Question from a Friend about Catholicism
Mark S. Roberti, Director of Stewardship
Heartland Parishes of Ellis County

This semester’s assignment for our diocesan deacon formation class is to write a paper responding to one question from a non-Catholic, one from a person who has left the Catholic Church, and one from a person who does not practice a faith tradition. Below, I answer the first question from a Christian friend, a guy I respect, who seems to have a certain appreciation for Catholicism.

The question: “I’m aware that the increasing importance of women’s issues has spurred new interest in Mary among both Protestants and Catholics alike.  Traditionally, Catholics have venerated Mary as entirely sinless and the most glorious of creatures. Although Protestants affirm the Virgin birth of our Lord, we have neglected her unduly.  Also, no passage in the Old Testament or New enjoins or even implies the practice of praying for the dead.  In the Roman Catholic Church, the practice is an integral part of an erroneous system of salvation and is particularly connected with teachings on purgatory, indulgences, and the Mass. My two-fold question is this: Why pray to Mary when Jesus makes it clear that we have direct access to our Holy Father in Heaven?  Why pray for the dead?”  

The long and short of this question lies in what I consider the primary difference between Catholicism and Protestantism.  Protestants believe in Scripture alone, and they believe only in their version of Scripture, a shorter version that was accepted during the Reformation, approximately 1,100 years after the Catholic version of the Bible was compiled.  Protestants seem to believe that the Church flowed from the Bible when, in truth, the Bible flowed from the Church.  There was no formalized canon of Scripture (Bible) until about 380 A.D.  That’s about 350 years after Christ’s death. Prior to that, there were a whole bunch of gospels and letters circulating.  In various regions of the world different “gospels” and “letters” were used.  Nobody knew for sure which were inspired books and letters and which were not.  Sure, some communities got many of them right, but others didn’t.  The differences in the messages, however, were causing problems.  At an ecumenical council of bishops in Rome, around 380 A.D., the books of the Bible were formally agreed upon.  Two years later at Council of Hippo, Africa, they were again agreed upon.  After that time, until the Reformation, the books belonging to the Canon of Scripture were never seriously disputed.      

In the first 350 years of Christianity, with no formally approved Scriptures to guide them, Christians depended, primarily, on the oral traditions of the Apostles and their successors, the bishops, and writings of the Apostles and later leaders.  Today’s Scriptures were compiled because the bishops needed to stem the different interpretations that were resulting from the use of different purported “gospels” and “letters” that were circulating.  Those documents were causing misunderstandings of the true Gospel message, schisms, and heresies.  The Bible did not fall out of the sky as a completed book!  One of the very important factors in the bishops’ decision as to which books were inspired and which were not, was whether those books were consonant with the Traditions of the Church….not human traditions which had sprung up here and there, but Christian Traditions which Jesus and the Apostles had established and which had served the Church well since its inception.  That’s why, in Scripture itself, traditions are both praised and criticized.  In 2 Thessalonians 2:15, we’re told to “hold fast” to certain “Traditions” (with a Capital T).  In certain other Scriptures, we are told to shun other “traditions” (with a small t).  The Eastern Orthodox Church (not in communion in Rome, but with valid Sacraments) teaches that Scripture is nothing other than oral tradition put into writing.   The last verse of the last Gospel tells us clearly that not everything Jesus said and did was put in writing…the world wouldn’t be able to contain the books (John 21:25).

Now, to directly answer my friend’s two-fold question, Catholics pray to Mary and for the dead because since the beginning of Christianity, this tradition has been authoritatively handed down by the bishops and, hence, Christians have always done so.  It is one of the good traditions, the traditions with a capital T.  One need only look to the writings on the walls of the catacombs in Rome, and extra-biblical writings, for historical proof.  Again, there are many historical events, things that Jesus and the Apostles did and said, that are not in Scripture.  Some of those events are documented in uninspired, but very inspirational, writings of early Christian witnesses, as well as non-Christian historians and witnesses.    

Likewise, we praise Mary as the greatest of all created beings and the Mother of God (Jesus is Lord!) and seek her intercession because this has been authoritatively handed on by the successors of the Apostles throughout the ages and Christians always have followed this practice.  This “Tradition” is part of the one true deposit of faith which includes Scripture, Tradition, and Magisterial Teachings (Magisterial teachings are the teachings of the leadership of the Church in all ages past, present, and future which enable the Church of forever to respond to the needs of mankind in every age).  The magisterial teaching part is how the Catholic Church can proclaim dogmas/doctrines not specifically mentioned in the Bible, such as Mary’s Immaculate Conception (Mary’s redemption from all sin in advance by the saving work of Christ) and her Assumption into heaven body and soul. It’s also how the Church can definitively rule that such things as cloning and embryonic stem cell research are wrong.  Never can the Church’s teaching contradict Scripture or earlier Traditions, but She can unwrap the ever-unfolding message of Divine Revelation over time.

Marian devotion and prayers for the dead are also in Scripture.  The Angel Gabriel and St. Elizabeth praised her immediately.  Gabriel said, “Hail, full of grace” (by the way the Greek word implies always full of grace, never stained), “the Lord is with thee” (Lk 1:28).   Elizabeth said, “Most blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb” (Lk 1:42).  At the Wedding feast at Cana, Mary interceded with Jesus for more wine and prevailed, even against His initial objections, because Jesus honors the will of his Mother and Father.  Mary, herself, speaks in Scripture saying, “behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed” (Lk 1:48).  Catholics always have—and Protestants are only beginning—to understand Mary’s role in salvation history. Mary is very much alive and is in heaven.  She continues to intercede for us. 

Prayers for the dead and Purgatory can be found in Scripture both directly and in veiled form. Peter speaks of Christ being put to death and brought to life in the spirit. “In it he also went to preach to the spirits in prison, who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited during the building of the ark….”(1 Pet 3:19).  What prison were these spirits in?  Where?  How could they get to heaven if Christ had not yet come to redeem them? Christ also refers to the sinner for whom “there is no forgiveness in this world or the world to come” (Mt 12:32).  This implies that expiation can occur after death.  St. Paul tells that at the “day of judgment” each man’s work will be tried.  This trial happens after death.  What will happen if a man’s work fails the test?  “He will be the loser; and yet he himself will be saved though only as men are saved passing through fire” (1 Cor 3:15).  Now in this loss, this penalty, one cannot be consigned to hell, since no one is saved there.  Nor can it be heaven that is being referred to, since there is no suffering (fire) there.  Purgatory, alone, explains this passage.  Then there is the Bible’s clearest passage (the original Bible, before the Protestant Reformation expunged seven books): “It is a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they might be loosed from their sins” (2 Maccabees 12:46).  Prayers are not needed by those in heaven, and they cannot help those in hell.  That means some people must be in a third place, at least temporarily.