Catholics and Statues: Do We Worship Them?

One common misconception on the part of non-Catholics is that Catholics are idolaters. IE, we worship statues.

This belief is as inaccurate as the belief that we worship saints. I believe it comes from the fact that most churches have many statues of Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Sometimes a crucified Christ or the risen Christ.

Rather than look at it what it really is, an art gallery depicting important people in the Catholic faith, they look at it as we are bowing to the statues themselves.

This is fairly simple. These statues are artistic representations of important people. It's no different that you hanging photos of your grandmother, parents, cousins, siblings, pets on your wall.

Seeing those photos can evoke good memories. If the photo is of a loved one who passed away, it can bring comfort to see their face. Sometimes you may talk to the photo. You know it's not your loved one. You know they're not physically looking back at you from the photo, but when you talk to them, and they seem so far away, you look at the photo to visualize your loved one so you can feel as if they're right there with you.

That is what a statue is to a Catholic. It is a photograph, an artistic representation and reminder of people very important to us. A patron saint, the Blessed Mother, Jesus... we don't pray to the statues, they are merely visualizations of those important people.

A statue of the Crucified Christ is usually prominent in every Catholic church. Catholics don't believe that's actually Christ, they don't pray to the statue... however Catholics will look at that statue and be reminded of the wounds Christ bore so that our sins could be forgiven. 

So again, we do not worship statues. They're merely like the photos on your wall of people you love.

::QUESTION FROM A GUEST::

This question came up on my old blog that I was never able to actually respond to.

"I'm not Catholic, but I attended a Good Friday ceremony with a friend who is Catholic. The priest and his servers carried in a life sized statue of the crucified Christ. He took a knee a few times... the placed it at the front of the church. Everyone went up and either kissed the statue or bowed and made the sign of the cross. What is that all about?"

To cover one point, what you witnessed was the priest walking the steps of Christ to represent the path Christ walked to Calvary. When he took a knee a few times, I'm assuming you mean 3? that represents the three times Christ is said to have fallen. It's similar to a war reenactment, or a play. They're reenacting an important moment in our faith's history.

As for genuflecting or kissing the statue... again... When we do that on Good Friday, we are showing Christ that we praise him for his sacrifice for us. The statue represents the suffering he did. Like someone may talk to the photo of a loved one who is now in heaven since they are not physically with them... we will kiss the feet of the statue not to worship the statue, but to represent our deep sorrow and joy to what that statue represents.

Again, it's similar to a photo of someone greatly loved, and a reenactment. We weren't there when Christ was crucified, just like many war reenactors weren't there during the civil war (for example). This reenactment is our way to feel what Mary felt when she saw her son hanging from a tree. It is a way for us to show reverence and respect to God for the sacrifice of his only begotten Son. It is a way to witness Christ's sacrifice and praise him for it.

We know the statue itself is not Christ, it is merely art depicting him. But Christ sees us and can feel how deeply we're moved by his sorrowful passion.

It isn't an easy thing for someone who isn't an apologist to explain, but that's the long and short of it. We don't worship statues... they are artistic rendering, photographs, memories of those important to our faith.

- God Bless -

I say Amen