As a life-long atheist with little interest in religion, do every-day Catholics actually do what the Pope says? Because, it seems like he’s mostly ignored.
If you’re really into Catholic lore and mythology, then yes, the Pope’s word holds a lot of weight. They believe in papal infallibility, which means that when the Pope meets certain very specific criteria, he is literally speaking for God and is thus perfect and unquestionable.
Regular normie Catholics? They believe in the Pope the same way they believe in the Bible: it is the true word of God, but it’s too much of a bother to actually read it. They’re never reading papal edicts, they’re just reading news headlines about the pope like everyone else.
Think about it like this - normal (and actually beliving) people do care what he says. But do rich people do? You know, people running companies or countries that are used to abusing absolutely everyone and everything? xD
Think of him as a religious celebrity who can make headlines with everything he says. Not everyone will go along with him, there will always be a contingent complaining that this new Pope is too woke if he doesn’t tell them what they wanted to hear, but a lot of people do listen to him. Just being in the headlines all the time is a form of soft power.
He’s the leader of a “country” that exists in the hearts and minds of every Catholic as well as the Vatican proper. There are bound to be people who love him and those who hate him within that “country” the same way it works with any country and as such, his office has influence.
Is it any more than if he was merely the leader of another city state? I’d say so.
Tell me, without looking it up, who the leader of San Marino, the other Italian city state, is. (And if you can, how many other people, especially outside Italy, could do the same?)
The Papal states, which was the middle ages version of Vatican City, didn’t exist for a period of almost 60 years, when modern Vatican City was first recognized as a nation, in the Lateran treaty.
At some level, it’s a question of whether you view Vatican City as a new successor state, or a continuation of the former Papal states. The treaty framed it as a new state, which is at least an interesting historical fact.
He’s the leader of the most widespread denomination of the most widespread religion in the world. He selects cardinals all over the world, has influence on church doctrine, etc. Yes, many listen to him and have to listen to him. You’re probably from the US (primarily protestant) and atheist, but don’t project that perspective on the entire world.
I grew up Catholic, forced to go to mass every day until I went to university. You aren’t Sherlock. I have every right to criticize. And I meant state leaders don’t listen. They don’t.
What you wrote wasn’t criticism (“I like it / I don’t like it”), it was a true/false statement. But yeah, state leaders even in Catholic countries don’t seem to care about his direct proclamations of this sort.
His brother is a strategically placed ($) maga, and they are supposedly somewhat close. I hope he actually can reach his brother with some of these messages, who may at least try to either influence party direction or remove financing.
As a life-long atheist with little interest in religion, do every-day Catholics actually do what the Pope says? Because, it seems like he’s mostly ignored.
If you’re really into Catholic lore and mythology, then yes, the Pope’s word holds a lot of weight. They believe in papal infallibility, which means that when the Pope meets certain very specific criteria, he is literally speaking for God and is thus perfect and unquestionable.
Regular normie Catholics? They believe in the Pope the same way they believe in the Bible: it is the true word of God, but it’s too much of a bother to actually read it. They’re never reading papal edicts, they’re just reading news headlines about the pope like everyone else.
Think about it like this - normal (and actually beliving) people do care what he says. But do rich people do? You know, people running companies or countries that are used to abusing absolutely everyone and everything? xD
He pretty much is.
The Pope has some soft power when it comes to some morality, but countries routinely ignore the Vatican and it doesn’t really cause an issue.
The relationship is worse with a lot of American Catholics, who haven’t been happy with the last few popes due to their liberalness.
Think of him as a religious celebrity who can make headlines with everything he says. Not everyone will go along with him, there will always be a contingent complaining that this new Pope is too woke if he doesn’t tell them what they wanted to hear, but a lot of people do listen to him. Just being in the headlines all the time is a form of soft power.
He’s the leader of a “country” that exists in the hearts and minds of every Catholic as well as the Vatican proper. There are bound to be people who love him and those who hate him within that “country” the same way it works with any country and as such, his office has influence.
Is it any more than if he was merely the leader of another city state? I’d say so.
Tell me, without looking it up, who the leader of San Marino, the other Italian city state, is. (And if you can, how many other people, especially outside Italy, could do the same?)
A country established by a fascist.
Is that your new word of the week?
Mussolini established the Vatican as a country.
The Patti Lateranensi are bad enough that you don’t need to spread misinformation about them.
The Vatican “state” has existed since the middle ages, and for a period of time was quite big
The Papal states, which was the middle ages version of Vatican City, didn’t exist for a period of almost 60 years, when modern Vatican City was first recognized as a nation, in the Lateran treaty.
At some level, it’s a question of whether you view Vatican City as a new successor state, or a continuation of the former Papal states. The treaty framed it as a new state, which is at least an interesting historical fact.
Yup. At one point the Vatican was most of Italy. I don’t think Mussolini was around then, or he was very old during the war.
“ill just forget about hundreds of years of history”
I didn’t. It wasn’t a modern state until Mussolini. Jfc read a boom.
I don’t read booms. It’s a bad habit and causes cancer.
He’s essentially just a rich landowner that issues random proclamations, so no, no one listens to him.
He’s the leader of the most widespread denomination of the most widespread religion in the world. He selects cardinals all over the world, has influence on church doctrine, etc. Yes, many listen to him and have to listen to him. You’re probably from the US (primarily protestant) and atheist, but don’t project that perspective on the entire world.
I grew up Catholic, forced to go to mass every day until I went to university. You aren’t Sherlock. I have every right to criticize. And I meant state leaders don’t listen. They don’t.
What you wrote wasn’t criticism (“I like it / I don’t like it”), it was a true/false statement. But yeah, state leaders even in Catholic countries don’t seem to care about his direct proclamations of this sort.
Defining what he really is and that nobody listens to him is criticism.
His brother is a strategically placed ($) maga, and they are supposedly somewhat close. I hope he actually can reach his brother with some of these messages, who may at least try to either influence party direction or remove financing.