Time to End the Protestant Myth that Catholics Are Idol Worshippers

Idolatry was one of the main accusations Protestants made against the Catholic Church during the Reformation. As a result, sacred objects such as relics, statues, sculptures, carvings and paintings were often destroyed. In fact, the Church has always distinguished between idolatry, which it considers to be a grave sin, and veneration. Venerating images and statues of saints is directed at the person it represents. The physical image – the “graven image” of Protestant horror - is not being worshipped in any way.

Despite this, the claim that Catholics are idol worshippers is still made today by apologists for Protestantism. Here is a recent example, “Sadly, our Catholic friends… have been indoctrinated to believe that the use of statues, relics, and other articles is acceptable and even necessary for worship. They have been taught by the Roman Catholic Church that the images and icons used in the church are not actually “worshiped” but are simply “visual aids” to worship.” *

These attacks are not only verbal. In recent years relics have been stolen or vandalized in churches all over the world. For example, the 800-year-old heart of St Laurence O´Toole was stolen in Dublin in 2012. A crucifix in a Spanish monastery was desecrated in 2017 and satanic inscriptions scratched on the glass protecting it. In 1995, an evangelist “bishop” in Brazil caused outrage when he kicked a statue of the country´s patron saint, Nossa Senhora de Aparecida, on television.

These relics and symbols are an important component of our faith and it is impossible to imagine a Catholic church without them. They are so important that many of us even carry them with us in the form of crosses, medallions, scapulas or rosary beads. Hundreds of places across the world have become centers of pilgrimage due to the presence of relics. St Andrews in Scotland, Canterbury in England, Santiago de Compostela in Spain and Goa in India are just a few examples of places where the bones of saints have drawn pilgrims for centuries.

A Protestant says he does not need these objects and is often disdainful of them. He believes he needs no intermediary between himself and God whether in human form, such as a saint or priest, or symbolically, in a cross. This arrogant approach gives the impression that only Protestants can speak directly to God and Catholics cannot is completely erroneous.

Despite their importance, relics and images of saints are not essential to our faith and many Catholics pay little attention to them. You can talk directly to God anywhere and don´t need to be in an ornate Baroque church with golden effigies and paintings on the ceiling. You can pray while waiting at a bus stop or in the bath. You can count ten Hail Marys on your fingers as well as on a rosary.

These relics and objects are a reminder that we do not exist alone but are part of a community, a family that goes back two thousand years and encompasses the 1.4 billion Catholics around the globe. They may be nothing more than physical objects but the saints, who many Protestants dismiss, were real people like us and we can connect to them. Who does not have a favorite saint or saints?

If Protestants feel they can get by without this kind of support then let them continue to but by doing so they are depriving themselves of an invaluable spiritual comfort.

*https://www.gotquestions.org/Catholic-idolatry.html