Thank you for a direct answer. Perhaps I expect too much from the Pope, for I not only expect infallible doctrine, but exceptional wisdom. If he fails in this, then it isn’t only he who fails but also those Church leaders who prayed and placed him into power. Aren’t they suppose to be the best of the best, the holiest of the holy? If he and they are not that, then who can I trust?
At a CARM forum, I once stated that I**'m a mere fallible human being** and am unable to sort out all of the disagreements about Scripture and doctrine. I listened to the Catholics there as they spoke. I believed much of what they said and so came here to hopefully find God, If this Churches leadership might be unwise as you say they might be, then I can only trust in my fallibility again. How have you improved my hope?
I suspect, first of all, that the Pope does have exceptional wisdom. I got my degree in religious studies as a protestant. I studied what I would consider the brightest minds in protestantism. They don’t come anywhere NEAR the top (or even “good”) minds in Catholicism. I’m currently reading a book by PJPII,
Crossing the Threshold of Hope, and his treatment of extremely complex philosophical issues and of modern political issues is absolutely unbelievable. I have never read such a brilliant modern writer. And, to boot, I understand the book is primarily his answers to an interview, not a planned and carefully edited book. I have not read as much by the Pope either as Pope or as Cardinal Ratzinger, but what I have read seems certainly in the same league–and by in the same league, I mean leagues and leagues above nearly all other writers in this era or prior ones. This, of course, is not uncommon among Catholic writers; I could name a dozen other Catholic authors that exceed their protestant (or atheist, or Islamic) counterparts by miles. Whether this is because wise people naturally chose Catholicism, or Catholicism makes people wise, I cannot say. Granted, this is my anecdotal experience, and there are exceptions, but I challenge you to read the authors I have read (and add any others) and come to a different conclusion.
Now, extremely wise people can still make mistakes. If you are certain that universal healthcare is a poor choice, that does not mean that someone who supports it cannot be extremely wise. Looking at all the great thinkers throughout history, there is not one that did not make a number of noteworthy mistakes. If you knew that, say, Thomas Aquinas was the head of the Church, you would find him uncommonly wise, no? But he also made mistakes. Or, say, if you knew that Einstein was the head of a physics department, you would think this department extremely wise, no? But Einstein also made significant mistakes.
But more importantly, even if the above things were not true, I still think you can rest assured you have found an infallible source in the Church. Even as a pretty fanatical Catholic, I do not typically trust the Church on prudential issues–there is simply no need to. I don’t turn to Christ for political guidance or the like, but for spiritual guidance. And as I and others have said, on spiritual matters, I firmly believe the Church makes
no mistakes. You are looking for an infallible source for spirituality; you have found one. It seems perhaps that you are also looking for infallible source for political guidance. Would you agree that even if God existed, and even if Christ was His Church, a source of infallible political guidance would not exist?
I don’t think that, when the Pope decides matters of spirituality as we do, by siting down, thinking about it, and simply choosing what seems the best answer, still unsure. I suspect that he prays over the issues, studies them, and comes to the correct answer, knowing that Christ would not have let him come to the wrong one. Through the last 2,000 years, the Church has never made a mistake with an infallible proclamation. If it had, do you not think non-Catholics would constantly use it to prove the pontiff is not, in fact, infallible?
Does this address your question?
