The pope's responsibilities

[vickijanefred]

A friend of mine said that the Pope solely interperts the Bible then creates doctrine for the Catholic Church. My friend mentioned if 10 people read the bible, each one will interept it differently. My fiend belives the Pope makes decisions for Catholics as to if it is okay to have an abortion, (just one example) etc. Does the Pope have that much power over the Catholic Church? I tried to explain that Catholics are Christians much like Baptists and other demoniations and we follow the Bible as it is the word of the Lord. I did say the Catholic Church does have some doctrine like praying the rosary, which is the walk of Jesus, and intersession, male celibate priests, (I also mentioned some other doctrine) that other demoninations do not have that the Pope may be able to overturn. Does the Pope have the power to overturn the current belief of same sex marriage, abortion and basiclly ANYTHING in the doctrine of the Catholic Church if the Pope interperts the Bible as he only see it?

 

[ahs]

Your friend does not have a proper understanding of the Pope. I recommend you read your Catechism of the Catholic Church, the sections pertaining to the Magesterium and the Papacy, and then give your friend the proper understanding from actual Catholic teaching. Or you could just research the various tracts in the library section of Catholic Answers and find the same information.

 

[bzkoss236]

Praying the rosary isn’t doctrine, it is a practice.

Also, your friend does not have a correct understanding of Catholicism or the Pope. I would suggest you read Catholicism for Dummies, and your friend too. The doctrine that is taught in the Catholic Church is the same as that which was taught by Jesus and the apostles because it is the apostles, under the leadership of Peter, who was given the authority from Jesus, who created the Catholic Church. This all happened long before there was even a Bible to read from. It was the Catholic Church that took the sacred writings to form the Bible.

The formation of doctrine is much more difficult than just interpreting scripture.

And 10 Protestants may interpret the Bible differently, because they have no authority to teach them truth, so they guess based on what they’ve read and what they’ve been taught in church by others. 10 properly taught Catholics would interpret the Bible the same way, because we have the authority of the Church, given such by Christ, to correctly interpret scripture.

 

[vickijanefred]

Thank you ahs and bzkoss236. I appreciate your (name removed by moderator)ut. I have pulled my Catechism of the Catholic Church book out and will start with your recommended reading (ahs). I don’t have Catholicism for Dummies bzkoss236, but will seek that book out if I am not able to explain to my friend in a way that is understandable And of course first I will pray before opening my mouth.