Why do catholics treat the pope like he is a god?

Question

I mean he is just another person that was choosen by a group of people to become the pope, it aint like he came down from the heavens saying he was the new god, and if that happen I bet you they would addore him more. Then again catholics treat the virgin mary like she was God instead of God being God. I dont know why. They also create saints like they were babies, every year they have a new one. Why is the pope more important than any other pperson, what if one of the popes became the anticrist, what if the pope is gay, what if the pope got married????I just dont get it.

READ the motherfuckingg question good, I didnt say the think that the virgin is god, they treat her like a god, they celebrate her more, they worship her more. I know what I'm saying many of my famyli members are catholics. and yes they do created saints, and no I am not saying he is gay, I said WHAT IF. I bet you if the real God came down they wouldnt put him in a God-movile and drive him to places, you would be scare of him and ashame for what you have done. The pope is way overratted. and please answer my question, dont read the details if you dont have to.

all of you catholics just contradict yourselfs, one says he is like the god on earth other say he is desendant from whatever. Didnt somebody reject Jesus, soo yeah if something like that happen again people would be sure to reject and the pope to would reject his own belief. How do you know he is decendant from whoever, and after all arent we all brothers, if he has blood from whoever you said he did, why wouldnt the next person have the same blood,

Answer 1

Let's take each comment of yours one at a time. Shall we?

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Catholics look upon the pope wit awe, but he is not treated like a god.


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The pope is a person, but he was chosen by the Holy Spirit, working through the bishop cardinals of the Church. He occupies a special office in Christ's Church on earth, and is able to proclaim Church teachings on Faith and Morals infallibly. This is not something Catholics take lightly, even if you do.


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God is God, and He is worshiped by Catholics fittingly. The Virgin Mary is not God, and no Catholic worships her as such. She is, however, the most highly placed of all the saints - and is venerated accordingly by Catholics. Veneration is NOT the same thing as worship.

Now you do know why.


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In recent years, the Church has indeed beatified more saints in less time than it usually does, but there is nothing wrong with this. There has never been anything wrong with providing people with examples to follow. This is what the Church has in mind when it beatifies saints. The Church is giving it's followers models to follow in order to live a more Christ-like life. The more examples Catholics have to follow, the better.


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The pope is the leader of Jesus' Church on earth, and he holds an office established by Jesus Christ Himself.


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This will never happen. The Holy Spirit guides the Church is selecting the each pope. This ensures no pope will be an anti-Christ.

So what if the pope is gay? Merely being gay is not a sin.

Once a man has received the Sacrament of Holy Orders, making him a clergyman, he cannot then receive Holy Matrimony.

Answer 2

Because by the official laws of the Catholic Church, by implication the Pope is a living deity- more powerful than any other person who claims to be a god- because he is infallible.

Sadly, you will never get a straight answer from the Catholic apologists, pr agents and spin doctors on this subject.

Some will claim that procedural matters such as being seated in a chair are required in order for a statement of the Pope to be infallible- a laughable, simplistic and ultimately incorrect response.

Others, will claim that infallibility only operates when the Pope is in some magical "union" with his bishops and the church and states what he says is true- again a misinformed and deliberately spun incorrect response.

To get the truth, let us look at the specific effects of the actual document Pope Pius IX published- the Papal Bull Pastor aeternus in 1871:

(Par #11) "...that the Roman Pontiff, when he speaks ex cathedra, i.e., when exercising his office as pastor and teacher of all Christians he defines, by his supreme apostolic authority, a doctrine of faith or morals which must be held by the universal Church, enjoys, through the divine assistance, that infallibility promised to him in blessed Peter and with which the divine Redeemer wanted his Church to be endowed in defining doctrine of faith and morals; and therefore that the definitions of the same Roman Pontiff are irreformable of themselves and not from the consent of the Church.

(Par 12) If anyone should presume to contradict this definition of ours - may God prevent this happening -, let him be anathema.

(See: Full Papal Bull
http://www.womenpriests.org/church/pastor.asp

So it is pretty clear by the Papal Bull that was used to create the concept of Papal Infallibility that the Pope is generally infallible on virtually all matters- unless he expressely states it as his own personal opinion- an extremely rare event.

So you are correct in that the Galileo example shows the popes are far from infallible. But unfortunately, this does not stop the Vatican from claiming the Pope above all human laws and above all humans.

Jesus was human and never claimed to be infallible...

Answer 3

Catholics do not treat the Pope like he is a god.
Catholics do not say that Mary is a god or God or above Jesus.
Catholics don't "create" saints.
The Pope is more "important" than any other person because he is the earthly head of the Church.

Any other questions?

Answer 4

Those Catholics who have common sense enough to realize that the Pope is no more divine than he is a god also realize that his role in the Church is often misinterpreted by some of the general public.

We don't worship the Pope -- he is a spiritual leader, and is entirely human, just like the rest of us. His job is to set down rules for the Church -- not to take Jesus' place. He is the successor of Peter the Apostle -- he carries the same role, no more, no less.

The Virgin Mary is not worshiped either. We often pray to Mary, though, and just like you might ask a friend to pray for you in troublesome times, we ask Mary to pray to God on our behalf in troublesome times.

Saints are people just like you and me who have been recognized as living out Jesus' message here on earth to a very impressive degree. For example, take a look at Mother Teresa -- she deserves recognition for her accomplishments, and the Catholic Church will very likely give her this title in the future (however far off).

Also, Sainthood is not so easily or often reached as you might imagine. It is a process that takes many years, even centuries.

Answer 5

There are Manners, ethics, etiquette, protocol etc in every civilised society. Giving great respect to a great leader is nothing unusual.
The pope is a leader, just like any world leader, worthy of our respect.

If the greatest commandment is love and we cannot bring ourselves to love Mother Mary, the way Jesus loves his mother and yet hope to be at Jesus' banquet when our time is up, we are building false hope and are ignorant.

Having reverence and respect for everything which is of the Kingdom of God does not make you a lesser person. It only proves your fear, obedience and submission to God with great humility. You only stand to gain.

All who know Virgin Mary, know Christ BUT not all who know Christ know Virgin Mary.

Answer 6

According to Catholicism, the pope is the spiritual guide of the Church and is endowed with the responsibility of making sure the Church stays on track. God has blessed him with Spiritual discernment so that he can effectively guide the Church; he is not God and he is not treated like God. He is treated with RESPECT because of his position and awesome responsibility. He is still human and we Catholics understand that he can make mistakes, but where Spiritual matters are concerned, God has given him the discernment not to err.

Regarding Mary, we recognize her as the woman who gave birth to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Because of her willingness and devotion to God's will, and knowing that it was her sacrifice (and it WAS a sacrifice) that brought our Savior into the world, we show her great respect. But like the pope, we do not WORSHIP Mary.

Answer 7

Catholics treat the Pope as exactly what He is, a human being and a sinner like the rest of us - but the human being Christ has assigned to be His personal vicar and representative to His Church. Read your Bible. Christ asisgned one man, the Apostle Simon, to be the keeper of the keys to the Kingdom. He told one man personally that whatsoever he binds upon earth is bound in heaven. He changed one man's name to "Rock", "Peter", and then immediately stated that He was building His Church upon that very Rock.

Christ stated His divine will "that they all may be one". He also said, "by their fruits you will know them". Open your eyes. Fruit of the Church Christ founded, under the guidance of the Pope - 2,000 yeares of unity in belief, unity in teaching, unity in worship and unity in administration. Fruit of unauthorized manmade tradition without the Pope - 500 years of ongoing disintegration and fragmentation into thousands of conflicting, contradicting sects; doctrinal chaos; direct violation of the stated will of God.

You are right on one point though. Your last statement is certainly true. You really "don't get it". And you never will as long as you keep reading that packaged anti-catholic bigotry you have been reading.

Answer 8

The Catholics see the Pope as God's representative on Earth. He is also the head of their church, of course they show reverance to him. They don't however worship him. A pope can't be gay or married as one of the roles of the Cardinals is running a very comprehensive background check on Papal candidates.

Answer 9

Your question is FULL of false assumptions without any credible evidence:

Catholics treat the pope like he is a god
Catholics treat the virgin mary like she was God
They create saints

You do not get anything because you think you already know the answers.

Answer 10

We do not.

No Catholic believes the Pope is a god. He is the bishop of the diocese of Rome. By virtue of overseeing that particular diocese, he also is the leader of the bishops. By virtue of being the leader of the bishops, that also makes him the administrator of the church, and its head pastor.

Think of him as "God's secretary" - not God.