[metmom]

If the Catholic church is the One True Church and the pope is the vicar of Christ, how can that work?

How does a church that’s claimed to be Christ’s church put into position a man who’s supposed to be free from error in faith and morals like Francis?

Did the Holy Spirit lead the college of cardinals in selecting the man or not? If He did, then how could He put into position someone who so clearly does NOT represent Christ, and if He didn’t, where’s the proof for the claim Catholics make about being free from error and Christ’s vicar?

There’s a huge disconnect between what Catholics claim and would like to believe and the reality in which they find themselves.

[Campion]

How does a church that’s claimed to be Christ’s church put into position a man who’s supposed to be free from error in faith and morals like Francis?

WHOA!

Nothing in Catholic theology claims that the Pope is a "a man ... free from error in faith and morals"!!

The claim is that, if he teaches something definitively, as to be held by the whole church under pain of heresy, then that teaching will be preserved from error by the Holy Spirit. It's a claim about his teaching, not about the man himself.

NO Pope has ever been personally "free from error in ... morals". Some of them have been big sinners. Some have been little sinners. All of them have been sinners.

[Elsie]

If the Catholic church is the One True Church and the pope is the vicar of Christ, how can that work?

Pete, it's a fool that looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart.

[Mrs. Don-o]

I think you'd know by this time that the Catholic Church does not claim that any individual pope is free from error; and while he is Christ's Vicar, he can be a sinful and stupid one.

Anyone who knows more than a smidge of history, would know that. It was first presented to me in the 8th grade --- more than 50 years ago --- in a Catholic history textbook!