6 replies to this topic

[Goose]

I was in a disuccsion a few weeks back, and it turned to discussion of the Pope. I just thought I'd post up a little info of what we Catholics belive in relation to the Pope. This paper was by a guy named Joe Cady, and you can find the paper at www.lifeteen.com.

What is "papal Infallibility"?
“To guarantee [God’s people]the objective possibility of professing the true faith without error…Christ endowed the Church’s shepherds with the charism of infallibility in matters of faith and morals” (CCC 890).

The word infallible means absolutely trustworthy and exempt from liability to error. And so when the Catechism says that the shepherds of the Church are infallible in matters of faith and morals, it means that when they present a teaching on matters of faith and morals, their teaching cannot be wrong.

There are two things to notice in order to understand this properly:

Infallibility does not mean that the Pope does not or cannot sin...

• The Catechism says that the shepherds were given the charism of infallibility. A charism is a divinely given gift; therefore, the infallibility of the Church does not come from within, but rather is bestowed up it by Christ and his authority.
• The Catechism gives God’s motivation for bestowing such a gift, to guarantee that the people of God can have absolute confidence in what to believe and how to live in order to walk in holiness and truth.

This infallibility is present within the office of the Pope as the direct successor of the Apostle Peter (notice that the authority is given to the office, whoever is the current Pope is given the infallible authority that comes with the role of being Pope). It is also present in the teachings of the Magesterium (the collection of Bishops in communion with the Pope); these teachings come most often in the form of Ecumenical councils (CCC 891).

Infallibility does not mean that the Pope does not or cannot sin, nor does it mean that the Pope does not or cannot say things that are false. It means that when he speaks in communion with all the Bishops with the intent to instruct the people of God on matters of faith and morals, his teaching is completely in accordance with the Gospel of Christ and free from leading us in error before God.

This is not something that was made up so that the Church could get everyone to do what they say, it is a gift that was given to the Church (with great responsibility) to ensure that all of God’s children could faithfully and trustingly walk in truth, the truth that Christ said would set us free (John 8:32).

-Joe Cady


How can we trust the Popes when some of them have been very bad?
All Christians sin. Part of being a Christian is acknowledging that you are sinful. If we wait for sinless leaders, then we’d have to wait for Jesus himself to come back again. Until then, God will lead the Church in spite of sinful leaders. This shows how faithful God is to His Church.

Some popes have taught truth, but did not live the truth. But just because a Christian leader is a hypocrite does not make all of Christianity invalid. If that were the case, then every denomination should fall because they’ve all had hypocritical leaders.

As Catholics, we don’t place our trust in the moral character of individual Popes; we place our trust in Jesus. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, therefore, what Jesus said can be fully trusted. One thing that he said very clearly was that HIS Church (not Peter’s Church, or any of the other Popes, Bishops, or Priests) would be built upon Peter (our first Pope).

If we wait for sinless leaders, then we’d have to wait for Jesus himself to come back again.

Jesus also promised that he would give Peter the Keys to the Kingdom of Heaven (a symbol of divine authority – see Revelation 3:7), so that whatever Peter taught would be in accordance with the truth. Why? Not because Peter was any better than any of the other Apostles (remember, Peter denied that he even knew Jesus three times) but because Jesus promised that it would be the Holy Spirit that would be teaching through Peter.

Learn more: Where is the Pope or the Papacy found in the Bible?

With this in mind, we can have confidence that the Popes (regardless of their individual moral character) will be protected from leading us away from the true Gospel that Jesus revealed to us. It is true that some Popes throughout history have been kind of weak in their example of what it means to follow Christ, but we can be assured that God will not let them proclaim a Gospel different from the one Jesus taught. [Also, we need to remember that this protection from teaching error does not mean that everything the Pope says and does is correct. Click here for more information on the Infallibility of the Pope:]

Learn more: Church Authority: What is papal infallibility?


The idea of religious leaders having some share in God’s authority to teach is not something that the Catholic Church made up. All throughout salvation history, God has raised up certain individuals to be the leaders of his people. Remember that the Jews were God’s chosen people; a people that God had been working with for thousands of years. And certain people among the Jews had special authority to preserve and proclaim God’s teaching.

Take a look at this episode from Jesus’ life: Jesus was speaking to his disciples about the Scribes and the Pharisees (the scholars and teachers of the Law – God’s revealed truth). In Matthew 23:2-3, Jesus tells his disciples that, “The Scribes and the Pharisees have taken their seat on the chair of Moses [a symbol of God’s authority given to Moses on Mt. Sinai]. Therefore, do and observe all things whatsoever they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they do not practice.” Because these Scribes and Pharisees have a share in God’s own authority, Jesus tells his followers to follow everything they teach, even if their lives may not live up to their very own teachings. The same is true now of us with the Pope (and all those in a leadership position in the Church); we are called to fully obey the Gospel that they proclaim, even if they completely fail to live it themselves. We Catholics today have been very blessed to have an extremely Holy Pope in John Paul II; a Pope who truly seeks to live the same truth that he proclaims. But even with such an awesome Pope, our trust still needs to be placed in Jesus and in his leadership of the Church through the Holy Spirit.

-Joe Cady

[Emiko]

I dont know much about Catholics...only that you hafta confess once a week or something..but I agree with this dude...EVERYONE sins every day...the pope is no different...but major sins are what matters...like killing, lieing, cheating, etc etc

[arunma]

I could say quite a bit on this...but should I?

(No really, my reasons for not believing in Catholicism are very different from those of most evangelicals!)

[Goose]

Go ahead. I"m ready.

[Delphi]

Very interesting and a good read. Good advice on the whole thing of follow the teachings of Christ, even if the people preaching it don't do it themselves.

[Cendamos]

I wonder if the Pope masturbates.

[arunma]

I wonder if the Pope masturbates.

Statistics show that people his age don't do that as often. So probably not.