this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2024
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Here's what I don't get: In a lot of churches, isn't the guy standing up at front supposed to be telling you literally the word of God? Like God's anointed representative on earth? I know that's how it's supposed to work for the pope; like it's officially supposed to be absolutely impossible for the pope to ever be wrong in any statements about anything. Shouldn't this seem to the church goers like finding out that your doctor actually doesn't have a medical degree? Or like he thinks your heart is in your leg or something? It seems like "oops I made a mistake, I definitely know it's in the chest now, we all live and learn sometimes" should not by any means be the end of that conversation.
No. In Catholicism, when a Pope makes official rulings on matters of Catholic doctrine it is supposed to be infallible. It also must be explicitly invoked as ex cathedra, meaning "from the chair", as applying to all Catholics. The last time that happened was in 1950, with a doctrinal ruling on the nature of the Assumption of Mary. It also cannot be a new doctrine, only a ruling on the nature of an existing one, so it's meant to be sort of akin to a SCOTUS ruling interpreting a law, rather than being an executive order.
In Protestant and other Reformation-derived denominations (e.g. Evangelicals) Pastors are not supposed to be authoritative or infallible. They just often present themselves that way.