CATHOLICS, please read.?

Question

i am protestant and respect everyone's right to choose, but something's i don't understand about catholics are; 1) why would you put complete and total trust in a pope or priest? the priest is supposed to "infallible" right? but the way they get their position is induction through vote. so how can "fallible" people create an "infallible" person?

Answer 1

+ Papal Election +

The Cardinals preparing to vote for a new Pope pray to the Holy Spirit for guidance and endeavor to discern the will of God.

+ Papal Infallibility +

In God all things are possible.

The Catholic Church teaches that the Pope is infallible at closely defined times.

The Pope is only infallible when he, in union with the body of bishops, solemnly teaches that a doctrine as true.

This comes from the words of Jesus to Peter (the first Pope) and the Apostles (the first bishops), "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven" (Matthew 18:18) and "He who hears you hears me" (Luke 10:16).

At all other times the Pope can make just as many mistakes as you and me and be in need of forgiveness.

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Where did you get the idea that Catholics "put total trust" in a Pope or a priest? A priest is never infallible. The Pope can issue infallible teachings when speaking "ex cathadra" as we say. These moments are relatively rare.

Infallible people do not create an infallible person. Do not think of any given Catholic clergyman as infallible in and of himself. Rather, think of the Papacy itself as an infallible "office". The man who occupies this "office" can issue infallible teachings, on occasion, by virtue of the Divine Guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Popes can still say the wrong thing, do the wrong, thing, err in judgment - but NOT when speaking ex cathadra. Only through the Holy Spirit are teachings ex cathadra infallible.

The "vote", that you seem to be questioning, is directly guided by the Holy Spirit. Cardinals are compelled by the Holy Spirit to vote for a certain individual. Any Cardinal can vote for any other Cardinal. The vote is not limited to only a few.

This process could conceivably take "forever" if not for some level of intervention from a Higher Power. Wouldn't you agree.

And the idea that the Holy Spirit directly guides the Cardinals is not unheard of. Moses, Joshua, among others, sought direct guidance from God via His Divine Presence in the Ark of the Covenant. We know this because this from reading the Pentateuch. So why is the idea of the Holy Spirit guiding the Catholic Clergymen in electing a new Pontif so foreign to you?

As you can see, the Holy Spirit has His finger prints all over the election of the Pope as well as any teachings proclaimed ex cathadra.

I hope this answer showed that the reality of the Papacy is not nearly as "far out there" as you originally suspected.

Answer 3

The first thing cardinals in conclave do is invoke the Holy Spirit, asking for guidance. If they listen well, they will choose a good leader. Can they make mistakes? Sure. The Spirit isn't always heard. But they trust that Christ will always be with his church, as promised. Perhaps a particular pope is a course correction, or a compromise, or even a temporary misstep. Eventually, the perfect pope for his time is elected and the church moves forward again. "By their fruits you will know them."

Priests are NOT infallible, nor are bishops. Some people put way too much faith in their leadership. Even popes are not "infallible" except for very solemn doctrinal proclamations (only two of which have ever been uttered). Papal infallibility is still a relatively new and controversial concept, being promulgated only 136 years ago by a heavily pressured council, but that's an internal matter. Catholics have no illusions about their fallibility. They trust that God guides the church and will not allow it to fall into serious error for long.

Answer 4

Most of your information is totally incorrect. No. The priest is not "infallible". They are not elected, but make a decision that God is calling them to serve Him. They enter a seminary and after many years of education, prayer and discernment, they request "ordination". The pope has only spoken "ex cathedra" a couple of times in history.

You are right. A fallible person cannot create an infallible person. God is God and we are not.

I don't think we Catholics put "blind" trust in the pope. Blind trust would lead us to never question anything. We do listen to what the pope says and carefully consider it. We may not always agree, but we try to look at ourselves and see where we fail and where we are doing OK. We read, we pray, we go to church, we ask questions, we listen and we "hopefully" try to love God and our neighbor.

The Catholic church is not perfect, nor is the pope nor any priest. Jesus is only one I know about who fits the bill.

Answer 5

Hey!! That was a good question. Catholics don't put our complete and total trust in the Pope or a Priest. We put our trust in God and God only. God works through the Pope and Priest.
When a pope gets elected, the cardinals pray for Gods guidance as to who amongst them should become the next Pope.

I hope this helped...God Bless

Answer 6

The priest is not "infallible". The thing comes from the time that Jesus decided Peter was going to take charge of the church. Peter was a man full with imperfections. He had a lot of flaws. The thing is that we trust that God is with him (in this case with the pope and the priests) and that He speaks through them. God is the essence of the relationship. We trust God. Because He chose those to serve.

Answer 7

I'm an ex-Catholic.
As far as I remember - the pope is and always has been "fallible".
Many people believe in the divine appointment of the pope, but consider this:
Many branches of Christian religions put complete and total trust in their minister or priest, or their bishops or hierarchy. For example, in the Lutheran religion, doctrine supports the minister in having the final say in everything - acting as the intercessory between you and God. They will tell you this isn't true, however during their service the minister will announce that your sins are forgiven you. He may also ask if you are personally prepared to receive the Lord's supper and if you say yes, he has the power to disagree.

Religion is certainly an interesting phenomena.

Answer 8

Infallible only refers to statements that are few and far between. The Pope is the only one that can issue infallible statements, and they are statements that have been thoroughly researched and tested by scholars. Priests are not infallible, nor is the Pope, except when the Pope is releasing an announced infallible statement.

Answer 9

once you're asking no be counted if or no longer there's a "better half" e book to the Bible like the e book of Mormon, the respond isn't any, there is not any longer. we are inspired to examine the Catechism, in spite of the incontrovertible fact that that's an evidence of modern-day Scripture, no longer addenda to the Bible. there are a number of marvelous Catholic books -- collections of letters and theological documents from the earliest days of the Church, lives of the Saints, etc. yet lower back, those are no longer added Scriptures or a clean revelation of Christian truths. And for people who think of that we Catholics do no longer examine the Bible, all i've got have been given to declare is: what a crock of moose muffins! with the aid of employing turning my head, i will seem at a shelf packed with properly-worn Bibles, dictionaries, commentaries, and be taught facilitates. that still contains the Bible that my mom and father gave me while i substitute into 9 years old and function been analyzing for the previous 40 8 years. that's why i understand the RSV greater valuable than the different translation: that's the single i've got been analyzing for a number of those years. Edit: "ninety 9.5% of all Catholics do no longer examine the bible. The clergy would not inspire the analyzing of the bible, because of the fact they could quickly see that they do no longer choose the Church to have a relationship with God." that's unusual. i ought to've sworn that it substitute into the Bible it incredibly is examine at each Mass: a style from the old testomony, a responsorial Psalm, a element of the Epistles, and a analyzing from the Gospels. in simple terms now you get around to telling me that i've got been listening to the Bhaga-vita a number of those years? And right here i substitute into virtually specific that we heard the finished Bible examine with the aid of each 3 years. that would not even incorporate the Bible analyzing that I do on my own: i'm on no account greater beneficial than approximately 3 feet from a Bible everywhere in my domicile, and that they don't seem to be in simple terms propping up wonky desk legs, the two. i assume that in simple terms is going to coach that ninety 9.5% of fundamentalists have not got a dim clue approximately what the Catholic Church truly believes and does.

Answer 10

It is the holy see which is infalliable not the person but the position. We are obediant, something the bible points out all the time. And finally his role and the church in the apostolic line were instituted by Christ himself with Peter as the first. My question to you is why do you say the same creed as us which says you believe in the one holy and apostolic church when you clearly reject apostolic authority?