Should I stay Catholic if I don't agree with the Pope?

[Searching4God]

I have been Catholic for all of my life. I was baptized, had my First Communion, confession, confirmation, I was even a confirmation counselor for my parish. Now I’m approaching my wedding, and I’ve started looking into the Church more. I still consider my faith in God the Father, Christ his Son, and the Holy Spirit to be strong and ever-developing. However, the more I read about the current pope, his past, and his decrees, the less I wish to be associated with him. Should I stay Catholic even if I disagree with Pope Benedict XVI on just about everything he represents?

 

[Michelle_Arnold]

Yes. Catholic apologist Frank Sheed once said:

We are not baptized into the hierarchy; do not receive the cardinals sacramentally; will not spend an eternity in the beatific vision of the pope. Christ is the point. I, myself, admire the present pope, but even if I criticized him as harshly as some do, even if his successor proved to be as bad as some of those who have gone before, even if I find the Church, as I have to live with it, a pain in the neck, I should still say that nothing that a pope (or a priest) could do or say would make me wish to leave the Church, although I might well wish that they would leave.

That said, you really should reconsider whether your relationship with God really can be all that “strong and ever-developing” if you deliberately choose to scorn his Vicar and “just about everything he represents [first and foremost of which is Jesus Christ himself].” It would be more humble and loving of you to say to yourself, “I don’t always understand why this Pope does such-and-so, but I am willing to trust that he is a good man doing the best he can, and I am open to better understanding his decisions and actions.”

Recommended reading:

All the Pope’s Men by John L. Allen Jr.