem)
Males urinal tract runs right next to their prostate which can become enlarged, blocking flow, and cause major problems.
Women have painful childbirth due to a misplaced pelvis.
We have useless wisdom teeth which can cause pain, infections, and crowded teeth.
We can't self-synthesize Vitamin C, while most other animals can.
We get things like Cancer, Diabetes, Scoliosis, Heart Attacks, Asthma, Anxiety, Depression, Schizophrenia, Autism, OCD, Psychosis, Childhood Deformations, Still-Births, Miscarriages. etc.
Not to mention War, Rape, & Murder.


Is god not all-powerful?
Does he not care about human suffering?
Is he punishing everyone? (If so, Why? Isn't he supposed to be all-loving?)

[Arkansasguy]

The basic answer to why God permits evil is because he will bring a greater good out of it. As finite and fallen creatures, we often lack the perspective necessary to understand why any particular evil is tolerated.

As the author of all that is, including all the bases on which morality is grounded, God owes us neither freedom from suffering nor understanding of its meaning. What respite from suffering and what comprehension we can have of its meaning is granted to us entirely gratis.

[maddogmj77]

The basic answer to why God permits evil is because he will bring a greater good out of it.
God is all-powerful. If he wants "greater good" to happen, he should be able to just do it. He shouldn't have to make millions of people suffer in anguish and die, every single day for years on end.

Why would he make any diseases ever exist in the first place?

Why did he make human bodies so faulty?

God is supposed to be all-powerful. He should have been able to make Earth much safer, and humans much more perfect.
There is absolutely no reason to not to, unless he wants people to suffer.
If he wants "greater good", he should be able to just do it; he says he's all-powerful.

[Falcons_11]

Why do Catholics worship Mary? I know that she is the mother of God (Jesus). But, do Catholic revere here like she is a goddess? After all, she was human and not godlike.

[Arkansasguy]

Why do Catholics worship Mary? I know that she is the mother of God (Jesus). But, do Catholic revere here like she is a goddess? After all, she was human and not godlike.

Catholics do not worship Mary. We venerate her, and all the saints, because of her holiness and the role she played in salvation history. Catholics hold that the saints can pray for those on Earth, which is why we ask for their intercession.

[KatieCO2003]

Fiona, the Tridentine Mass is mostly in Latin and Greek but is only celebrated on very rare occasions and only in certain places. It was the common mass before the Vatican II counsel in 1962. The modern mass is celebrated mostly in the local language (we have it in English and Spanish at my church) but both can include some parts in Latin and Greek as well. I have attended both Spanish and French masses and was able to follow along and understand most of it because a mass has a specific order to the way it's celebrated. It's very highly structured. So even if you don't speak the language, its easy enough to roughly translate. Ditto the Latin and Greek.

[Arkansasguy]

God is all-powerful. If he wants "greater good" to happen, he should be able to just do it.

Of course God could make the world better. That's not the point. Creation, by definition, is finite. Any finite value can be increased, so the world could always be better. Contra Leibniz, "the best of all possible worlds" is not a coherent concept, anymore than "the largest of all finite numbers" is.

There is absolutely no reason to not to

See the above. In order to make the case that the world as God actually made it was not the "right" way to make it, and did not have the "right" amount of goodness in it, you would need to fully comprehend every possible option available to God, which of course, no creature can.

[benbeny]

Are you sure he never had sex?



From what I’ve learned that in principal it’s a few seeming (IMO) small things. Like in communion, Catholics believe the host and wine become the body and blood of Christ, where Protestants believe it is represtative of the body and blood of Christ. Also the catholic faith does not allow the use of birth control, where the protestanr faith does.

I’m sure there’s more to it than that, that’s just what I remember from religion class in catholic schools for a couple years

I can say, not every protestants are same.
Lutherans believe that host and wine are true flesh and blood.
Calvinists say that they're just a representation.
Some Pentecostals only say that holy communion is just a remembrance.

Many different views actually.
PS: I'm catholic but I like to see read about protestantism. In here basically we have 3 major denominations: Lutherans, Calvinists (biggest protestant church - ex Netherlands colony), and Pentecostalism. Most major churches in America are just small denominations in here.

[Falcons_11]

Why do Catholics have to confess their sins to a priest and not directly to God through prayers? Wouldn't it be better to talk to God and not to a human (i.e. a priest) when seeking salvation from their sins?

[Arkansasguy]

Why do Catholics have to confess their sins to a priest and not directly to God through prayers? Wouldn't it be better to talk to God and not to a human (i.e. a priest) when seeking salvation from their sins?

It is Catholic doctrine that Jesus Christ instituted the sacrament of confession, obviously a divine mandate justifies the practice. The truth of this doctrine is demonstrated not only by Christ's express affirmation of it recorded in John's Gospel (1), but also by the universal practice of the early Church (2).

As for the question of what purpose such a requirement serves, the answers are multiple. Being required to orally acknowledge one's sins to another person makes their reality more clear. Moreover, confession can be a source of good practical advice as to how to avoid sin in the future.

(1) "Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” And when he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the holy Spirit. Whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain are retained.”" - John 20:21-23

(2) For a detailed treatment of the history of the sacrament, see The Catholic Encyclopedia: The Sacrament of Penance. In particular, see the section titled "Belief and Practice of the Early Church" for an extensive list of references to primary sources.