Despite the many, many ways the Church falls short (institutionally and among individual members themselves) I still believe the Catholic Church is the best and most legitimate representative of Christianity.
The Holy Bible that Protestants center their spiritual life around was written and compiled throughout the centuries and made "official" through the authority of the Church. Unlike Muslims who believe their book is the direct word of God, the Christian Bible is a collection of accounts, sayings, and different books written by different people. Most of the books in the modern day Bible changed a lot in the centuries following Christ, though always keeping the same general message. Over the centuries books were augmented or excluded, edited, lost, and sometimes altogether forgotten. The earliest surviving Jesus literature consists of parables and a few recognizable miracles.
Thus it seems that Christianity was created by the Church just as much as the Church was a product of Christianity. The Catholic Church really took the different ways people were trying to make sense of the Jesus event and created a lasting synthesis that even most Protestants recognize today.
People are naturally distrustful of hierarchies these days, especially when it comes in the form of an institution with rituals that involve symbolism. To that I'd say, ritual is a normal part of life and the human experience. The sun and moon, the seasons, the life cycle of plants and animals and human beings all act in a sort of ordered ritual throughout the generations. In every world religion you'll find fragments if not large chunks of the same integral teaching. Going off of just the Bible alone (which can be interpreted very differently by everyone) leads to a sort of relativism that probably served as the main cause of modern day moral relativism being so widespread. It's a slippery slope. A religious teaching needs to be married to an institution and supported with tradition, culture and philosophy.
I was pleasantly surprised to see this post literally moments after perusing over my local Catholic parish website, pondering whether to go back to church for the first time in 50 years. It sure seems like we are in the end times. I was thinking maybe I should ask the priest about those lingering doubts I have about Catholicism. Seeing your post pop up when it did makes me think to ask you instead. My concern is the Church's ties to Satanism. My brother (a former altar boy) once joked that if Satan exists, he probably lives in the basement at the Vatican. I am troubled by the shape of Vatican Hall, which looks exactly like a serpent, inside and out. Also, the altar at St. Peter's Basilica has symbolism which seemingly mocks the parishoners (the sheep). Once I saw it, I can't unsee it. Here is a video where an internet guy named Jonathan Kleck points out the Satanic symbolism at the Vatican: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZCRtKlwnj8 In the above referenced video, I was most troubled by Jonathan's interpretation of a Latin Mass where 3 different priests at 3 different masses say in Latin that Jesus is Satan's son! That part starts at about 6:20 in the video. The priest says: "Flammas eius lucifer matutinus inveniat: ille, inquam, Lucifer, qui nescit occasum. Christus Fiilius tuus (!!!!) qui, regressus ab inferis, humano generi serenus illuxit, et vivit et regnat in soecula soeculorum." Kleck says it means this: "Flaming Lucifer Lucifer finds Mankind. I say: Oh Lucifer who will never be defeated, Christ is your son(!)" However, Google Translate shows a slightly different translation: "May the morning lucifer find its flames: he, I say, Lucifer, who knows not the setting. Christ your Son (!!!!) who, having returned from the underworld, has shone brightly upon the human race, and lives and reigns forever and ever." Mr. Kleck has a lot of videos on this subject. I was raised Catholic and attended 12 years of Catholic school but all this information which I did not have back then is unsettling to say the least. I am interested in your take on this.
This article explains the specific prayer he mentioned. The translation he used completely mangled the meaning of the prayer.
As for the Vatican hall, the actual building shape is rectangular. The "snake" like effect is due to the camera perspective warping the image.
I will just say both Lucifer and Jesus were called the Morning Star at different times by different entities, so that doesn't necessarily clarify anything for me. As for the snake effect being the camera perspective warping the image, here is a link to a shot of the inside, Vatican Hall: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/events/event.dir.html/content/vaticanevents/en/2022/1/5/udienzagenerale.html There are several images off to the right which show this is serpent symbolism from different angles. You can even see its fangs in one shot.
All powerful organizations have corruption in the hierarchies. Are you going to leave your country because of the corruption in the government?
That is a good and valid point. No I am not leaving my corrupt country. I still have a genuine question about why the Vatican has such seemingly demonic symbolism though.