>>Mesa, who is also a lifelong Catholic, also said the
>>Pope's opinion on the embargo will not shake his faith.
>>
>>"I love my church, but on this issue the church
>>doesn't speak for me," he said.
>
>I'm no expert on Catholic arcana, but isn't the Pope supposed to
>be infallible? How can a Catholic just thumb his nose at God's
>representative on earth? (I guess this isn't unprecedented: most
>Catholics in the U. S. more or less ignore the Pope's edicts
>about birth control--)
>
>Miles
Generally it is "ex cathedra" proclamations are infallible. This isn't the only way the Pope makes infallible statements but it is where most of them fall. Everyday off-the-cuff statements are "mere authenticum" for the most part. There are a bunch of arcane rules about this and I don't think most catholics know the particulars. There are three types of Papal teachings. 1. Extraordinary Papal Magisterium (always infallible) 2. Ordinary Papal Magisterium (can be infallible or non-infallible, if infallible it is "Authentic Magisterium") 3. Papal Magisterium (always non-infallible)
I don't know if it was noted in the discussion of the Holy Spirit since I didn't follow that thread but it is the Holy Spirits guidance that enables the Pope to be infallible if I remember correctly.
John Thornton
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