The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #127011   Message #2839421
Posted By: beeliner
14-Feb-10 - 08:55 PM
Thread Name: BS: At last a Pope talks some sense
Subject: RE: BS: At last a Pope talks some sense
Well, now we're going 'round in circles. The pope's 'wisdom' is not infallible nor does the Church claim that.

The Church believes and teaches that the Holy Spirit guides it infallibly in ex cathedra pronouncements on matters of faith and morals.

These matters are studied for years or even decades before such proclamations are made, but only the pope is authorized to make the actual pronouncement, hence the phrase 'papal infallibility'.

Moral teachings on more mundane matters such as marriage and family planning are in a different category entirely. They are regarded seriously by observant Catholics but do not meet the standards of infallibility and sometimes do change. A good example is the Church's attitude toward usury, once condemned but now tolerated as a facet of modern society.

But again, we've already been here. If the discussion doesn't progress I'm going back to posting about music.

While I don't doubt that you were once a Catholic as you claim, you seem to have forgotten a lot, or possibly weren't paying attention.