Cindy, that "hole" has already been dug. In 1950, the belief in the Assumption of Mary was made a dogma that must be believed by all Catholics in good conscience. This is one of the few, clear, unequivocal uses of papal infallibility.
If remains of Mary were found and authenticated (though I can't imagine how they could be authenticated), it would be the end of the Catholic church. The Pope would have been proven wrong on an explicit item that he explicitly stated as a matter of faith under his protection from error.
This would lead the ABC evening news.
The Catholic Church would have to give up its claims to being the one true Church, led by an infallible Pope guarding the keys of hte kingdom handed down from Jesus to Peter.
At best, after much grovelling and renouncing of other "errors," we might end up as the western province of the more collegial Orthodox Church.
This is no small matter.
Dave, I don't know how to answer you here. I put my faith in God and I deal with what he opens my eyes to. I have discovered things from yall on this post that I wasn't aware of before , that I have to accept as truth because it is grounded in scripture but I think I understand now though why you fight so hard not to examine your beliefs. If I understand you correctly you are saying that if just except any error was made then your whole church and belief falls? How frightening that must be.
It is not frightening at all. It is simply impossible for the Church to err. But it does explain why the Church's detractors try so hard to find tat one chink in the armour. Because, yes, any error in faith or morals defeats the entire Church.
As for not wanting to "examine" my beliefs, I think you might be mistaken. We can, in all faith, freely examine anything. I have never seen another viewpoint or denomination that offered what the Catholic Church does.
Finally, my astonishment was at your willingness to brush off something as significant as the question of Mary. Maybe you are free to adapt, but if it were me and my theory on just reading the Bible and listening to the Spirit had been proven to be so wrong on Mary's Perpetual Virginity, I would question my methods and all of the like-minded fellow Christians who were so wrong for so long on the issue.
And I might look into the Church that was right.
SD
It is really quite simple. If I discovered she remained a virgin, it would be "hmm, I really misinterpreted that "knew her" verse but it wouldn't affect my faith at all . God tells us in the Bible that everything isn't reveiled to us. You just have to trust Him.