As my formal confirmation as a Catholic looms, I can't help but think about the traditions and practices of the Catholic Church which irk me. Though many of these, I've learned, are not essential to the Catholic faith, they still seem widely prevalent; a part of the culture of Catholicism, at least in my experience.
Prayer to the Saints - One of the biggest things that I feel uncomfortable with in Catholicism are instances where people make supplication to canonized saints. There are a couple of reasons why this bothers me. First and foremost, it is my opinion that, too often, such prayer results in a kind of idolatry or superstition. People begin to think that by praying to a certain patron saint they will be more likely to get the kind of help they are seeking, often times not even really knowing the history of that saint. People forget that it is not the saint who answers prayers, but God. Secondly, I'm not really sold on the idea that the dead can pray for us. I do think that the living can (and should) pray for the dead, but not vice versa. Though "the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective" (James 5:16) I'm not sure that holds true even after they are dead.
Views on Mary - Most Christians know that Catholics are big on Mary. You won't find many churches other than Catholic ones where the "Hail Mary" is even occasionally recited. Catholicism teaches that she is the "Mater Dei" or "Mother of God." They hold that she was perpetually a virgin and that she ascended into Heaven much in the same way that Jesus did. Veneration of Mary in the Catholic church borders on all-out worship at times, almost as if she were a fourth member of the Trinity. Now I can certainly understand why Mary would be held in high regard. Being chosen by God to bear his one and only incarnate Son is nothing to thumb one's nose at. That in itself makes Mary one of the best female role models in the entire Bible. Still, to treat her as much more than simply another person wholly obedient to God's will for their lives seems like idolatry to me.
"As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd cried out, 'Blessed is the mother who gave birth to you and nursed you.' He replied, 'Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.'" -- Luke 11:27-28 (NIV)
I read this and think that the Gospel seems to discourage the veneration of Mary. If anything, I'd say that the New Testament infers that Jesus had biological siblings, so to portray Mary as having remained a virgin even after giving birth seems pretty hard to swallow. As Chris Rock's character puts it in the movie "Dogma":
"Mary gave birth to CHRIST without having known a man's touch, that's true. But she did have a husband. And do you really think he'd have stayed married to her all those years if he wasn't getting laid? The nature of God and the Virgin Mary, those are leaps of faith. But to believe a married couple never got down? Well, that's just plain gullibility. "
Papal Authority - I talked briefly about how doctrines from which papal authority is derived. I'm not sure entirely how I feel about those teachings. I think it's a bit of a stretch to say that the Pope has the same kind of authority over the present church as Peter had over the early Church. I have little doubt that the current pope or any pope in the near future will abuse their position like many other popes have done in the past, but I'm still uncomfortable with the idea of one top leader of the church as an institution who is given any recognition as being infallible to any degree.
Lack of Religious Education - This isn't so much a doctrine or tradition as a de facto non-priority in what I've seen of the Church. So many other Catholics I meet seem to be very ignorant when it comes to scripture. They may know the many stories of the Old Testament and they know the story of Christ's Passion, but I can count on one hand the number of Catholics I've met who can cite scriptural passages off the top of their head. Though I've come to be very critcal of Christian fundamentalist groups who treat the Bible as the end-all-be-all of Christendom, I think that the Catholic church would be much better off it it encouraged more Bible study among lay people. Instead, religious education in the Catholic Church is often simplified down to "This is what the church believes and that's why you should too"
This certainly isn't anything new for Catholicism. In Medieval times, it strengthened the authority of the church (that is, clergymen) to keep the average parishioner ignorant of scripture and theological study. It wasn't hard because throughout much of western history the vast majority of people were illiterate. In fact, the sudden increase in literacy in Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries was a main cause of the Reformation. Still, even today the effort put forth by the church to encourage its members in studying the Bible is half-hearted at best.
Still more to come on my gripes with Catholicism, but I'll force myself to save them for a later date.
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