Can the Pope be recalled?

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HerCrazierHalf

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The title might be awkward. Can the pope be recalled, censured, or otherwise reprimanded or removed? If not are there penalties for such attempts?

I’m asking in the context of the recent letter alleging heresy. I’m not Catholic but was under the impression that only God out ranks him and no “impeachment” type of mechanisms exist. If so, I’m really confused WRT what the authors/cosigners expect to happen.
 
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The reigning pope is judged by no one. As I understand it, only a future pope can make any declaration on what a previous pope taught.

We can call attention to what the pope is teaching that might trouble us, or the way in which he is teaching it, but that is all we can do in the present moment. We can tell the pope of our concerns, and that is what the petitioners were doing here. As a practical matter, we would regard what was taught in the past as correct.
 
HerCrazierHalf said:
I’m not Catholic but was under the impression that only God out ranks him and no “impeachment” type of mechanisms exist.
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That’s the case: the Pope alone has supreme, full, immediate and universal ordinary power in the Church.

And in fact, the letter that’s recently been in the news doesn’t suggest that anyone try to do it.
 
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You can’t dislodge a Pope once he’s installed. One would have to follow the old time-honored tradition of swearing allegiance to an Antipope, which would wreak havoc on the Church and probably end with some major excommunications.

Anyway, this Pope hasn’t done anything anywhere near bad enough for any of this to be a possibility. It’s about on the same level as certain US states allegedly planning to secede from the Union. It’s not happening.
 
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neophyte said:
And in fact, the letter that’s recently been in the news doesn’t suggest that anyone try to do it.
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I hope u can understand that a letter including the quote below sounds like the begins of something major when looking from the outside.

“first to accuse Pope Francis of the canonical delict of heresy, and second, to request that you take the steps necessary to deal with the grave situation of a [sic] heretical pope.”
 
A council has less authority than the Pope and derives all of its authority from the Pope. It is also the highest authority besides the Pope. So, to hold that it is possible to depose the Pope makes about as much sense as saying that a single priest can depose his bishop.
 
No a council does not derive its authority from the Pope. It’s not that simple. In fact the Second Vatican Council explicitly teaches that bishops are not mere deputies of the Pope, but vicars of Christ in their own right.

Now you are correct that a council does not have authority over a Pope, and that a council must be ratified by a Pope… but by definition a council derives its authority from the entire college of bishops.
 
twf said:
No a council does not derive its authority from the Pope. It’s not that simple. In fact the Second Vatican Council explicitly teaches that bishops are not mere deputies of the Pope, but vicars of Christ in their own right.

Now you are correct that a council does not have authority over a Pope, and that a council must be ratified by a Pope… but by definition a council derives its authority from the entire college of bishops.
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But a schismatic council has no authority except scholarship, and if a council is not ratified by the Pope, it is not infallible and its documents are much less binding. If they are opposed by the Pope, they have no binding authority. Therefore, at least a great part of a council’s authority comes from the Pope.
 
HerCrazierHalf said:
The title might be awkward. Can the pope be recalled, censured, or otherwise reprimanded or removed? If not are there penalties for such attempts?

I’m asking in the context of the recent letter alleging heresy. I’m not Catholic but was under the impression that only God out ranks him and no “impeachment” type of mechanisms exist. If so, I’m really confused WRT what the authors/cosigners expect to happen.
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No it is impossible.

Death or resignation are the only ways a Pope is “removed”.
 
Wait. Another recall?! First it was spinach, then it was Romaine and Tyson Chicken.

Now it’s the Supreme Pontiff?!
 
HerCrazierHalf said:
I hope u can understand that a letter including the quote below sounds like the begins of something major when looking from the outside.

“first to accuse Pope Francis of the canonical delict of heresy, and second, to request that you take the steps necessary to deal with the grave situation of a [sic] heretical pope.”
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I can certainly understand that someone who doesn’t understand the Catholic Church could think that that means something it doesn’t.
 
Yes, I think it would be most accurate to say that it derives it’s authority from the Pope AND the bishops in union with him. It’s a synergy.
 
Your impression is correct. The Pope answers to no one but God, and he is judged by no one.
 
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