Top 10 Questions Every Catholic Must Know and Answer about the Faith (Part II)
The second part of the questions and the answers that should help you and your questioner.
7. Why do you pray to idols (statues)?
No real Catholic has ever worshiped a statue (it is idolatry). If we cherish the memory of mere political heroes with statues, and that of war heroes with monuments, similarly we may honor and venerate saints: “Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor” (1 Pet 2:17 – see also Rom 12:10; Heb 12:22-23).
8. Why do you call your priest “father”?
Jesus teaches that God the Father alone is ultimately the source of all authority. He shares his fatherhood, for instance, with our biological fathers, and other special persons. In the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus, Jesus presents Lazarus as using the address “Father Abraham” twice (Lk 16:24, 30 – see also Acts 7:2; Rom 4:12; Jas 2:21). St. Paul refers to “our forefather Isaac” (Rom 9:10). He calls himself father (and similarly we apply it to the priests) when he writes, “I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel (1 Cor 4:15 – see also 1 Cor 4:14-16).
9. Why do you obey the Pope?
Catholics believe that Jesus commissioned St. Peter as the first leader of the Church. “And I tell you, you are Peter (meaning literally “Rock”) and on this rock, I will build my Church … I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven” (Mt 16:18-19). Based on this statement of Jesus himself, Peter is portrayed in the New Testament as the leader of the disciples. A pope can make infallible, binding pronouncements under certain conditions. Infallibility doesn’t mean that absolutely everything a pope says is free from error. We Catholics believe only the truth, and God the Holy Spirit protects His Church from error (Jn 14:16) by means of infallibility, even though sinful, imperfect men are involved in it.
10. Are your beliefs found in the Bible?
All Catholic beliefs can be found in the Bible, whether plainly or by an indirect indication. Everything doesn't need to be clear in Scripture alone, because that is not a teaching of Scripture itself. Scripture also points to the Tradition, and a Church authority, as St. Paul says in his Second Letter to the Thessalonians: “Stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught by us, either by word of mouth or by letter” (2 Thess 2:15 – see also 1 Cor 11:2, 2 Thess 3:6; 2 Tim (1:13-14; 2:2). When the first Christians had a significant disagreement, they didn’t simply open their Bibles (which didn’t even exist at that point) to decide who was right; under the Apostles, they held a council, which made binding decrees (Acts 15:1-29). The very books of the Bible had to be determined by the Church and that didn’t happen until the late fourth century. Therefore, Sacred Tradition is needed to transmit the faith, and the Church’s authority to interpret it.