Catholics, What are your beliefs towards the Pope?

Question

I seriously don't understand what's up with having a Pope and what he does for Catholics. Also, do you really believe he can excommunicate?! Please explain in detail. Thanks.

Answer 1

The Pope is the spiritual leader for the Church. He is the head of the Church on earth. Christ is the leader and founder in Heaven. The Pope is the Successor to Peter. The rock upon which Christ built His Church. This is the reason that Catholics are more unified than Protestants. We all have the same Mass with the same readings from the same scripture on the same day. No two protestant churches do that. As for forgiveness and excommunication: "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven and he whose sins you forgive they are forgiven. He whose sins you retain they are retained." It is very rare that someone is excommunicated and even then forgiveness and a return to unity are not impossible.

Answer 2

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome. He is the leader of the Catholic Church, but he also follows the motto "servant of the servants." While we believe his election is divinely inspired and that as leader of the church he is a holy man, he is really no more or less "holy" or "close to God" or "inspired" as any other baptized Christian. (Notice I say Christian and not Catholic - Catholics do believe in one Christian baptism.) His election has an intricate set of politics of its own (welcome to the human institution of the church), but the Cardinals pray for guidance by the Holy Spirit. This is why some people will mistakenly think the papal election is God's direct choice. Not true.

Excommunication is a complex matter that has to do with Canon Law. There are some actions that incur an "automatic" excommunication, but it isn't formal unless it has been issued from Rome. And yes, a person can be UN-excommicated because it is possible to come back into agreement / accord / communion with the Church. If you take the word excommunications apart and examine the components, you are talking about the act of not being in agreement / accord / communion with a group. According to canon law, a person's actions take them outside of the Catholic Church - the Vatican only formalizes the deal.

What do I believe about all of this? Well, these are human creations. Yes, they are steeped in tradition and often founded on scripture, but being carried out by people, there are bound to be mistakes. The Pope is a man, and he is falliable. (The infalliability doctrine is a lot more specific than most people realize and has only been used twice since its inception in the 19th century; both times were doctrines about Mary.) God in heaven is the only true judge.

Answer 3

The Pope is our Spiritual leader. All bishops can excommunicate a person but it takes a serious offense for this to happen. There two kinds of excommunication the first would be for a serious breach of Catholic teaching such as having an abortion or having a gay "marriage". This is personal excommunication. Formal excommunication would be an offense such as a person who works at an abortion clinic and warned by a local priest and refusing to quit, in which case the bishop will also warn until he has no choice to excommunicate. Personal excommunication is erased by confession the other kind by asking the bishop to remove the order

Answer 4

The Pope is the Successor of St. Peter the Apostle, whom Christ Chose as His Rock(The Gospel according to St. Matthew, chapter 16).

It is the Pope's duty to safeguard the Catholic faith & Teachings from heresy.

As the Vicar Of Christ, the Pope does have the Power to excommunicate those who disobey the Church. Likewise, do Cardinals, & Bishops. However, should the offender repent of whatever it is that he/she has done, then that person is welcomed back into the Church.

Answer 5

As catholics, we look upon our pope as we would a leader, perhaps the president. He guides us and makes important decisions. Because we have a leader that oversees us and keeps us following catholic doctrine, the chruch is kept from splitting off and forming new churches. Personally, I am very thankful for the pope. Yes, people can be excumincated, although this is very rare, since we believe in a God of forgiveness, and your decision to follow him is your own.

Answer 6

I wish you better luck in getting a straight answer than the ones I've been given.

According to my understanding, if a priest excommunicates a Catholic, he is going to hell. The pope tells priests what to do, so he is the head man, or their "God."

But, they sure hate to admit it. And, give every excuse why that isn't so.

Answer 7

it no longer means what it originally was meant to, the formation of the church in rome I don't believe is even close to what Jesus had in mind, that's why I'm not catholic anymore, although I do admire Pope John Paul II as truly magnificent and blessed, I think he accomplished that in spite of being catholic and the vatican, and if somebody does something to get excommunicated, then being a member of the church obviously isn't that important to them so who cares

Answer 8

I believe the pope is an old man in a dress with a funny hat and I really liked the last one. This new one is kinda creapy. If I had to listen to anything a religious Icon had to say. I would prefer the company of the Dali Lama, he seems like he is fun.

Answer 9

According to Lumen Gentium (forgive the spelling) it is a Vatican II document dealling with the Church. The pope is the vicar of Christ on earth. His teaching is such that catholis will not be wrong if they believe it. I have a problem with calling one man divinely inspired. That is the reason that I left the church.

Answer 10

Just like Jesus built the church ( catholic church) on Peter the rock ... it was continued the pope is suppose to lead his flock , he is the leader of the church ...


And J T why do you keep thinking the pope is our God? are you retarded .... he is merely the leader of the church.