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Lebell · 05-26-2005, 05:51 AM

dlishguy,

A few things to add on the subject,

As much as the Roman Catholic church would have you believe otherwise, the Pope only has authority over the Roman Catholic church and not any other Christian denominations. Peter was certainly tapped by Jesus and most believe that he went to Rome where he ended up being martyred, but he didn't set up a church and pick a successor, so the whole "lineage" of the Papacy really doesn't mean much.

The truth is there are three branches of Christianity that could legitimately claim "leadership", the Coptic Christians, the Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox, but only the Roman Catholic church tries to. This happened not by any appointment, but because Rome was the most important western city at the time and bishops from other cities tended to defer to Rome's bishop. But it was many years before the Bishop of Rome decided that he was the "leader" of all the church, (which surprised and irritated the other two branches that existed at the time).

As the years passed, other schisms occurred in the west, starting with the Anglicans. It is important to know that several of these different groups have Bishops that are in the "apostolic succession". This means that they were confirmed Bishops by Bishops that were confirmed by Bishops that were confirmed by...etc, as far back as anyone can recount. Therefore, even the Pope grudgingly admits that they are real and legit Bishops.

As to the Pope speaking infallably, this is done VERY rarely. Called "ex cathedra" (latin for "from the chair"), the last time was when one of them (sorry don't recall which) pronounced on the virginity of Mary. Speaking 'ex cathedra' is relatively new and many popes don't ever do so, but Pope John XXIII was so concerned about pope's being fallable that he said that he would never speak ex cathedra.

In the past there were indeed some very 'evil' popes. For a while there were even two popes, one in Avignon (sp?) and one in Rome who were battling for control of the church. They made all sorts of condemnations against each other, so I occassionally wonder which ones God "held true in Heaven".

Sorry for the length of the post, but I thought some other readers might be interested in some Roman Church history.

05-26-2005, 05:51 AM	#36 (permalink)
Lebell Cracking the Whip Location: Sexymama's arms...	dlishguy, A few things to add on the subject, As much as the Roman Catholic church would have you believe otherwise, the Pope only has authority over the Roman Catholic church and not any other Christian denominations. Peter was certainly tapped by Jesus and most believe that he went to Rome where he ended up being martyred, but he didn't set up a church and pick a successor, so the whole "lineage" of the Papacy really doesn't mean much. The truth is there are three branches of Christianity that could legitimately claim "leadership", the Coptic Christians, the Roman Catholics and the Eastern Orthodox, but only the Roman Catholic church tries to. This happened not by any appointment, but because Rome was the most important western city at the time and bishops from other cities tended to defer to Rome's bishop. But it was many years before the Bishop of Rome decided that he was the "leader" of all the church, (which surprised and irritated the other two branches that existed at the time). As the years passed, other schisms occurred in the west, starting with the Anglicans. It is important to know that several of these different groups have Bishops that are in the "apostolic succession". This means that they were confirmed Bishops by Bishops that were confirmed by Bishops that were confirmed by...etc, as far back as anyone can recount. Therefore, even the Pope grudgingly admits that they are real and legit Bishops. As to the Pope speaking infallably, this is done VERY rarely. Called "ex cathedra" (latin for "from the chair"), the last time was when one of them (sorry don't recall which) pronounced on the virginity of Mary. Speaking 'ex cathedra' is relatively new and many popes don't ever do so, but Pope John XXIII was so concerned about pope's being fallable that he said that he would never speak ex cathedra. In the past there were indeed some very 'evil' popes. For a while there were even two popes, one in Avignon (sp?) and one in Rome who were battling for control of the church. They made all sorts of condemnations against each other, so I occassionally wonder which ones God "held true in Heaven". Sorry for the length of the post, but I thought some other readers might be interested in some Roman Church history. __________________ "Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience." – C. S. Lewis The ONLY sponsors we have are YOU! Please Donate!