R
Rence
Guest
Yes, I have that too, thanks 
Why is it important for anyone to believe truth? Well, because it is truth.Nope. I said I donât believe it, that Iâm not convinced. Therefore it is neither truth nor lie, but merely something I donât understand, or accept. Ah. HERE is the problem. Let me see if I can make it clear.
THAT is your difficulty. You see, something does not âbecomeâ truth (or lie) simply based upon your understanding or acceptance. I think you actually know this but you expressed it in a way that is confusing. . . as if you actually thought that so long as you donât âmake the judgmentâ on a concept, it isnât truth or lie. And of course, that isnât correct. The teaching of the Church is truth. Now, you can be, and you are, questioning the teaching. . .and you âcanâ in the sense of saying, âGee, I donât fully understand this.â But you canâtâreally, you canâtâsay, "Because I donât understand or accept it, it isnât a truth, and it isnât a lieâ.
You know I have patiently answered everyones questions on top of questions, you all not being satifsifed with my answers and reasking the same questions, twisting my answers and asking the same questions again. But here, I have one for you. Please all of you answer it: Truly, I do not and never have intended to âtwistâ your answers. I have been grateful for your clarifications; probably not as quick to respond to them as I would like. I am simply trying to understand and again, appreciate your patience.
Why is it so important that I believe what YOU are saying?
Iâm sorry, this is not quite correct.**Again, Catholics donât have to believe everything they are taught, they just need to follow the rules, and I donât need to decide anything else but that.
**
As I said in my first post on this thread, due to my observance of the lack of priests where I live (and my first home is over 500 miles away from my current home), I believe that if the Church doesnât do something to rectify the problem, it will affect parishioners.
I mentioned 1) consolidating parishes 2) the possibility of allowing priests to marry again and/or 3) ordination of women. I also said I would be very happy if women were ordained. I didnât say I was picketing the Vatican, writing nasty grams to the Pope, encouraging women to defy the Pope, rallying for changes in the schools and churches, looking for a denomination that could or would accomodate my wishes, yadda yadda. I just said I would be happy about it.
I also said that I didnât agree with the teachings as they were interpreted in explanation of why women canât be priests. I also said that it is in my opinion that certain things pointing to possibility of bigger roles of women in the early Church were either ignored or misinterpreted. I hate to burst your bubbles, but you donât have to agree with everything in order to be Catholic, you just have to follow it. Since when does a child have to like the rules set down by parents? All that is expected is that they obey the rules and someday they will understand them. This is how I was raised by my âholy rollerâ family: even if you donât agree, you follow the rules. Maybe youâll understand later.
.
So when the Church makes mistakes or bad decisions, or behaves in a cruel way, we accept that as handed down by God? Really? Iâm sorry, I donât think thatâs true.Catholicism is a set of beliefs, all religions are, you canât be a Catholic and not believe what Catholics believe, it is what we believe that makes us who we are.
It is not important for you to believe what I say but I think once you grasp the fact that it is God who speaks through the Church the importance of accepting what the Church says becomes obvious.
Iâm not judging you I am explaining to you that to be Catholic you must believe as Catholics believe, the definition of a Catholic is someone who believes as the Catholic Church teaches.I am Catholic, and I still would love it if women were to be ordained as priests. Really, itâs not your place to judge meâŚ
The Church does not make mistakes in matters of Faith and Morals as it is protected by the Holy Spirit.So when the Church makes mistakes or bad decisions, or behaves in a cruel way, we accept that as handed down by God? Really? Iâm sorry, I donât think thatâs true.
You are basicly saying that every Catholic from Christ through 2000 years till our present time are wrong, and you know better. Who are you to judge them all?"Although the teaching that priestly ordination is to be reserved to men alone has been preserved by the constant and universal Tradition of the Church and firmly taught by the Magisterium in its more recent documents, at the present time in some places it is nonetheless considered still open to debate, or the Churchâs judgment that women are not to be admitted to ordination is considered to have a merely disciplinary force. Wherefore, in order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Churchâs divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Luke 22:32), I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgment is to be definitively held by all the Churchâs faithful" Pope John Paul II(Ordinatio Sacerdotalis 4).
Yep, this is another trap of modern thought which people fall into. The Church is protected from error:The Church does not make mistakes in matters of Faith and Morals as it is protected by the Holy Spirit.
18 And I say to thee: That thou art Peter; and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
From the Catechism:18 âThe gates of hellâ⌠That is, the powers of darkness, and whatever Satan can do, either by himself, or his agents. For as the church is here likened to a house, or fortress, built on a rock; so the adverse powers are likened to a contrary house or fortress, the gates of which, that is, the whole strength, and all the efforts it can make, will never be able to prevail over the city or church of Christ. By this promise we are fully assured, that neither idolatry, heresy, nor any pernicious error whatsoever shall at any time prevail over the church of Christ.
2051 The infallibility of the Magisterium of the Pastors extends to all the elements of doctrine, including moral doctrine, without which the saving truths of the faith cannot be preserved, expounded, or observed.
891 âThe Roman Pontiff, head of the college of bishops, enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful - who confirms his brethren in the faith he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals. . . . The infallibility promised to the Church is also present in the body of bishops when, together with Peterâs successor, they exercise the supreme Magisterium,â above all in an Ecumenical Council. When the Church through its supreme Magisterium proposes a doctrine âfor belief as being divinely revealed,â and as the teaching of Christ, the definitions âmust be adhered to with the obedience of faith.â This infallibility extends as far as the deposit of divine Revelation itself.
890 The mission of the Magisterium is linked to the definitive nature of the covenant established by God with his people in Christ. It is this Magisteriumâs task to preserve Godâs people from deviations and defections and to guarantee them the objective possibility of professing the true faith without error. Thus, the pastoral duty of the Magisterium is aimed at seeing to it that the People of God abides in the truth that liberates. To fulfill this service, Christ endowed the Churchâs shepherds with the charism of infallibility in matters of faith and morals. The exercise of this charism takes several forms:
The Church does not make mistakes in matters of Faith and Morals as it is protected by the Holy Spirit.
But when the Pope acts immorally, doesnât that not reflection of morality (or lack thereof)?
You are basicly saying that every Catholic from Christ through 2000 years till our present time are wrong, and you know better. Who are you to judge them all?
No, thatâs not what Iâm saying. Iâm saying that if a Pope errs in a particular area of the Church by his words or deeds, how is it that we are expected to believe everything he says as being âcorrectâ and 'without error"? I donât judge them all. I know theyâre only human and as humans, we are bound to make mistakes. Unlike God, who has no limits in understanding and goodness, we, as humans, are limited in our capacity to understand and our goodness is sometimes flawed. Otherwise, weâd all be God and we know thatâs not trueâŚ
But why not? If the Pope can err in other areas and fall to his human nature, why canât he? Why canât the Pope read something and say, âwell Iâll be durned, I didnât see that! I think it means this instead.âThe Pope cannot err on this issue Rense.
If the Pope decreed that it was right and proper to burn someone at the stake for not agreeing with the Church, how is that not erring in morals?The Pope cannot err on this issue Rense. Even bad Popes cannot introduce false teachings when it comes to Faith and Morals because God does not allow it, they can set bad examples but they cannot officially promulgate false doctrines. Furthermore this teaching concerning the Priesthood has been the teaching since the very beginning of the Church till our present day its not a case of just one Pope making a decision it has been the teaching since Christ founded the Church.
Thank you for the link, I appreciate it
Did the Pope decree that?If the Pope decreed that it was right and proper to burn someone at the stake for not agreeing with the Church, how is that not erring in morals?
Thatâs what I was told in Theology class. If not the Pope, who could have? Who did? and if the Pope didnât sanction it, what did he do about it?Did the Pope decree that?
Would you grab us a citation that shows this decree?If the Pope decreed that it was right and proper to burn someone at the stake for not agreeing with the Church, how is that not erring in morals?