What a Catholic believes is stated in the Creeds.

As a Catholic I can tell you that we believe in God the Father and that He is the Creator.

We believe in the Trinity-3 persons in one God. We baptize in the name of the Father,Son and Holy Spirit as Jesus commanded.

We beleive that Mary was chosen by God to be Jesus' mother and that she was a virgin prior to His birth and a virgin perpetually..that she was conceived without sin(the Immaculate Conception)because God planned it this way.We believe because she was immaculately conceived,that she was also assumed into heaven(the Assumption).

We believe that Jesus is the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity and IS God. Elizabeth proclaimed to Mary "how is it that the mother of our Lord(God)should come to me?" and Thomas exclaimed,after seeing Jesus risen and examining His wounds,"My Lord and My GOD!" Jesus Himself declared that He and the Father were One.

We beleive that Jesus preached,lived,died on the cross for sin,rose from the dead and ascended into heaven.

We believe that He established a Church and that it is one holy,catholic and apostolic.We believe that His Church was meant to be both visible (a light to be seen,a witness in the world) and invisible.We believe that His Church is His Bride...that Jesus does not have a harem and that His Church is One Body,not many bodies.We cannot accept that His Church would become apostate,especially based on His own promise that hell would not prevail over it.

We believe that Jesus  appointed Peter as the first head of His Church calling him rock-so that Jesus is the cornerstone,the apostles are the foundation and Peter the head (rock)of that foundation. Remove Jesus(the conerstone),the apostles(the foundation)and Peter the head(rock)of this foundation you do not have the Church as Jesus intended but a man made church instead.

  Jn 13:13-15 , Jn 17:18 , Lk 10:16 , Mt 28:18-20 , Mt 28:20 , Jn 14:16-1 7 ,Jn 15:26 , Jn 16:12-13, Acts 1:8

  
Infallibility of Pope

The Pope-as successor of Peter-is infallible.This means when he speaks with the magesterium ex cathedra in matters re faith and morals he is infallible(without error). This does not mean without sin or free from error in ALL matters,but as he speaks as the Vicar of Christ. He is NOT God and while many Catholics love him,some simply respect him and others just  tolerate,obey and respect him-NONE worship him.We are not taught to worship him either. Not one single teaching of the Catholic Church has said we are to  worship the Pope.His Church must speak with authority to BE His Church.

 Mt 28:20 
... teaching them (all nations) to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age. 
     Jn 14:16-17
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth, which the world cannot accept, because it neither sees nor knows it. But you know it, because it remains with you, and will be in you.
    Jn 15:26
When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth that proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. 
    Jn 16:12-13
I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. 
     Acts 1:8
But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. 
   The primacy of Peter:

http://www.scripturecatholic.com/primacy_of_peter.html

Scripture and Tradition

The doctrines of the Catholic faith are built on Sacred  Scripture and Tradition. This does not mean tradition replaced scripture-it is Tradition that gave us Scripture.

   2 Thess 2:15
Therefore, brothers, stand firm and hold fast to the traditions (paradoseis) that you were taught, either by an oral statement or by a letter of ours. 
   Lk 1:1-2
Since many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down (paredosan) to us. 
    1 Cor 11:23
For I received from the Lord what I also handed on (paredoka) to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over, took bread ...
   1 Cor 15:3-4
For I handed on (paredoka) to you as of first importance what I also received ...
    2 Tim 2:2
And what you heard from me through many witnesses entrust (parathou) to faithful people who will have the ability to teach others as well.

The Church says, Sola Verbe Diem that is,the Word of God alone.That means written or oral. Jesus commanded His apostles to preach-He never once commanded them to write. If He did command them to write(and there isn't one verse of scripture that shows that He did)most of them must not have been listening-there were 12 apostles. Few of them wrote.

People say that Jesus spoke against Tradition-in fact, say He prohibited it based on a confrontation with the religous leaders of the time. What Jesus was saying was not against authority in principle,rather the right use of authority. He was not against all Tradition,not even all human tradition. Only those traditions of the religous leaders then that nufllified God's word. When He is done speaking about this,He tells the people to OBEY these leaders because they "sit in Moses seat" but not to follow their example.

   THEN spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. (Matt 23:1-3) Scripture cannot contradict-and it does not-so scripture cannot say to hold fast to Traditions in one verse of scripture  and then say one should NOT follow Tradition in another.

What does the word paradoseis mean? Translated twelve times tradition means something handed down and
 properly means "the transmission of history, teachings, etc., either orally or writing.This is what the Church has done for 2,000 yrs. Remember,scripture says that "the church is the pillar and foundation of truth." Nowhere does it say that scripture is the SOLE authority or that it is meant to be self interpreted. IF that were true we could argue the same thing with the apostles. One could ask them:where in scripture does it say that? We could also interpret those scriptures they cite to mean something else-something we want it to mean rather than what they preached. Even the heretics were convinced of their own truth and with much faith defended thier false doctrines. The Church defeated them. Scripture calls the truth of the Holy Spirit the "ALL" truth. It cannot be one truth here and another there. There couldn't be truths handed down until the 16th century that suddenly became false and led to the divisions we see today.

How old is your church?

http://www.transporter.com/apologia/how_old.htm

Honor of Mary

Mary is honored as the Mother of God. We believe she was conceived immaculate through God's design.That nothing is impossible for God-not the Virgin Birth of Jesus,nor the Incarnation of God or the Ressurection of Jesus nor the Immaculate Conception of Mary.We do not worship her. The highest form of worship for a Catholic is the Mass.We beleive that she intercedes for us to her Son,Jesus.Consider the possibilty that it may not be that we think TOO much of Mary-but that,after the Reformation,some denominations did not honor her enough and lost the truths re Mary that Christians held for so long. The problem now is that anti Catholics argue that we place her above Jesus-worship her instead of God or that our honor of her is based on paganism.None of this holds up. We honor her because she IS the Mother of Jesus. We worship God and God alone. Paganism never accepted the Incarnation of Christ. It may be true that paganism did have its female goddesses-but that's like saying because they worshipped a god or gods that this is similiar to Christianity because we also worship a diety. I can tell you that the first thing I learned in Catholic Grade School was from the Baltimore Catechism-it was considered the most essential teaching.The first thing we learned. The question was:"Who is God?" We learned God is the Supreme Being who made all things and that we were mean to love and serve Him in this life and be with Him in the next. This teaching was fundemental to all the teachings of Catholicism.Everything about our spiritual life as Catholics is meant to come to that end,including through our honor of Mary.

http://www.ewtn.com/library/scriptur/maryark.TXT

http://www.ewtn.com/library/scriptur/mary.TXT

THE HAIL MARY

Hail Mary

full of grace

the Lord is with thee

Blessed art thou among women

and Blessed is the fruit of thy womb,Jesus

Holy Mary

Mother of God

Pray for us sinners

Now and at the hour of our death.

Amen(so be it)

NICENE CREED:

We believe in one God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds, God of God, Light of Light, Very God of Very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father by whom all things were made; who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures, and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father. And he shall come again with glory to judge both the quick and the dead, whose kingdom shall have no end.

And we believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceedeth from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son together is worshipped and glorified, who spoke by the prophets. And we believe one holy catholic and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the remission of sins. And we look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Greek Version

Πιστεύομεν εις ?ενα Θεον Πατερα παντοκράτορα, πάντων ορατων τε και αοράτων ποιητήν.

Πιστεύομεν εισ ?ενα κύριον `Ιησουν Χριστον, τον υ?ιον του θεου, γεννηζέντα εκ του πατρος μονογενη, τουτέστιν εκ της ουσίας του πατρός, θεον εκ θεου αληθινου, γεννηθέντα, ου ποιηθέντα, ?ομοούσιον τωι πατρί δι οϋ τα πάντα εγένετο, τα τε εν τωι ουρανωι και τα επι της γης τον δι ?ημας τους ανθρώπους και δα την ?ημετέραν σωτηρίαν κατελθόντα και σαρκωθέντα και ενανθρωπήσαντα, παθόντα, και αναστάντα τηι τριτηι ?ημέραι, και ανελθοντα εις τους οθρανούς, και ερχόμενον κριναι ζωντασ και νεκρούς.

Και εις το ?Αγιον Πνευμα.
Τους δε λέγοντας, ?οτι ?ην ποτε ?ότε οθκ ?ην, και πριν γεννηθηναι ουκ ?ην, και ?οτι εξ ?ετερας ?υποστάσεως η ουσιας φάσκοντας ειναι, [η κτιστόν,] τρεπτον η αλλοιωτον τον υ?ιον του θεου, [τούτους] αναθεματίζει ?η καθολικη [και αποστολικη] εκκλησία.

Latin Version

Credo in Deum Patrem omnipotentem; Creatorem coeli et terrae.

Et in Jesum Christum, Filium ejus unicum, Dominum nostrum; qui conceptus est de Spiritu Sancto, natus ex Maria virgine; passus sub Pontio Pilato, crucifixus, mortuus, et sepultus; descindit ad inferna; tertia die resurrexit a mortuis; ascendit ad coelos; sedet ad dexteram Dei Patris omnipotentis; inde venturus (est) judicare vivos et mortuos.

Credo in Spiritum Sanctum; sanctam ecclesiam catholicam; sanctorum communionem; remissionem peccatorum; carnis resurrectionem; vitam oeternam. Amen.

 
 
  
Apostle's Creed
  

I believe in God the Father Almighty,
Creator of Heaven and Earth.
I believe in Jesus Christ his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.
He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven and is seated
at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Holy Catholic Church,
the Communion of Saints, the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.