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To: BillyBoy
>> The Pope is the Bishop of Rome. He is an equal with the Bishop (Patriarch) of, say, Moscow. <<<

Sounds to me like you'd make a good Orthodox Christian.

I'd like to think of myself as a good Catholic Christian. The Pope is not the boss of the Church; he is one of the senior Bishops. He may be first among equals (whatever the negotiation among the churches may result in), but the important thing is that in the history of the Church, the senior Bishops are equal.

17 posted on 05/10/2013 2:51:59 PM PDT by MarkBsnr (I would not believe in the Gospel, if the authority of the Catholic Church did not move me to do so.)
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To: MarkBsnr
>> I'd like to think of myself as a good Catholic Christian. The Pope is not the boss of the Church; he is one of the senior Bishops. He may be first among equals (whatever the negotiation among the churches may result in), but the important thing is that in the history of the Church, the senior Bishops are equal. <<

You can think of yourself however you like, but the reality is your statements here have more in common with traditional Orthodox Christian beliefs about the papacy than traditional Catholic Christian beliefs.

The Orthodox Church would describe the Pope as simply the "bishop of Rome" and "first among equals", saying he has no more authority that any other "Metropolitan" (for example, Archbishop Kirill I of Moscow) and that the Roman Catholic has upsurged its authority and gone renegade by declaring papal infallibility and so on.

The Catholic Church, on the other hand, sees the Pope as the Vicar of Christ, the Vicar of Peter, and having special authority over all other bishops as the Supreme pontiff of the Universal Church.

20 posted on 05/10/2013 8:28:12 PM PDT by BillyBoy ( Impeach Obama? Yes We Can!)
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