Well there's no denying the truth. I'm Catholic. Yep, you heard right. I was born Catholic, baptized Catholic, raised Catholic, confirmed Catholic, and currently living Catholic. Not only that, I am happy to be Catholic. Proud of it in fact. There is no other religion or denomination that I would rather belong to than the Catholic Church.
Unfortunately, there are many people out there, Christians in fact, that are bothered by the fact that I'm Catholic. They worry that my religion is not really a Christian religion, that we believe in things that are unbiblical, that we worship idols and statues, that our religion is really a cult, that we will not be saved...whatever! They even compare Catholicism to Mormonism and other radical religions. Deep down I know that they are all mistaken, that they really don't understand the Catholic Church and what we really believe and why we believe it. But still, it bothers me. I find myself trying to explain what the Catholic church really teaches, and why we believe it. It's not easy. Most of our doctrines are very difficult to explain and understand. What makes it even harder are those who are so adamant in their own beliefs that they are unwilling to hear my side of the story or consider a different point of view. Believe me, it can be pretty frustrating.
Nevertheless, I do believe very strongly that the Catholic Church is the original church that Jesus started in Matthew 16:13-19, and that all other Christian denominations are derived from it. I don't just believe that because someone told me, but because I've done the research. I've read books and articles, studied the Bible, talked to priests, and prayed for wisdom and answers to all my questions. All of this has pretty much confirmed my belief that we are the ultimate Christian religion. It would be really difficult to try to explain my position; in fact, I would probably have to write a whole book to explain it completely. But instead, I'll try to explain it as briefly as I can.
First of all, you have to consider what separates Catholics from Fundamentalists. I believe the main difference is the way we interpret the Bible. Fundamentalists base their theology on select verses and passages throughout the Bible. Everything they believe, they can justify with usually one or two verses. But there's a major problem with this type of logic. By basing their beliefs on verses that they pulled from here and there in the Bible, they overlook many of the spaces in between. For instance, many Fundamentalists criticize our use of statues, citing Exodus 20:4-5. Their interpretation of this scripture is that God prohibits graven images altogether. But they forget that just a few chapters later, in Exodus 25:18-20, God actually commands His people to make graven images! He does it again in Numbers 21:8-9 and 1 Chronicles 28:18-19. To a Fundamentalist this would be a contradiction, but we know that in Exodus 20:4-5, God isn't actually condemning graven images, just the worshipping of these images - that would be idolatry. And contrary to common belief, Catholics do not worship statues; we use them as visual aids to illustrate the beauty of God's creation. This is not idolatry...this is perfectly biblical. (For a fuller explanation of the Catholic Church's use of statues, check out this article.)
Whereas Fundamentalists base their beliefs on particular verses, Catholic theology focuses more on the Bible as a whole. The Bible is a very complex book, as you can see from my example in the previous paragraph. Because the Bible is complex, so is the Catholic catechism. Often when I try to explain a Catholic belief to someone, the first question I get is, "Where in the Bible does it say that?" Usually it's impossible to give them a simple, straightforward answer, because most of our beliefs aren't as simple as pointing to a particular verse and saying "here it is." For instance, we can't explain why we believe that the Virgin Mary was conceived without sin simply by pointing to a particular verse, because nowhere in the Bible does it say straight out that she was. But there are many clues throughout the Bible that seem to suggest that she was conceived without sin. It's not explicitly stated; it lies more between the lines. (For a full explanation of the Immaculate Conception of Mary, read this article.)
Another danger in Fundamentalist logic is this: if you base your theology just on a few select verses, then you'll find that you can use the Bible to justify almost anything, even things that are obviously unbiblical! I know of one infamous church in Topeka, Kansas, that uses actual Scripture verses to justify their belief that God hates homosexuals, and thus so should we. Their arguments are so frighteningly convincing, that any naive, well-meaning Christian can fall for it. The Bible has also been used to justify slavery, anti-semitism, and the death penalty. I even came across one web site that used Scripture to justify abortion. Yet we know as Christians that these are all perverted interpretations of the Bible. These people don't proclaim the true Word of God but instead manipulate it to vindicate their own selfish beliefs. In digression, my main point here is that there are many ways we can interpret the Bible. Everyone has a different interpretation. This is the main reason why we have nearly 3,000 different Christian denominations in the world today, with hundreds more being formed each year! And each one has its own interpretation of the Bible. But we can't all be right; after all, there is only one God, so there is only one correct interpretation of the Bible.
So how can we be so sure that the Catholic Church's interpretation of the Bible is the correct one? Well, nobody can be completely sure, but we have strong reason to believe that our interpretation of the Bible is as close to the truth as you can get. We believe this because we believe Jesus Christ Himself started the Catholic Church with his words to Peter in Matthew 16:18-19: "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the powers of death shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven." Basically, we believe that Peter was essentially our first Pope, and that Jesus gave him all authority to rule His church. Peter had a successor, Linus, who also had a successor, followed by another, and so on. Today, Pope John Paul II is the latest of an unbroken chain of men that hold the distinction that Christ originally gave to Peter in the aforementioned passage. Because Christ promised that He would never leave Peter or the church, we believe that He has always been with us. We believe that through the grace of God, our Pope can lead us to the truth that is Jesus Christ. Therefore, we have a strong foundation that we can rely on to give us the truth. No other religion or denomination can claim that. This is the second thing that separates Catholics from all other religions...the papacy. (For more detailed explanations of the papacy and the beginnings of the Church, click here.)
Aside from the Pope, the Catholic Church has so much more to offer than any other religion. We have devotion to Mary and the Saints. We have the Eucharist...the real Body and Blood of Christ. We have priests, sacraments, beautiful statues...you name it! We have so much more than the other churches; no one else even comes close. Don't get me wrong; I love and respect all my Christian brothers and sisters, and I believe they are on the right track, but no one beats the Catholic Church when it comes to completeness. That is why I feel extremely lucky to have been brought up in the Catholic Church. I wouldn't have it any other way.
On a final note, please realize that I am not by any means an expert on Catholicism. I suppose I am pretty well-read on the subject, and I'm always eager to learn more, but I have questions like everybody else. The point is: unlike most of the Fundamentalists that I know who are totally unwilling to step out of their comfort zones and consider different points of view, when I come across something about my faith that I find a bit questionable, I don't immediately dismiss it as being wrong. Instead, I try to find out why we are to believe it. I try to search for answers and ask the Lord to lead me to the truth. So what if I find out that I'm wrong? I would much rather find out that I'm wrong and finally have the truth, than to never know the truth and think that I'm right.
If you have any more questions about the Catholic Church, check out the Catholic Answers web site for more thourogh answers than I can ever give.