please don't turn this into a pigpen thread!

what exactly does the Pope do?

I see him going around and giving speeches, but what exactly is his job description?

please forgive my ignorance

XXL

 

he is the supreme(living) authority on all that is catholicism, and he heads up the catholic church which has the worls oldest bueracracy(sp?) he pretty much makes the most imporatnt decisions as far as the catholic church goes, though the college of cardinals also has a lot of say...i think all thats right, i am catholic but theres lots of stuff to know!!!!

 

I'm not picking a fight, just curious - what "important decisions" need to be made? It seems to me that the religion has already been set up and it's just sort of cruising along. I don't really see the Vatican as being like the Pentagon or Microsoft Headquarters, where there's always something going on and things are constantly changing.

XXL

 

well the church has to adapt somewhat to the changing world around us...we have done so in the past, so making small changes is necessary...not so much like the president but i forgot also that the pope is a very holy man who sits not on a pedestal above everyone else so much as he is our elected leader as elected by the college of cardinals

 

I don't think the church adapted to anything over the last 25 years. The Pope has pretty much kept things the same, I believe you could call him a c*ns#rv@t*ve. ( left out the political phrase to keep our thread count going). I think he did a good job bringing kielbasa, pierogies, and Babka to the Vatican. Lets Go Poland!

 

as far as over the years meant. that was a longer span of time meant, say since the church's inception

 

Q: ( left out the political phrase to keep our thread count going).
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Not to change the subject, but posts now count in the "Pig Pen". You don't have to speak in code anymore!!!

 

BigMattXXL-

You, like myself, were obviously raised Protestant. You and I will never understand any of this, so don't even try. I'm not making judgements on the Catholic church- I'm merely stating a fact. The Catholic church is as foreign to you and me as an alien from another planet. My grandfather was a Pentecostal minister- you should have heard him go off on Catholics! Fortunately, I never inherited his prejudices and hatreds. But Catholicism is still all Greek (oops, sorry- Latin!) to me........

 

I was thinking the same thing - I believe my family is presbyterian (sp?), but as you can probably tell, I haven't been to church since I was baptised (as an infant). I don't really believe in church, per se - not that I think church is bad, I feel that whatever you believe is what's important. I've known some people who were genuinely bad human beings, who thought "hey, if I go to church every Sunday, I'm safe!". That mentality is what turned me off to the idea of organized church and such.

Once again, I'm not thrashing church or religion - if it makes you happy, then rock on. That's all I've got to say.

I'm teetering on the edge of the pigpen, aren't I?

XXL

 

i always figured that faith comes b4 religion, and have tried to live as such. i find that catholicism offers a lot to me in improving my faith

 

A lot has changed, though there is still a lot of ignorance about Roman Catholics by Protestants. He's upset both the conservatives and liberals with some of his policies, choosing to bow to neither.

The pope gave huge support the resistance movement in Poland, keeping pressure on the government, playing a major role in the changes there that led to revolutionary changes that spread to other-communist block countries. His support of Solidarity played no small part in the collapse of the Iron Curtain.

He's taken a strong stand against the death penalty.

He's made admission and apology for past mistakes of the church, including Galileo and Martin Luther, including in 2000 asking for forgiveness for history of "violence in the service of truth."

He's a man of principle and forgiveness. Among the first words uttered at the scene of his assassination attempt was not to harm the shooter and to forgive him.

He's visited more regions of the world than any other pope, attempting to be the people's pope.

He will not change the church's moral principles. Good for him.

He has been in many parts of the world, including Beirut, when there was trouble brewing, preaching peace among Christians and Muslims.

He has worked to repair schism with other Catholic faiths.

He signed the new Roman Catholic code incorporating changes from Vatican Council II.

He ended the practice of automatic excommunication of Freemasons.

Resumed relations with Sweden after a break of about 450 years.

Was the first Pope in history to visit a synagogue and lead 100 religious leaders (not just Christians) in prayers for peace.

Met with Mikhail Gorbachev to discuss the role and revival of the Church in Russia.

....to name a few.

 

sunday football is my faith!

 

thanks for the backup ken, i am not nearly as well versed as i should be

 

I still have some problems with the Church. God bless him, but the Pope has gotten weak in his old age, unable to make the tough decisions about sexual abuse problems. My faith in God is stronger than its been in a long time, my faith in the Church's ability to make the tough choices right now isn't. It won't be long. John Paul II knows it too... he just added a bunch of hand-picked new Cardinals, cementing a new Pope with similar beliefs.