Papal Infallibility
By gewcew23
@gewcew23 (8007)
United States
April 10, 2010 1:03pm CST
Through the Holy Spirit the Pope is incapable of error. Also the Pope receives divine revelations. Well is that not the greatest thing you have ever heard. So if every Pope that has ever existed is incapable of error and receives divine revelations then why did things like this happen,
Why did Pope Lucius III approve of the Synod of Verona that made the Church's official punishment for heresy burning at the stake? Which would become the death of such people like William Tyndale for translating the Bible into English, Giordano Bruno for saying the Sun was a star, and John Hus for his opposition to the Church doctrine of indulgence.
Why did Pope Urban II at the Council of Clermont called upon all Christians to join a war against the Turks, promising those who died in the endeavor would receive immediate remission of their sins? Then why were the Crusades continued with Pope Gregory VIII, Pope Innocent III, and Pope Gregory IX.
Why didn't any of the Pope's call for peace and condemn Catholic armies for using violence to reconvert Protestant during the religious wars of Europe like the Thirty years war?
There is the Inquisitions and the Holocaust of European Jewry, why didn't any Pope condemn violence against against European Jewry?
Then there is the numerous pedophile priest, why didn't any Pope see this happening, and why not any action to prevent this from happening again?
4 people like this
5 responses
@LaurenInLA (2270)
• United States
11 Apr 10
The infallibility of the Pope is only when he is interpreting religious doctrine. I don't think that most of the instances that you mention are interpretations of religious doctrine. There have been some horrible things that have happened throughout history like the Crusades. I am a Catholic and perhaps it is because this is occurring in my lifetime but I cannot for the life of me understand why the Church has not taken a strong stand against the pedophiles in the priesthood. I've been a Catholic all of my life and the way that the Church has reacted to this issue has been a test of my faith. I finally had to separate the religion itself from the administration of the Church. I am a believer but I will not contribute one penny to the Church. I will not give money for the Church to defend these pedophiles and until the Church stops sheltering these pedophiles from the law.
1 person likes this
@gewcew23 (8007)
• United States
11 Apr 10
Shouldn't your faith effect other fields of your life. Take for instance if you believe that stealing is a sin, I hope you do, but when you are working you have no problem stealing from your boss. If the Pope has the capacity to be infallible when interpreting religious doctrine shouldn't some of that infallibility rub off onto other things?
@LaurenInLA (2270)
• United States
11 Apr 10
The thought process is that when the Pope is interpreting religious doctrine, God is speaking through him. Infallibility isn't a power that he possesses. It's a power that none on us possess, only God. When the Pope is thinking or acting on other issues, he is just like every one of us, his human nature prevents him from being infallible. Yes, I do believe that if you are a true religious believer that your faith does affect other areas of your life. Going to church is easy. The hard part is applying the religious precepts that you've been taught into living your daily life. As a P.S., I do believe that stealing is a sin and stealing from your employer isn't acceptable. I've worked with tons of people with strong religious beliefs that don't equate the two.
@topffer (42155)
• France
11 Apr 10
Hello gewcew,
You are mixing-up two different things : Papal infallibility and papal primacy. The first is only for faith matters, the second is the legal authority of the Pope in the Catholic Church. In the second the Pope is not infallible at all, nor when he acts as a chief of State.
@topffer (42155)
• France
11 Apr 10
Infallibility is well delimited, gewcew : ask the Pope to extend it, if you want. 
Since the end of the roman empire the catholic church has claimed to have a temporal and a spiritual power, and in 1851 the Pope condemned as an error that "the Church has not the power of using force, nor has she any temporal power, direct or indirect." Today the Vatican is a state with its own stamps and euro coins, but there is a long time that the catholic church has abandoned the -- I don't know the English term -- "two-edged sword" theory. Time of crusades is finished.
Since the end of the roman empire the catholic church has claimed to have a temporal and a spiritual power, and in 1851 the Pope condemned as an error that "the Church has not the power of using force, nor has she any temporal power, direct or indirect." Today the Vatican is a state with its own stamps and euro coins, but there is a long time that the catholic church has abandoned the -- I don't know the English term -- "two-edged sword" theory. Time of crusades is finished.
@urbandekay (18278)
•
17 Apr 10
No, it is a heretical invention of the Roman Church
all the best urban
@barehugs (8973)
• Canada
11 Apr 10
Yes, The Pope is infallible! Of this there cannot be any doubt! I'm wondering how the worlds Catholics can swallow this $hit? lets face it, the Pope has demonstrated his Infallibility by his discrimination against women, and his protection of Pedophile Priests and Bishops. How much more infallibility does he need to demonstrate, before Catholics begin to smarten up, and do something about their religion? Its coming to the place, very shortly when Catholics will not be able to hold up their heads in public!
@bluemars (952)
• Australia
11 Apr 10
You are right too many things go down in history as wrong and sometimes it appears even today we are not learning from mistakes. That is why some people say history repeats itself. We should be learning from the past and from history. We should be smartening up. We should be preventing things that we know in our hearts of hearts is so wrong. What is happening in the world? This is a question I always ask myself too.
