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.
His audience with Tariq Aziz is an example of something very, very wrong! His notion that only the UN can sanction a just war, is very, very wrong. 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.
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.
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,