the Pope said that Catholics are the only true Christians, everything else is false, what are your thoughts?

Question

http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/07/10/ap3898289.html

heres one source, it was all over the media like a day or two ago.

http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/07/10/vatican-church.html?ref=rss

heres another one

http://www.thestar.com/News/World/article/234268

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,288841,00.html

heres two more

Answer 1

My thoughts are that it was misquoted. I gave the site where the whole statement was. Yet everytime I gave the correct answer, the best answer always went to a truly enlightening answer like "all Catholics are stupid." It seems to me that people just want to perpetuate a lie to discredit a religion, rather than learning the truth.
BTW, I am not a Catholic. I just didn't believe he said it so I did research.
Edit- here's 2 more sources with the full statement
http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/det...
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,2889...
I checked all of your sources, none of which have the complete statement. If you really didn't want the truth, why ask the question?
Ladybird- Catholics do not worship Mary. Why don't you actually read about the Catholic Faith before writing such blatantly false statements. You get on the Pope for something he never said about other churches and then says he needs to be born again. Hmmmmm...

Answer 2

Kait is right on here...
I had some questions after reading all of these responses...don't choose my answer. You really should choose Kait's.
One of my questions is Why does the Catholic Church believe that Peter was the Bishop of the Roman Church? He never went to Rome. Paul is the one who went to Rome. Jesus did not say that the church would be built on Peter which means rock...He said the Church would be built on the Rock that is Jesus Christ Son of the Living God. In other words, the foundation of the True Church of God is Yeshua Messiah. None of the Apostles were bishops, they were apostles...once the Apostles were gone, they were not replaced. Bishops, Elders and Deacons were chosen and ordained. The Apostles had all been chosen by Christ...and Paul was the only one chosen after the ascension by special revelation.
Another question is why do people continuosly use Catholic catechism or other writings as authoritative doctrine? Doesn't Jesus teach that the Bible is the only authorized source of doctrine?

Answer 3

you won't have the ability to discover it as a results of fact he did not say it. possibly a pope from the middle a while had a remark like that, however the popes i recognize of did not say that. in actuality, it became the Protestant denominations that claimed that Catholics weren't real Christians. That, too, is not certainly one of their claims. fortunately, the church homes have ultimately come to their senses that people who've properly-known Christ as their Savior are Christians and the Church they attend, see you later it preaches the word, is a Christian based company.

Answer 4

Hello first i am not here putting down anyone relationship with God, this has to do with "teachings" and placing The Holy Bible along side with what is taught with the Catholic teachings, the papacy, and there is several problems one of which is the holy bible in Isaiah 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, [it is] because [there is] no light in them. Also Jesus said of Himself in John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. The pope teaches and the catholic church there is forgiveness from a priest but Jesus said HE IS THE WAY, and Jesus is the one in which we get forgiveness and access to The Father and the papacy is calling God a liar, also the Holy Bible teaches that the seventh day [Saturday] the Sabbath of the Lord, not Sunday the first day never does the holy bible call Sunday the Sabbath and if God does not make it holy then you do not keep it holy either and Sunday worship which honors the "sun" not the Son, was a papacy invention, my thoughts now that you asked is this body of believes although there are MANY real God loving Christ centered folks there is NOT the correct body of believers do to its teachings, God bless find out more free bible lessons www.amazingfacts.org

Answer 5

The Pope did not speak on the subject. He simply approved a new document that states nothing new: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20070629_responsa-quaestiones_en.html

Most Christian denominations believe that each of them is the fullest version of the Church of Christ.

While the Catholic Church also believes that she is "the highest exemplar" of the mystery that is the Church of Christ, she does not claim that non-Catholic Churches are not truly Christian. The Catholic Church teaches:

Furthermore, many elements of sanctification and of truth are found outside the visible confines of the Catholic Church: the written Word of God; the life of grace; faith, hope, and charity, with the other interior gifts of the Holy Spirit, as well as visible elements.

Christ's Spirit uses these Churches and ecclesial communities as means of salvation, whose power derives from the fullness of grace and truth that Christ has entrusted to the Catholic Church.

All these blessings come from Christ and lead to him.

For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 819: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt3art9p3.htm#819

With love in Christ.

Answer 6

Divisions like this are why non-believers laugh at us Christians. However, the Pope didn't state that Protestants are not "true" Christians, just that we have imperfect fellowship with Catholics, which is true.

The only true Christians are those who believe that Jesus came to take away the sins of all people, and have personally trusted Him to do so in their own lives. Your denomination does not matter one iota.

Answer 7

Only Propositions can be True or False!!!...

-I really don't believe in today's ecumenical world that he would have said such, but in a way the statement is correct since Jesus was not a Christian. Christianity was the creation of the Roman Empire, so, there you go!
(I'm being sarcastic by the way)!

Answer 8

The doctrine of apostolic succession is the belief that the 12 apostles passed on their authority to successors, who then passed the apostolic authority on to their successors, continuing throughout the centuries, even unto today. The Roman Catholic Church sees Peter as the leader of the apostles, with the greatest authority, and therefore his successors carry on the greatest authority. The Roman Catholic Church combines this belief with the concept that Peter later became the first bishop of Rome, and that the Roman bishops that followed Peter were accepted by the early church as the central authority among all of the churches. Apostolic succession, combined with Peter’s supremacy among the apostles, results in the Roman bishop being the supreme authority of the Catholic Church – the Pope.

However, nowhere in Scripture did Jesus, the apostles, or any other New Testament writer set forth the idea of “apostolic succession.” Further, neither is Peter presented as “supreme” over the other apostles. The Apostle Paul, in fact, rebukes Peter when Peter was leading others astray (Galatians 2:11-14). Yes, the Apostle Peter had a prominent role. Yes, perhaps the Apostle Peter was the leader of the apostles (although the Book of Acts records the Apostle Paul and Jesus’ brother James as also having prominent leadership roles). Whatever the case, Peter was not the “commander” or supreme authority over the other apostles. Even if apostolic succession could be demonstrated from Scripture, which it cannot, apostolic succession would not result in Peter’s successors being absolutely supreme over the other apostles’ successors.

Catholics point to Matthias being chosen to replace Judas as the 12th apostle in Acts chapter 1 as an example of apostolic succession. While Matthias did indeed “suceed” Judas as an apostle, this is in no sense an argument for continuing apostolic succession. Matthias being chosen to replace Judas is only an argument for the church replacing ungodly and unfaithful leaders (such as Judas), with godly and faithful leaders (such as Matthias). Nowhere in the New Testament are any of the twelve apostles recorded as passing on their apostolic authority to successors. Nowhere do any of the apostles predict that they will pass on their apostolic authority. No, Jesus ordained the apostles to build the foundation of the church (Ephesians 2:20). What is the foundation of the church that the apostles built? The New Testament – the record of the deeds and teachings of the apostles. The church does not need apostolic successors. The church needs the teachings of the apostles accurately recorded and preserved. And that is exactly what God has provided in His Word (Ephesians 1:13; Colossians 1:5; 2 Timothy 2:15; 4:2).

In short, apostolic succession is not biblical. The concept of apostolic succession is never found in Scripture. What is found in Scripture is that the true church will teach what the Scriptures teach and will compare all doctrines and practices to Scripture in order to determine what is true and right. The Roman Catholic Church claims that a lack of ongoing apostolic authority results in doctrinal confusion and chaos. It is an unfortunate truth (that the apostles acknowledged) that false teachers would arise (2 Peter 2:1). Admittedly, the lack of “supreme authority” amongst non-Catholic churches results in many different interpretations. However, these differences in interpretation are not the result of Scripture being unclear. Rather, they are the result of even non-Catholic Christians carrying on the Catholic tradition of interpreting Scripture in accordance with their own traditions. If Scripture is studied in its entirety and in its proper context, the truth can be easily determined. Doctrinal differences and denominational conflicts are a result of some Christians refusing to agree with what Scripture says – not a result of there being no “supreme authority” to interpret Scripture.

Alignment with Scriptural teaching, not apostolic succession, is the determining factor of the trueness of a church. What is mentioned in Scripture is the idea that the Word of God was to be the guide that the church was to follow (Acts 20:32). It is Scripture that was to be the infallible measuring stick for teaching and practice (2 Timothy 3:16-17). It is the Scriptures that teachings are to be compared with (Acts 17:10-12). Apostolic authority was passed on through the writings of the apostles, not through apostolic succession.

Recommended Resource: The Gospel According to Rome: Comparing Catholic Tradition and The Word of God by James McCarthy.

Answer 9

I'd say he is full of crap and needs to get born again.I would also say he needs to read his bible.Because God didn't appoint no priest to rule over a church.Jesus is the head of a church.And he needs to stop worshipping Mary and follow Jesus as we are commanded to.But most importantly he needs to get his heart right with God and get saved before he bust Hell wide open.

Answer 10

I think the pope is just an old man with no powers.
What does he think of that?