Is it Catholicism or Paganism?

Richard Hollerman

Probably as a Christian opposition to the murder of children (that the world calls “abortion”), I became the recipient of email advertisements for Catholicism. As you probably  know, the Catholic Church traditionally has opposed the murder of babies, thus they would oppose such organizations as Planned Parenthood, perhaps the largest abortion provider in America. We refer to “traditional” Catholicism for the modern Catholicism that is well-known in the United States seems to have forgotten this noble heritage. Ever since Vatican II (of 1962-65), there has been less of an emphasis on this opposition. President Biden as been called a faithful Catholic but he is strongly in favor of the murder of babies.

This is the background of the emails that I have been receiving. The recent mailing from what must be a traditional organization, called “America Needs Fatima,” calls on all faithful Catholics to oppose this heinous sin. But our title above is labeled: Is it Catholicism? Or is it Paganism?

What is paganism? There are several items under the definition in my dictionary:

  • One who is not a Christian, Muslim, or Jew, especially an adherent of a polytheistic religion in antiquity.
  • One who has no religion
  • A non-Christian
  • A hedonist
  • Professing no religion; heathen

(See The American Heritage College Dictionary)

When we use this term, we are using it to refer to that which is not Christian, a heathen, or one who has no religion. Thus, we are asked whether Catholicism is pagan in nature. We know that it is not Christian in nature, but is it pagan in some way?

We might remember the words of Christ Himself when He quoted Deuteronomy 6:13: “You shall worship the LORD your God, and serve Him only” (Matthew 4:10b). We can see that Jesus is very jealous for the exclusive devotion to God the Father. Nothing must compromise this and nothing interfere with this.

When it comes to the organization (America Needs Fatima) that we mentioned above, some may want to know just what is “Fatima.” We find this:

Our Lady of Fátima (Portuguese: Nossa Senhora de Fátima); formally known as Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Fátima) is a Catholic title of Mary, mother of Jesus, based on the Marian apparitions reported in 1917 by three shepherd children at the Cova da Iria in Fátima, Portugal. The three children were Lúcia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto. José Alves Correia da Silva, Bishop of Leiria, declared the events worthy of belief on 13 October 1930.

Pope Pius XII granted a pontifical decree of canonical coronation via the papal bull Celeberrima solemnia towards the venerated image on 25 April 1946. The designated papal legate, Cardinal Benedetto Aloisi Masella, carried out the coronation on 13 May 1946, now permanently enshrined at the Chapel of the Apparitions of Fátima. Pius XII also raised the Sanctuary of Fátima to the status of a minor basilica by the apostolic letter Luce superna on 11 November 1954. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_F%C3%A1tima)

Thus, Fatima is a reference to a Portugese town where three faithful Catholic children claim that they saw a vision of Mary. People not only in this very Catholic country but around the world worship the “Mary” who supposedly appeared to these three humble peasant children at this most holy and Catholic location. Even the Catholic “Pope” (Pius XII) was convinced of this miracle. And the more recent “Pope” (John) devoted his life to the worship of Mary of Fatima.

For those who have eyes to see, we must remember that Mary (the mother of Jesus), (Mark 6:3), is dead. I repeat, Mary is dead. Some tradition says that she went to Ephesus in Asia Minor to die but, as far as the Scriptures are concerned, the last mention of her is found at Acts 1:14, written before Christ’s ascension to heaven. Let’s remember this: Mary is dead. We assume that she was accepted into heaven, but she was not raised from the dead, for the resurrection will occur when Christ returns at the End of time (see John 5:29; 6:40, 44, 54; 11:23-27). Thus, since this worthy woman is now dead, she doesn’t and can’t hear a single prayer. Especially she would not hear the prayer of those who are heretics even if she were alive and could hear a prayer.

We must  acknowledge that even though some 1.2 billion Catholics may debate this and assume that they are praying to a dead woman, they are wrong. Wrong. If we were to include all of those during the past 1,800 years, we must conclude that the billions of men and women who have thought that they were praying to a dead woman were wrong. In praying to someone other than to God (Matthew 4:10), they were idolaters. And as such, they were an offense against the Living God.

One of the advertisements was directed to a woman (she is called “Ms”—a modern feministic term) as “a devoted child of Mary” and a child of “the Holy Eucharist.” How sad! The letter continued, with the writer placing herself along with the intended woman, referring to themselves as “children of Our Lady.” She goes on to say that they hope that they can restore “their love for and devotion to the precious Body and Blood of Jesus” by partaking of the Catholic Eucharist! The writer then refers to the head of the Catholic organization as …… and said that regularly 4 to 5 thousand “people came to hear him preach every Sunday at one of the most well-attended Methodist congregations. . . . That number rose to 8,000 on Christmas and Easter.”

(Of course, it is utterly sad that the Methodist Church—we assume that the United Methodist Church—would open their doors to a Catholic preacher who would proclaim heresy! We wonder what this modern Protestant denomination is coming to!)

We then read an astounding statement: After he converted to Catholicism, he made this astounding observation:

“It became obvious why Catholics had built such beautiful cathedrals and churches through the world. Not as gathering or meeting places for Christians. But as a home for Jesus Himself in the Blessed Sacrament. Cathedrals house Jesus. Christians merely come and visit Him. The cathedrals and churches architecturally prepare our souls for the beauty of the Eucharist.

We then read this statement about the head of this pro-Catholic, conservative organization:

Now, when [he] . . . received the Eucharist for the first time on the Feast of the Epiphany. . . he wept tears of gratitude for the HONOR of being able to receive his Lord in such an intimate way—through the Holy Eucharist.

He ends by saying, “Nothing else could make his Mother and ours more proud!” Then, as a conclusion, the Director (who wrote the letter) wrote, “I remain your friend in Jesus and Mary.”

Need I say more?

Pride? Pride, of course, is a deed of the flesh, worthy of eternal condemnation (Mark 7:21-23; 1 John 2:15-17).

Hopefully, we can see by all of this that Catholics are not really Christians. They worship a dead woman. They are devoted to this dead woman (Mary). Remember that this dogma about Mary did not arise for several centuries after the time of Christ and the apostles. Thus, we might well say that America doesn’t need Fatima. America doesn’t need false teaching. America doesn’t need the perversion displayed in this pronouncement. Although the writer of this article (the Director) and the leader of the pro-Catholic organization that defends the unborn and new-born babies are not really Christians and what they do (while promoting a worthy cause) is not really godly, righteous, and Christian. No, we must oppose this thoroughly. We must worship God alone. We must promote Christ Jesus, the blessed Son of the Living God, alone. And we must contend that we are followers of Christ, true Christians, and not the heresies promoted in the “Fatima” belief and this false organization!

Sadly, we must say that this pro-Catholic organization is more “pagan” than Christian. We must choose between Catholic paganism and true Christianity! I for one will choose the latter.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Our_Lady_of_F%C3%A1tima

https://www.fatima.pt/en