Replies

"-That his teaching is in error, that he is somehow wrong and FRoman Catholics are the final judge on what is and isn't true Roman Catholicism."

AHa. There's your problem.

The final judge would never be FReeper Catholics ruling on what is or isn't true Roman Catholicism.

The final judge would be: is this a teaching of the Church? (Meaning, does this go back to the Deposit of Faith, the Faith as handed on from the Apostles, as developed and interpreted over 20 centuries by Councils and Popes teaching authoritatively? Is this in continuity? Is this coherent? Is this kosher?)

Speediest way to do that is, to check it out with the...

Catechism (Link)

which is a handy-dandy summary of All That. With Blessed Keyword Searchability.

I keep begging people to click on the Catechism. It really is a good key to (Pope Benedict's fave word)...

Continuity

Christ teaches through the Church. The Holy Spirit leads the Church into all truth. So the question is:

Is he thinking with the Church?

2034 The Roman Pontiff and the bishops are "authentic teachers, that is, teachers endowed with the authority of Christ, who preach the faith to the people entrusted to them, the faith to be believed and put into practice." The ordinary and universal Magisterium of the Pope and the bishops in communion with him teach the faithful the truth to believe, the charity to practice, the beatitude to hope for.

2035 The supreme degree of participation in the authority of Christ is ensured by the charism of infallibility. This infallibility extends as far as does the deposit of divine Revelation; it also extends to all those elements of doctrine, including morals, without which the saving truths of the faith cannot be preserved, explained, or observed.

100 The task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope

Sorry. According to the Roman Catholic Catechism, it is the Pope.