Sorry to roll on three straight posts here, but I've been reading a lot over the last few days and the beginning of a new papacy has me all worked up.

 

Pope Francis' first day on the job began with a surprise trip to one of the major basilicas in Rome: St. Mary Major. The basilica's priests and staff were given 10 minutes notice he was coming. He arrived and prayed before a statute of the Madonna called "Protectress of the Roman People" and before the tomb of Pope Saint Pius V. There is also a picture of him giving a blessing to an unborn child.

 

Good start.

 

I know when elected Pope, you start the job pretty much immediately. I wonder how much time he will have to deal with things that were still going on at his old Archdiocese ie projects he was leading that will now need to be delegated to someone else or appointments that he had scheduled. I would guess a diocese as large as his would have atleast one Auxillary Bishop who could pick up much of that. I guess his personal items just get packed up and shipped to him.

I don't see it happening, but I wish the Church would change its stance on birth control. The world is overpopulated/ing today, and there is need to reduce the population not expand it.

I must admit, this is the first time I've read BGP with tears of joy streaming

down my face.

This is a little long, but below is the Statement from Bishop Gainer in Lexington concerning Pope Francis (the highlighting is mine). My first read was that the message seemed to be saying "...if any of you are expecting anything to change, forget it. Don't expect too much from this or any other Pope!!!!" While most everyone else is celebrating and anticipating the actions/emphasis of Pope Francis, this statement seems to be emphasizing the past/most recent actions of the church are all Ok. Does the bishop have a scowl on his face ? Am I missing something here?

 

With today's election of Pope Francis (Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J., 76, of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, Argentina) as the 267th Supreme Roman Pontiff, Bishop Ronald W. Gainer, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington, released the following statement: "Christ commissioned Peter as chief among the Apostles, entrusting to him the keys of the kingdom and the care of the flock. Since Jesus commissioned him to lead the Church, two hundred and sixty-six men have exercised the ministry entrusted to Peter the fisherman, Peter the prince of the apostles. "Since Peter, the ministry of the papacy has been exercised by a different face, a different individual, for each age and time: saints and sinners, warriors and judges. But the papacy is not a dynasty. The papacy—a series of bishops in the Petrine ministry of faith, unity, and love—occupies an indispensable role in the Catholic Church. "There are many gifts in the Body of Christ, the Church, but there is one particular ministry which unites all of them—the ministry of the one who sits in the Chair of Peter, teaching and guiding, so that all may grow to maturity in the community of the baptized. "The pope is a servant of the truth, not its master. It is counterintuitive to the mind of the prevailing secular culture, but the pope cannot change the constitutive truths of the faith in the way that an elected official may change government policies or the way a corporate CEO may change marketing strategies. No pope can and no pope will. The truth is constant. The Truth is a person, Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. "I urge everyone to pray for the Church and in a very special way for Pope Francis as he assumes this singular and central ministry."

As a non-Catholic, I want to ask some honest questions of the Catholics on BGP:

 

-What is the job/role of the Pope?

 

-How do Catholics view the Pope? Is he just a man with a job, is he a type of spiritual liason for Catholics between heaven and earth?

 

-Is the Pope considered infallible?

 

-How much contact do local churches have with Rome/the Pope?

 

There may be some other questions but I can't think of them immediately. Thanks for any responses. If this needs to be another thread, can a moderator make the change?

This is a little long, but below is the Statement from Bishop Gainer in Lexington concerning Pope Francis (the highlighting is mine). My first read was that the message seemed to be saying "...if any of you are expecting anything to change, forget it. Don't expect too much from this or any other Pope!!!!" While most everyone else is celebrating and anticipating the actions/emphasis of Pope Francis, this statement seems to be emphasizing the past/most recent actions of the church are all Ok. Does the bishop have a scowl on his face ? Am I missing something here?

 

With today's election of Pope Francis (Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, S.J., 76, of the Archdiocese of Buenos Aires, Argentina) as the 267th Supreme Roman Pontiff, Bishop Ronald W. Gainer, head of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lexington, released the following statement: "Christ commissioned Peter as chief among the Apostles, entrusting to him the keys of the kingdom and the care of the flock. Since Jesus commissioned him to lead the Church, two hundred and sixty-six men have exercised the ministry entrusted to Peter the fisherman, Peter the prince of the apostles. "Since Peter, the ministry of the papacy has been exercised by a different face, a different individual, for each age and time: saints and sinners, warriors and judges. But the papacy is not a dynasty. The papacy—a series of bishops in the Petrine ministry of faith, unity, and love—occupies an indispensable role in the Catholic Church. "There are many gifts in the Body of Christ, the Church, but there is one particular ministry which unites all of them—the ministry of the one who sits in the Chair of Peter, teaching and guiding, so that all may grow to maturity in the community of the baptized. "The pope is a servant of the truth, not its master. It is counterintuitive to the mind of the prevailing secular culture, but the pope cannot change the constitutive truths of the faith in the way that an elected official may change government policies or the way a corporate CEO may change marketing strategies. No pope can and no pope will. The truth is constant. The Truth is a person, Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. "I urge everyone to pray for the Church and in a very special way for Pope Francis as he assumes this singular and central ministry."

 

I think Bishop Gainer's statement is in response to so many of the people we've heard with the wishful sentiment that, "Maybe this Pope will be the one to change things." Many people have this feeling that the church needs to change its ways because people have changed theirs, when, as the Bishop accurately states, "The truth is constant. The Truth is a person, Jesus Christ, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever."

 

I read his message to be what you initially took it as when you first read his statement, and I believe it to be true.

As a non-Catholic, I want to ask some honest questions of the Catholics on BGP:

 

-What is the job/role of the Pope?

 

-How do Catholics view the Pope? Is he just a man with a job, is he a type of spiritual liason for Catholics between heaven and earth?

 

-Is the Pope considered infallible?

 

-How much contact do local churches have with Rome/the Pope?

 

There may be some other questions but I can't think of them immediately. Thanks for any responses. If this needs to be another thread, can a moderator make the change?

 

I will try to help:

 

Jesus is the head of the Church: The Pope is the Vicar or Chief Steward.

The Pope's role is to speak in behalf of Jesus (as Jesus would have spoken).

The Pope is infallible. (Of course this is a widely discussed point.)

Local churches probably have little to no direct contact as there is a hierarchy represented by Priest, Bishops and Cardinals, etc. although I do not know this for sure.

 

This is some of the reason why Bishop Gainer gave a bit of a precautionary advice to us all not to expect sweeping reforms based on expectations of the man, because the man is now standing as the speaker for Christ.

As a non-Catholic, I want to ask some honest questions of the Catholics on BGP:

 

See below

 

-What is the job/role of the Pope?

 

I think the best analogy to the role of the pope is similar to the role the Prime Minister (I don't believe that was his real title) had to the Kings. When King Saul/David/Solomon would leave the kingdom for state purposes, the king would leave the symbolic keys to his prime minister. Those keys gave the prime minister the authority to act in the King's place. The prime minister was not allowed to overturn the King's laws but he could provide interpretation on them, clarification of them and he was responsible for leading the people in the King's absence. History shows that if while the King were absent and the prime minister were to die (or otherwise have to leave office) the rest of the ministers could pick a replacement. Catholics believe it was no coincidence that keys were given to Peter to be a spiritual leader and the rest of the Church leadership pick their successors till the King of Kings returns.

 

-How do Catholics view the Pope? Is he just a man with a job, is he a type of spiritual liason for Catholics between heaven and earth?

 

I think the above addresses this. I will add that he is a man with a vocation which is part of the reason why it was such a big deal when Benedict retired, it is not just a job so if you do resign, it should be because you truly don't have the ability to continue the job. I wouldn't so much say the pope is a liason in the normal way. The definition of a priest is one who performs a sacrifice and Catholics believe Jesus is the ultimate priest who sacrificed himself for us. Because Christ commanded that we do this in his memory, priests (bishops, cardinals and the pope are still priests) do fill that role during communion though all state they are his unworthy substitute since only Jesus was truly worthy. So to summarize, the pope is basically someone to hold down the fort so to speak till the King returns.

 

-Is the Pope considered infallible?

 

Well, technically, the past six were not. I say that because John XXIII, Paul VI, John Paul I, John Paul II, Benedict XVI and currently Francis have never spoke (or wrote) in a way that was intended to be infallible. Only twice in the concept of papal infallibility has a pope spoke in a way that was to be taken as infallible and on both topics, both were so widely accepted in the Catholic Church that it was more to confirm a teaching than to introduce a new teaching.

 

-How much contact do local churches have with Rome/the Pope?

With 1.2 billion Catholics and over 1 million catholic churches, it is limited. When the pope writes a book or encyclical on a teaching, it is published so anything can read it. Now, how much communication form the church level makes it to the pope? Again, it is limited. A pastor of a church would first go to his bishop who oversees a diocese which is all the catholic churches in a geographic location. Kentucky has four diocese. The Diocese of Covington which covers Northern KY, the diocese of Lexington which covers the Lexington and East, the diocese of Owensboro which cover Western KY and the Archdiocese of Louisville which covers Louisville and south through Central KY. Bishops do have some contact to the pope. Part of the position of bishop is that periodically they do go to Rome to meet with the Pope to go over challenges they are having and other issues.

 

There may be some other questions but I can't think of them immediately. Thanks for any responses. If this needs to be another thread, can a moderator make the change?

 

I hope that helped.

As a non-Catholic, I want to ask some honest questions of the Catholics on BGP:

 

-What is the job/role of the Pope?

 

-How do Catholics view the Pope? Is he just a man with a job, is he a type of spiritual liason for Catholics between heaven and earth?

 

-Is the Pope considered infallible?

 

-How much contact do local churches have with Rome/the Pope?

 

There may be some other questions but I can't think of them immediately. Thanks for any responses. If this needs to be another thread, can a moderator make the change?

 

-What is the job/role of the Pope?

 

a type of spiritual liason for Catholics between heaven and earth? Yes!

 

-Is the Pope considered infallible? No!

Think anyone has told him to "Lighten up Francis" yet? :lol:

As a non-Catholic, I want to ask some honest questions of the Catholics on BGP:

 

-What is the job/role of the Pope?

 

-How do Catholics view the Pope? Is he just a man with a job, is he a type of spiritual liason for Catholics between heaven and earth?

 

-Is the Pope considered infallible?

 

-How much contact do local churches have with Rome/the Pope?

 

There may be some other questions but I can't think of them immediately. Thanks for any responses. If this needs to be another thread, can a moderator make the change?

 

Bert really did a nice job of explaining, but I might add a little to his statement about the Pope's infallibility. The infallibility of a Pope only applies to things that he states "ex cathedra"...meaning he is speaking/writing something with the intent of making that Church Dogma. It is also somewhat understood that in speaking ex cathedra, there has been a great amount of scrutiny and consideration given to the statement being made by the Pope, and most times there is a LOT of ecclesiastical research and discussion performed by the Roman Curia prior to the Pope's statement. The implication of a statement like that is that it has been inspired through divine revelation by the Holy Spirit, and it can only take when spoken as such by the Pope, in role as Peter’s successor.

 

Also to add to what Bert stated, the last Pope to speak ex cathedra (infallibly) was Pope Pius XII, who wrote his Munificentissimus Deus in 1950 stating that the Virgin Mary did in fact have a bodily assumption into heaven. Pius XII's infallible statement came some 96 years after the closest prior Papal infallible statement, when Pope Pius IX wrote his apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus stating that the Virgin Mary was conceived immaculately.

 

Infallible statements from the Pontiff are very, very, very rare. In fact, those two statements cited above are the only two instances where a Pope has said "Hey...this is being spoken ex cathedra." There is a small handful of other items that, following their statement by the various Popes who authored them, have been taken as irreformably definitive, and are thereby considered infallible - despite having not been spoken ex cathedra at the time of their origin.

Another thing Pope Francis did today was go to the hotel to get his luggage and paid his own bill, lol. I think he tried to carry his own luggage but someone with his security insisted for safety he allow someone else to carry it.

The Pope is infallible only when speaking ex-cathedra concerning matters of faith and or morals .

I just hope Pope Francis can hit like Pope John Paul II

 

Edited March 15, 201313 yr by LOOGY
spelling

I just hope Pope Francis can hit like Pope John Paul II

The guy asks them what position the Pope plays on the Vatican softball team. They said, "Anywhere he wants!"