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have_inner_lady May 9 2006, 19:21:10 UTC
Is this Catholic doctrine?

Not that I'm aware of. I always understood He Was Just Right All The Time... which was one of the more difficult pills to swallow.

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metahoss May 9 2006, 21:06:29 UTC
It's a subtle question. I'm pretty sure the notion of infallibility applies only to statements of church doctrine and not, e.g., statements the pope might make on world politics. Thus, if no divine influence is implied, the statement that "Correct church doctrine is whatever the Pope says it is" becomes almost tautological, since the Pope is the main author and arbiter of church doctrine. Also, like all religious dogma, it's circular: "Pope Pius says he and future popes are hereby infallible." I think what the guy said in the article is probably a bit more down to Earth than what most Catholics believe. However, I don't think papal encyclicals and such are seen on the same level of divinely inspired perfection as, say, the Bible.

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