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Questions / Mary and the saints

Aren’t statues and icons forbidden images?

Church teaching

Answered on video by Catholic Answers

Video: Are Statues in Catholic Churches "Graven Images?", Catholic Answers Live, published May 28, 2015. Checked 10 October 2026. Loads from YouTube (privacy-enhanced mode) only when you press play. Watch on YouTube

In short: Catholics agree God forbids idols. But once God became visible in Jesus, a picture of Him isn’t an idol. CCC 2129

The answer, in writing

Church teaching

The commandment forbade making images of God, because the Lord had shown no form at Sinai. CCC 2129

Even in the Old Testament, God commanded images that pointed to salvation: the bronze serpent, the ark, the cherubim. CCC 2130

When the Son of God became man, He brought a new “economy” of images; Christian veneration of images is not the adoration owed to God alone. CCC 2131 CCC 2132

Our words

Once God has a human face, you can paint it. A statue of Jesus works like a photo of someone you love: the honor goes to the person, not the plaster.

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Related questions

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Sources on this page

How we know · 4 Catechism paragraphs
  1. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 2129, 2130, 2131, 2132 (official text on vatican.va).

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