A good friend of mine (who is Pentacostal) has some very confused ideas about what Catholics believe. I mentioned to him that there are people who call themselves "Christian Wiccans" and believe that Mary is a goddess, and he said that it sounds like they've got some Catholic ideology behind them. I'm like, uh, Catholics don't think that Mary is a goddess. He said, "They think she's the Queen Of Heaven and the mother of God. So yeah, they kinda do." He thinks that, while Catholics don't actually refer to her as a goddess, she's given the same status minus the name. I tried to explain that Catholics DO NOT believe that Mary is an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent being and that there's a big difference between honoring Mary more than they should and actually worshipping her, and my friend just said, "You don't know much about pantheons, do you?" I asked my dad (who is Eastern Orthodox but knows a lot about other denominations' beliefs) if he could explain what Catholics ACTUALLY believe so I could tell my friend, and he said that my friend has heard misinformation spread by Chick Publishing. He's busy right now and won't be able to explain what Catholics believe until this evening, and I realized it would probably be better to ask Catholics anyway. So, Catholics. What do you ACTUALLY believe about Mary?
Thank you for asking! So many Protestants are confused and then don't believe us when we try to correct them. I really appreciate your inquiry.
1. We do NOT believe that Mary is a goddess, or part of the trinity, or anything like that. We do not worship her. Mary is the first and best Christian. As such, we give her great honor, and we love her as her Son loves her. What we do is called veneration. It is NOT the same thing as worshiping her as a deity. Bowing CAN be worship, but it is not ALWAYS. Kissing CAN be worship, but it is not ALWAYS. A statue CAN be an idol (a god), but sometimes it's just inspirational art.
2. We ask Mary for her to pray for us to God through her Son, Jesus Christ. We sometime speak of Mary doing this or that, but this is short-hand talk, the way that we might say that Peter healed someone, or that someone was raised from the dead by John. The truth is that only God does these miracles, but he acts THROUGH the saints. Mary prays to God, and God answers her prayers. So if I pray to Mary that God will bless my husband with work, and then he finds a job, what has really happened is that I have asked Mary to pray to God through Christ, she has done so, and God has answered my prayers via Mary. Asking Mary to pray for us is not worship. Prayers are not worship. They CAN be worship, but are not always. Asking Mary to pray for us is no different than asking you or any other Christian to pray for us. Some people use the phrase "Co mediatrix" to describe Mary's role as an intercessor for us. OF COURSE she doesn't take the place of Christ's unique role of mediator. But by praying to God THROUGH Christ, she "CO"operates with that mediation.
3. We believe that when Mary said YES to God, that she actively participated in God's plan for salvation. Of course, it is Christ himself who is our Savior, but Christians work on his behalf. Every time you or I share the gospel, we participate in God's plan for salvation. But Mary's role was so very big, bigger than any other Christians. So... we especially honor her. Some people use the term "Co-Redemptrix" to describe Mary's "CO"operative role in Christ's being the Savior.
4. We believe that from conception, Mary has been preserved from Sin. In order for this to happen, she had to have had the grace of God. IOW she needed a Savior. We call this act the Immaculate Conception. It made her pure to carry the Savior within her womb. One of the things we base this on is Luke 1:28, which describes her as being Kecharitomene, or "full of grace." How can she be FULL of grace if she has sin?
5. We believe she has been assumed into heaven, like Enoch and Elijah. This is based on oral teachings that have been passed down. It is the only Marian teaching that has no basis in the Bible. However, it is not contradicted by anything in the Bible either.
6. We give Mary the Title, "Queen of Heaven" for two reasons:
- In Judaism, we have the concept of the Queen Mother. Because there is polygamy, it is not the wife that is the queen, but rather the King's mother. Since Christ is the King of Kings, it is his mother, Mary, who is the Queen Mother.
- In Revelation 12, we have a description of the mother of the messiah standing on the moon, clothed in the sun, with a crown of 12 stars. Thus not only is Mary Queen, but she is depicted as Queen of Heaven.
7. Catholics are known for praying the Rosary. It is NOT a requirement. Indeed, no Catholic ever need pray a single prayer to any saint, even Mary. But it is certainly part of our Catholic culture. The HEART of the Rosary is not the prayers for each bead, but the MYSTERIES (meditations) for each decade. There are 4 sets of mysteries, for five decades, meaning that there are 20 mysteries in all -- all of them meditations on the life of Christ. So you can see that the HEART of the Rosary is not Mary, but Christ. If one says the Rosary without doing the Mysteries, they are simply doing it wrong.
8. It is true that SOME Catholics get carried away with Mary and cross a line. One of our Popes said, "Mary is not please when we put her above her son." Unfortunately, this is common in some places of the world where folk Catholicism (where Catholicism blends with the native paganism) is dominant. It is important to remember that THIS IS NOT CATHOLIC TEACHING.
9. Protestants are often alarmed by the extreme language of Marian poems and song. If you can remember that Catholics have a "Courtley Love" or "Chivalrous Love" for Mary, it may help to explain our choice of words. Think of love poetry. The suitor may say extreme things because of his love, like, "I worship the very ground you walk upon, " or "You are my hope, my song, my all!" It's just being in love. That's what you are hearing in Marian prayers and songs.
I hope this is helpful to you!
I'm happy to be able to tell you I presumed no such thing as the unusually bad idea that Jesus was disrespecting Mary, and cannot even see how anyone could get that from the text even with convoluted reasoning. But, I did indeed mean just the precise question that I did ask, that very different question.
