Papal Address Confirming Evolution

[Corpus]

The Pope secretly worked to save as many Jewish lives as possible from the Nazis, whose extermination campaign began its most intense phase only after the War had started. It is here that the anti-Catholics try to make their hay: Pius XII is charged either with cowardly silence or with outright support of the Nazi extermination of millions of Jews.

Much of the impetus to smear the Vatican regarding World War II came, appropriately enough, from a work of fiction—a stage play called The Deputy, written after the War by a little-known German Protestant playwright named Rolf Hochhuth.

The play appeared in 1963, and it painted a portrait of a pope too timid to speak out publicly against the Nazis. Ironically, even Hochhuth admitted that Pius XII was materially very active in support of the Jews. Historian Robert Graham explains: "Playwright Rolf Hochhuth criticized the Pontiff for his (alleged) silence, but even he admitted that, on the level of action, Pius XII generously aided the Jews to the best of his ability. Today, after a quarter-century of the arbitrary and one-sided presentation offered the public, the word ‘silence’ has taken on a much wider connotation. It stands also for ‘indifference,’ ‘apathy,’ ‘inaction,’ and, implicitly, for anti-Semitism."[viii]

Hochhuth’s fictional image of a silent (though active) pope has been transformed by the anti-Catholic rumor mill into the image of a silent and inactive pope—and by some even into an actively pro-Nazi monster. If there were any truth to the charge that Pius XII was silent, the silence would not have been out of moral cowardice in the face of the Nazis, but because the Pope was waging a subversive, clandestine war against them in an attempt to save Jews.

"The need to refrain from provocative public statements at such delicate moments was fully recognized in Jewish circles. It was in fact the basic rule of all those agencies in wartime Europe who keenly felt the duty to do all that was possible for the victims of Nazi atrocities and in particular for the Jews in proximate danger of deportation to ‘an unknown destination.’ "[ix] The negative consequences of speaking out strongly were only too well known.

"In one tragic instance, the Archbishop of Utrecht was warned by the Nazis not to protest the deportation of Dutch Jews. He spoke out anyway and in retaliation the Catholic Jews of Holland were sent to their death. One of them was the Carmelite philosopher, Edith Stein."

While the armchair quarterbacks of anti-Catholic circles may have wished the Pope to issue, in Axis territory and during wartime, ringing, propagandistic statements against the Nazis, the Pope realized that such was not an option if he were actually to save Jewish lives rather than simply mug for the cameras.

The desire to keep a low profile was expressed by the people Pius XII helped. A Jewish couple from Berlin who had been held in concentration camps but escaped to Spain with the help of Pius XII, stated: "None of us wanted the Pope to take an open stand. We were all fugitives, and fugitives do not wish to be pointed at. The Gestapo would have become more excited and would have intensified its inquisitions. If the Pope had protested, Rome would have become the center of attention. It was better that the Pope said nothing. We all shared this opinion at the time, and this is still our conviction today."[xi]

While the U.S., Great Britain, and other countries often refused to allow Jewish refugees to immigrate during the war, the Vatican was issuing tens of thousands of false documents to allow Jews to pass secretly as Christians so they could escape the Nazis. What is more, the financial aid Pius XII helped provide the Jews was very real. Lichten, Lapide, and other Jewish chroniclers record those funds as being in the millions of dollars—dollars even more valuable then than they are now.

[Corpus]

In late 1943, Mussolini, who had been at odds with the papacy all through his tenure, was removed from power by the Italians, but Hitler, fearing Italy would negotiate a separate peace with the Allies, invaded, took control, and set up Mussolini again as a puppet ruler. It was in this hour, when the Jews of Rome themselves were threatened—those whom the Pope had the most direct ability to help—that Pius XII really showed his mettle.

Joseph Lichten records that on September 27, 1943, one of the Nazi commanders demanded of the Jewish community in Rome payment of one hundred pounds of gold within thirty-six hours or three hundred Jews would be taken prisoner. When the Jewish Community Council was only able to gather only seventy pounds of gold, they turned to the Vatican.

"In his memoirs, the then Chief Rabbi Zolli of Rome writes that he was sent to the Vatican, where arrangements had already been made to receive him as an ‘engineer’ called to survey a construction problem so that the Gestapo on watch at the Vatican would not bar his entry. He was met by the Vatican treasurer and secretary of state, who told him that the Holy Father himself had given orders for the deficit to be filled with gold vessels taken from the Treasury."[xii]

Pius XII also took a public stance concerning the Jews of Italy: "The Pope spoke out strongly in their defense with the first mass arrests of Jews in 1943, and L’Osservatore Romano carried an article protesting the internment of Jews and the confiscation of their property. The Fascist press came to call the Vatican paper ‘a mouthpiece of the Jews.’ "[xiii]

Prior to the Nazi invasion, the Pope had been working hard to get Jews out of Italy by emigration; he now was forced to turn his attention to finding them hiding places. "The Pope sent out the order that religious buildings were to give refuge to Jews, even at the price of great personal sacrifice on the part of their occupants; he released monasteries and convents from the cloister rule forbidding entry into these religious houses to all but a few specified outsiders, so that they could be used as hiding places. Thousands of Jews—the figures run from 4,000 to 7,000—were hidden, fed, clothed, and bedded in the 180 known places of refuge in Vatican City, churches and basilicas, Church administrative buildings, and parish houses. Unknown numbers of Jews were sheltered in Castel Gandolfo, the site of the Pope’s summer residence, private homes, hospitals, and nursing institutions; and the Pope took personal responsibility for the care of the children of Jews deported from Italy."[xiv]

Rabbi Lapide records that "in Rome we saw a list of 155 convents and monasteries—Italian, French, Spanish, English, American, and also German—mostly extraterritorial property of the Vatican . . . which sheltered throughout the German occupation some 5,000 Jews in Rome. No less than 3,000 Jews found refuge at one time at the Pope’s summer residence at Castel Gandolfo; sixty lived for nine months at the Jesuit Gregorian University, and half a dozen slept in the cellar of the Pontifical Bible Institute."[xv]

Notice in particular that the Pope was not merely allowing Jews to be hidden in different church buildings around Rome. He was hiding them in the Vatican itself and in his own summer home, Castel Gandolfo. His success in protecting Italian Jews against the Nazis was remarkable. Lichten records that after the War was over it was determined that only 8,000 Jews were taken from Italy by the Nazis[xvi] —far less than in other European countries. In June,1944, Pius XII sent a telegram to Admiral Miklos Horthy, the ruler of Hungary, and was able to halt the planned deportation of 800,000 Jews from that country.

The Pope’s efforts did not go unrecognized by Jewish authorities, even during the War. The Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Isaac Herzog, sent the Pope a personal message of thanks on February 28, 1944, in which he said: "The people of Israel will never forget what His Holiness and his illustrious delegates, inspired by the eternal principles of religion which form the very foundations of true civilization, are doing for us unfortunate brothers and sisters in the most tragic hour of our history, which is living proof of divine Providence in this world."[xvii]

[Heidi]

If we see pictures of Christian torture then we look at it with sobering seriousness and seek to learn from it. You, however cannot bear the remorse and sadness that those pictures bring on in you because you don't see yourself as capable of hurting anyone. So you judge Hitler and elevate yourself. Hitler is an example of what we are all capable of doing to each other without God, except you, of course, who is more righeous than your fellow man. It's another example of you playing God.

[Corpus]

Other Jewish leaders chimed in also. Rabbi Safran of Bucharest, Romania, sent a note of thanks to the papal nuncio on April 7, 1944: "It is not easy for us to find the right words to express the warmth and consolation we experienced because of the concern of the supreme pontiff, who offered a large sum to relieve the sufferings of deported Jews. . . . The Jews of Romania will never forget these facts of historic importance."[xviii]

The Chief Rabbi of Rome, Israel Zolli, also made a statement of thanks: "What the Vatican did will be indelibly and eternally engraved in our hearts. . . . Priests and even high prelates did things that will forever be an honor to Catholicism."[xix]

After the war, Zolli became a Catholic and, to honor the Pope for what he had done for the Jews and the role he had played in Zolli’s conversion, took the name "Eugenio"—the Pope’s given name—as his own baptismal name. Zolli stressed that his conversion was for theological reasons, which was certainly true, but the fact that the Pope had worked so hard on behalf of the Jews no doubt played a role in inspiring him to look at the truths of Christianity.

Lapide writes: "When Zolli accepted baptism in 1945 and adopted Pius’s Christian name of Eugene, most Roman Jews were convinced that his conversion was an act of gratitude for wartime succor to Jewish refugees and, repeated denials not withstanding, many are still of his opinion. Thus, Rabbi Barry Dov Schwartz wrote in the summer issue, 1964, of Conservative Judaism: ‘Many Jews were persuaded to convert after the war, as a sign of gratitude, to that institution which had saved their lives.’ "[xx]

In Three Popes and the Jews Lapide estimated the total number of Jews that had been spared as a result of Pius XII’s throwing the Church’s weight into the clandestine struggle to save them. After totaling the numbers of Jews saved in different areas and deducting the numbers saved by other causes, such as the praiseworthy efforts of some European Protestants, "The final number of Jewish lives in whose rescue the Catholic Church had been the instrument is thus at least 700,000 souls, but in all probability it is much closer to . . . 860,000."[xxi] This is a total larger than all other Jewish relief organizations in Europe, combined, were able to save. Lapide calculated that Pius XII and the Church he headed constituted the most successful Jewish aid organization in all of Europe during the war, dwarfing the Red Cross and all other aid societies.

This fact continued to be recognized when Pius XII died in 1958. Lapide’s book records the eulogies of a number of Jewish leaders concerning the Pope, and far from agreeing with Jack Chick that he deserved death because of his "war crimes," Jewish leaders praised the man highly:[xxii]

"We share the grief of the world over the death of His Holiness Pius XII. . . . During the ten years of Nazi terror, when our people passed through the horrors of martyrdom, the Pope raised his voice to condemn the persecutors and to commiserate with their victims" (Golda Meir, Israeli representative to the U.N. and future prime minister of Israel).

"With special gratitude we remember all he has done for the persecuted Jews during one of the darkest periods in their entire history” (Nahum Goldmann, president of the World Jewish Congress).

"More than anyone else, we have had the opportunity to appreciate the great kindness, filled with compassion and magnanimity, that the Pope displayed during the terrible years of persecution and terror" (Elio Toaff, Chief Rabbi of Rome, following Rabbi Zolli’s conversion).

Finally, let us conclude with a quotation from Lapide’s record that was not given at the death of Pius XII, but was given after the War by the most well-known Jewish figure of this century, Albert Einstein: "Only the Catholic Church protested against the Hitlerian onslaught on liberty. Up till then I had not been interested in the Church, but today I feel a great admiration for the Church, which alone has had the courage to struggle for spiritual truth and moral liberty."[xxiii]

[Corpus]

Oh...and Heidi,


Zwingli, Calvin and Luther were actually closet homosexuals. Everybody knows it.

I'll wait for you to prove it wrong though.

[Heidi]

That may or may not be true, Corpus. It's difficult do decide which human beings are right about anything. But I'll assume it's true. What i object to, though, are things like the reason catholics call the pope the Holy Father. I only reserve that for God. None of us humans are any better or any worse than anyone else in the world. We all fall short of the glory of God. One sin is no better than another. Why then, do the Catholics put the pope on a pedestal? Albert Schweitzer and Albert Einstein did a lot of good deeds for huamnity. But since they were not Christians, they were doing it for their purposes rather than God's. So good works alone, do not mean someone is saved. Good works without salvation is meaningless. The way the clergy elevates itself in the catholic church is very suspect to me. Jesus was a carpenter's son who stated that even He wasn't good. I don't see that kind of teacher in the Catholic church, and i don't see that kind of response from the congregation to its clergy. True respect has to come from the heart. It can't be manufactured or insisted upon.  To adorn the pope in magnificent attire is to worship him. Jesus never called attention to Himself other than to the words He wanted us to hear. Jesus appears more humble to me than the pope. "He who humbles himslef will be exhalted. He who exhalts himself will be humbled."

[Saved_4ever]

Oh please, about those pictures. Hitler WAS the leader of Germany, after all. I'm sure similar photos can be found with clergy members of any Christian denomination present in Germany. What is the implication supposed to be? That the Christian clergy were aware of, or even endorsed, Hitler's policy of genocide?

PS Those pictures came from a site that spends considerable bandwidth mocking the Bible.

It matters little where the pictures came from.  I have seen these types of pictures all over the place.  I dare say that if the RCC was against Hitler what were they doing soluting shaking hands etc.

You also don't seem to think the spanish inquisition happened.  Funny they toss the spanish part in there as it was ordained by the vatican.  You two can deny the RCC's part in the holocost all you want.  They already have an official statment claiming appology for causing anti-semitism before in 1998.

Go google for it.

[Tibby]

OH NO! It can’t be! HUMANS made a MISTAKE!? OH NO! Dear lord, help us! Humans used your name for personal gain! That is unheard of! It can’t be... does this mean that... Catholics are human, too? NNNOOOO.......  

Sorry, I couldn’t resist!  

HAHA I guess because they renamed a few things it's all better now.  Just make sure you toss your money in the bucket or don't come to church.  Also toss some money in the bucket and light a candle and ask Mary to help out and it's all good.  

You're quite the story teller aren't you tibby?  It's a good thing I decided to check this thread else your false claims would be thought true.  I NEVER told you my church taught me that nor is it my belief.  The RCC is pagan and the truth is far from them.  I give no credance to the "supposed" early church fathers, them all being catholic (go figure it lines up with your doctrine).  It does not however line up with the bible, the ONLY authority I look to.  

Well, sense I am such a story teller, go a head and fill us in. Tell us about your extensive life in the Roman Catholic Church. Tell about how everyone else in you Independent Baptist Church supports Catholics and visits mass every chance they get to stay in communion with there Catholic Brothers and sisters. We only know what you tell us, and you don’t really say much. So go a head and talk about how your Church supports Catholics.

When have I ever said all catholics are damned to hell?  Do you enjoy making up lies?  I give no real credance to Luther either as he was no one worth listening to, as he had no problems killing baptists for "rebaptising (ana-baptists)" his followers.

You said Catholics are Pagans. Personally, I don’t believe Pagans are heaven-bound, do you? As for Luther, I’m with you about him. Luther is full of it. There is no doubt in my mind that some of his Thesis had wisdom. He saw problems in the Church, and he felt to fix them. Then he couldn’t fix the, the Drunken anti-Semitic had no other choice do to leave the church. But Faith alone is just to much for me to handle. I think I’ll stick with that the bible says on Faith and works.  

[Corpus]

It's difficult do decide which human beings are right about anything. But I'll assume it's true.

I appreciate that. I simply needed to point out how distorted certain accounts can get. My study of history has convinced me things aren't always quite as simplistic as we make them.

What i object to, though, are things like the reason catholics call the pope the Holy Father. I only reserve that for God. None of us humans are any better or any worse than anyone else in the world.

I understand you're problem with this. Most do it out of respect for the office he holds as head of the church (e.g. "Mr. President" as opposed to "George"). For the record it isn't a 'required' title. What I mean is that others call him (to his face) John Paul and even Karol.

None of us humans are any better or any worse than anyone else in the world. We all fall short of the glory of God. One sin is no better than another. Why then, do the Catholics put the pope on a pedestal?

I agree with the first part of your comment. None of us are better than any other, the pope included. If we put him on a pedestal, it isn't for his lack of sin, but again for the position he holds. He (and his predecessors) have been very adamant about their own sinfulness. I could post any number of public comments or pieces of their writings as testament, but I've probably done enough cutting and pasting for a while  

Albert Schweitzer and Albert Einstein did a lot of good deeds for huamnity. But since they were not Christians, they were doing it for their purposes rather than God's.

One need not be saved to be selfless and giving.
And how do we know they weren't Christians? I mean aside from the obvious tracts of their writings, how can we truly know what was in their hearts? To suggest otherwise implies we must judge a Christian's worth by what they do, and that seems to contradict salvation through faith alone.

The way the clergy elevates itself in the catholic church is very suspect to me. Jesus was a carpenter's son who stated that even He wasn't good. I don't see that kind of teacher in the Catholic church, and i don't see that kind of response from the congregation to its clergy.

I simply have to disagree ten-fold. My experience with countless priests over the years has been one of absolute servitude to the people of God. Please take time to view the following website only to see the difference Catholic clergy have made in the lives of the people they serve (you need to clik on "view messages" after you get to the site).

http://www.thankyoufather.com/

True respect has to come from the heart. It can't be manufactured or insisted upon.

Agreed.

[Heidi]

I don't deny that that are born again priests. I'm sure there are many in the Catholic church who are saved. However, the nature of mass itself and the pomp and circumstance around the clergy really turns me off. I think these kinds of things are what leads believers astray. I'm simply trying to find out why so many Catholics I know don't know what being born again means.  

Again, wordly positions, which includes positions in the church, hold no special place for me in my heart. They are simply worldly positions. It is only God who can judge who is higher in the kingdom. Christ's position at the head of the church is still humble.

[sunodino]

We have always held a special place on our hearts for the Catholics, because that is where we came from, but left, thanks to protestant lies (which I've been battling for sometime even before I rejoined the Catholic Church). So, unlike the other protestants who have been trained from birth to believe the Catholics are evil, we didn’t hold anything against them. We tough of them as little off, of course, but we still believed they had good in them, no more of less then any other Denomination. Then after reading the Church Fathers, it is like a light came on, and we realized for the first time that Catholicism is the church we have been searching for. Well, that is an EXTREMELY condensed version of my journey to Catholicism.

TIBBY AND DECEIVED CATHOLICS ET AL
I was brought up Catholic, and NOT taught they were evil. I thought they were THE ONLY CHURCH!  Honey, GET REAL! A LITTLE OFF?  READ A REAL BIBLE AND CHECK OUT EACH DOCTRINAL STATEMENT THEY MAKE!  THEY ARE FULL OF LIES!

TALK ABOUT LIES!  ROMAN CATHOLIC DOGMA HAS BEEN THE “CAGE OF EVERY FOUL BIRD”  AND GUILTY OF THE BLOOD OF BELIEVERS WHO PROFESSED JESUS CHRIST AS MESSIAH. MANY KILLED DURING THE INQUISITIONS REFUSED TO AGREE WITH THE INFALLIBILITY OF THE POPE, INDULGENCES AND TRANSUBSTANTIATION.  ROME HAS NEVER BACKED DOWN FROM THESE DOCTRINES.  SEE FOXES BOOK OF MARTYRS.

Mary and Mary worship[/u]
Doctrine:  Immaculate conception (born without sin)
Catholic Encyc.: Mary was preserved exempt from all stain of original sin at the first moment of her animation, and sanctifying grace was given to her before sin could have taken effect in her soul.
Bible: Ps. 14:3b  “there is none that doeth good, no, not one.”
Rom 3:23 “ For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

Doctrine:  Veneration of Mary (Websters: Revere, adore, reverence, WORSHIP, IDOLIZE, PUT ON A PEDESTAL
Catholic Encyc.: veneration of the Heart of Mary is, as such, analogous to our worship of the Heart of Jesus. It is, however, necessary to indicate a few differences in this analogy, the better to explain the character of Catholic devotion to the Heart of Mary.
Bible:
1 Cor 10:14   “Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry.”
 Rev 22: 9 “Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.”

Doctrine: Mary is a mediator to God for us
Catholic Encyc. (regarding the marriage at Cana “…implies that on account of the intercession of Mary Jesus anticipated the time set for the manifestation of His miraculous power”
HAIL MARY FULL OF GRACE PRAY FOR US SINNERS NOW AND BEFORE THE HOUR OF OUR DEATH.  (if that ain’t mediating – what is?)
Bible: 1 Tim 2:5 “ For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”  Heb 9:15  “And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament,…”

Salvation [/u]
Doctrine:  The Church – MUST JOIN IT TO BE SAVED (note: the church is defined as the Roman Catholic Church in the encyclopedia)
Catholic Encyc.:  MUST DO THE FOLLOWING:
1.  In the first place, he must profess the true Faith, and have received the Sacrament of Baptism
2.  It is further necessary to acknowledge the authority of the Church and of her appointed rulers
3.  The third condition lies in the canonical right to communion with the Church.
Bible:  Jesus said, " He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." Mk 16:16.    Paul  wrote "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Peter said “Repent and be baptized everyone of you IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRIST for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost”     Acts 2:38
In no way is ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH ALLEGIANCE A PRE-REQUISITE FOR SALVATION PER THE BIBLE.  READ IT INSTEAD OF YOUR CATECHISM.  GET THE TRUTH IN YOUR HEAD!


Pope and Nazi Regime[/u]
Info on Nazi concordat: 1933 Concordat with Hitler of Germany by then Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, who later became Pope Pius XII played a key role in negotiating the lucrative 1933 deal. One of the benefits of the Concordat was the hundreds of millions of dollars that would flow to the Roman Catholic Church through the church tax throughout the entire war. In return, Pius XII would never excommunicate Hitler from the Catholic Church nor would he raise his voice to protest the slaughter of 6 million Jews. Leading prelates and theologians were ecstatic at the signing of the 1933 Concordat and praised the Nazi regime and compared it to that of the Church.  When in 1939 an attempt was made upon Hitler’s life, the Catholic press throughout Germany almost unanimously declared that Hitler’s narrow escape from the attempt  was the miraculous protection of God.

The Vatican museum is filled with priceless ancient paintings, sculptures, tapestries, gold and jewels once worn or treasured by despotic rulers. Most were given to popes by kings, queens, emperors, or governments in token of papal partnerships with worldly figures to which the Bible condemns as unholy and would consider unthinkable for the bride of Christ.  1929 Concordat with Mussolini of Italy, the Pope publicly supporting him “Mussolini is the man sent by Providence” and with their help he was voted into power. For having seized papal territories in 1870, Italy paid to the Holy See 750 million lire in cash and 1 billion lire in state bonds.
 HUMAN MISTAKES MAYBE?

Purgatory[/u]
Doctrine: The place of purging where the Catholic believes those who die without having made sufficient restitution for their sins, (though Christ suffered for them) and one must spend some time of suffering in order to be made clean enough to enter heaven.  
Bible:
John 15:3 3  Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
2 Cor 5:8  We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.
1 Thes. 4:17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

The Bible teaches that if your sins are remitted, then they are remitted PERIOD, you don't have to climb up Cathedral steps on your knees, kiss a statue and douse yourself with holy water to get saved and go directly to heaven.  There is NO PURGATORY!
 
OTHER FALSE DOCTRINES OF RCC
·Prayers for the dead
·Making the sign of the cross
·Veneration of angels and dead saints and use of images
·Priests begin to dress differently from the laity
·The doctrine of purgatory (Gregory I)
·The Latin language used in worship and prayer (Gregory I)
·Prayers directed to Mary, dead saints and angels
·Title of “pope” or “universal bishop” first given to Boniface III
·Kissing the pope’s foot (Pope Constantine)
·Temporal power of the popes, conferred by Pepin , King of France
·Worship of the cross images and relics
·Holy water, mixed with a pinch of salt and blessed by a priest
·College of Cardinals
·Canonization of dead saints (Pope John XV)
·Fastings on Fridays and during Lent
·Celibacy of the priesthood (Pope Gregory Vii)
·The rosary
·The inquisition
·Sale of indulgences
·Transubstantiation
·Auricular (private) confession of sins to a priest (Pope Innocent III - Lateran Council)
·Adoration of the wafer (Host) (Pose Honorius III)
·The Scapular invented by Simon Stock, an English monk
·Tradition declared to be of equal authority with the Bible by Council of Trent
·The Apocryphal books added to the Bible by the Council of Trent
·Immaculate Conception of the Virgin Mary (proclaimed by Pope Pius ix)
·Syllabus of Errors, proclaimed by Pope Pius ix and ratified by the Vatican Council, condemned freedom of religion, conscience, speech, press and scientific discoveries which are disapproved by the Roman Church; reasserted the pope’s temporal authority over all civil rulers.
·Infallibility of the pope in matters of faith and morals proclaimed by the Vatican Council
·Public schools condemned by Pope Pius Xi
·Assumption of the Virgin Mary (bodily ascension into heaven shortly after her death) proclaimed by Pope Pius XII
·Mary proclaimed mother of the church by Pope Paul VI

Other practices:
monks, nuns, monasteries, convents, forty days of Lent, Holy week, Palm Sunday, Ash Wednesday, All Saints Day, fish day, meat days, incense, holy oil, holy palms, St. Christopher medals, charms, relics, novenas.  
 

[Tibby]

sunodino, you grew up in the Catholic church, uh? Did you SLEEP through Sunday school or something? Read you list of false dourine, My question is DID YOU read them before copying and pasting them? You could have combined half of them into each other, making the list MUCH, MUCH shorter. Plus it would look more credible if you didn’t repeat the same thinks with different wording.  
How is the Sign of the Cross a false doctrine?
You need to Check what the Catholic Church different Salvation as. Maybe YOU think we need to be a part of YOUR Church, but the Catholics do not feel that way. You tell us to get our heads out of the Catechism and start reading the Bible? Maybe you should consider getting your head in catechism, it might help your case if you started speaking the TRUTH!

Do you read what you post? Most of that is you said was false, the rest of it was twisted. Is it possible to not repeat the same stuff everyone else has already said? The Catechism is 687 pages long., you’d think, if the Catholic Church was so evil, you people would have at least 680 pages worth of information to rant about the Catholics on, but NNOOOO, you people keep repeating the same stuff over and over. Makes me really wonder, when, in almost 2000 years of law and doctrine, all you can come up with is “Idolatry” and a few mistakes humans made to back up your claim that the Catholic Church is ungodly. If you are going to try and convert Catholics to Protestantism, try using FACTS! Of course, you are going to say I’m brainwashed and not ever listen to a word I’m saying. Because you will do what you always do, ignore or skip around our question when we speak against what you believe. Instead of attacking what we believe, why don’t you try to tell us why what you believe is SO much better, you catch more flies with honey and all, right? It might be easier for both of us if you told us what YOU believe, instead of trying to tell us what WE believe. Did you ever stop to thing that MAYBE we know a little bit more about what we believe than you? Is that perhaps a possibility?

[Heidi]

Excellent, Sunodino! It's these aspects that have not changed much since the Reformation. The only 2 sacriments Christ  talks about are baptism and communion. The rest are man made. For what purpose? All it does is OBSCURE the purpose of salvation. It places so much pomp and circumstance on Christianity and so many rituals, no wonder people get confused about what saves them! It's a mess! Well  done.

[Tibby]

If you believe what you posted, then the said applies to you, as well. MOST of those things have changed since the Reformation.

[Heidi]

Actually, what's scary is that the Catholic church has its own set of laws that are almost as numerous as the Old Testament. Christians are dead to the law. Christ fulfilled the law. We only use it now to convict us of sin. When governments want to find out how God feels about certain practices like homosexuality, they consult the Vatican instead of the bible. If the pope says something is a sin, then it is. If the pope says something is not a sin, then it isn't.  It's pretty scary that one man has so much religious power. That's hero worshipping if i ever heard it.