Catholics claim that its church system cannot be wrong in matters of faith,morals and ethics.
"In order to preserve the Church in the purity of the faith handed on by the apostles, Christ who is Truth willed to confer on her a share in his own infallibility. By a supernatural sense of faith the People of God, under the guidance of the Church's livi ng magisterium, unfailingly adheres to this faith." Pg. 235, #889
"The Roman Pontiff... enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful - who confirms his brethren in the faith - he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals... This infallibility extends as far as the deposit of divine Revelation itself." Pg. 235, #891
Seeing these doctrines and seeing in news headlines that the Vatican is apologizing for something, doesn't mix.
Last month, the Vatican issued a 14-page report that apologized for the Catholic Church's silence during the Holocaust. Following a background report, Margaret Warner and guests discuss the apology and its historic significance. (http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/religion/jan-june98/vatican_4-8.html)
Another hot issue is Pope John Paul II apologizing for the Inquisition in 2004.
From CSBNews.com "Pope John Paul II praised the research, recalling that in 2000, the church asked pardon for "errors committed in the service of the truth through recourse to non-evangelical methods." (http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/06/15/world/main623253.shtml)
This "non-evangelical" method was killing and torturing Chrisitans that would not convert to Catholicism, the Celts, Pagans, Druids and those they deemed to be 'heretics".
More from CBSNews.com says:
"In 2000, John Paul apologized for the sins of Roman Catholics made in the name of their faith, including abuses during the Inquisition - a crackdown by church officials from the 13th to the 19th centuries, on individuals suspected of being in conflict with church teaching.
Catholics accused of being heretics, witches or others considered of dubious faith, including Muslims and Jews who had converted to Catholicism, were among the targets."
So my question is, if they are infallible in all matters of faith, then why are they apologizing?
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3 comments:
> Delaney said: Seeing these doctrines and seeing in news headlines that the Vatican is apologizing for something, doesn't mix.
> And: So my question is, if they are infallible in all matters of faith, then why are they apologizing?
sw: I respond: Matters of discipline, for which Pope John Paul II apologized, are not matters of Catholic dogma. It is in the defining of Catholic dogma that the Church and/or the Pope may be infallible. Not everything done or said by the Church or even the Pope is infallible - ONLY when they infallibly define a matter of faith or morals - and then we have a definition of dogma. There is no apology for any Catholic dogma. The Pope apologized for the acts of some IN the Church who even acted in the name of the Church, but these acts are not under the auspices of infallibility.
I hope this helps you to understand the teaching better.
In JMJ,
Scott<<<
CathApol Blog
Situations, such as the Inquisitions, were a matter of faith and morals. I know a lot of what the Catholic church teaches about infallibility. However, what I posed was more than an oversight. It was intentional silence during the Holocost, and the actions of the CHURCH during the Inquisition. In fact, the pope apologized for the entire Inquisition. The church tribunals decided who was sentenced to death, torture, and other means of punishment. This would fall under faith and MORALS. So, it could not be protected by infallibility if they are now apologizing over a moral issue.
Delaney,
You're confusing issues of politics with issues of faith and morals. During a time when there was no separation of Church and State - those lines get a bit fuzzy, but the REAL point here is that the Pope has the charism of infallibility ONLY when he defines a teaching on a matter of faith and morals. Personal support of a given matter, even a matter you might consider to be one of faith or morals does not equate to infallible support. That is a mistake many, many Protestants make.
The Church also was NOT silent during the Holocaust. Perhaps second only to the Jews in concentration camps were Catholics. Hitler had no love for ANY religion. The Pope, living in the midst of Facist Italy, did not raise undo attention upon Catholics - but he was also not silent. He supported the freeing of many Jews from Nazi occupied lands.
If you are going to make public claims, then I ask you to at least make VALID claims. Document yourself. Use exact quotes and cite primary sources. It's far too easy for you to make such claims, I answer them - and you move the target due to you not using precise references to begin with.
In JMJ,
Scott<<<
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