Popes 101 | Catholic Central

What can and can't the pope do?
Habemus Papam! In “Catholic Central: Popes 101,” Kai and Libby look at the history of the Catholic pontificate, from its beginning with Christ declaring Saint Peter the Rock (and thereby the first pope) down to the present day. The episode also deals with how popes are chosen, and what they can, and can’t, declare to be infallible.
From Family Theater Productions in Hollywood.
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[@nothinghere4140]

hi!!!! me and my friends love watching you guys!!!! have a good day

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Hi Katie, we are glad that you enjoy our videos! Happy New Year!

[@nothinghere4140]

@@CatholicCentralVideos happy new year!!!!! 🎊🎆🎈

[@MaximumFC10]

Hi Guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you so much you helped me pass my religion test and i got 51/50!!!!!!!!!!

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

51 out of 50??? What was the extra credit question?😀

[@Camelepiz]

Princess Bride reference = you had me at hello! :D

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Elena M. Cambio just wait!!! We will have a whole Kai as Iñigo Montoya sketch coming up later this Fall!

[@Camelepiz]

@@CatholicCentralVideos OMGosh! I cannot wait for that!! Haha totally awesome.

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Check it out now!! Spiritual Works of Mercy!

[@cinthiaykelly]

Awesome

[@curtpiazza1688]

Great!

[@andieines6368]

Great vid, guys as always!!

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Thanks!

[@royprado4540]

How about Pope Leo X....the good and beloved pope?

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

We’re not so sure either! We did not not mention Leo X at all in the episode and certainly did not describe him as the“good and beloved pope.” We did mention Leo VII and other popes such as Gregory the Great, Pius X, and John XXIII who as Libby said “helped guide the church amid changes in the world.” Libby also points out that “Popes are human.” Some had great and some not so great qualities.

[@royprado4540]

@@CatholicCentralVideos I know you have information about him...anyway they are all human. It just that his family managed to pull strings and got inside the church...the result was devastating....

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Hi roy prado, we are not sure what you mean by “…you have information about him.” Any information needed can easily be found on the internet and we probably know just about as much as you do. That being said, yes, strings were pulled by the Medici family to have him elected pope, even though he was not even a priest. This is an era in Church history that is fraught with controversy and there are a lot of practices the Church was involved with that are now an embarrassment to it. In particular, under Pope Leo we saw the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation in his ignoring Luther’s ninety-five theses. Many of the arguments that Luther made were valid, but it did not matter to Leo. The Church has, in the past, apologized for the excesses of such Popes. In the long view of history, it is easy for us to see how wrong Leo was for a lot of what he did, but he was also a child of his time. The choices he made were made while looking through the lens of what was right and wrong for his time. Thank God for prophets who, through the years, have forced the Church to look into its moral mirror and correct itself - people like St. Francis and St. Theresa of Avila who were strong enough to call the Church out on its excesses. It is because of such as these and not the Pope Leos of our history that the Church was able to right itself. As we said, no pope is perfect, but the Church endures despite their imperfections.

[@williamsiemer690]

if anyone in my class sees this reply pls by Lara Siemer

[@kiwihans100]

Strange that the entire foundation of the catholic church that 'Peter was the first pope' is not substantiated by emperical evidence! Both from history & the Bible. It was first used in the LATE 3rd century. Pope Marcellinus.[11] was the first 'bishop' of Rome to be called such. Biblically, the Lord Jesus said "And call No man you father (papa) on earth, for you have one Father in heavan, the Holy one" ( Matt 23:9 Catholic version). Also Paul, not Peter played to most prominent role in the early churh.

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Hi Peter, we are not sure where your “empirical” evidence comes from. As we explain in the episode, Catholics understand Matthew 16:18 to be the biblical basis of Peter’s primacy in the “ecclesia,” the community of Jews that was forming around Jesus. Expecting the word “pope” to be attached to Peter’s role at this early stage would be like using the term “New Testament” long before the Bible is compiled in the fourth century. There were several house churches in Rome before Peter arrived there, each with its own leader. In time, Peter was recognized as the leader - the episkopos - of the entire Church of Rome. Peter and Paul throughout history are often venerated together, but Paul has never been described as a bishop of Rome. As early as AD 180, Bishop Irenaeus tells how the apostolic succession continues in Rome under Linus when, after Peter’s martyrdom, "the blessed apostles, having founded and built up the Church, committed into the hands of Linus the office of the episcopate.” While the Catholic Church recognizes the bishop of Rome to be the first among equals, the “entire foundation” of the Church is not the pope but Jesus Christ. It is Jesus who saves us, not the pope. The pope is “father” but he fathers as “the servant of the servants of God,” guiding hearts toward the Heavenly Father who beckons us all.

[@kiwihans100]

@@CatholicCentralVideos Thank you kindly for your interesting reply. I am always reluctant to set too much store to the words of the early 'bishops' of the church, ie; Irenaeus e.t.c since Paul spoke of them in a warning way at Acts 20:28-30. You must be aware that they didnt always agree on many doctrinal matters did they. I am so glad that you focus on Jesus.He alone is our saviour! As the Psmist stated "Put not you trust in princes nor in the son of men in whom no salvation belongs" ( Psm 146:3) does that not include 'bishops' and 'popes'?

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

Hi Peter. Yes, a “warning way” is good! When asked how he would describe himself as a Catholic, Pope Francis answered, “I’m a sinner.“ Catholics understand “The Church” to mean the entire people of God with Jesus as the Head. All of us sinners must heed Paul’s warning to “keep watch over ourselves” whether layperson, priest or pope. This does not negate the authority each has, lay or ordained, as members of a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2). Along the same lines, it doesn't seem to us that the Psalmist in the passage you quote is asking us to distrust ALL "princes and sons of men" - which for the Jews would have had to include not only sons of men like Moses, the Prophets and the Levite priesthood but also princes like the Psalmist King David himself. It’s only those “in whom no salvation belongs” that the Psalmist seems to be condemning. Spiritual bankruptcy exists everywhere, and could - and does!- exist at all levels of church hierarchy, including the elders of the church “appointed by the Holy Spirit to be overseers” that Paul addresses at Miletus. We don’t see either of the passages in Psalms or Acts as a reproach of church organization, as you imply, but rather understand them in the larger sense that God, not mere humanity, is the ultimate source of our strength and our salvation.

[@Griemmy]

The point is the Pope and all the catholic and orthodox teachings came from the tradition and teachings of the early christians, apostolic fathers and first church fathers. These are the people who actually talked and know Jesus or those who are aposotles of Christ. i think it is more reasonable to trust their teachings and traditions than those of 40,000 different pastors around the world. Jesus wants unity, and the church is the one he left behind. He did not leave the bible when he ascended into heaven. The bible was compiled by the very catholic church that you hate. You dont like the catholic church leaders bcuz they are only men? And no man should have the monopoly of interpretation? Then why should we trust you protestants? How are we sure that the way you interpret the scriptures is the right one? ​@@kiwihans100

[@Solideogloria00]

Great video, but only a minority of church fathers interpreted Matthew 16:18 as Peter being the rock. The majority of church fathers and agree that the rock it’s Jesus’ declaration that He (Jesus) is the Son of the loving God. Sadly, The papacy is a man made tradition that has divided the church and lead it to other errors.

[@hectordanielsanchezcobo7713]

“[T]he Lord said to Peter, ‘On this rock I will build my Church, I have given you the keys of the kingdom of heaven [and] whatever you shall have bound or loosed on earth will be bound or loosed in heaven’ [Matt. 16:18-19]. . . . Upon you, he says, I will build my Church; and I will give to you the keys, not to the Church” (Tertullian, Modesty 21:9-10 [A.D. 220]). “The Lord says to Peter: ‘I say to you,’ he says, ‘that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church.’ . . . On him [Peter] he builds the Church, and to him he gives the command to feed the sheep [John 21:17], and although he assigns a like power to all the apostles, yet he founded a single chair [cathedra], and he established by his own authority a source and an intrinsic reason for that unity. Indeed, the others were that also which Peter was [i.e., apostles], but a primacy is given to Peter, whereby it is made clear that there is but one Church and one chair. So too, all [the apostles] are shepherds, and the flock is shown to be one, fed by all the apostles in single-minded accord. If someone does not hold fast to this unity of Peter, can he imagine that he still holds the faith? If he [should] desert the chair of Peter upon whom the Church was built, can he still be confident that he is in the Church?” (Saint Cyprian of Carthage, The Unity of the Catholic Church 4; 1st edition [A.D. 251]). “[Jesus said:] Simon, my follower, I have made you the foundation of the holy Church. I betimes called you Peter, because you will support all its buildings. You are the inspector of those who will build on Earth a Church for me. If they should wish to build what is false, you, the foundation, will condemn them. You are the head of the fountain from which my teaching flows; you are the chief of my disciples. Through you I will give drink to all peoples. Yours is that life-giving sweetness which I dispense. I have chosen you to be, as it were, the firstborn in my institution so that, as the heir, you may be executor of my treasures. I have given you the keys of my kingdom. Behold, I have given you authority over all my treasures” (Saint Ephraim of Syria, Homilies 4:1 [A.D. 351]). “Jesus said to Peter, ‘Feed my sheep’. Why does He pass over the others and speak of the sheep to Peter? He was the chosen one of the Apostles, the mouth of the disciples, the head of the choir. For this reason Paul went up to see him rather than the others. And also to show him that he must have confidence now that his denial had been purged away. He entrusts him with the rule [prostasia] over the brethren. . . . If anyone should say ‘Why then was it James who received the See of Jerusalem?’, I should reply that He made Peter the teacher not of that see but of the whole world.” (Saint John Chrysostom, Homilies on John, 88.1). “[Christ] made answer: ‘You are Peter, and upon this rock will I build my Church. . . .’ Could he not, then, strengthen the faith of the man to whom, acting on his own authority, he gave the kingdom, whom he called the rock, thereby declaring him to be the foundation of the Church [Matt. 16:18]?” (Saint Ambrose of Milan, The Faith 4:5 [A.D. 379]). Many, many more here www.churchfathers.org/peters-primacy

[@hectordanielsanchezcobo7713]

The Council of Ephesus to which all orthodox fathers must agree to: “Philip, the presbyter and legate of the Apostolic See [Rome] said: ‘There is no doubt, and in fact it has been known in all ages, that the holy and most blessed Peter, prince and head of the apostles, pillar of the faith, and foundation of the Catholic Church, received the keys of the kingdom from our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the human race, and that to him was given the power of loosing and binding sins: who down even to today and forever both lives and judges in his successors’” (Acts of the Council, session 3 [431 AD]).

[@CatholicCentralVideos]

This may be helpful ... www.catholic.com/tract/peters-primacy

[@ProximaCentauri88]

Well, the Bible is also product of man-made tradition. Its books and letters were collated by the Catholic Church.