The Pope, how powerful is he, and what exactly is he, according to Catholics?

Question

I was reading an AP news story about how he was talking about "limbo" and approved a revised look at the subject...

so, can he pretty much just change any rule he wants? or does he have to check with like a board of directors or something?

and is he like part of God or not divine at all and just more of a teacher? But I wouldn't think just a teacher could change all the rules like that?

I grew up Baptist, so I have no idea, just curious.

papal infalibility... perserved from error by God?

that's a pretty sweet gig!

and like I said... I'm a bit unfamiliar... so I may not quite understand the situation... feel free to correct me... and he probably didn't exactly "change the rules" I guess... but changed the way they look at it? I guess?

Answer 1

John 21:15-17 states:

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs."

He then said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep."

He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." (Jesus) said to him, "Feed my sheep.

Matthew 16:17-19 states:

Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

The Catholic Church believes the Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the "rock" of his Church. He gave him the keys of his Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock.

The Pope is the senior pastor of 1.1 billion Catholics, the direct successor of Simon Peter.

The Pope’s main roles include teaching, sanctifying, and governing.

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

limbo is not a rule,it was a theological idea that is unsettled. the pope can not change doctrine of the church but can in line with the other bishops define things newly revealed better. rules are not the same as doctrine of the church. the pope is not divine that can only be attributed to god and the trinity. catholics believe that the pope is infallible(can't teach error) in matters of faith in the church. for a better more articulate answer you may find this website useful
http://www.scripturecatholic.com/index.html hope this helps and god bless.

Answer 3

The Roman Catholic Church is the highest valued private corporation on the planet with a net worth valued in the quadrillions of dollars. Mostly as treasure and real estate. (That's a number with 15 zero's following it. over $100,000,000,000,000) Easily this corporation could use it's immense wealth to make some very necessary changes to this world if correctly applied. The Pope is the Chairman of the Board elected by the College of Cardinals, being the other board members. A Chairman of the Board usually can't capriciously change rules, and is just the head of the "board commitee" of Cardinals. The Corporation obtains it's ongoing funding from subscriberships of 100's of millions of people throughout the world, that believe that their subscribership in the RCC assures them a place in some other worldly realm called "heaven." All one needs to do is obey the rules of the church, and give whatever you feel financially able to the church. And if you break a rule, your only accountability is to say you're sorry to a priest and do some form of easy penitence. It doesn't matter if your sin has hurt someone else, and caused injury to them, as long as you say "I'm sorry, forgive me" to a priest, you are off the hook. That's why secular courts arose, because to many people were just saying "I'm sorry, forgive me" and then just going out and doing their wickedness again. So secular courts arose to create a venue of genuine "accountability" for bad behavior.

While the rules of the RCC are designed to create stability in various societies, and they do aid in that, their form of spirituality is also designed to appeal to the masses of people that are not inclined to analytical thinking. People that are more inclined to simply believe what they are told, instead of "discovering" for them self what they believe. The problem there is that what most of the people are believing is just a bunch of mythology, which allows for a mismanagement of our world in the name of God or Jesus.

The teacher who in one of his previous incarnations was called Yeshua ben Josef (Jesus) is already re-incarnated this very day. The proof of that is to be found by DNA evidence controlled by the church compared to the DNA of the currently living "Teacher". Unfortunately their are many other "religions" that have popped up over the centuries that are just "spin offs' of the mythologies of the RCC. The net effect of this is that "The Teacher" will probably pass away again before much longer and the world will go to it's sad fate as result of "The Teacher" being prevented from his purpose. The sad side of this is that most are content to just keep on believing in the mythologies that cause the mismanagement of the world.

Answer 4

>>so, can he pretty much just change any rule he wants?<<

He can change man-made rules (no meat on Fridays); he can't change God's rules (no same-sex marriage).

Limbo is/was theological speculation because it has not been revealed what happens to babies who die without baptism. If you read the article carefully, you will see that is still what the Church is saying -- we simply don't know, but we hope they go to Heaven (which is what was said 15 years ago when the current Catechism came out). The press is making a big deal out of nothing.

Answer 5

The Pope is the leader of the Catholic Church. He is the head teacher and pastor of the catholic Church. He is not part of God. he is not divine.

You may have heard of papal infallibility. This means that when he is teaching about the faith as the head of the catholic Church, he is preserved from error by God.

Answer 6

To the catholics, he's the pope.

He doesn't look powerful but what do I know.I'm twice Pat Robertsons size and he can leg press 2000lbs. at 76 years old.

Answer 7

Limbo has never been a doctrine - ever. So there was nothing to change.