Difficult Questions
Answers
15 AnswersAre we saved by faith or by works?
Catholics believe we are saved by grace — God's free gift — received through a living faith that shows itself in love. So it's not "faith or works" as rivals.…
Can a Catholic accept evolution?
Yes. The Catholic Church does not require its members to reject evolution; it can be accepted as a scientific account of how life, including the human body,…
Do Catholics worship Mary, the saints, or statues?
No. Catholics worship God alone — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We honour Mary and the saints and ask them to pray for us, the way you might ask a holy friend…
Does the Church really teach that it is the one true Church?
Yes — the Catholic Church does teach that the one Church Christ founded subsists in her, with the fullness of the means of salvation. But this is not a claim…
How do we know Jesus really rose from the dead?
The resurrection cannot be proven the way a lab result can, but it rests on unusually strong historical footing: an empty tomb that even Jesus' opponents…
If God is good, why is there suffering and evil?
This is the hardest question anyone can ask, and the Church does not pretend it has a tidy formula. Christianity does not explain suffering away; it answers it…
Is faith opposed to science?
No. The Catholic Church teaches that genuine faith and genuine science can never ultimately contradict each other, because the same God is the author of the…
Is Jesus the only way to God?
The Church teaches that Jesus is the one Saviour of the whole world — all salvation comes through him. But it also teaches that people who, through no fault of…
Is the Bible alone enough, or do we also need Tradition and the Church?
Catholics love and revere the Bible as the inspired word of God — but we don't believe it was meant to stand alone, cut off from the living Church that wrote…
Is the Eucharist really Jesus, or just a symbol?
Catholics believe the Eucharist is really and truly Jesus — his body, blood, soul, and divinity — not merely a symbol or reminder. The bread and wine, at the…
Isn't religion just a crutch people invented?
The charge that religion is a "crutch" mistakes a feeling about belief for an argument against it. Even if faith does comfort people — and it does — that tells…
What about people who never hear of Christ?
The Church teaches that Christ is the one Savior of all and that his Church is necessary for salvation — and, in the same breath, that someone who has never…
Why do Catholics call priests "Father" if Jesus said to call no one father?
Jesus' words "call no one your father on earth" (Matthew 23:9) are a warning against pride and against letting any human take the place that belongs to God —…
Why does the Catholic Church have so many rules?
What looks like "a lot of rules" is mostly the practical shape of two things: loving God and loving your neighbor. The Church's actual binding precepts are…
Why does the Church hold moral views the modern world rejects?
The Church holds some moral positions the surrounding culture has abandoned because she understands moral truth as something discovered, not voted on — rooted…