And how much authority does it have, according to catholicism?I think most people have opposing ideas on what the pope is and what we can trust him with.
>>18738431Basically the Pope has supreme authority within the Catholic Church, but that authority is not unlimited, and Catholics do not believe that everything he says is automatically infallible.Catholics believe the Pope is the successor of Peter and has a unique responsibility to teach, govern and preserve the unity of the Church. Papal infallibility is actually very limited. It applies when the Pope formally defines a doctrine of faith or morals for the whole Church and intends that teaching to be held definitively. This is what is meant by speaking ex cathedra.It does not mean that every interview, sermon, political opinion, personal judgement or informal comment made by a Pope is infallible. Popes can make mistakes, exercise poor judgement and, like any other Christian, sin.The Pope also cannot simply invent new doctrine. His role is to preserve and faithfully interpret the deposit of faith found in Scripture and Apostolic Tradition, not to contradict it.So the Catholic view is that the Pope has very significant authority and should normally be given serious weight, but there are different levels of teaching authority. “The Pope said it” does not automatically mean “this is an infallible teaching that no Catholic may question.”
>>18738450Are there any cases of contradictions in ex cathedra? I assume Catholics will say there aren't, what do other christian denominations say?
>>18738431I just found out that the body of Pope Pius XI decomposed so badly it exploded during his funeral and the stench that came out of him was so bad the soldiers that were guarding the body got sick and fainted.
>>18738558>Pius XII*The dude used to be carried around like a God King.
