The Pope's First Tweet: Plan on Following Him on Twitter?

@frangelica -- that's NOT working for me. The Catholic Church will never change, just for YOUR liking, or anyone else's for that matter. The Church has doctorines that are unchangeable. Dogma and doctrine mean TEACHING and the official teaching of the Catholic Church CANNOT and WILL NOT ever change. Such things as disciplines can change (for instance the Church can decide a different penance can be done on Friday -- and announce that one can now eat fish but must do another penance of their choice -- such as praying or reading the Bible). But things that have been decided already, such as matters of faith and morals, will NEVER be changed. That is why there will never be birth control, abortion, etc. The Church won't change for us. Catholics know they are to conform to the Church if they want to conform to Jesus Christ. Catholics also know that Jesus Christ established the Catholic Church when He was on the earth -- it is His Christian Church. So we love it or leave it -- buy the whole ball of wax, or walk away. There is no such thing as a "cafeteria Catholic". Please study and attempt to understand the way the Catholic Church works. Understand Her, love Her, or leave Her. If you understood Her, you'd realize ALL her doctrine is true and you can't pick and choose -- as Jesus said so in the Bible and through Sacred Tradition. Study history and Church history and you will become convinced of this. And study the Bible. Jesus said the "gates of hell will not prevail against the Church." And finally, as you would say, or shall I say, as Dr. Phil would say...How's THAT working for you? God bless you, and help you find your way to Him and the Catholic Church,
krissy knox my main blog: http://sometimesithink-krissy...

@M4 As the leader of Christianity, the Pope is certainly significant and knowledgable. Of course there have been popes that have not been good down through the ages, but most popes have been very saintly.

Now to talk about infallibility, the word does not mean that The Pope never sins. It means he can't make a mistake when speaking at Councils w all the bishops in unison (i believe i have that correct), and when speaking ex cathedra (from the chair of Peter). Excathedra pronouncements have only been made twice in the entire history of the Church (since Jesus was born on earth until the present day). However, the Catholic Church has shown Her authority by stating the truth in many Councils -- for instance, the Council of Nicene, and the Council of Trent.

So we can say that the Catholic Church has full authority and cannot err in truth when speaking in an inspired way -- from the Holy Spirit (through Catholic Church dogma, through excathedra statements by The Pope, through The Bible which must sometimes needs to be interpreted by the Catholic Church so that everyone doesn't come up w their own interpretation, etc).

Having said this, we know that The Pope CAN sin in his personal life, obviously. He can also make a mistake in giving an OPINION. For instance, if you're the pope and infallible, it doesn't mean you'll be able to predict who will win next week's football game! That's not what infallible means either!

But I'll say this -- while I've mentioned what popes can and cannot do, I'd like to end with this. Most popes are VERY holy men. They have studied theology and spirituality for years. They've been chosen by the Holy Spirit to be in their jobs. They read Scripture daily, ask forgiveness for their sins daily, and pray daily. They travel the world to help others. They also write encyclicals (magazines or small books) on many spiritual subjects during their lifetime of being a Pope. If you want to see how holy they are, pick up a Catholic encyclical and read it. You'll be astounded at the teaching you'll read.

Most Popes, to the extent they have been open to it, have been strongly guided by The Holy Spirit. The Catholic Church affords one many graces to become holy. It is my belief that a pope would need even additional graces as he has even a more serious vocation as other Christians, as he is the head of the whole Christian Church, and is responsible for everyone, and their spirituality. So it only makes sense that the pope IS more significant and knowledgeable than the average Christian, or definitely attempts to be (contrary to your statement).

To assume The Holy Father's tweets will go unnoticed on twitter, IMHO, is not true. There are millions of people on twitter, and many of these are Catholic. As for me and my friends, we will follow the Pope (on twitter and elsewhere), and we will not regret it. Thank you and may God richly bless you, M4.

krissy knox my main blog: http://sometimesithink-krissy...