Q. 1. Are Catholics allowed to collect Native American Dreamcatchers to decorate their homes?

A. 1. The first thing that comes to my mind is, would you keep a statue of Buddha as a decoration in your home? Dreamcatchers are articles that are viewed as protective charms, therefore having their origin on superstition.

On the matter of superstition, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states:

"The first commandment forbids honoring gods other than the one Lord who has revealed himself to his people. It proscribes superstition and irreligion. Superstition in some sense represents a perverse excess of religion; irreligion is the vice contrary by defect to the virtue of religion." [C.C.C. # 2110]

"Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer the true God, e.g., when one attributes an importance in some way magical to certain practices otherwise lawful or necessary. To attribute the efficacy of prayers or of sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart from the interior dispositions that they demand, is to fall into superstition." [C.C.C. # 2111]

While many Catholics would view dreamcatchers as a decoration and symbol of the Native American culture, there are many who would be curious about its origin and would be led to believe in its alleged protective charm. This would be no different than keeping a rabbit's foot for good luck, placing fate above faith.

Based on what has been said until now, Catholics should not promote, buy, possess, sell or trade dreamcatchers. Catholic store owners should not market items that promote superstition.