Misconceptions of The Catholic Church

[jmjtina]

Pope is the Anti-Christ :angry:

Catholic Church is the Whore of Babylon

The Blessed Mother had other kids

The whole confession thing-we confess to priests oy vey!

[StColette]

Father Mateo Archives, September 27, 1994, Eucharist and Charge of Cannibalism

I am writing because of a disturbing question that was posed to me a few months ago by a professor at the University of Louisville. I was attending class one day when the subject came up of how we view other cultures as barbaric, when the professor decided to point out that our culture may seem strange to others. Then he decided to use the Catholic Church as an example. He went on to call Catholicism cannibalistic because we actually eat the body and drink the blood of our God. I wanted to respond but I didn't know what to say. The Catholics do believe that it is the body and blood of Jesus and not a symbolic representation. Not being able to respond has disturbed me for the last few months, so I decided to write and hopefully receive an answer. Thanks.
Sincerely,
Brian

Dear Brian,

Your professor, in calling our religion cannibalistic because we eat the Body of Christ and drink his Blood, reflects the horror felt by Jesus' hearers when they first heard his words: "I am the bread of life ... that comes down from heaven.... Whoever eats of this bread will live forever.... Those who eat my flesh and drink my blood have eternal life, and I will raise them up on the last day; for my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink," etc. (John 6:48, 50, 51, 54, 55).

His hearers understood him well, his literal meaning: "How can this man give us his flesh to eat? ... This teaching is difficult; who can accept it?" (vv. 52, 60). Of course, Jesus did not back down, nor soften the obvious meaning of his words. So "because of this many of his disciples turned back and no longer went about with him" (v. 66). Even his closest ones, his Twelve, felt the pinch. Judas lost his faith on this occasion (vv. 70-71), though he was not honest enough to turn away. Jesus challenged the others, "Will you also go away?" Peter gave voice to their enduring faith: apart from Jesus there was nowhere else they wanted to be (v. 68). Jesus alone can give eternal life.

In the third volume of their Radio Replies, Fathers Rumble and Carty show how the Eucharist, with its real presence of Jesus Christ under the appearances of bread and wine (1 Cor. 11:23-29) cannot rightly be called cannibalism:

"Christ is not present in the Eucharist under a form in which cannibalism could be possible. His body is really and substantially present, but not in a natural way. It is an entirely supernatural mode of presence which one may not believe, but which at least excludes all notions of cannibalism. It is the same objection as that which came to the minds of his hearers when Christ told them of His intention in regard to the future Eucharist. Christ said, "This is a hard saying, who can hear it?" And they forsook Christ, saying, "How can this man give us His flesh to eat?" They pictures a cannibalistic eating of raw human flesh and the drinking of human blood. Christ did not intend to be received in such a way, but he did intend to leave the substance of His bodily being under the qualities of bread, for the purpose of uniting us as really to His humanity as His humanity is united to His divinity, the union in our case being sacramental and in His case personal or hypostatic. So Christ reiterated, "Amen, amen, I say to you: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man you shall not have life in you." Instead of having any real faith in Christ and the humility to ask in what way He intended to leave His body and blood in a sacramental form, His hearers proudly took their own concept for granted, asked no further light, and departed. However, though Christ is really received in the Blessed Sacrament, it involves no cannibalistic devouring of human flesh....

"No Christian has any idea of eating Christ under the external forms of body and blood. Christ exists in the Eucharist under the forms of bread and wine. According to Catholic doctrine, the very substance of Christ's body and blood is present under the forms of bread and wine. The external act of receiving Communion is nothing like the act of cannibalism. Nor is the significance of the act anything like the significance imagined for their rites by superstitious cannibals. Their outlook is one of natural, materialistic, automatic magic. The Christian concept is supernatural, spiritual, nonautomatic, and in no way suggestive of occult forces superstitiously believed to be inherent in nature itself." (#869, 872)

Sincerely in Christ,
Father Mateo

[XIX]

The Church just wants you to have as many children as physically possible.


EDIT: Everybody knows that I'm listing a misconception, right?

Edited December 6, 2004 by XIX

[Don John of Austria]

StColette-- the letter is substantially correct, but I don't like some of his terminology, this has to do with Aristotelian philosophy and moderate realism. We believe that the substance ( or essence) has been changed, what it really is, we believe that it really [i]is[/i] His flesh and His blood under the form ( I perfer the term accidents which is the term normally used by the Church) of bread and wine. It really is Christ flesh, that it is under the form of bread and wine doesn't change it's substance so we are substantivly cannibals, that in no way imply's general cannibalism is okay, it is the exception to the general injunction agianst eating people.

[Benedict]

The tabernacle is a "secret place" where we have hidden a false Christ.

[ICTHUS]

[quote name='Benedict' date='Dec 6 2004, 10:22 AM'] The tabernacle is a "secret place" where we have hidden a false Christ. [/quote]
You have, though. So it's not a misconception.

[azaelia]

[quote name='ICTHUS' date='Dec 6 2004, 01:15 PM'] You have, though. So it's not a misconception. [/quote]
^ A prime example of believing what you want to believe.

[ICTHUS]

[quote name='azaelia' date='Dec 6 2004, 12:22 PM'] ^ A prime example of believing what you want to believe. [/quote]
Matt 24:23-24

23At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'There he is!' do not believe it. 24For false Christs and false prophets will appear and [b]perform great signs and miracles[/b] to deceive even the elect--if that were possible.

False Christs performing great miracles? Sounds like those supposed 'Eucharistic Miracles' that you guys always flaunt.

[aloha918]

that we worship the pope