St_Benedict:
You should be aware that some Latin Catholics can go a bit overboard on their description of the Pope’s role, note the use of Peter’s pastoral care…Peter and by the bishops. Terms like monarchy do not go down well with our Orthodox / Protestant brethern and since Vatican II a much more collegial approach has been in evidence (though some will say it hasn’t)
You should also note the Church is the Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Church is a rite within the Church, albeit far and away the largest one.
St B
I am sorry that I seem to have offended you in my overly simplified title of the Pope. However some people get quite confused by our honor to the Pope as the Vicar of Christ. My term as seat warmer is very simple and I will admit it does not take his entire job under account.
The Pope heads the church till Christ returns at which point he gives the reins back to Christ. The Pope is the one we hold accountable to God to lead us, we believe throught the doctrine of Papal Infallablity that he will not be able to change the doctrines of our church in matters of faith or morals. I realise the college of Cardinals and the Bishops advise the Pope, but they are not the figure heads! They are not held to the same level of accountablility as the Pope.
The term Roman Catholic Church was not used for some time, but it was used to distinguish the difference between the Byzantine, also referred to as Orthodox or Eastern, Catholics and the rest of us. The Orthodox Catholics actually broke from the RC. Here is a link to read more on the split
catholic.com/library/eastern_orthodoxy.asp. Thus the title of Roman Cathoilc Rite verses Orthodox or Eastrn Rite came about. Yes overall the two are so very similar, especially compared to our Protestant Siblings in Christ, but they are not in complete agreement with the RC thus still keeping the titles to separate the groups.
As for the democratic comment, well some of our faithful seem to think the church would benifit from some changes. They think they could put enough pressure on the Holy See to make these changes. Big News Here: They can no better change the church’s stance on matters of morals or faith than the Pope can!
If they feel they can no longer accept the teachings of Christ and the first apostles, I am sure they can find a new home in one of our Protestant groups who did change their doctrines to fit their wants. Look at the recent controvery with in our Lutheran Brothers and Sisters who were VOTING on weither or not to accept Gay Marriage. Christ said Even the gates of Hell will not prevail against my kingdom. Wow, I think he meant it was his kingdom, meaning Monarchy verses an Our which means democracy. Where in the Bible did Jesus “feel out” or ask Peter what he though about these rules? No, he just said this is what you need to do and this is God’s will. Jesus put Peter in charge “until his return” so someone would be accountable to making sure the “rules” now referred to as doctrines, were kept in tact.
So yes it was an over simplified statment on being the “seat warmer” but it was still well within the defined parameters of his job. I think Benedict would gladly step down if Christ himself came to him and said “Hey I am back! I think I will take over now! Thanks for keeping the seat warm!”
Try to find some humor in your day! God has a sense of humor or he would not have given us one!
I understand we are suppose to be ecumenical, and I do believe in welcoming our Christian siblings in, but there are still some differences that make us Catholic. I read an article on Vatican II, you see I am post Vatican II (I have never been to Latin Mass!), the idea of becoming more ecumenical was to make it easier to bring our estranged Christian siblings back into the fold. It was never intended to “water down” our faith to be like the other Protestant Demons. We are still Catholic, we have some specific things that make us different from the Protestants and to deny that would be to pretend that our doctrines do not matter. SO it is a fine line on when are we ecumenical and when are we exclusive. This is why we say to be in the fullness of truth you need to follow the Vatican, we never said the other Protestant faiths were wrong, just not completely faithful to the origins of the church and God’s will as stated by Christ or the Holy Spirit through the Apostles.
I hope you understand I really am not trying to argue semantics here. I just felt you really did not find my comment the way it was intended.
