The Catholic Flaws?

Question

Okay I have a few questions to ask, as of right now I guess I am a catholic, but I need to hear the opposing side of these questions because if I ask my parents they start calling me the devil and saying I am possesed....
1) Jesus said the Pope will be pure and never make mistakes, yet there have been corrupt popes in the past.
2) The catholic church used to hear confessions for money...corruption?

Answer 1

Q: The Catholic Flaws?

A: Transparent to them.

Answer 2

1) Jesus did NOT say the Pope would be "pure" or that he would never make mistakes. Jesus did say the gates of Hell would not prevail against the Church, which does not mean the same thing at all. Yes, there have been corrupt popes, because popes are men and men are sinners. But never once did those corrupt popes do anything to destroy the teachings of the Catholic Church as Christ intends them to be taught.

2) To my knowledge, the Catholic Church NEVER has heard confessions for money. You might be talking about the 'selling of indulgences' which happened for only a very brief period and was banned as soon as word got to the Holy See about it (read the Council of Trent for more on that).

Ask your parents to enroll you in some sort of a Catechism class so you can learn more about Catholicism, and they surely won't call you the devil for that, but you'll still get your questions answered.

Answer 3

(1) Jesus never said the Pope will be pure; His (Jesus') words that the "Gates of Hell shall not prevail" are directed to the Church, whether one takes it as the Catholic Church or the more-inclusive body of all believers in Christ. The Church has never taught that the Popes would be perfect, only that they hold authority and should be respected.

Note that the Pope's words are only considered flawless (infallible) when speaking ex catedra - meaning that he is reflecting the opinion of the scholars, theologians and clergy of the Catholic Church after much study, prayer and meditation. Speaking ex catedra has never ever been intended to reflect a flawless nature to the Pope's own opinions.

(2) Actually, there was a shameful time when priests would grant absolution (which follows confession) for money as a penance. This teaching was disallowed in the 16th century, and while the Catholic Church (and all churches) continues to receive funds as donations and remuneration for some services (it is customary to provide an honorarium to the priest or minister who presides over a wedding, though not mandatory), no one pays money to get out of penance anymore. Penance, upon which absolution is contingent, is supposed to be something that restores one to Christ in a physical way.

Note that absolution is a recognition that the confessant has honestly and fully confessed their sins, accepted accountability for them, and given them up the Lord. Penance reinforces this. I've heard priests give penance for pornography by having the penitant burn the material; for lying to someone by telling the person who was lied to; for fighting with a friend by making dinner for the friend and apologizing. Again, money is no longer accepted for penance, and has not been for centuries.

Answer 4

"The Church is the Lord´s"

During an informal meeting, reproters from a major American news magazine once asked Cardinal Ratzinger: "how do you sleep at night with all the problems in the Church and the world?"

He laughed and said, "I sleep very well, thank you! And I´m shure if you asked the Holy Father the same question, he would tell you the same thing; You see, we know that the Church belongs to the Lord; he is in charge. We are merely his servants, who have been given a task to flfill for the time being, but the Church is the Lord´s!"

... but to answer your question, the popes who were sinners, they showed one thing - it is not the popes who are in charge since the original doctrine and teaching survived even these popes.

Answer 5

1. Jesus never said Peter (the first Pope and hence his successors) would be sinless and pure.

I suppose you are asking about Papal Infallibility, which refers to when the Pope teaches authentically on matters of Faith, Morals and Dogma. It is a very narrow area where Papal Infallibility applies.

2. Have there ever been corrupt priests, bishops, and popes who required payment to hear a confession? Of course, and they will answer to God. Officially, every Catholic in good standing has the right, by Canon Law, to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation -- free of charge.

Thanks for asking and your concern. Peace be with you.

Answer 6

What Christ actually promised is that the gates of hell would not prevail against the Church, and that He would send the Holy Spirit to guide it. So, while He appointed Peter to lead the Church on earth until such time as His return, the only promise is that the Church will not teach error. Peter (and his successors) were not promised impeccability (being without human sin), but the grace to lead the Church without theological error. There have sadly been some sinful and worldly temporal leaders of the Church. But notice that while they were sinful, and sometimes led lives of dissipation, the TEACHINGS of the Church remained always faithful to what Christ and the Apostles taught.

Secondly, while there were misapplications of what appeared to be "payment" for indulgences centuries ago(which topic has been covered before and is better covered elsewhere this time), no one has ever been "charged" for hearing a confession. The Sacraments are FREE, and it is a sin for anyone to charge money for them. This also applies to blessed items (such as rosaries, medals, etc.).

In short, individuals will sin, but the Church will not.

Answer 7

Here is how I understand it...

The "Infallibility of the Pope" is not about being infallible in LIFE. It is about being infallible as far as spiritual stuff goes (faith and moral proclamations). So that he is not supposed to lead the Catholic Church as a whole in a wrong direction. But he is still human and could make mistakes in other areas of life. Papal infallibility does not signify that the pope is impeccable, i.e., that he is specially exempt from liability to sin.


Money for confessions - I have never heard of that. my best guess is that they were suggesting an offering, but not specifically saying "Confessions - $2, please" But again, I don't know for sure.

Answer 8

For a Catholic, you seem to be misinformed, and looking for answers in all the wrong places.

Jesus gave St. Peter and his successors the awesome power to bind and loose, on earth and in heaven.

Jesus never promised that any of his disciples or apostles, or any of us would be free from sin, or would be perfect. Judas is the proof for that.

Infallibility attaches only under specific circumstances, and for specific purposes. It does not apply to the character of the pope, or to his everyday opinions on things that are not critical to the faith and morals of the Catholic church.

The pope is capable of speaking infallibly in much the same way the prophets of old spoke infallibly, so there is nothing unusual or extraordinary about it. Even the corrupt high priest Caiphus, who accused Jesus of blasphemy and induced the Romans to put Christ to death, spoke infallibly according to the powers of his office, which was holy because it was established by God, under the Law given to Moses, for the Jews.

And regarding the issue of confession, I think you've confused the sacrament of reconciliation with indulgences.

At one time, indulgences were improperly sold for money, but indulgences have nothing to do with the forgiveness of sins ... indulgences only reduce or eliminate one's stay in Purgatory.

If you're truly Catholic, you need to brush up on your Catholic doctrine and theology ... big time.

If you're not Catholic ... and from your question I suspect you're not ... then you should be ashamed of yourself.

Answer 9

1) Jesus did not say that the Pope will be pure and never make mistakes.

The Catholic Church teaches that the Pope is infallible at closely defined times.

The Pope is only infallible when he, in union with the body of bishops, solemnly teaches that a doctrine as true. This is called "ex cathedra", literally meaning in Latin "from the chair".

This comes from the words of Jesus to Peter (the first Pope) and the Apostles (the first bishops), "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven" (Matthew 18:18) and "He who hears you hears me" (Luke 10:16).

At all other times the Pope can be just as wrong or sinful as you and me and be in need of forgiveness.

For more information, see the Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 891: http://www.usccb.org/catechism/text/pt1sect2chpt3art9p4.htm#891

2) I think you are thinking of indulgences.

+ Purgatory +

To discuss indulgences, first we have to talk about Purgation (or Purgatory).

Are you perfect now? Most people would say no.

Will you be perfect in heaven? Most people believe yes.

Purgatory (or purgation) is the process of God's love changing our imperfect selves into perfect beings. Depending on the amount of change needed by different people this can be an easy or slightly harder process.

Everyone in purgatory is on their way to heaven. I don't think Mother Teresa of Calcutta had a very hard time of it.

+ Indulgences +

The concept is that a person can do acts of penance now on earth to make purgation easier.

Penance is internally turning one's heart toward God and away from sin in hope in divine mercy and externally by fasting, prayer, and almsgiving.

A corruption grew in the Church many years ago where rich people would give enough alms (money to the Church) to essentially buy an easy way to heaven. This was one of Martin Luther's protests (hence Protestants) and shortly thereafter the Catholic Church cleaned up this practice.

In 1567 Pope Pius V canceled all grants of indulgences involving any fees or other financial transactions.

But remember because everyone in purgatory is already on their way to heaven, indulgences do not get you into heaven. They just make purgation easier.

With love in Christ.

Answer 10

where in the bible did Jesus say that peter will never make mistakes or be pure? He never did. He said that whatever he would bind would be held bound etc. that is infalliblity, not inpecability. when did the catholic church hear confessions for cash? No one would pay to have their sins heard, that never happened. either your nuts or just a liar.

Answer 11

The Forgiveness Of Sins:

John 20:19–23 "On the evening of that day.. ..Jesus said to [the apostles] again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you... ..If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."

Did you know that this is just one of the Scriptual reasons for the authority of priests/bishops to forgive sins in the name of Christ? Christ, here, has given this authority to the apostles. This authority was handed down through Apostolic Succession. Notice how in verse 21 Jesus says, "As the Father has sent me, so I send you." In other words, Jesus is giving his apostles the same authority that he received from his Father. Now what authority did Jesus receive from God the Father? We see earlier, in Mark 2:10, that he had the authority to forgive sins. Jesus brought the power of forgiveness from heaven to earth. So now, in John 20:21, he is giving that same authority to his apostles. Very Biblical.

It is also noteworthy to remember that Catholics are not the only ones who believe this. The Eastern Orthodox believe it too, and the Catholic Church recognizes the validity of the Eastern Orthodox sacrament. It is only in the last 500 years out of the 2000 year history of Christianity that this truth was rejected by protestants. Protestant. or "non-denominational" if you prefer, are the only ones who reject this, and they represent less than 20% of all Christians.

During his life, Christ forgave sins, as in the case of the woman caught in adultery (John 8:1–11) and the woman who anointed his feet (Luke 7:48). He exercised this power in his human capacity as the Messiah or Son of man, telling us, "the Son of man has authority on earth to forgive sins" (Matt. 9:6), which is why the Gospel writer himself explains that God "had given such authority to men" (Matt. 9:8). Since he would not always be with the Church visibly, Christ gave this power to other men so the Church, which is the continuation of his presence throughout time (Matt. 28:20), would be able to offer forgiveness to future generations. He gave his power to the apostles, and it was a power that could be passed on to their successors and agents, since the apostles wouldn’t always be on earth either, but people would still be sinning.


Now, regarding the pope:

If you could somehow go back in a time machine and meet the apostle Peter, how would you react? Would you listen to him? Would you respect the fact that he was given his apostleship by Christ himself? Can you deny that you would be at least a little excited to met this Simon Bar Jonah who Jesus renamed Peter?
Well, that's how we feel about the pope. We believe he is Peter's successor (here is a list: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12272b.htm ).
Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, the Son of the Living God. The pope is a man. But, the pope occupies an office we feel was established by Christ himself (Matt: 16: 17-19) and we respect that. That's all there is to it. Here is more info about the pope if you're interested: http://www.catholic.com/library/church_papacy.asp

and here is an archived rdio broadcast about the papacy in the early church:
http://www.catholic.com/audio/2007/MP3/ca070831a.mp3