RE: Ask a Catholic
June 21, 2015 at 4:56 pm
(This post was last modified: June 21, 2015 at 4:58 pm by Randy Carson.)
(June 21, 2015 at 4:42 pm)Neimenovic Wrote: Ok, thanks. That narrows it down to matters of faith only.
problems I have with pope's infallibility:
~Popes disagree with each other
Quote:Pope Innocent III and Pope Gregory IX (1200) considered abortion to be homicide only when the fetus is "formed".
Pope Sixtus V (1588), declared contraception and abortion at any stage of pregnancy, whether the fetus was "animated or not animated, formed or unformed," to be homicide and a mortal sin.
Pope Gregory XIV (1591) revoked the previous Papal bull and reinstated the "quickening" test (the perception by a mother that the fetus moves/is animated) which he determined happened 116 days into pregnancy.
Pope Pius IX (1869) dropped the distinction between the "fetus animatus" and "fetus inanimatus" saying that the soul enters the embryo at conception.
Well, sure. Popes can disagree with one another and they can be wrong in their ideas...AS PRIVATE THEOLOGIANS. Just not when they are teaching formally as head of the universal Church. As I said, there are only a few times this has ever been done. I can name only two off the top of my head:
The Immaculate Conception (1854)
The Assumption of Mary (1950)
Quote:even on matters of faith
~Called by god or people?
The pope is chosen by bishops. doesn't that mean he is chosen by people and not god?
Aren't those people being led by the Spirit to make a wise decision?
Quote:~Infallibility can be turned on and off, apparently
what happens when a popeapps being the pope? still infallible?
Pope Benedict has retired (a rare thing) and because he is no longer pope, he is no longer the head of the universal Church. Not infallible.
Quote:~women can't be infallible, because who cares about women anyways?
a woman can't be a pope, or a bishop. Why? Women can't be infallible?
ah...the ordination of women is a different question. Trying to sneak in a freebie, eh? Just kidding. Women cannot be ordained as priests because they are not male and therefore cannot stand in the place of Christ (in persona Christi) which a priest must do.
Quote:~Why doesn't divine guidance prevent popes from sinning?
If they can't be wrong about matters of morals and faith, why don't they follow their own doctrines?
Dunno. Not the way God wanted to do it, I guess. But I can know what I'm supposed to do or not do as a believer, and I still choose to sin at times. Why would the man in the Vatican be any different?
Quote:Let's stop here. Other objections would venture to far away from the topic at hand.
Cool. By the way, I should have asked when we finished discussing celibacy if you felt I had made a good-faith effort to answer your questions and whether you think my answers reduced the concerns you may have had about the subject previously?