Pope Vs Pope

[superblue]

I've been reading a book and one of the chapters starts to pick on Pope Francis , well the Author has his opinion as what he sees , and I was appreciating what the Author had to say up until this point and pinning down Pope Francis and comparing him to Obama......

 

But the Author brought up an interesting point, in that Pope Leo XIII in his Encyclical on Capital and Labor, is the exact opposite of what Pope Francis is preaching today, at least I should say that is his opinion, the author also mentions Liberation Theology  and how he thinks Pope Francis is siding with it.....

 

Now I think it is very easy to twist what anyone says, and that is probably what the author has done here, along with other pop jocks that are seeking attention.

 

My question though is, at least with this example of Pope Leo XII and Pope Francis, would these comparisons be accurate in that they are saying two different things in regards to our society and our responsibilities .

 

 

Also, has there ever been in the past cases where the papacy has differed in teachings from one to the next or generations apart.

 

Then if there are differences where one is say yes and the other is saying no ( being years apart that is ) who do we as Catholics side with ? Or do we just disregard teachings and Encyclicals from other Popes when one is disagreeing or saying the exact opposite of a current Pope, be it now or generations from now.

[Era Might]

Quotes from the book would be helpful. Hard to compare and contrast in general.

[superblue]

Quotes from the book would be helpful. Hard to compare and contrast in general.

 

 

The Encyclical I mentioned was taken from the book, I am a bit lazy at the moment ill have to provide actual quotes at a later time so I was generalizing, but paraphrasing , the author claims that Pope Francis is leaning more towards Marxism / this redistribution of wealth that Obama has been promoting for how long now,

 

where as if you look up that Encyclical by Pope Leo XIII he seems to say the exact opposite of supposedly the views that this author thinks Pope Francis has.

 

and then again generally speaking what are we to do, as Catholics if and when a Pope says something contrary to another ?

[truthfinder]

It all depends on the "level" of what the pope issuing these statements as.  An apostolic constitution has a different weight than an encyclical, which has a different weight from what the pope says at mass, which, as long as it is clear that he is not pronouncing a dogma which itself has to be made explicit in the pronouncement, the sermons have no weight.  They are opinion.  He can state the moon is blue, that gravity doesn't exist, and that Jesus had four fingers and eight toes and it matters not a bit in terms of dogmatic weight.  We can agree and disagree all we want on whether the pope is on the right track with these statements or whether they should be said at all.  We do have to be careful of what we both say and think about the pope - we must be charitable and reverent as is due his position (or any cleric for that matter).  

[superblue]

Thanks for the clarification truthfinder,  that actually makes sense, the book I am reading is one by M.Savage , and his ideas are interesting, but when I came across this part, it didn't jive, adding that he is not even Catholic, him and some other hosts like rush, are in turn mixing things up, and viewing opinions that they construe to be what is as you have explained.

 

so that has been clarified.... and no longer in reference specifically any more on Pope Leo XIII and Pope Francis

 

why would an Encyclical have a " different weight " than what the Pope says during mass for what I guess is still considered a homily, or is the difference that what the Pope says during mass ( if it is the homily ) is only in reference to the Gospel message, where as an Encyclical is not ?

 

Generally with the Papacy, I don't think there has ever been a dogmatic disagreement over time between Popes ?

 

weakly comparing things to a government construction, a president can set into law what ever, and then the next president can come along, and petition or do away with said law going about the proper process.

 

so has that ever happened with in the linage of the Papacy,   or has everything been square and it is just the opinions that have been disagreed upon through out time. ?

[Nihil Obstat]

There have certainly been disagreements between subsequent popes, and between popes and the rest of the Church. Look into Honorius and John XXII for two examples.

Edited December 30, 2014 by Nihil Obstat

[superblue]

There have certainly been disagreements between subsequent popes, and between popes and the rest of the Church. Look into Honorius and John XXII for two examples.

 

 

 I will deff be researching that later ty for the info Nihil,  but then my question still remains, who do we side with ?  Or do we just go okay they are in disagreement, and thus I / We can just let it go and worry about something else .. ?

[Nihil Obstat]

The Church is more than the Pope. We also have Tradition and Scripture, plus the witness of all other popes through history.
There certainly may be situations in which the solutions are too difficult to determine for the average layman, but in general with prudence and discernment we are able to find the truth of any given question.
In the case of John XXII, when he was accused of heresy he called his cardinals together to study what he had said. When they upheld the accusations, John recanted.
Then died, actually. Days later.

[dUSt]

It's unfair for someone to compare what a pope said in an encyclical to what a pope said in a homily. For example, a pope may say the Packers will win the super bowl in a homily, but he'd never say that in an encyclical.

[Nihil Obstat]

It's unfair for someone to compare what a pope said in an encyclical to what a pope said in a homily. For example, a pope may say the Packers will win the super bowl in a homily, but he'd never say that in an encyclical.

But God help you if you do not like his shoes. :detective:

[dUSt]

But God help you if you do not like his shoes. :detective:

 

Shoes matter. They have soles.
 

[BarbTherese]

No wonder the quite ordinary and everyday Catholic-in-the-pew gets confused!

[Socrates]

The economic opinions of individual popes are not infallible.

[White Knight]

Pope Leo XIII and Pope Francis are far enough spread in time that we can say that it is experiencing different eras of the Church's role in the worldly affairs, however like Truthfinder said and DuSt said that it is not a Dogmatic issue, both popes grew up in different worlds, different timelines had different upbringings and will share very different opinions on labor and work ethics.

Yes one could argue that work and ethics can lead to one morality issue after the other, but it is not a salvation issue, not like the Divinity of Christ or the Triune Nature of the Trinity, or the Resurrection.

Leo XIII had the luxury of not being misquoted by television and radio everyday.

Our beloved Pope Francis gets his words twisted, skewed, and misrepresented half of the time anyway, You can't fully trust outside of Catholic sources, and even then you have to discern from the Orthodox groups vs. the Hereodox groups. Plus the translations from Italian, Latin, and Spanish from the Pope into our English language give a huge factor to what he actually said vs. what he didn't say.

Leo XIII didn't have the social media to worry about or near the amount of problems to think about as Pope Francis does.

Popes need to thoroughly think first then speak so their words don't get as badly twisted as Pope Francis has been represented in this way of speaking before thinking. This is no insult, but Benedict XV and XVI, Paul VI were very much thinkers before speakers.

 

[Gabriela]

I've read quite a few of the encyclicals on capitalism, communism, and labor, and what Pope Leo XIII said has been reiterated again and again by later popes. Even in drastically different economic contexts, the basic ideas still remain constant. I haven't heard Pope Francis say anything that contradicts those teachings. Just because the guy "sounds like a communist" to right-wingers doesn't mean he's actually promoting communism. The Church (as She has spoken in the papal encyclicals) has never been for unfettered capitalism.

But really, without a quote it's impossible to answer your question.