Excellently put.
I’ll be candid: while it’s possible that Pope Francis is a decent fellow (as a person), he is (IMHO) an absolute train-wreck as a pope. I don’t know whether his “train-crashes” are due to ignorance, naivete, a conspiracy of his advisors, or complicity on his part; at this point, I really don’t care. I just want him out.
I wish him well. I particularly wish that we were “well”, retired and abdicated, in some quiet monastery (under a vow of silence) somewhere, praying for the world and for his own soul.
But anti-Catholics, who never understood the Church of Christ from the very beginning, can’t be expected to know (or even tolerate people SAYING) that the Church of Christ is more than the sins and the personal errors of any given pope (or group of bishops, etc.). The office of Pope carries with it the protection of infallibility when proclaiming formal dogma, even if any given pope is too stupid (or sinful, as in the case of Alexander VI, and a handful of others) to obey or honor or protect the very truth which his office safeguards.
The pope could hypothetically fornicate twenty times per day, and force all his mistresses to get abortions, and (if he amassed enough influence) execute anyone who criticized him... and that still wouldn’t change the unalterable and infallible character of the Catholic Church founded by Jesus Christ, Himself (on St. Peter, as anyone who doesn’t have an interest in distorting the Scriptures can read, plainly). That hypothetical pope might have a particularly agonizing place in hell for all eternity if he dies unrepentant, but that’s a completely separate matter... since the Church is more than a mere sum-total of Her sinful members (even Her specific clergy and hierarchy members).
Sure. But let Luther get MARRIED to a WOMAN even, and all FRoman Catholic hell breaks loose.
Assuming that Jesus meant Peter (which no one has ever "plainly" proved), please tell us where:
1. Peter is described as a "pope".
2. An unbroken line of so-called successor "popes" is described or promised by Jesus.
3. The Roman Catholic cult is named by Jesus as the owner of this "line".
4. Why according to the New Catholic Encyclopedia, "...it must be frankly admitted that bias or deficiencies in the sources make it impossible to determine in certain cases whether the claimants were popes or anti-popes"? It is plain that the RC cult has multiple lists of the hypothetically "fornicating" successors.
5. If they are appointed by Jesus, why the whore Theodora of Rome and her daughter Marozia brought Anastasius III and Lando to your thrones?
6. The Roman Cult cannot even make sense of the epistles to which they lay claim, where it plainly says according to Paul that the choice of the rescued lies in God's hands...not through some self-aggrandizing, self-promoting, self-congratulating homemade religion, like Rome?
"H"??
Saint Catherine of Sienna has a message for you:
“Even if the Pope were Satan incarnate, we ought not to raise up our heads against him, but calmly lie down to rest on his bosom. He who rebels against our Father is condemned to death, for that which we do to him we do to Christ: we honor Christ if we honor the Pope; we dishonor Christ if we dishonor the Pope. I know very well that many defend themselves by boasting: “They are so corrupt, and work all manner of evil!” But God has commanded that, even if the priests, the pastors, and Christ-on-earth were incarnate devils, we be obedient and subject to them, not for their sakes, but for the sake of God, and out of obedience to Him.”
The Church Christ founded requires removal of evil and error from the assembly. This includes bad shepherds as well:
1 Corinthians 5:1-13 It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.
For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”
The 'church' wasn't founded on any man other than Jesus Christ...It is these same modern perverts that created the Catholic religion to begin with...
Thank you paladinan. I agree, because I want to be charitable to an aging man out of his element, but destined by the Holy Spirit. He probably is the pope we deserve.
You’re right about the anti-Catholic, hair on fire bunch. No clue in sight, but lots of brass in the lot. Scripturally speaking, I believe the term could be “clanging symbols”.