A serious question

[Segilla]

I have often wondered about the stance Catholics take over doctrine laid down by their church if that doctrine changes. Should the Holy Father decide, for example, that the bodily assumption into heaven of the BVM was no longer valid, presumable everyone is expected to concur and overnight change long held beliefs?

[Whickerman]

the pope is believed infallible by Catholics in such matters so yes.

Also no though - there's a principle in Catholic belief that personal belief can supersede the teachings of the church

[Ankou]

i guess if the pope says that mary wasnt really a virgin then them that believe it strong enough will ignore that. then there are some who will accept it in time, and them that dint believe it anyway.

i cant imagine catholics changing anything overnigt. it would take a long time.

[beso]

Galileo was threatened with a gruesome death for claiming the earth was not the centre of the Universe. Four hundred years later the Pope apologised. By this time only the brain damaged could continue to believe the original doctrine.

Recently after just 150 years the Pope declared that Darwin was right about Evolution. The church didn't want to be the last to accept the bl00dy obvious this time.

However it has left the followers in a difficult bind. If the Pope has always been infallible then how can the truth be changed? Many Catholics still vehermently deny evolution and in doing so are in denial of their own faith.

The only rational conclusion is that the church's philosophy is based on unsustainable premises. It debunks their entire belief system and demonstrates the ridiculous nature of religion.

[monkeyeyes]

This may give you some insight as to how some Catholics view their church's volte-faces................

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hutton_Gibson

[Segilla]

The reason I asked this question was that years ago, I heard a very good-humoured RC bishop being interviewed on the radio. I wondered then how such a level-headed man would react if a doctrine were overturned.
It seems to me, one thing for the Pope to change something, obviously after much reflection, and quite another for his flock to fall in line overnight.

[TorahBoy]

The POPE is considered God's reperasentative on Earth. To Catholics, he is infallible.
As an example, two years ago, the Pope declared that, contrary to hundreds of years of doctrine, babies who die un-baptised are admitted into heaven (previously it was held that their souls spent eternity in limbo). Once the Pope had declared this as doctrine, it became so. And presumably, all the souls of previously deceased babies in limbo were admitted into heaven. "POOF", just like that(!)
Re-writing history comes easilly to a Pope who was an active member of the Hitler Youth, one suspects......

[Ankou]

im not sutre what you mean by 'active' as all boys taht age had to join the nazi youth during those years. i cant stand the bloke but by all accounts him and his family were anti-nazi because they thought it was anticatholic.

i bet he wishes he could rewrite all the histpory about paedophiliai. although to be fair he tried doing that for 30 oidd years anyway.

[theway]

Catholicism is built on false doctrine. People are blindly accepting anything the supposed infallible pope says. As a result if this pope suddenly one day decides that something they believed all along was false then people will have to accept it. Catholics do see that now and then declares something right that was all along considered wrong. But they don't understand that when one pope makes one such declaration it means that all popes before that were wrong. Thus they cannot be infallible?

[naomi24]

theway, all religion is built on false doctrine - but the last part of your answer is completely logical.