Roman Catholicism has many traditions and beliefs that are rooted in paganism. Here are points of similarity between Catholicism and Hinduism:

1. Hindus worship many gods and Catholics worship many saints, both with the burning of candles and incense before statues. Both use images, icons, music, and ritual prayers as means to create an atmosphere of worship. While Hindus chant ritual “mantras,” Catholics chant rosary prayers. Read about these practices being used in the Spiritual Formation movement

2. Both have extravagantly wealthy temples filled with statues and golden artifacts.

3. Both have a priesthood that acts as a intermediary between the people and God. Both look upon their respective priests as a separate caste, different from the laity. The concept of a “priesthood of all believers” is foreign to the practices of either religion.

4. Both believe that justification cannot be by faith alone—good deeds being absolutely necessary. Both believe that merit can be accumulated, and life deeds can cause advancement or demotion in the “next life.”

5. Both have a physical center for worshipers’ pilgrimages. For Catholics it is St. Peter’s in Rome, while Hindus travel many miles to the Ganges River. Both religions believe that pilgrimages to these holy places will result in merit for the worshiper.

6. Both believe in the effectiveness of “holy water” in various cleansing rites.

7. Both believe everyone needs “perfecting” before going to the ultimate reward. Catholics see time in purgatory as necessary to perfection of character, while Hindus believe that reincarnation will give the necessary steps towards perfection.

8. Both believe in the effectiveness of repeated offerings and sacrifices. Catholics believe the mass will effectively offer Christ again and again as a sacrifice for sins, while Hindus will present their gods with sacrifices and offerings of flowers.

9. Both religions have a strong belief that spiritual exercises will lift the worshiper out of the usual round of daily living, and will promote a mystic and superior understanding of existence. St. Ignatius is not really very different in his outlook on “spiritual exercises” than the Hindu mystic in his concentration on escaping this physical world and entering nirvana.

10. Both religions worship a mother goddess. Hindus worship the Goddess Durga as the Supreme Mother, while Catholics see Mary as the Supreme Mother.

Of course it can be pointed out that Hinduism is polytheistic (worshiping many gods) while Catholicism is monotheistic (worshiping only one God). In practice, Catholicism encourages worshipers to see Mary and the saints as intermediaries between God and humanity. However, according to 1 Timothy 2:5 there is only one mediator between God and us (Jesus Christ), so when Catholics defer to saints as mediators they are putting those saints in the place of Jesus Christ, and in effect worshiping many gods.

Fortunately, Catholicism still has Jesus Christ and the basic Gospel as a foundation, so the sincere seeker can find salvation through Christ. But by adding so many traditions not grounded in God’s Word, the Roman Catholic institution buries the truth under many levels of false belief. As Professor Walter Veith observes in his book Truth Matters, “Catholicism is the key to uniting Christianity with paganism and thus bringing about the final apostasy foretold in the book of Revelation.”ⁱ