Then to whom to you turn to teach the truth of the Christian faith? Yourself? If so, then you are setting yourself up as the sole, infallible authority on matters of faith. You have become your own Pope -- the Head of the "Church of AlbionGirl".
Are you seriously claiming to be an infallible teacher of matters of faith and morals?
If you do and you need to put your faith in him that is fine with me, I don't object to it, I don't want to disuade you from that point of view.
Thanks. However, I must point out that I have no "faith" in the Pope. The pope is a human being. My faith is in the Holy Spirit, who through His Divine power prevents the Pope from teaching error as truth.
The Pope is a man, nothing more, nothing less.
That's true. He is a sinner like the rest of us. The only difference is the charism of infallibility -- which is God working through the pope, not an aspect of the Bishop of Rome's own existence.
He may be a Vicar of Christ, but he is capable of fallibiliy vis-a-vis doctrine, no ifs ands or buts about it.
Do you know what "vicar" means? It means an official in whom the Sovereign vests the unlimited power to speak and act as his own agent. In other words, a vicar is one whose words and deeds are to be taken as being the words and deeds of he Sovereign he represents. With this in mind, it's easy to see that since the Pope is the Vicar of Christ, he speaks for the King in matters of faith and morals.
The now defunct sins of old tell me that.
Huh?
The ease with which an annullment can be had in the Catholic Church today, tell me that.
"Ease"?
The Catholic Church is not the chosen Church any more than the Baptist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, etc., etc., etc. It is a community of Christians who get some things right and some things wrong.
Unlike the Baptist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and other sects, however, Our Lord Himself founded the Catholic Church and charged it with the forgiveness of sin, the propagation of the Faith and with the power to make the once-for-all Sacrifice of Our Lord at Calvary eternally present by the priestly transubstantiation of bread and wine into the Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord.
His audience with Tariq Aziz is an example of something very, very wrong!
Why? He also met with Gorbachev, Castro, and other Bad Guys. He even met with the guy who pumped a bullet into his guts! Why would that be wrong?
His notion that only the UN can sanction a just war, is very, very wrong.
Which is why he never said any such thing. (And even if he had, His Holiness is perfectly capable of being 100% wrong about political matters.)
We know what the Pope thinks about greed and materialism, and war and peace what we don't know that much about is what the Pope thinks about sloth and incontinence, self defense and the individual.
We don't know what his views are on public transportation, the designated hitter rule, or whether he prefers Manhattan or New England clam chowder, either!
Seriously: try the Vatican website. Everything the man has written as Pope is there. You'll find that he has had a great deal to say on those subjects.
I will gladly take it upon myself to inform the Pope that sometimes Love carries a sword, and if he can't or won't address that, then that is something he'll have to sort out for himself.
That's certainly true -- but our Pope is neither a coward nor a pacifist. Our Pope sees his role in the world to be that of the defender of the weak, innocent, and helpless, and to that end he is rightly opposed to war -- as we all should be! -- except as a last resort.
Thanks for your thoughtful reply.
Yours in Christian fraternity,
The Bible and prayer for guidance.
If so, then you are setting yourself up as the sole, infallible authority on matters of faith. You have become your own Pope -- the Head of the "Church of AlbionGirl".
No I'm not. I do not pretend to be infallible. I too call on the Holy Spirit for guidance. And I have not established a Church.
Thanks. However, I must point out that I have no "faith" in the Pope. The pope is a human being. My faith is in the Holy Spirit, who through His Divine power prevents the Pope from teaching error as truth.
I don't believe in the Pope's infallibilty by means of the Holy Spirit. While the Holy Spirit is infallible, the Pope can still get it wrong because he is human. We will have to agree to disagree on this.
The Pope is a man, nothing more, nothing less. That's true. He is a sinner like the rest of us. The only difference is the charism of infallibility -- which is God working through the pope, not an aspect of the Bishop of Rome's own existence.
Was it this same charism of infallibility which taught that if one were to accidentally touch the Host, it was a sin? That the host was to be touched only by 'consecrated hands'? Was this the same charism of infallibility which enjoined Church and myriad principalities during the Middle Ages? Did Borgia possess this charism of infallibility too?
I'm sorry but I can't believe that.
The now defunct sins of old tell me that.
See above note on the doctrine of consecrated hands. And by the way is not going to Mass on Sundays still considered a Sin?
"Ease"?
Yes, ease. All it takes is time and money. There are many people who have received annullments for 'irreconcilable differences', and not just for reasons accepted by Pastors and Priests as Scripturally based.
Unlike the Baptist, Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and other sects, however, Our Lord Himself founded the Catholic Church and charged it with the forgiveness of sin, the propagation of the Faith and with the power to make the once-for-all Sacrifice of Our Lord at Calvary eternally present by the priestly transubstantiation of bread and wine into the Most Precious Body and Blood of Our Lord.
I believe Christ established his Church with Peter and his disciples, but I don't believe that what descended from that has the same imprimatur. I just don't. Too much corruption, too much murder, too much rapacity ensued for me to be able to believe Christ resided there.
Do you know what "vicar" means? It means an official in whom the Sovereign vests the unlimited power to speak and act as his own agent. In other words, a vicar is one whose words and deeds are to be taken as being the words and deeds of he Sovereign he represents. With this in mind, it's easy to see that since the Pope is the Vicar of Christ, he speaks for the King in matters of faith and morals.
I misused the word Vicar then, and won't make that mistake again.
This Pope is a good man and has showed he can be courageous, but his response to the pederasty problem has been weak, very, very weak. And his idea that only the UN can decide whether war is necessary or not is intellectually bankrupt in the extreme. His audience with Aziz a disgrace.
Having said all that, I must confess that if my life were to be put on display I would not measure up in goodness to the Pope and would far outpace him in the bad. But the Shepherd has a greater responsibility because he has his flock.
I will close as you did in saying thanks for your thoughtful reply.
Yours also in Christian fraternity.