Is the Pope infallible or is it simply sinful to question his decisions?

Answer 1

I must be a sinner, since I question why the last pope helped cover up child abuse. I must be a sinner, because I question why Pope Pius XII was an activist in seeking amnesty for war criminals following ww2, but repeatedly refused to condemn Nazi activities during ww2. I must be a sinner since I question why the same Pope refused to allow African American soldiers to garrison at the vatican.

Answer 2

The Catholic Church teaches that pope-pee is infallible, even though he was a menber of the Hitler youths.
Of course he and the brude of sweet mens still sin behind closed doors during their prayer rituals.

This comes from the words of Jesus to Peter (the first Pope)
OOOOh, I do like the name Peter.

With love for all the catholic mens

Answer 3

They did away with the notion that the Pope was infallible some time ago. It is just not well understood by everyone that this is no longer a Catholic belief.

Answer 4

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 be just as wrong or sinful as you and me and be in need of forgiveness.

With love in Christ.

Answer 5

The pope has no religious authority. The position was created long after Jesus. If Jesus didn't need a pope, niether do we. The first thing Jesus did (at like age 12) was question the authority of the religious leaders. He sought to simplify belief and summed it up with the golden rule. "Do unto others as you would have done unto you." Simple. Elegant. No need for pages and pages of rules and procedures. Just think about how your actions might affect someone else and you'll be folowing Jesus' one and only rule.

Answer 6

While he is still a human, when speaking on the issue of faith or morals he may speak infallibly, speaking ex cathedra.

This doesn't include issues of behavior or anything else that lays outside faith and morals.

It isn't sinful to question his decisions. Popes do make mistakes, but these lay outside of faith and morals. You can always say "he should have done that instead of this" in matters not pertaining to faith and morals.

If it has to do with faith and morals, you can question, but you must assent. You can still have difficulties about what he says in matters of faith and morals, and if that is the case, you should educate yourself in the matter to see why he made the proclamation.

Answer 7

The Doctrine of Infallibility (which I do not agree with, by the way - it is one of a few reasons why I am NOT Roman Catholic.) means that his proclamations are infallible only when he speaks on matters of faith "ex cathedra", or, 'from the throne' - this is rarely exercised by modern popes, so, I wouldn't lose much sleep over it if I were you.

Answer 8

It's not sinful to disagree with the Pope if he's just giving his opinion about something. Most of the things he says do not fall under the charism of infallibility.

For instance, Pope John Paul II strongly disapproved of the practice of receiving Communion by hand. But this did not fall under the infallibility charism -- it was a disciplinary matter, a matter of Church practice. It did not involve a major Church teaching regarding faith or morals.

So, as a result, Catholics in many countries in the world receive Communion by hand -- and did so even during John Paul's reign. Nothing "sinful" about that.

It's not even sinful to have some questions or even doubts about papal pronouncements that are infallible -- as long as one doesn't act on those questions or doubts, and as long as one accepts them, even if begrudgingly.

For instance, there are some Catholics who "have their issues" with the Church's teachings on things like birth control -- but as long as they accept the teachings, even if they're not crazy about them, they're in the clear.

.

Answer 9

No one, save but God, is infallible and plenty of Catholics do question his decisions.Though I am not a Catholic I do know a few Catholics and while they do see the Pope as their living religious leader they don't necessarily follow or agree with everything he says.

Answer 10

The Pope is an icon established by the Roman government to compromise TRUE Christianity.