#catholic religion

[mask131]

While I'm at it, because I just had a little beef with a fanatical Christian who couldn't believe I was born in a Christian setting because I had a pentagram as an icon (you see the kind of person)... [Edit: For more details they were a clearly antisemitic Orthodox person who, after refusing to believe I was anything else than Jew, atheist or a devil-worshiper, starting lashing out at me when I said I had a Catholic upbringing saying I was the cause of the crusades and the reason Hitler was alive, yada yada, you know the kind of crazy religious person]

So I decided to have a brief Christianity talk. Not much but just this:

If you ask me, yes, there is a Christian mythology, even though people do not like this term - because there is a bunch of Christian legends and Christian myths that form a Christian folklore and a set of Christian tales with distant, weak or inexistant links to ACTUAL Christian teachings, rites and the actual Christian religion.

And I do believe that folk-Christianity is a fascinating thing that deserves to exist alongside official, actual Christianity. Santa Muerte, and the local saint celebrations, and strange Christmas and Epiphany beliefs, and this story about God and Saint Peter getting drunk at a farmer's house, and the fairytale about Jesus and the Virgin Mary throwing the devil and his wife in an oven to save the girls they wanted to eat... Anyway, no matter how much one can try to destroy folk-Christianity it will always survive because it was centuries and centuries of rites and beliefs spread across several continents, and you can't destroy that easily.

The thing that many people do not get is that a lot of what is Christianity today was completely made up. There's not a lot of Christianity today that was originally in the Bible. There's a lot of Christianity as practiced by the first Christians that was lost. The dates and meanings of celebrations like Easter, All Hallows Day or Christmas kept changing all year long. Lots of saints were completely invented. Don't even get me started on the apocryphal Gospels!

This is why studying and understanding the history and evolution of a religion always allow one to be more understanding of what the religion currently is and what is actually an "option" in it. Religions never stayed the same thanks to times changing, scholarly debates, schisms dividing it into various branches, political and economical forces being at play, translations from one country to the next - and that's not just true for Christianity, but also for all other religions. Islam, Judaism, Buddhism... They all had their own evolution, they all are today very different from what they started as, and to better understand them one needs to learn of their past, what they were, what they still are, what they're not anymore. Heck, today there are talks in India of kicking out and banishing all Buddhists when the religion started there! But now, Buddhism's main nations are China and Japan, and its Indian roots almost entirely forgotten...

Fanatics usually fail to do this study of their own religion's history and evolution, because they imagine that the past was just always a carbon-copy of the present, and that their beliefs stayed unmovable monolith coming straight from God (or whatever principle they follow) instead of something that went through centuries of men and women and governments.

Just look at why and how Protestantism came to be. People realized the Church had added a lot of stuff that wasn't there when Christians first appeared, and decided to return to the "original" Christianity, rejecting all the added, invented stuff. Like the celibacy of priests: Christians priests married and had children in the first centuries following the Christ's death. And the only reason Catholic priests took a vow of celibacy and virginity was because of economic concerns with inheritance matters. Jesus never asked those that followed him to never have children or never marry or never have sex.

Or take the existence of Purgatory! Completely invented by the Church around the Middle-Ages, never spoke about by the Christ or part of the original Christian religion, then quickly removed a few centuries later as a non-existent, borderline heretical superstition, and that yet survived in folk-Christianity, and then in popular culture.

In conclusion, I would have to say that there is one book that made me realize a lot of things about religion as a whole, and that convinced me to go from Catholic-Christian to simply deist. Terry Pratchett's book "Small Gods", which exactly put into words my feelings about the world: there is a difference between religion and organized religion. There is a difference between belief and the organizations built around this belief, between faith and the hierarchy created around this faith. The Church is like a shell that was built around the turtle that is the faith/belief/god - and sometimes, when the shell becomes too big and too heavy or too unfit for the creature it hosts, it smothers, hurts and kills the faith/belief/god, until there is only the shell. And people stop referring to the turtle, and only speak and interact with the shell.

This is the perfect explanation of how Jesus only preached peace and love and friendship and forgiveness, and its priests later invented the Inquisition and caused the witch-hunts.

#christianity #religion #christian history #christian religion #catholicism #catholic religion #folk-christianity #christian mythology

[portraitsofsaints]

Happy Feast Day Saint Charles Borromeo 1538–1584 Feast day: November 4 Patronage: Catechists, Catechumens, Seminarians

Saint Charles Borromeo was a cardinal and archbishop of Milan from 1564 to 1584. Among the great reformers of the troubled sixteenth century, Borromeo, with St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Philip Neri, and others, led the movement to combat the heresy of the Protestant Reformation. He was a leading figure during the Counter-Reformation and was responsible for significant reforms in the Catholic Church, including the founding of seminaries for the education of priests. {website}

#St Charles Borromeo #Saint for catechist #Saint for seminarians #Catholic religion #artist on tumblr

[thefoilguy]

Pieta by Michelangelo - Aluminum Foil Sculpture

#pieta #michelangelo #renissance #traditional art #classic art #virgin mary #jesus of nazareth #jesus christ #religion #christianity #judaism #hebrew #roman catholic #catholic

[texaschainsawmascara]

Sinéad O’Connor / ‘96 Tori Amos tour merch

#now ethel cain needs recovering baptist to complete the holy trinity #sinéad o'connor #sinead o'connor #sinéad o’connor #sinead o’connor #tori amos #catholic #catholicism #christian #christianity #90s #music #religion

[zephyrchama]

It was dinnertime in the House of Lamentation. Conversation petered out as everyone focused on the hot food in front of them, leaving a quiet lull interrupted only by clinking silverware.

“I’ve always wanted a traditional church wedding,” you said, entirely unprompted.

The clinking came to a stop as the seven brothers processed what you had just said. They turned their eyes towards you.

Beelzebub was the first to break the silence despite his mouth full of food. “Huh?”

“I just always thought it would be nice. A quaint wedding in a nice little church. Maybe a chapel.”

Leviathan briefly choked on what he was chewing.

“Oh I totally get it!” Asmodeus empathized. “Rows of pews with white flowers, those high arched ceilings, the evening light of the human world sun shining on us through a beautiful stained glass window as we kiss? Oh!” He clutched his shoulders, “it gives me chills just imagining it!”

“Asmo, we can’t enter churches,” Satan stated matter-of-factly. The knife handle gripped in his fist started to bend.

“Hah!? What? Lucifer, is that true?” Mammon slammed his fork down and just about jumped out of his chair as he shouted at the oldest.

“Sit down, Mammon.” Lucifer rubbed his temple and tried to perform damage control before the inevitable headache set in. “What brought this on suddenly?” he asked you.

Keeping a straight face was immensely difficult but you pulled it off. “I was just thinking about weddings and stuff, y’know. It’d be nice. Ever since I was little I thought a church wed-”

Belphegor interjected with “You’re not even that religious.”

A flood of complaints washed over the table as everyone started loudly protesting.

“You… You’re not allowed to get married anywhere without me!” Leviathan shouted.

“Does it have to be a church? What about a restaurant instead?” Beel suggested, looking worried. “I know a lot of pretty ones.”

“We could build a mock church in a studio and get married there,” Asmo fantasized. “The stained glass could be you and me as cherubs, we can ask Luke to be the flower boy. He’d be so cute in a little tux!”

“You wouldn’t even need a ceremony with me,” Belphegor said. “If you really want one, we can have it outdoors under the stars.”

Satan’s knife was bent at a 90-degree angle. “What a stupid thing to say. Libraries are just as quiet and nice as churches. Probably. They sure suit you better than a church.” 

“The restaurants also have in-house catering,” Beel continued.

“That ain’t gonna happen!” Mammon bounced his knee, shaking the entire table as he lamented, “I ain’t lettin’ my human get married in some church! We can go anywhere you want! Anywhere else!”

”There’s a church in my game!” Leviathan gasped. He thought an in-game wedding would be just as good as a real one. “I can show you! We can go now! Lets make you a character!”

Lucifer cleared his throat once. Then twice. The third time was a warning that got lost amid all of the whining. “Enough,” he finally growled. The room went silent for him. “You’re not getting married in a church. End of discussion.”

“Oh.” Weird of him to decide that on his own, but you were at your limit. A wide grin had already spread across your face. “Yeah, ok. By the way this roast you made is delicious.”

#bonus points for MCs who are absolutely not religious at all or who are a religion other than catholic/christian #MC causing mischief for no reason #I was raised in a different religion in an area with no churches so I have no idea what the difference is between a church and a chapel #one's smaller maybe? one's part of the other? #obey me #obey me! #omswd #obey me swd #obey me shall we date #obey me drabble #obey me scenario #obey me scenarios #obey me x mc #obey me headcanon #obey me mammon #obey me leviathan #obey me lucifer #obey me x reader #obey me satan #obey me beelzebub #obey me asmodeus #obey me belphegor #obey me fic #obey me brothers #obey me headcanons #obey me mc #obey me fanfic

[seraphimfall]

i’ve read so much tradcath bullshit the last two years. i can confidently say tradcath men fit into one of two categories:

“protestant-raised and converted to catholicism because of his crippling porn addiction and racist tendencies. reposts crusader and conquistador memes. is hated in his local parish.” tradcath

“catholic-raised band kid who ate his lunches with the religion teacher. smells like mildew. cut off all his friends that came out as gay after high school. now larps as an aquinian scholar and cries after jerking off.” tradcath

#|| the disciple || #ex catholic #ex christian #religious trauma #exvangelical #deconversion #apostate #apostasy #ex fundie #extian #deconstructing christianity #ex religious #ex cult #ex cath #religious deconstruction #deconstruction #catholic guilt #progressive politics #leaving the church #losing my religion

[howlingtothevoid]

Begging God to fix you!

(And other tales about religious trauma)

#web weaving #web weave #on grief #on love #webweaving #childhood grief #oc story: pathdog #Pathdog!Catherina #oc webweave #on religion #religious trauma #tw religious themes #catholic grief #no hate like christian love #happy valentine's day #i guess #queer tragedy

[thepsychopompsthrenody]

i'm really sorry but you're gonna find god in the Other Stuff, too. religious trappings are nice. so is tradition. it's good to have buildings to go to and things to wear and holy texts to read and prescripted songs to sing. it's comforting to have lineage and instructions. bless the treasure map.

but god's Elsewhere, too: out on the tips of skinny branches and wading in the weeds, left of center, left field.

so if you decide to test this theory and go rambling around calling out innumerable, unpronounceable names, know that you won't have to look too hard. divinity does a terrible job concealing itself. god willing you will take a shine to the idea that god happens everywhere, in everything, all the time.

#religion #queer christian #queer catholic #this is an about me post #queer religion

[heresylog]

So you think you know your heresies. I beg to differ.

#this was created for FUN #heresy #religion #Christianity #Catholic #Roman Catholic #Holy See #uquiz #trivia quiz #Christian Heresies #HeresyLog Quiz

[aalghul]

jason doesn’t feel guilty for the murders he committed!!! he can’t feel catholic guilt or want repentance or atonement for something he doesn’t feel guilt about! and there are dozens of religions we could explore jason in that would be so much more fun than catholicism or any type of christianity

#if catholic jason has no haters then im dead #i think everyone can have fun with characters and do what they want but christianity is my line #if a character has been cursed with it in Main timeline then rip them let’s do our best #but jason wasn’t christian in any main timeline so! the only time jason todd is touching a cross is for the aesthetic #im going to hold everyone’s hands and look everyone in the eyes when i say this: there are other religions #jason IS a character who’d be interesting if made religious. but there is more than one religion in the world #christianity is so boring on jason. lets get creativity yeah #shoutout to the cool catholic priest flashpoint jason arts though #everybody else: let’s get it together please. we can do better #not to mention that every christian jason thing i see is so exactly what helena has already done in canon that even i can’t defend anyone #from the ‘stealing canon helena’s character for fanon Jason’ allegations. and that’s my full time job im talking about #jason todd

[angeltreasure]

God doesn’t tolerate you, He loves you.

#I heard this in a sermon #God #love #Christianity #Christian #Catholic #Catholicism #faith #religion

[trap-str]

#lana del rey #catholic #catholiscism #religion #2000s #angel #lana del ray aka lizzy grant #coquette #2014 tumblr #emo #y2k #nail art #art #mother #mother mary #fashion #acrylic nails #dollette #trashy y2k #trashy 2000s #trashy aesthetic

[portraitsofsaints]

Saint Gaspar del Bufalo 1786 - 1837 Feast Day: January 2 Founder of the Society of the Precious Blood

As an infant Saint Gaspar del Bufalo suffered from an eye condition that threatened to blind him; he was cured in 1788 following prayers for the intervention of Saint Francis Xavier.  After the occupation of Rome by the French, on four separate occasions, Gaspar refused to take the oath of allegiance to Emperor Napoleon out of loyalty to the Pope and the Church. He was exiled and imprisoned due to these refusals.  After being liberated, he helped formally start the Missioners of the Precious Blood (C.P.P.S.) in 1815 at Giano dell’Umbria, Italy, a congregation devoted to preaching and to bring the sacraments back to war-torn Italy {website}

#St Gasper de Bufalo #Society of the precious Blood of Jesus #Catholic saint #Catholic religion #catholic art

[globalhappenings]

Mass at sea: the priest investigated, 'I apologize'

Mass at sea: the priest investigated, ‘I apologize’

(ANSA) – MILAN, JUL 27 – Don Mattia Bernasconi, the priest of the parish of San Luigi Gonzaga in Milan who celebrated mass at sea in Crotone at the end of a volunteer camp in Libera, is registered in the register of suspects by the Crotone Prosecutor’s Office who opened a file on the celebration that took place on Sunday in the locality of Alfieri on an inflatable mattress. The parish priest is…

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#Catholic religion #celebration #Crotone #Eucharist #excuse me #Giuseppe-Capoccia #initiative #line #mass #Mattia-Bernasconi #Milan #morning #offense #parish #parish priest #Photo #priest #register-of-suspects #religious-confession #San-Luigi #sea #signed up

[texaschainsawmascara]

Marijn Morée, 'Perseverance', 2001

#marijn morée #art #jesus #christ #jesus christ #religion #catholicism #catholic #christianity #christian #sculpture #marijn moree

[goodmorningnona]

yo can we actually talk about harrow's blood face paint and veil at the beginning of htn for a sec. i know a lot of people poke fun at it but for me as someone who grew up in a veiling religion with the constant threat of that veil being taken away it's like... not being able to wear that veil IN FRONT OF PEOPLE? that's like being naked before god. it is terrifying and traumatic to not be able to wear a veil or other religious garments. at the end of the day it's not even about god specifically, like i could meet god and even if he said to take off the veil i wouldn't, because it's for me. it's for her before it's for god. i felt for harrow so hard at that part of the book and i get that she's just a scrungle but i would love if we could portray occasionally the nauseating forced vulnerability and sense of injustice you would feel at your religion being stripped from you.

#it is really the worst feeling in the world #religion isnt actually about god it's about the internal understanding of self/morals being externalized etc etc #the locked tomb #tlt #htn #harrow the ninth #htn spoilers #harrow the ninth spoilers #i dont know how catholics feel about it but considering she's a nun she might be more similar to muslims in this sense but #for us (i converted later but i was raised muslim) literally being seen without hijab ESPECIALLY by men is like being naked #AND ESPECIALLY before god you wouldnt want to de veil #lessons of the hand and the mouth