Why do Catholics worship other figures?
A very large misconception is that Catholics worship the saints, the pope, and the Virgin Mary. Catholics RESPECT these things not worship them. They bow to the pope out of respect because he is Christ’s representative on earth. He is a man who leads the Catholic Church but he is not equated with god at all. The pope does not make himself an idol actually he would most likely be the first to tell you not to worship him. People who do not understand why the Catholics bow or respect the Pope are often the ones who toss about the idea that he is worshipped. No one prays to the pope they pray to god. They respect the Virgin Mary because she was born with out sin and she gave birth to Christ. She was a remarkable woman who did a great thing. And so she deserves the respect they give her. They Respect the saints and they pray to the saints to pray for them in their time of great need. They were people who were blessed and touched by God who did great things. When Catholics feel that they nee
We don’t. Bowing down in itself does not denote worship, but respect. The Lord said “you shall not bow down and worship them” and we don’t worship them. Why is the act of bowing, in itself, worship? It’s not! I’ve seen people kneel before the altar, before their bed, before their children, etc. The act of kneeling or bowing by itself is not worship…worship is in the heart not in the act. We do not have other gods before the Lord, we would not be Catholic is we did…we would be pagans. But we are Christians, and we believe in one God. We worship only one God and when we kneel or bow before Him it is with worship in our hearts. When we kneel before the Pope it is a sign of respect for his office. When we kneel before a statue of Mary is a sign of respect and honor, and a position of prayer and petition to her to pray for us to the Lord God. We do not worship Mary, saints or and statues. God is not against “graven images” only against graven images made to be gods and the objects of wo
