Infallibility of the Pope

It has been said, that the number of people who hate the Catholic Church for what it is can be counted on one hand while thousands hate it for what they THINK it is. (the quote may not be exact but close enough)

I have never hated the Catholic Church but have always seen it as a faithful, orthodox voice, which I have turned to many times over the years to "test the spirits" if you will of the many competing voices in the world. Being Protestant, I have had some trouble with many things Catholics believed but I knew, all in all we were always on the same page. Ironically, at most every major step in my discipleship, almost every point of growth, the Catholic Church has been responsible in some small or greater way. So why am I not a Catholic, you ask? Well, I do consider myself a "closet Catholic" but as I mentioned, there were things that I could not hold to, could not accept.

But I like to learn about things and recently I have been listening to a radio program called Relevant Radio. A  national Catholic program with a local affiliate. It has been a real blessing to me and I would recommend it to anyone regardless of their faith (or lack of it) I have learned a great deal about the Catholic faith and have learned that much of what I thought I knew was just not true. One of these, is the teaching of the infallibility of the Pope. Over at Catholic Culture, they talk about this issue, in regards to the book, Light of the World: The Pope, The Church and The Signs Of The Times. 

...As any educated Catholic should know, the doctrine of papal infallibility does not mean that the reigning Pope will be right when he predicts tomorrow’s weather, or when he voices his opinion on a current political controversy. The charism of papal infallibility is not a sort of magic that protects the Pope from error whenever he opens his mouth. Pope Benedict makes a special point of saying that his own personal opinions, as he puts them forward in Light of the World, should not be regarded as official Church teaching.

The Pope does not speak with infallible authority when he speaks in his own voice. He only enjoys that authority when he speaks for the Church. Pope Benedict explains this authority—which is enjoyed to some degree by any priest—early in the book:

The important thing is that I do not present my ideas, but rather try to think and to live the Church’s faith, to act in obedience to His mandate. 

There will be times when Christ’s mandate is not altogether clear, even to those who honestly wish to know it. Then, when there is confusion or uncertainty among the faithful, the Pope must respond to Christ’s exhortation to St. Peter, and “confirm the brethren.” When he responds to that imperative, the Pope is not voicing his own opinions; he is not creating his own doctrinal rules. Rather, he is prayerfully discerning what the Church teaches, what the Church has always taught, what has been believed semper et ubique by the faithful....

Constancy and authority are good things. One I think missing in most Protestant denominations, including my own.

Wave of bomb blasts target Christians in Baghdad

"...an interior ministry source told Reuters that the attacks were a “continuation” of the massacre at Our Lady of Salvation church which killed dozens of worshippers last week.

According to one report, today’s bombings targeted the family of one of the victims of the massacre...."

More from the Catholic Herald

Continuation? Surely you've been following it in the news. Its all over the... 

No of course not. Our journalistic outlets have been ignoring these matters as has our government.  

Magister Christianus over at Bedlam and Parnassus has been following and keeping us all posted. Go check it out and keep praying.

MereComments has this to say on this Holy Day:

...The world is old, and stupid. It wears the sniggering leer of the demagogue, the avid glance of the privateer of finance, the smug half-smile of the professor in the know. It does not want to understand the Cross, and Jesus who suffered upon it, because it is afraid of the new life that springs from Him; because that new life can take you where you do not know you want to go. But Jesus, who died for us, conquers by dying, conquers by giving of himself utterly. If we would be conquerors, if we would be as God himself, we must make ourselves one with Jesus, and give utterly. That cross, we feel, is too heavy for us to bear. It is too heavy; we cannot carry it. Then we must confess our nothingness, our weakness, and, as Therese of Lisieux says, let the cross carry us. We would be soldiers alongside our captain; first let us be as nothing, acknowledging that without Him who emptied Himself for us, we too are empty, like wooden idols, or like the waste and void before God said, "Let there be light."... (more)

There is more and you really should read it but the quote:

"The world is old, and stupid. It wears the sniggering leer of the demagogue, the avid glance of the privateer of finance, the smug half-smile of the professor in the know..."

made me think of another posting and for evidence of the line above you need look no further than the WaPo and its anti-Catholic vitriole published TODAY no less, and courtesy of everyone's favorite (especially his own) atheist, Richard Dawkins.

Pundit and Pundette, who wrote about it, rightfully asks, Did anyone at the Post think twice before they published this attack? Imagine them printing something like that about any other religion....(more)
H/T CMR

Sigh.

Time to Stand Up

Excellent post over at Bedlam and Parnassus:

If same-sex "marriage" takes hold of Rhode Island, it will be because of the "abysmal apathy" of Catholics who did not stand up for true marriage, says Bishop Thomas Tobin of Providence.

Each Christian must stand up each time he sees an instance of that which is a lie or a proclamation of evil. For this reason, I note the following lies and evil statements from an article on soon-to-be-compulsory sodomite education in England. Fortunately, for the moment, Christian schools and families will have the choice to opt out of such teaching.

Terry Sanderson, head of the National Secular Society, called it "unfortunate" that the government is not forcing faith schools to teach the normalisation of homosexuality.

Unfortunate that the government is not forcing its citizens to do something? How heavy-handed would Mr. Sanderson like his government? (more)

Why Protestant/Catholic/Orthodox?

So there I was, cruising the blog list here at "The Guy in the Window", when I saw an interesting post on "And Sometimes Tea" called "Why Catholic?" When I click over to that site, what to my wondering eyes should appear but my very own question, which I had sent to Eutychus and other friends late last year!

Eutychus, thank you for forwarding that question to Red, who has put forth her own eloquent and thoughtful response. There are now two responses to her post, including one from me.

I hope all who enjoy "The Guy in the Window" will join in that discussion.