your opinion?
2007-10-20 03:32:20 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
What do they do?
2007-10-20 03:32:45 · update #1
Very much so...
2007-10-20 03:35:23 · answer #1 · answered by Celtickarma 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
Being the Pope is in direct apostolic succession from the first Pope of the Catholic Church, St. Peter, I dont think he is over rated,he is just doing his job, if anything he is under rated for all that he does do.
The Pope is Bishop of Rome, and Jesus is the Head of the Catholic church. The pope's purpose is to govern the church so that all will be in communion and represent what Jesus founded, the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic church. No place is there a claim that he is without or does not sin or is some military leader and there is no claim of kingship. Like a Cardinal, he is technically a bishop. The bishop of Rome.
He has many purposes, this is just one.
2007-10-20 10:49:33 · answer #2 · answered by tebone0315 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋
A twentieth-century way to describe the pope might be to say that he is the legal and spiritual head of the Roman Catholic Church, at 1 billion members the largest Christian denomination in the world, and certainly the most vertically integrated.
In reality, however, the demands of the position are far more vast. A modern pope is called upon to be an intellectual, a politician, a pastor, a media superstar, and a Fortune 500 CEO. He must produce complex documents setting out the thinking of the Catholic Church on the most vexing problems that confront humanity. While he has a staff and as many advisers as he wants to help with writing and research, ultimately the message is for him to determine. He must oversee the work of the oldest diplomatic corps on earth, involved in mediating conflicts and protecting the institutional interests of the Catholic Church in dozens of global hot spots. On any given day, the pope may be briefed about the latest violence in the Middle East, about Muslim-Christian slaughter in Indonesia, and about the role of Western commercial interests in sustaining the civil war in the Congo. Then he will be expected to make decisions. If he does too little, he will be accused of indifference; if he does too much, he will be accused of meddling. The pope must be a skilled public figure who knows how to use, rather than be used by, the global communications industry. If he shrinks from publicity, they will say he is weak; if he courts it, they will say he's an egomaniac. Finally, the pope must manage the personnel and financial resources of an enormous multinational religious organization. Since to govern is to choose, as de Gaulle once said, some of those choices are bound to make people unhappy.
Many of these burdens are similar to demands imposed on other world leaders, such as the president of the United States or the secretary general of the United Nations. One key difference is that the pope, in addition to being a politician and administrator, is also expected to be extraordinarily holy. People might forgive a president all sorts of moral failings, but they have higher standards for pontiffs. Another is that being elected pope is, in effect, a life sentence-there's no retirement to anticipate, no comfortable years as an elder statesman writing memoirs and giving lucrative speeches at foreign policy seminars. Popes carry the burden of their office until they die.
For all these reasons, being pope is an impossible job, and despite what you may hear, few church leaders actually want it. Mastering any one of its elements is a life's work.
2007-10-20 10:45:23 · answer #3 · answered by SpiritRoaming 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Oh no, they rule the Catholic Roman religion and as such, they have power not only on the spiritual but also on the land they own: papal states (not sure if the name is right, I'm French and English is my second foreign language). Their power was of course greater in the past centuries, when they owned almost all Central Italy, they could excommunicate kings and there's a German emperor who had to crawl on his knees at Canossa to implore the Pope's pity and have his excommunication lifted.
They often played a great part in peace negociations and don't forget that even now, Pope John Paul II has had a great influence over the fall of the communisme in Eastern Europe.
2007-10-20 10:44:16 · answer #4 · answered by Scorpy 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Over rated is an understatement.Their position and status has been over inflated to the extent that a Pope is a virtual God for many.No one can deny that there were/are some of the most outstanding brains in Marketing amongst the Christians and their organizational structure is considered to be best even by the corporate world.
2007-10-20 11:00:56 · answer #5 · answered by brkshandilya 7 · 1⤊ 2⤋
No. Popes are generally under-rated. They've been the core encapsulated force of Catholic doctrine and direction for 1700 years. As such they have a lot to answer for.
2007-10-20 10:37:01 · answer #6 · answered by Jack P 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
I wan't aware they were rated in the first place. Is it a thumbs up or five star system? Maybe something else?
2007-10-20 10:37:43 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
In your eyes and mind if you want them to be overrated then in your mind and eyes they are. Its simply a matter of a oppinion
2007-10-20 10:39:46 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Yes they are..they are sinners like everyone else that need Jesus as their savior
2007-10-20 10:57:24 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
thats an understatement
2007-10-20 10:37:35 · answer #10 · answered by brassmunkiee 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Say by the catholics but not to all christians.
jtm
2007-10-20 10:41:03 · answer #11 · answered by Jesus M 7 · 0⤊ 2⤋