The Two Popes Problem

For all you Catholics out there you might find this YouTube channel very informative. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yScaroYHlVw

The concept of Pope is idolatry. Not meaning to offend. There is no sound Biblical argument for elevating any man to the level that Catholics elevate the Pope.

When Mario Bergolio left Argentina to go to Rome for the election of a new pope, he closed all his accounts, vacated his apartment and told people there he did this because he knew he was not coming back. He was placed as pope by the powers that be. May God help us.

Fair enough, #2. Of course, Catholics may wish to ask why Protestants elevate Martin's Luther to the extent they do. What gave him the authority to pull several books out of the Bible that Christians used for the first 1500 years of Christianity?

Looks like we got two unprecedented events in our lifetime...an American President who isn't really an American and who even hates it, and a parallel universe Catholic Pope who isn't really Catholic. Ergo the locusts and pandemic. What next, super volcanos and colliding worlds?

I hear you, #4. I think that both Luther and Calvin are raised higher than they deserve.

Popes are irrelevant and get far too much media attention. People have faith within themselves and don't need a guy in a funny hat to dictate what's right and wrong. Especially this one.

This gets confusing. There is only one Pope. The other has retired, so please refer as former Pope, or something, that for those of us the do not keep up with the XI's, XX's, and that science.

There is only on pope, in the opinion of this non-Catholic. And it sure isn't that Communist Francis.

The Catholic Church had been "a running brothel" long before the Reformation. Luther is elevated because he taughtt "by grace are ye saved through faith, and not of yourselves [or indulgences] it is the gift of God lest any man should boast." He also translated the German Bible into the language of the people, so they would not just get a book report every Sunday. For this his life was ruined. Others of the time who could think for themselves and noticed previously unchallenged positions of the Catholic Church were burned at the stake in Smithfield [check "Foxes' Book of Martyrs"] or subject to the Inquisition. If it weren't for the brutality of the Catholics, we would not have America! Would we? The political slogan during one election was that one party [Demos] was the party of "Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion." In the writings of Lincoln you find he had a real problem with Jesuits back then. Martyrdom for speaking truth to power to me seems to be a good enough reason to elevate the original Protestants. There are many great Catholic Christians -- this Pope is not one. He will continue to divide the church -- which is called "catholic" [lower case] by Luther.

We've had schisms and multiple popes in the past and the Faith survives. To me, Pope Benedict XVI is the current and legitimate leader of the Catholic Church. Frank can "pontificate" all he wants, but I'll accept no guidance or change in doctrine contrary to the 1993 Catechism published under St. John Paul II. The root of the Protestant protest against the Catholic Church is not found in their slogan, "Scripture Alone, Grace Alone, Faith Alone." Their protest is really against the Teaching Authority of the Church based upon the writings of the early Church Fathers, referred to as Sacred Tradition. Luther chaffed under the discipline of the Church and felt his individual insights were more important than the 1,500 years lived before him. Sure, the Church had many serious problems that needed to be addressed and they were at the Council of Trent. Luther could have been one of the great reformer saints like St. Catherine of Siena, St. Theresa of Avila or St. John of the Cross, but he succumbed to his ego instead. The legacy of Sola Scriptura is disunity among Christians. It only took 12 years after Luther's split for Calvin to split, and the splitting hasn't stopped for 500 years resulting in 10,000 Christian "denominations." The Catholic Church is still teaching the same Truths she taught in the first century. The journey home to Rome is worth the trip. Live Truth, Live Catholic.

Anti-Catholic bigotry is the last acceptable persecution. Idolatry: I guess that is why Jesus gave Peter the Keys to the Kingdom, so that upon this rock alone He could build His Church.

#4- Accusations to be considered should cite example(s), such as how Martin Luther is “elevated” by Protestants. Martin Luther did not “pull several books out of the Bible.” Martin Luther separated some books that were not universally recognized as Holy Scripture and identified them as the Apocrypha. He believed books of canonical authority, not ecclesiastical authority, have a “right to take place” with other books that contain “a revelation of the Divine will” that comes from evidence of the inspired authorship of the book. With the fall of Jerusalem in 70 AD, non-Hellenistic Jews excluded outside books (obscure writings and books whose authorship was unknown) from their canon. #6, EtAl- Opinions and insults are just that, opinions and insults. There is only One Lawgiver and Judge (James 4:12). He will judge Martin Luther’s perception of sacred tradition; books of the Apocrypha; alleged ego; Sola Gratia, Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura; Reformer, mortal man. The study of Scripture is worthwhile to nurture the soul that allows believers to know and live truth, and to live as Judeo-Christians. #10- Excellent, appreciated. The rejection of Sola Scriptura is most unfortunate because Scripture is the inerrant Word of God (2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21) and Jesus made very clear that no one comes to the Father except through him (John 14:6). St. Paul wrote, “By grace you have been saved through faith...it is a gift of God, not a result of works...by grace, on the basis of grace, through faith, by means of faith.” (Ephesians 2:8-9) “The ‘alone’ comes from the fact that human works are immediately excluded from the equation: ‘not a result of works.’” The teaching of Scripture concludes “Grace alone, Faith alone, Scripture alone.” #12- Bigotry persists for all Christians, regardless of denomination. Considering that statistics from 2015 show Catholicism having 1.329 billion members and Protestantism having 900 million members, anti-Catholic bigotry does not seem to be significant. Because of Peter’s confession that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, Jesus declared that, upon this rock, the CONFESSION of Peter, He would build his Church. (Matthew 16:13-20) The Church was not built upon the authority of a man; it was built upon the ministry of the CONFESSION Peter made. On that basis, it would seem that all Judeo-Christian Churches are on a Divine Mission. “The Keys are an office and power given by Christ to the Church for binding and loosing sin.” The Keys are given to all the apostles alike that are set forth alike. The Keys were not the sole possession of Peter.