Pope says Prods "not true churches"

[johnfás]

Pope Benedict XVI’s pride in the primacy of Catholicism is making him enemies, said the head of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church.

“The man (Pope Benedict) makes enemies every time,” said Pope Shenouda III, leader of the 10 million Coptic Christians in Egypt, according to the state-run daily Al-Ahram.

“In his first statements a few months back, he lost all the Muslims,” he said Saturday, referring to the Pope’s speech in Germany last year when he associated Islam with violence. “And now this time, he lost a lot of the Christian denominations because he has begun to err against Christians themselves.”

Shenouda was reacting to the Pope’s approval of a document last Tuesday that reasserted the Vatican’s position on the primacy of the Roman Catholic Church as the “one true church”, while all non-Catholic churches are simply “ecclesial communities”.

“Other Christian communities are either defective or not true churches and Catholicism provides the only true path to salvation,” the Pope was quoted as saying.

The Coptic head said the statement was the result of Catholic pride and a belief “they were the only Christians in the world”, according to Reuters.

“We’re not opposed to Catholics having pride in their Church, but that doesn’t mean that every church that doesn’t join them isn’t a church,” he said.

[St Disibod]

Pope Benedict XVI’s pride in the primacy of Catholicism is making him enemies, said the head of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church...

Strange, I like the man. He's a straight shooter and when he talks I'm generally learning something, or at least I'm being engaged. Granted he can't pull off sun-glasses as well as his predecessor, but boy does he take the biscuit for silly hats. Plus if you stick his name into Google images, you get this:

[johnfás]

What a photo

[IrishRepublican.net]

This comment was uncalled for and was bound to cause trouble. The Pope should resign.

[johnfás]

This comment was uncalled for and was bound to cause trouble. The Pope should resign.

I highly doubt he would resign! Has a Pope ever resigned?? He's a monarch officially, albeit an elected one. I wonder is there even a mechanism for resignation? He certainly wouldn't resign for his opinions but I remember there was talk about resignation with JPII in regard to ill health. Never happened though.

[mjcoughlan]

This comment was uncalled for and was bound to cause trouble. The Pope should resign.

That would be a slight overreaction don't you think?

[dubsthcentralboy]

This comment was uncalled for and was bound to cause trouble. The Pope should resign.

Yes indeed, how dare the elader of a Church state what his Church believes. Could you imagine a leader of a political party actually stating his party's position on a matter? It would never be tolerated.

The Pope should resign and principled politicians should resign too.

[mjcoughlan]

[quote=johnfás]

This comment was uncalled for and was bound to cause trouble. The Pope should resign.

I highly doubt he would resign! Has a Pope ever resigned?? He's a monarch officially, albeit an elected one. I wonder is there even a mechanism for resignation? He certainly wouldn't resign for his opinions but I remember there was talk about resignation with JPII in regard to ill health. Never happened though.[/quote:3hj53qqo]

The Code of Canon Law states, "If it should happen that the Roman Pontiff resigns his office, it is required for validity that he makes the resignation freely and that it be duly manifested, but not that it be accepted by anyone" (Canon 332, No. 2).

The Pope can resign but he cannot be deposed. Popes have resigned in the past, the first one being Pope St. Pontian who resigned in 235AD.

[dubsthcentralboy]

[quote=johnfás]

This comment was uncalled for and was bound to cause trouble. The Pope should resign.

I highly doubt he would resign! Has a Pope ever resigned?? He's a monarch officially, albeit an elected one. I wonder is there even a mechanism for resignation? He certainly wouldn't resign for his opinions but I remember there was talk about resignation with JPII in regard to ill health. Never happened though.[/quote:ntf5wnlt]

A Pope can abdicate as he sees fit. There is one precendent in history and, as you mention, there was talk of JPII doing likewise.

Canon law states that the Pope can resign, but does not tender his resignation to anyone since he has the sole authority within the Church to teach, govern and sanctify.

In reality, if the Pope resigned it would cause a terrible constitutional crisis within the Church. The Cardinal-Dean of the College of Cardinals is only empowered to call a conclave to elect a new Pope when the Camerelengo of the Holy Roman Church has confirmed the death of the Pope. Resignation is not covered.

[dubsthcentralboy]

[quote=mjcoughlan]

This comment was uncalled for and was bound to cause trouble. The Pope should resign.

I highly doubt he would resign! Has a Pope ever resigned?? He's a monarch officially, albeit an elected one. I wonder is there even a mechanism for resignation? He certainly wouldn't resign for his opinions but I remember there was talk about resignation with JPII in regard to ill health. Never happened though.

The Code of Canon Law states, "If it should happen that the Roman Pontiff resigns his office, it is required for validity that he makes the resignation freely and that it be duly manifested, but not that it be accepted by anyone" (Canon 332, No. 2).

The Pope can resign but he cannot be deposed. Popes have resigned in the past, the first one being Pope St. Pontian who resigned in 235AD.[/quote:3vq406ms]

Not entirely true. A Pope can be deposed if he is thought to have led the Church in to error in matters of faith or morals. The problem is, if the Pope went it to heresy, Church law does not indicate what the competent forum would be to declare the Pope in Heresy. Following the concilliarism crisis in the middle ages it was made clear that a Pope had authority over a Council of the Church, so, who's to know! Would be fascinating though.