A Catholic Perspective on Astrology

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, astrology is “the divination of the supposed influences of the stars and planets on human affairs and terrestrial events by their positions and aspects.” At its core, it is the belief that the position of the stars and the planets at the time and date of your birth can influence your personality, choices, attitude, and path through life.

Recently on The Patrick Madrid Show, a caller named Angel asked Patrick, “If God created the earth and he created the universe and the planets and the stars and everything and nothing’s really a coincidence, don’t you think there might be some reason…maybe He made it that way on purpose?” In other words, she was asking if there was any way one could reconcile the beliefs of astrology with the beliefs of the Catholic Church.

Patrick responded almost immediately, offering the contention that because God created the stars and other celestial bodies, He has power over that creation.  They are inanimate objects and God’s plan for our happiness is not dependent on anything outside of God, His children, and our free will to follow Him. He likened the stars and planets to trees, rocks, or a car parked outside.  They are all objects, and though they differ in size and proximity, they do not influence our free will at all.

Patrick continued, saying that practices of belief systems like astrology are often the seedbed for superstition, the unwarranted ascription of powers to a powerless object.  While God can and often does bless us through things that we may read, see, hear, or encounter, it is vital to remember that the source of the blessing is God and He is using our experience to communicate with us. Patrick joked, “The kind of blessing that you and I get from the star that we call the sun is we get sunlight and Vitamin D and sunburns if you’re out in the sun too long. But, you see, those are physical, natural things, but they don’t influence you in any kind of supernatural way.”

In conclusion, Patrick emphasized that the idea was not to stomp on the question as it is a poignant, relevant one that concerns many people, but the answer ultimately lies in attributing to God what is His by treating the inanimate as they are: objects. There is no harm in learning what “sign” you might fall into or what months correspond to others, but it becomes dangerous when you begin changing aspects of your life based on the direction of superstitions like astrology, horoscopes, or tarot cards.

Superstition is usually what people turn to when they find they cannot explain the trajectory of their life and in an effort to control it, they create an excuse system. They attribute their poor behavior to their astrological sign or their bad day to the prophecy from the fortune teller. Instead, what Catholicism encourages people to do is to submit themselves to God’s Divine Providence. Instead of seeking a way to control the uncontrollable, have Faith in the One who created us, loves us, and will care for us for eternity.

Listen below for the full answer:

Tune in to The Patrick Madrid Show weekdays at 8am CT

John Hanretty serves as a Digital Media Producer for Relevant Radio®. He is a graduate of the Gupta College of Business at the University of Dallas. Besides being passionate about writing, his hobbies include drawing and digital design. You can read more of his daily articles at relevantradio.com and on the Relevant Radio® app.