What are your views on Catholics

[CatholicLady]

Hi, as Mormons, what are you guys' views on Catholics?

 

Thanks! :)

[Bini]

Never thought much about it. My mother was raised Catholic and I attended Catholic school for a couple years as a young child but I don't know much about your practices or traditions. The biggest thing I associate with Catholics is the Pope. I've also had the opportunity to travel and see some pretty astounding Catholic cathedrals and churches. I guess one perception of mine is that Catholics have no lenience when it comes to birth control and are outright against it. That was something that was always brought up and emphasised on.

[Jane_Doe]

As a people or as a faith?

 

My best friend growing up was Catholic.  I went to her confirmation, her brother's wedding, Stations of the Cross every year, youth group, mass, etc.  I considered her house a second home.  I found that Catholics are very varied in their personalities and in their faith, so I can't make any blanket judgments.  

[pkstpaul]

I was raised Catholic. As Catholicism is the as large as it is, you will find many, many LDS are converts from Catholicism (I apologize for any mis-spelling. There is no spell-check here and I don't spend more than 15 minutes a day on the Forum).

 

I have great respect for the Catholic church and personnally feel it to be the most correct of churches, with the exception of LDS because some restored truths and priesthood ordinances lost during the long history of the Catholic church.

 

My father is a Catholic convert and is very devote. He runs a radio station, a newsletter (paper and web), and does sidewalk counselling at obortion clinics. I support him in many ways. I run his web site and contribute to his radio station, so you can see I have no animosity toward the church.

 

I will say, I have seen private comments at church that are anti-Catholic. It angers me when I hear them. We shouldn't be anti anything and as a Church, we are not anti. Those are private comments by members, but I bring it up because you will not alway hear "kind words". 

 

I love a book I found called Wind of Fire, where the LDS author paints a fictional story about the second coming and how all viable faiths are saved.  One of his primary characters is a Catholic girl (family) and they pass through the Second Coming together. During the Millenium, the two faiths are reconciled to show the truth in both.

[CatholicLady]

Thanks guys! I am glad to see your views on the Catholic Church is so positive.

I've met a few mormons since my husband joined the Air Force, and have grown to have a lot of respect for the Mormon faith and the people. Looking forward to gettint to know more of you here! 

[Guest]

I've got a lot of respect for Catholics, and I have some curiosity and admiration for the more liturgical parts of your services. I'm hoping to attend a Christmas mass some year.

[Guest MormonGator]

Asking all Mormons their view on Catholics is like asking all Mormons their favorite baseball team. You are going to get diverse answers. 

I was raised Catholic, so I know first hand about the clan. 

[Guest]

As a faith...

 

Some basic tenets of the LDS Faith -

 

We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

 

If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

 

Because of this, we don't bash, disrespect, ridicule other people's religious convictions.  Of course, we are not perfect and we are all sinners, so you may find Mormons that do these things - just know that they are going against the LDS teachings when they do so.  Also, we believe that truth can be found in all religions - including the Catholic Church - so we seek after these truths that we have in common.

 

There are a lot of things the Catholic and LDS leadership do together.  We have several projects - especially humanitarian ones - together. 

 

Another important thing to note:  The LDS Church doesn't believe Catholics are going to hell because they're Catholics...

Edited January 14, 2015 by anatess

[Just_A_Guy]

Catholics?  I like 'em.  I like the tradition, the solemnity of the liturgies, and the architecture.  I like that they, or their antecedents, were the ones who preserved the Bible and handed it down to us today.  I like their institutional backbone on moral issues, which is becoming all too rare in modern Christianity.  I like that--in my experience--their chapels are always open to anyone who wants to come in and just sit and contemplate. 

 

I disagree on a lot of the theology, I suppose; but that's to be expected.  :-)

[Guest]

So... a month ago... my Catholic brother was travelling to Orlando for a soccer tournament.  They had a morning and afternoon game on a Sunday.  So, they googled the closest Roman Catholic Church to their location and attended a noon Mass.  They were blown away by the gothic architecture of the big building.  They said it looked like they entered a movie set.  Then they walked through the doors and the deacons were handing out veils to the women who didn't have one.  My sister-in-law found this odd (they don't do that in most Catholic churches).... until they walked into the Mass... everybody was wearing 3-piece suits or dresses... and my brother and his family were in soccer attire.  My sister-in-law and their daughter were wearing t-shirt and jeans and had their lace veil on their heads.

 

Then the Priest started the service... in latin.  But as Catholic masses go, the structure of the service is the same and they had a book on the pews that have the gospels and the responses in both English and Latin so they were able to understand what was going on.  The Priest gave the homily in Latin interspersed with a lot of English (probably because he saw my brother's family sticking out of the crowd lol).

 

But, my brother said he felt the Spirit the strongest in all of the times he attended mass in all of his life.  We weren't born yet when Catholic Mass was offered in Latin so we've never experienced this before.  He said there is something about Latin Rites that touched him.

 

Interesting, huh?

[pkstpaul]

There is a push to offer Latin.  I know my father's congregation has Latin masses.

 

I like going to mass still.  I attend when visiting family.  I like to go at Christmas, when LDS don't have a special service unless it happens on Sunday.

[classylady]

My family moved to Southern Utah when I was in sixth grade.  During my Junior High and High School years my very best friend was a Catholic.  She was one of the very few nonMormons in our small Utah town.  We had wonderful discussions about religion, and yet were very loyal to one another in spite of our differences.

 

As an adult when I visited Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, I lit a candle for another good Catholic friend of mine back here in Utah.  I don't know if that was a proper thing to do.  But, I wanted to let her know that I respected her and her beliefs.

[Bini]

I also think Catholics tend to be involved in a lot of charity work.

[CatholicLady]

So... a month ago... my Catholic brother was travelling to Orlando for a soccer tournament.  They had a morning and afternoon game on a Sunday.  So, they googled the closest Roman Catholic Church to their location and attended a noon Mass.  They were blown away by the gothic architecture of the big building.  They said it looked like they entered a movie set.  Then they walked through the doors and the deacons were handing out veils to the women who didn't have one.  My sister-in-law found this odd (they don't do that in most Catholic churches).... until they walked into the Mass... everybody was wearing 3-piece suits or dresses... and my brother and his family were in soccer attire.  My sister-in-law and their daughter were wearing t-shirt and jeans and had their lace veil on their heads.

 

Then the Priest started the service... in latin.  But as Catholic masses go, the structure of the service is the same and they had a book on the pews that have the gospels and the responses in both English and Latin so they were able to understand what was going on.  The Priest gave the homily in Latin interspersed with a lot of English (probably because he saw my brother's family sticking out of the crowd lol).

 

But, my brother said he felt the Spirit the strongest in all of the times he attended mass in all of his life.  We weren't born yet when Catholic Mass was offered in Latin so we've never experienced this before.  He said there is something about Latin Rites that touched him.

 

Interesting, huh?

 

Oh that's cool. I myself have never attended a Latin Mass, but after reading this post I'm kind of interested...

[The Folk Prophet]

Depends on the Catholic.

[sxfritz]

I love a book I found called Wind of Fire, where the LDS author paints a fictional story about the second coming and how all viable faiths are saved.  One of his primary characters is a Catholic girl (family) and they pass through the Second Coming together. During the Millenium, the two faiths are reconciled to show the truth in both.

Thanks for the plug Patricia!  

 

One intent was to demonstrate the tolerant side of the gospel.  Another purpose for writing was to entertain the vision of what life during the Millennium will be like - and life after that. 

 

I too am a Catholic convert. Keep posting those questions.

[carlimac]

I have many dear friends who are Catholic. I'm fascinated with the ceremony involved in the services. One friend prefers Latin mass.  I don't understand many things about Catholicism and disagree with some parts of doctrine that I know about. but in general, I really like that we have similar values. When I showed up to a new doctor not long after moving from UT to MN, pregnant with  #6  (I was 42 at the time) he said I must be Catholic or Mormon.   :)

[pam]

I think Mormons and Catholics have much in common.  Both have family values. Moral values are quite the same.  Both have partnered numerous times in humanitarian efforts.  

[CatholicLady]

I think Mormons and Catholics have much in common.  Both have family values. Moral values are quite the same.  Both have partnered numerous times in humanitarian efforts.  

Yes, that is the impression I've gotten from my brief experiences with Mormons. I like that. I'm originally from the East so I unfortunately haven't known very many Mormons at all, and up until recently, had never met any at all! There are a lot of Cathoics who don't adhere to a lot of Catholic teachings... in fact, the vast majority don't. I like that Mormons in general seem to be so much more loyal to their faith. As a devout Catholic, I find myself a lot more likely to have more values in common with a Mormon than I am with the average Catholic!  

[Vort]

It's funny about Catholics and Mormons. We homeschool, and my family members have found themselves inexorably drawn toward a couple of large Catholic families who homeschool. Despite obvious doctrinal differences, there seems to be a common "feel" in some ways that Mormon and Catholic families both seem to exude.

[CatholicLady]

It's funny about Catholics and Mormons. We homeschool, and my family members have found themselves inexorably drawn toward a couple of large Catholic families who homeschool. Despite obvious doctrinal differences, there seems to be a common "feel" in some ways that Mormon and Catholic families both seem to exude.

Yes!

[Dr T]

Hello,

 

I am not lDS and I think Catholics are monotheists, believe in a triune God, believe in the vigil birth, that Jesus died on the cross as a sacrifice for human sins, that Mary, the mother of Jesus and hold her highly as holy, have a long history and view the church being built on the rock.  They have some sacraments such as first holy communion, Catechism. CCD. have a wide global focus.  (To name a few things.)

[Backroads]

See JaG's post for my views

[Claire]

Oh that's cool. I myself have never attended a Latin Mass, but after reading this post I'm kind of interested...

 

Latin masses are pretty cool. Just as a heads up, bear in mind that they come in two flavors.

 

There are ordinary form masses done in Latin. These are basically your standard masses done in Latin vice English (or any other language).

 

Then there's extraordinary form masses, which incidentally have to be done in Latin (though the homily is often in English). These are basically the masses as done prior to Paul VI's missal was promulgated in the seventies, and looks very different than an ordinary form mass. It's pretty cool, but if you're anything like me, you will be completely lost the first few times :)

 

Also, if you go to an extraordinary form mass, make sure it's in an actual Catholic Church. There's a breakaway group (the Society of Saint Pius X, or SSPX) that broke away back in the 1980s over things llike the revised mass and Vatican II in general. If you do a google search for Latin masses in your area, there's a good chance they'll come up. They aren't in communion, so you technically aren't supposed to attend their masses (there are very specific conditions where an exception can be made on this one).

 

Yes, that is the impression I've gotten from my brief experiences with Mormons. I like that. I'm originally from the East so I unfortunately haven't known very many Mormons at all, and up until recently, had never met any at all! There are a lot of Cathoics who don't adhere to a lot of Catholic teachings... in fact, the vast majority don't. I like that Mormons in general seem to be so much more loyal to their faith. As a devout Catholic, I find myself a lot more likely to have more values in common with a Mormon than I am with the average Catholic!  

 

Yea, we Catholics tend to be kind of bad about picking the Church teachings we want to follow and ignoring the ones we don't. I can definitely relate to this sentiment

 

-Claire

[PolarVortex]

A friend of mine was studying to be a Catholic priest and he told me about the Catholic Church in China, which I guess is formally known as the Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, or something along those lines.  Whatever it's called, it's fiercely independent even to the point of silliness.  They don't recognize the Pope and they name all their own bishops, thank you very much.  In the 1960s the Vatican gave permission for most masses worldwide to be performed in local languages, which would have been a big deal in China because almost no part of the Latin mass, even proper names, could be even remotely understood by Chinese-speaking persons.  The Chinese Catholic Church stomped its foot and said, "No, we do not recognize this act from Rome and we claim our own sovereignty in these matters," and kept celebrating the Tridentine Mass in Latin as proof of their autonomy.  I don't know what language they use now.