POPE is political rather than religious!

[Scorpio27]

Roman Catholics say that the primacy of the papacy derives from Jesus Christ himself, while non-Catholic historians see the primacy of the pope as arising out of hundreds of years of church tradition.

How do you see POPE?

[Scorpio27]

FROM HISTORY

A secular history book declares: “That the Church of Rome has shed more innocent blood than any other institution that has ever existed among mankind, will be questioned by no Protestant who has a competent knowledge of history.” — W. E. H. Lecky, History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe, (reprint: New York: Braziller, 1955), Vol. 2, pp. 40-45.

The papacy still claims that it has a right to slaughter so-called “heretics,” as it did in the Dark Ages.

“The Church of Rome says that she has a right to punish with the confiscation of their goods, or the penalty of death, those who differ in faith from the Pope.” Charles Chiniquy, Fifty Years in the Church of Rome, The Wickliffe Press, Protestant Truth Society, Wickliffe Avenue, 104 Hendon Lane, Finchley, London, N3., 1885, p. 376.


FROM BIBLE PROPHECY

Soon the papacy will once again attain enough raw political power to repeat the atrocities of the Dark Ages. Once again the Catholic Church will slaughter true Christians for wanting to worship God according to the Bible. Regardless of how impossible this seems to us today, once again the papacy and its agents will plunge the world into another dark age. MORE (http://www.pacinst.com/antichri.htm)

Are these bulshit or has some point?! :XD:

[BrAiKi]

All I know is its true that Catholic church burnt many people, killed many people & education was forbidden back in the dark ages..
I've been to 3 Catholic churches recently and attended their masses.. What they say is very normal, nothing dangerous at all, so I don't think its true that it still has the old ideas of the former catholic churches..

[Thalia]

When Religion and State are not separate, you get the Middle Ages.

The Church is made of people. And people err. You give people all that power and it's a recipe for disaster because corruption and politics go hand in hand.

The best thing about the middle ages is that people have learnt not to repeat the same mistake. Hopefully, other countries that still have not separated religion from state will learn from our mistakes without the need of doing them all over again.

[Jeff]

The Pope is the Vicar of Christ, the Supreme Pontiff, the Successor of Peter, the Servant of the Servants of God.

His authority is a spiritual one, he has never claimed to rule the earth.

But he has Jurisdiction over the Catholic Church and over each and every member of the Catholic Church insofar as their spiritual lives are concerned. And when he teaches solemnly, he teaches without error.

The Pope teaches Catholic doctrine with full apostolic authority, as Prince of the Apostles, to whom Christ said, "He who hears you hears Me; and he who hears Me hears the One Who sent Me."

But I'm not sure how this relates to your title.

The Pope teaches everyone about God and Christ and good and evil, that is his job. So there is a certain intersection with political matters, since you cannot separate politics and morals. But he does not claim the right to make policy for nations.

[Jeff]

All I know is its true that Catholic church burnt many people, killed many people & education was forbidden back in the dark ages..
I've been to 3 Catholic churches recently and attended their masses.. What they say is very normal, nothing dangerous at all, so I don't think its true that it still has the old ideas of the former catholic churches..

Thanks for the boost at the end! I am really happy that you went to Mass and I really appreciate the fact that you can testify to the fact that we don't teach horrible things there!

Even though they weren't your main point, let me make a couple of observations about burnings and education in the Dark Ages.

Burning of notorious heretics did indeed take place, but not so often as people imagine. Most of it was not in the Dark Ages, but the in the very Late Middle Ages and the Renaissance. This was a common secular practice at the time also...people were burned for treason for example.

Burning to death was also mandated by Jewish law in the Old Testament:


If a man marries a woman and her mother also, the man and the two women as well shall be burned to death for their shameful conduct, so that such shamefulness may not be found among you.

Leviticus 20:14.

http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/bible/leviticus/leviticus20.htm

On the other hand, under Christianity, horrific punishments like stoning and burning are not considered to be part of unalterable Divine Law.

I don't know where you got the idea that education was forbidden by the Catholic Church in the Dark Ages. Or ever!

It was the Church that preserved knowledge and passed it on through the monasteries--which took people of all social classes--in a time of war and social chaos after the fall of the Roman empire. Monasteries in the Dark Ages developed so called "inner schools" and "outer schools" and any lay boy who showed sufficient intelligence could learn in the outer school. There was no charge since the teachers were all monks and took no pay.

http://www.catholicculture.org/library/view.cfm?recnum=903

Cathedral schools and universities were an invention of the Catholic Church that began during the Dark Ages. In fact, education in the pagan Roman empire was strictly on the tutorial basis, there were no "schools". The idea of general "schools" with open admission for all was developed in the West by the Catholic Church beginning in the Dark Ages.

The great figure in mainland Western Europe during the Dark Ages was Charlemagne:


Medieval education was often conducted under the auspices of the Church. During the 800s, French ruler Charlemagne realized his empire needed educated people if it was to survive, and he turned to the Catholic Church as the source of such education. His decree commanded that every cathedral and monastery was to establish a school to provide a free education to every boy who had the intelligence and the perseverance to follow a demanding course of study.

Grammar, rhetoric, logic, Latin, astronomy, philosophy and mathematics formed the core of most curriculums.

Knights were also educated and looked down upon if they could not read and write.

At 14 or 15, some scholars would continue education at a university. These were a creation of the Middle Ages and could be found in larger European cities. Wars and invasions often halted studies, but these universities would reemerge during the later Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The cap and gown that college graduates wear today have their roots in medieval academic garments.

http://www.medieval-life.net/education.htm

[Scorpio27]

If a man marries a woman and her mother also, the man and the two women as well shall be burned to death for their shameful conduct, so that such shamefulness may not be found among you.

It's very prudent decision. Marrying daughter and the Moder is insane. The person commits that they must be punished to DEATH.

I appreciate.

[Scorpio27]

Roman Catholics say that the primacy of the papacy derives from Jesus Christ himself, while non-Catholic historians see the primacy of the pope as arising out of hundreds of years of church tradition. All agree that the Pope's role developed through history.
Though the progressive Christianisation of the Roman Empire in the fourth century did not confer upon bishops civil authority within the state, the gradual withdrawal of imperial authority during the fifth century left the pope the senior imperial civilian official in Rome, as bishops were increasingly directing civil affairs in other cities of the Western Empire.

The pope's claim to authority is disputed outside the Roman Catholic Church. These objections differ from denomination to denomination, but can roughly be outlined as objections to the extent of the primacy of the pope and to the institution of the papacy itself.

SOURCE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope#Political_role)

You might find the quotes and beyond quotes interresting.