Infallible Pope?

Question

what do you do when he makes a mistake?

Answer 1

over look it and say he is at that moment human and like us.

Answer 2

I think St. Boniface answered the question quite well. The only thing I would say is this: The Catholic church is one, all over the world. The same Gospel you hear in one place will be the same Gospel you hear in any other place, in any other part of the world, on any given Sunday. This is because we have 100% unity in our teachings. Due to their "personal interpretations" protestant churches have literally divided into thousands of different denominations, which is obviously due to an inability to agree on a single vision of the truth. Biblically speaking Jesus never intended for us to be a divided flock, that's easy to see. Logically speaking, how can God expect us to follow his Word if we have no way of knowing, without fear of being in error, of what it is. The bible does not say anything specifically about cloning, stem cell research, feminism and many other social issues of the day.

To answer your question. When it comes to matters of faith an morals, no pope has ever made a mistake, because in 2,000 years no infallible teaching has ever been changed.

The pope cannot predict who will win the superbowl.

Answer 3

The Pope can't make a mistake because it is God acting through the Church Magisterium and the Pope who makes the decisions concerning faith and morals.

Infallibility means that the Pope is preserved from error when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful, he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith and morals.
Infallibility does not mean that the Pope cannot sin. The Holy Father goes to the Sacrament of Confession frequently and acknowledges his sinfulness at Mass when he says "I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters . . . " and again when he washes his hands prior to the Eucharistic prayer while asking God to "wash away my iniquity, cleanse me from my sins." Likewise, infallibility does not mean that the Pope cannot make a mistake when he talks about mathematics, science, or some other nonreligious matter.

To teach infallibly, the Pope must be teaching on faith or morals; he must speak with his full authority as the Successor of Peter and head of the universal Church on earth; he must make a final pronouncement on a doctrine at issue, and he must bind all the faithful to accept his teaching or fall away entirely from the divine and Catholic faith. Personal correspondence, even that in which a sensitive issue is addressed, is not infallible because it is not meant to bind all the faithful.

That Jesus intended to preserve Peter and his successors from error can be found in our Lord's statement to Peter "whatever you bind on earth will be (have been) bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be (have been) loosed in heaven." (Matthew 16:19, NIV [parenthesis contain footnoted interpretations from NIV text])

Jesus would hardly give approval in heaven to bad decisions by Popes on earth, so He provided protection against this happening. And what was this protection? It can be found in Matthew 28:20 where Jesus promised that "I am with you always, even unto the end of the world" (KJV) and again in John 14:16-17 where Our Lord says "I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever--the Spirit of truth" (NIV). This Spirit of truth, the Holy Spirit, has been with the Catholic Church since Pentecost. History shows that during the past almost 2,000 years, no Pope has ever made a false pronouncement on faith or morals. No dogma has ever been changed. Some have been refined to provide better definition, but the core thrust and effect of the dogmatic statement has never changed.

Answer 4

The Pope is considered by Catholics to be infallible only when speaking on matters of faith and morals. This doesn't change with time. Maybe the rites or church rules might change but not the faith or morality.

Answer 5

The Pope is only infallible when it comes to church doctrine.

Answer 6

the pope is only infallible when he is sitting "ex cathedra". this means after a Vatican council when important decisions have been made regarding the way forward for the catholic church. he does not make a mistake when he makes these speeches because the decisions have probably been months in the making and many of the most educated people in the world make these decisions all together with the will of god on their side.

Answer 7

The pope is a man

Answer 8

Read this:

http://www.catholic.com/library/Papal_Infallibility.asp

Answer 9

No man is infallible.

Answer 10

man appointed the Pope , not God; Jesus appointed Peter to be the rock of faith to spread the laws of God not man ; only God knows what is in the heart of someone; you can't follow Jesus and then sit on a pure gold throne in Rome; you can't have it both ways ; Jesus as the son of God left everything; didn't have worldly possessions ; the disciples did the same ; need I say more. My relationship with God is one on one.