SocaliCatholic:
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**Example:** What authority gave a protestant authority to interpret scripture? **Answer:** nobody.
**Question:** What authority gave you the authority to declare a pope invalid? **Answer:** nobody
This needs clarification. Any Catholic is allowed to interpret scripture. What you are not allowed to do is be the **final **interpreter of scripture. The Church allows Her children to read scripture, comprehend it, and interpret it, all the while trying to do so in conformity with all other truths…all the while recognizing there is a final interpreting authority, which is the Church.
The problem with the Protestants is not that they intepret scripture, it is that they recognize no final interpreter but themselves. They don’t recognize Church authority above themselves.
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Likewise, as an analogy...the **final **judge for our sins is the priest in the confessional. He is a true judge with jurisdiction to do so. Yet, we are required to "judge" our own sins and accuse ourselves and act upon our own judgment before going to confession. Ours is a moral judgment of reason, and it obliges us to act upon our conclusions....all the while recognizing the authority of the later **final **judge of our sins.
Now, you will have to read a short chapter from a booklet titled, “Liberalism is a Sin”. You can read chapter 32, “Liberalism and Authority in Particular Cases” here:
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[ewtn.com/library/THEOLOGY/LIBSIN.HTM#32](http://www.ewtn.com/library/THEOLOGY/LIBSIN.HTM#32)
The question above about judging a pope is incorrectly asked. Firstly, when a pope ceases being pope, he is NOT a pope, so the judging pertains only to
a man, not a pope. Nobody can judge a pope. Secondly, the judgment is not juridical. It is a moral judgment
in lieu of a higher judgment, yet one we can act upon and publicly pronounce our judgment of conscience beforehand…as it says in the link above.
JLC