Why does the Roman Catholic Church consider beatification of the pope?
score:11
First, Catholic teaching is not that the Pope is infallible in everything he says and does, but rather infallible only when specifically exercising the authority of his office to pronounce doctrine.
Second, a Saint in the sense meant by the Catholic church is one whose life, witness and actions have been examined in depth and at length by church leadership and has been found to be significantly exemplary of the Christian ideal. They are recognized by the Catholic church as examples to emulate, and are made "official", so to speak, so that there is no confusion among believers as to what constitutes a great example.
Also, as Patrick pointed out in the comments, other conditions and prerequisites apply; among them is the requirement that at least two miracles be directly attributable to the individual under consideration.
Therefore, a Pope is not automatically a Saint (with a capital 'S' since all believers are saints in the general sense); in fact, historically, many of them were decidedly unchristian in their actions and some downright wicked. Some very reputable Catholics have said that the preservation of the doctrine of the Catholic church in spite of some of her Popes is remarkable, if not nothing short of miraculous.
Upvote:5
The infallibility of the Pope means that it is impossible for him (due to the guidance of the Holy Spirit) to lead the Church into wrong definitive teaching in regards to faith and morals. However, it does not guarantee that the Pope is a morally good person. It is possible for someone to teach the truth, but not live it himself. There are many examples of Popes who were not great examples in their moral lives, but there are no Popes who in their teaching promoted immorality or heresy.
When I say definitive teaching, I mean teaching where the Pope defines a certain teaching as part of the Christian faith to be believed by all Christians. This does not include teaching on certain practices that are deemed prudent for a particular time and place. It also does not mean that every explanation of a Pope is 100% without error.
The Church beatifies and canonizes those Popes who lived extraordinarily exemplary Christian lives, and so far it is less than half of them. (Out of 266 Popes, I count 79 that are Saints.)
More post
- 📝 Calvinism: Dealing with paradoxes
- 📝 What does the bible say about interracial marriages?
- 📝 If the Bible contains all of the word of God and there can be no more, then why do we need the Nicene Creed?
- 📝 Where in the Bible does it mention that God mourns with us when we mourn?
- 📝 Why do most Christians eat pork when Deuteronomy says not to?
- 📝 How much realization of one's own sinfulness is needed for a person to be saved?
- 📝 What is the case that 1 Corinthians 15:7 refers to James the Just, relative of Jesus, rather than James, one of the Twelve?
- 📝 Why did Philip the evangelist have a house?
- 📝 Did Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John write anything other than the Gospels?
- 📝 According to the Catholic Church, can one be a heretic and still obtain salvation?
- 📝 Where can I download the Antwerp and Paris Polyglot Bibles in PDF form?
- 📝 How does the Catholic Church explain the juxtaposition of two tenets of faith with two different pre-conditions at Roman 10:9?
- 📝 Are there different Trinitarian foundations?
- 📝 According to Catholicism, can you hit someone in self defence?
- 📝 What's God's justification of not allowing the choice of personal annihilation?
- 📝 Why was it said Salvation is only through Jesus?
- 📝 What is the reason for the absence of the Cross as a symbol in the LDS Church?
- 📝 Were (at least some) Babylonians (at least somewhat) righteous?
- 📝 Why wouldn't a practicing Catholic joke about the Sacraments and what would happen if they did?
- 📝 Converting to Judaism or Islam vs Trinitarian or Uniterian
- 📝 Which Person(s) of the Trinity were in Jesus?
- 📝 How did Gideon win his battle against the Midianites?
- 📝 Are Calvinism and Arminianism compatible?
- 📝 Did the Israelites/Hebrews have their own slaves or servants?
- 📝 Will all that are lost be saved?
- 📝 How do Cessationists who believe in modern-day miracles judge the credibility of modern miracle claims?
- 📝 How many resurrections (raptures) will there be?
- 📝 Does Roman Catholicism teach that appearances of *Santo Nino De Atocha* have some particular meaning?
- 📝 Why didn't God forgive Saul when he asked for it?
- 📝 Contradictions and misunderstandings
Source: stackoverflow.com
Search Posts
Related post
- 📝 Why does the Roman Catholic Church consider beatification of the pope?
- 📝 Why does the Roman Catholic Church not hold to the perspicuity of Scripture?
- 📝 Does the Roman Catholic church consider HIPAA to be an unjust law?
- 📝 Why in the Roman Catholic Church does the sixth commandment differ between languages?
- 📝 Why does the Catholic Church consider protestant baptisms valid sacraments, but not protestant marriages?
- 📝 Why does the Roman Catholic church allow girls to serve the altar?
- 📝 Does the Roman Catholic Church consider other religions evil, demonic, and satanic?
- 📝 What does the Roman Catholic church teach about those who die having never heard of Christ?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church consider abortion to be murder?
- 📝 Does the Roman Catholic church recognize marriages outside of the church?
- 📝 Why does the Catholic church not sanction the KJV translation?
- 📝 Why is the Catholic Church called "The Roman Catholic Church"?
- 📝 Why does the Catholic Church require miracles for someone to be canonized?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church have a contingency plan for the case that the pope and all cardinals are dead?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church consider it sinful for couples who aren't able to conceive to have sex?
- 📝 Does the Roman Catholic Church embrace theistic evolution?
- 📝 How does the Roman Catholic Church interpret predestination?
- 📝 Why does the Catholic Church prefer burials over cremation?
- 📝 Does the Catholic church consider Mark 16:9-20 to be biblical canon?
- 📝 Why does the Catholic church have so many Masses throughout the week?
- 📝 Does the Roman Catholic church recognize LDS baptisms?
- 📝 What does the Roman Catholic Church teach about covenant theology?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church consider not administering a feeding tube passive euthanasia?
- 📝 Why does the Catholic Church say that the plan of salvation includes Muslims?
- 📝 How does the Orthodox Church view the Roman Catholic Church?
- 📝 Why doesn't the Roman Catholic church defrock Richard Rohr?
- 📝 Does the Catholic Church consider the 40 year trek in the wilderness an allegory?
- 📝 Why does the Catholic Church deny Anglican apostolic succession?
- 📝 Apart from any claim related to antiquity, does the modern Roman Catholic Church claim to be ‘The Body of Christ'?
- 📝 Under what basis does the Catholic Church consider animals, in particular great apes, not to be persons?
