How to answer Conservative Protestants about the Pope

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AlruwhAlquds

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Greetings, hopefully I posted this in the correct spot.

The Pope appears to be more progressive than the Catholic tradition. I generally believe the media takes what the Pope says out of context. I have Protestant friends and family who hear the news and remain secure in being Protestant and not Catholic and believe His Holiness and the Church is not what it says it is. Most of them are very conservative and follow Christ. They vote pro-life etc. etc. etc.

To be truthful, I don’t follow what the media says about him because I don’t usually believe it. However, many non-Catholics do follow what the media says the Pope says, and they formulate these opinions about the Catholic faith. I have reiterated to others that the Catholic faith still upholds it’s tradition for many issues like abortion, gay marriage, female priests, etc. and to be mindful that the media likes to make their own truths.
How do you answer them back when they tell you the latest news or how unholy His Holiness seems to be lately?
 
The Pope has said nothing Ex Cathedra in his papacy. As such, the Catechism and the Deposit of Faith still stand tall.

Refer your friends to the Catechism, Aquinas, and the Early Church Fathers.
 
That doesn’t remove him from his eminent position in the Church or discredit what he has said…
 
AlruwhAlquds said:
How do you answer them back when they tell you the latest news or how unholy His Holiness seems to be lately?
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That listening to the media and agreeing with them is like listening to a Reformer and agreeing with him on everything.

Maybe, instead of blindly agreeing with everything you’re told and what you hear, just maybe you could go to the source, listen to both sides, and make an informed, unbiased decision on whom to trust.
 
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Not to get too far off topic but you’ve got me curious now…how does the average layperson know when something is ex cathedra and when it isn’t? I was under the impression that encyclicals were.
 
I know, thats why I said I reiterate to them that the Church hasn’t changed any of it’s traditional teachings on various issues.
 
Yeah, that’s what generally happens when they don’t listen or hear. I try to show them how they have fav. politicians who’s message gets misconstrued in the media all the time. Most of the time family members can hear me out. Other times, they just want to sensationalize with the media.
 
May I ask on what issues do you disagree with the Pope? As a non Catholic I have a lot of respect for the Pope.
 
I think he didsay some things ex cathedra.

What the Pope didn’t do is say something that can be considered infallible (afaik) because none of them have all the necessary requisites to be so.
 
AlruwhAlquds said:
how unholy His Holiness seems to be lately?
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@AlruwhAlquds , the obvious way to deal with this sort of stuff is to ask your Protestant friends to give evidence for their views .

For example , if they say ," How unholy His Holiness seems to be lately", you reply , “How has the Holy Father been unholy recently ?”

Put the onus on them to provide the facts if there are any .

In the end they are not , as long as they remain Protestant , going to embrace the wholeness of Catholicism .

Unfortunately the same will be true also of the pick and mix , cafeteria Catholics .
 
If secular media is reporting something about the pope or the Catholic Church that seems a bit iffy then I head to the Vatican sources or reliable Catholic media to read or listen to what was really said. This usually clears up what the secular media reported.

To be polite, there are lots of secular media reporters who have a somewhat limited knowledge about the Catholic Church and her teachings. Those who have any knowledge, are very likely Catholics, as that can be seen in which words that are chosen and how they express themselves and reason.
 
You can always ask Protestants, “where do YOU find reliable authority for interpretating scriptures to modern Life?”
If they say Private Interpretation, you can point out the countless contradictory directions it leads to. If they say their own denomination is still reliably orthodox, you point out the many denominations with all the same guidance structures They have, that went astray.

Yes the media is exaggerating certain things, quoting him out of context. Ask your friends if they trust the media
 
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