The Catholic Church does not do the bolded....they push a religion, sacramental pseudo salvation, elevate men to the stature of God, push idolatry, a non-existent place (purgatory) and are as false as Anton Levey and His 1st Church of Satan.......they kept nothing out of the so called EARLY CHURCH....and as a matter of fact the LORD'S CHURCHES (plural) were in existence for some 300 years before the CATHOLIC CHURCH and Constantine.....contrary to popular belief....PETER was not the 1st POPE of anything and was crucified UPSIDE in ROME by the ROMAN government around the same time PAUL was beheaded.........
The Roman Emperor Constantine established himself as the head of the church around 313 A.D., which made this new "Christianity" the official religion of the Roman Empire. The first actual Pope in Rome was probably Leo I (440-461 A.D.), although some claim that Gregory I was the first (590-604 A.D.). This ungodly system eventually ushered in the darkest period of history known to man, properly known as the "Dark Ages" (500-1500 A.D.). Through popes, bishops, and priests, Satan ruled Europe, and Biblical Christianity became illegal. Throughout all of this, however, there remained individual groups of true Christians, such as the Waldensens and the Anabaptists who would not conform to the Roman system.
I'm going to answer you seriously now. Please don't reply with snide remarks...
First I'd like to say that since I grew up Catholic I've been to many, many Masses, as you could imagine.
Having converted to Protestaantism, I've also been to many, many services, as you can imagine.
I can say that at Mass, people are never taught to dislike Protestants. But I've been to many services where the Cathlic Church was brought up in a very bad light, to say the least. Pastors are not doing anyone a favor by helping their congregation to dislike not only the Catholic Church, but also Catholics.
By the dictionary definition, Christianity IS a religion. We like to say that it's not and that it's a relationship. I agree with this; however, we should not use the word "religion" as if it were a bad word. Many good people in the world belong to a religion. If this is how they praise God, so be it. There is only ONE God.
The Catholic Church teaches that God's grace is given through sacraments. Special grace. They're not dumb. They know what grace is. They believe these sacraments enforce or belief. In a way, they're not wrong. Children need feasts and special occasions to make their life more memorable. Maybe it would be a good idea even in Evangelical churches to have a special celebration for a person's first communion? Or some other celebration. We do lack this in our churches.
Elevating men to the stature of God. I agree. The Pope is the head of the Church, and every organization has a "pope".
Think of the most famous Protestant preachers... are they not like Popes? However, people do give the Pope too much importance as a spiritual leader. No one should have that much importance. This one happens to be very humble, BTW.
They do NOT push idolatry. I've tried to explain this. People do not pray to the statue. Most Catholics I know don't even bow down to statues anymore. It might be different in different areas.
Purgatory. They do base it on the bible. They are now saying that it probably lasts only a moment and that it's only separation from God. Did you know that kids are more afraid of purgatory than hell? I've spoken to different priests about this. I'll just say that sometimes the official teaching is not the personal belief. Purgatory is a truly bad doctrine because it cheapens the sacrifice of Jesus --- as if it were not sufficient to get one to heaven.
I don't know who Anton Levy is but the Catholic Church should not be compared to a satanic cult. This is terrible. Jesus is present in the Catholic Church. HE is not satan...
The Catholic Church DID keep many heresies out of the early Church, and even after.
I'm sure you've hard of the debate as to who Jesus was --- a man, a god, God ? What about the Trinity? Is God ONE, is He THREE Gods? Knosticism. So much else. It's readily available on the internet --- I can't take the time to go through each one.
Councils were held to explain these concepts in an official manner. I'd say there would be NO Church today had it not been for the Catholic Church.
When I speak of the early Church, I DO mean the first few hundred years. Problems began after it became the official Church of the Roman Empire. In Europe the Church rules as secular powers do. This is a theocracy and is Always a bad idea.
The first Pope. You're right of course. The first Pope was declared in the 400's. They do explain how it goes back to Peter.
It's like the Super Bowl. It wasn't called that before 1967, but now every Championship game even before that is referred to as the Super Bowl. Ditto for Peter.
Now check out the explanation you posted of "The Roman Empire, Constantine....".
It says that Europe was ruled by satan.
A bit biased, wouldn't you say?
Is it necessary to use such inflammatory Language?
Two wrongs never made a right.
And it did go wrong...
I was very nice and reasoned seriously.
I hope you do the same. (if you see this).