What does the pope do?

[Apricotsbehavior]

What does the pope do. not what he is ordained to do but what does this pope do. plus wasn't the pope thing a roman deal why are we still using this old idea....does it serve a purpose other that inspiration

 

[I can eat 50 eggs]

He is the appointed head of Christs Church on earth. pretty important job. I'll get one of the experts to answer this better.

 

[Pistos Ergon]

May it be understood that Catholics believe the pope is appointed head of Christs Church on earth. I'm not aware of any Baptists, Pentecostals, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, Adventists, Lutherans, Disciples of Christ that hold that view.

 

[Grace_Alone4gives]

You are correct - the above denominations (although I am not sure about the SDA) believe Christ is the head of the Church.

 

[Pistos Ergon]

As for SDA, they are on record as following:

"We are to have no kings, no rulers, no popes among us. It is time for us diligently to heed the messages that have brought us out from the world."  (Signed) Ellen G. White.

 

[Apricotsbehavior]

no one answered my question, stop talking about other religions please and get back to the subject with all respect of course

 

[Gerry]

10th April 2003 at 10:51 PM Apricotsbehavior said this in Post #6

no one answered my question, stop talking about other religions please and get back to the subject with all respect of course

Gee! A little testy! Why don't you email the Pope and ask him? Better yet, why didn't you post this question in the CATHOLIC FORUM??? Maybe you will get a quicker response you will appreciate more! If I were a Mod I would have moved it there for you!

 

[Grace_Alone4gives]

lol Gerry - I agree

 

[pax]

The Pope is the successor of St. Peter. In Matthew 16 (I think), Jesus says to Simon "Blessed are you Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father in Heaven. You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church. I will give you the keys to my kingdom and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it"

Catholics take this to belive that Jesus gave Peter a leadership role among his Apostles. After the death and resurrection of Our Lord, the Apostles spread Christ's message and ordained others. Every Catholic Bishop was ordained by a bishop who was ordained by a bishop...who was ordained by an Apostle who was ordained by Christ. The Bishops are successors to the Apostles and the Pope is successor of St. Peter.

Peter died in Rome as Bishop of that city. This is why the Bishop of Rome is the Pope.

 

[pax]

Today the Pope is responsible for the appointment of Bishops and can define matters of dogma when speaking "ex cathedra" or "from the chair" (this has only been twice). He also travels around the world proclaiming the Gospel of Christ. He is an extremely active voice on political matters also (he speaks out against oppression and war quite often).

Here's a little background on our current Pope. Pope John Paul II grew up in Poland during the Nazi occupation during WWII. Later the communists took over. As a priest and a Bishop he resisted the attempts of the totalitarian state to suppress religion. He came back to Poland after being elected Pope and was hailed as a national hero. He celebrated Mass in the town square while the country was still run by communists bringing together the largest gathering in Polish history. He supported the people in their peaceful protests of oppression. This Pope has made 101 Apostolic voyages since the start of his pontificate and has done quite a bit of work implementing the Second Vatican Council. We love you John Paul 2!

 

[Philip]

Later the communists took over. As a priest and a Bishop he resisted the attempts of the totalitarian state to suppress religion. He came back to Poland after being elected Pope and was hailed as a national hero.

This is quite true. John Paul may have done more to bring about the fall of communism than any other person.

 

[Benedicta00]

What does the pope do.

"Feed my sheep" Jesus asked Peter (who was the first pope) to shepard the flock.

not what he is ordained to do but what does this pope do.

Feed the sheep.

plus wasn't the pope thing a roman deal why are we still using this old idea....does it serve a purpose other that inspiration

No, the pope thing is not a Roman deal; the pope is the bishop of Rome.

The apostles were established as bishoprics – they are an office that has successors. These successors founded dioceses and each diocese can trace their bishop back to the original apostles or bishopric it was founded on. The pope is the bishop of Rome.

Catholics believe that Peter was given primacy over all the apostles so that is why we call him pope. He is the Holy Father (pope means papa) over all the bishops and faithful. Pope is not a tittle, it’s a term of endearment, his title is the bishop of Rome.

The Orthodox does not recognize his primacy, but they recognize that he is Peter’s successor, he is the bishop of Rome. All the Latin Rite Catholics are under his obedience, we are the western Church, our bishops are traced back to his office or bishopric.

 

[Oblio]

The Orthodox does not recognize his primacy, but they recognize that he is Peter’s successor, he is the bishop of Rome.

If the East and West ever re-unite, the Orthodox would recognize the Pope as Bishop of Rome, with primacy of Honor and first among equals.

 

[EJO]

That about Paul?
Paul slamed Peter for not wanting to reach out to the gentiles (you and me) and adding works to salvation, that is why we do not hear much about Paul in the letters of the Bible outside of Acts.

No one can come to theFather but by me- Jesus.
You do not need a pope or a father of mary mother of Jesus.
Just Jesus.

Peace- EJO

 

[Oblio]

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome as explained above. The office of bishop is quite Biblical and has been held by all Apostolic Churches from the Acts of the Apostles to the present day. Please explain why we do not need a Bishop as an overseer in the Chuch as we find in Scripture.


Act 20:28-30 RSVA Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers [episkopos], to care for the church of God which he obtained with the blood of his own Son. (29) I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; (30) and from among your own selves will arise men speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.

 

[Benedicta00]

That about Paul?
Paul slamed Peter for not wanting to reach out to the gentiles (you and me) and adding works to salvation, that is why we do not hear much about Paul in the letters of the Bible outside of Acts.

No one can come to theFather but by me- Jesus.
You do not need a pope or a father of mary mother of Jesus.
Just Jesus.

Peace- EJO

Umm, you are grossly reading that wrong.

Paul corrected Peter for not doing what Peter himself was teachings other to do. It was a correction of his personal behavior; he never not reached out to them.

This actually all the more supports the infallibility of the Church because as you can see in Gal, the personal actions of the bishops, even the pope can not change doctrine. Peter was not being corrected on doctrine; his actions as a Christian were being corrected.

If you read right before the verse in which you are referring to you will see that it was the apostles who granted Paul the authority to teach the gentiles, the “Church” [apostles] through the Holy Spirit decided that Paul was sent by Jesus, Paul was under the obedience of the Church and he says so when he says that anyone who comes, even if it’s him and preaches another gospel, don’t listen. The Church is who has the authority to teach, Paul teaches under that authority and if he does not then he should not be listened to. Paul says this himself.

 

[waitinontheLamb]

Did you really just say that the Catholic Church is infallible?????? Can we just visit the time when Christians were burned alive by the pope for not accepting the eucharist and infallibility of the pope? In fact some of the greatest names in the history of the Protestant movement were tortured and burned for this cause which seems pretty accurate to me.

Also earlier it was said that the pope is the "appointed head of the church of Christ". This is a gross exageration. He is the supported theocratic head of what you choose to claim as "THE church of Christ". The Church of Christ is His entire body of believing Saints. I for one am one of them and do not attend the Catholic church nor do I agree with many of its precepts. Please do not claim his authority for me. My authority is the Trinity of God the same as is the Apostles and Mary.

 

[pax]

Did you really just say that the Catholic Church is infallible??????

I believe she did

Can we just visit the time when Christians were burned alive by the pope for not accepting the eucharist and infallibility of the pope? In fact some of the greatest names in the history of the Protestant movement were tortured and burned for this cause which seems pretty accurate to me.

I'll be the first to admit there were many Popes who greatly abused their power, however, not one of these popes ever defined an article of faith or morals that contradicts the original deposit of faith left to us by the Apostles (you will obviously disagree). The Catholic Church has never changed a teaching (it has changed disciplines, but these are not set in stone).[/quote]

Also earlier it was said that the pope is the "appointed head of the church of Christ". This is a gross exageration. He is the supported theocratic head of what you choose to claim as "THE church of Christ". The Church of Christ is His entire body of believing Saints. I for one am one of them and do not attend the Catholic church nor do I agree with many of its precepts. Please do not claim his authority for me. My authority is the Trinity of God the same as is the Apostles and Mary.

Our current Pope, John Paul II, has stated "truth does not contradict truth." How can you say that your authority is the Holy Trinity when thousands of other protestant denominations claim the same authority and most differ in beliefs (including the rather important beliefs about how we are saved). There is absolute truth, but how can we be sure which version of the truth is indeed the truth? An inspired book like the Bible requires an infallible interpreter.

 

[The Pope]

Hey, I'm new here. I have a school report about the pope due tomorrow so I was wondering what he does?



Thanx,
The Pope

 

[Carico]

The pope call himself "Holy Father". Jesus said not to call anyone on this earth father because our father is who sent Him. Jesus said, "No one is good but God alone." The pope apparently doesn't believe Jesus's words.