Why do Catholics put the Pope on a Pedestal?

What does Catholic Doctrine teach us about the Pope? or What does the pope teach us about the pope?

Why do they (we) make him so important and create such a fan club around him? -which he himself may not even want.



Maybe it is our need. Our need to look up to some one, to follow someone, to love a celebrity. Is he our Catholic Celebrity?

Titles such as "Christ's Vicar on Earth" are very hard to beat and only someone as big-headed as John Lennon (another American Idol, by the way) would dare to consider himself that important.

Isn't there a danger of getting off track and forgetting that Jesus Christ is the center of our Faith.

Ah, but to be honest, isn't the Pope more tangible than Jesus Christ! Many devote Catholics believe that the Pope is Jesus Christ on this earth. And that is very consoling and exciting. So for them the pope is like a sacrament, visible and outward sign, of Jesus. This is too big a leap for the "man on the street." 

What is the real Catholic Doctrine in this regard?

As Catholics our faith is centered in God and Jesus of Nazareth whom we call and believe to be Our Redeemer. Vatican II teaches us that the Church is the "sacrament", or visible and efficacious presence, of Jesus Christ in the world.

So as Christians our lives are centered in God, Jesus Christ our Savior, and the Church he founded [it is the hardest thing in the world to believe in this imperfect and sinful institution!]. The Pope has to be placed in this context, in this "pecking order". The Pope is only important in so far as the Church is important. For now we can say that he is "The Boss" of the Church. Americans might think of him as the "Executive Director".



What do you think?
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Another related question which would need another post would be: Why do Catholics think the Pope knows everything and controls everything that happens in the Catholic Church? More about this later.

Don't say "The Church" when you mean the Clerical Leadership ("Hierarchy"), pope, bishops and priests!

THE BLOGGER IS USING "EQUIVOCATION" IN THE VERY SIMPLE SENSE OF "MISTAKE", OR MISTAKEN UNDERSTANDING, NOT IN ITS STRICTLY PHILOSOPHICAL OR "LOGIC" SENSE. 

HE INTENDS TO EXPLAIN COMPLEX OR CONTROVERSIAL RELIGIOUS [CHRISTIAN] ISSUES IN LAYMAN'S TERMS 

AND IN THE PROCESS 

CLARIFY SOME OF THE CATHOLIC/CHRISTIAN FAITH'S OBSCURE AREAS


Reporters, especially, are guilty of this MISTAKE, taking the part for the whole, as in

"Catholic Church in Brazil embroiled in sex scandal

VIDEO Three priests, aged 82, 52 and 43, are under investigation for allegedly having sex with teenage altar boys and young men. All three have been suspended"

What is meant is that 3 priests, members of the Catholic Clergy/Hierarchy are accused of pedophilia. It does not mean that all catholics are embroiled in this scandal, although they may be tainted by it to some degree because their clergy is screwing up(!)

It has become common terminology to say "Church" or "the Church" when we are referring to the clergy, the leadership, the hierarchy. Clarifying this concept can lead to further study, freedom, and perhaps more discussion!

Going back to something as orthodox as the Baltimore Catechism or even Vatican I [1870?] the hierarchy was never defined as "the Church". Vatican II, which some Catholic Conservatives consider too advanced, defined the Church as the People of God, underlining that all baptized people belong to, or are, The Church.
We, the people are "The Church"; those other guys we call "The Church" are the leadership, the clergy, a minority of the members. They have a lot of clout but they are the minority. They are the authority but not the example or the "holy ones"; the latter has always been called "saints".

From the staunchly Catholic "Catholic Encyclopedia"

The term church (Anglo-Saxon, cirice, circe; Modern German, Kirche; Swedish,Kyrka) is the name employed in the Teutonic languages to render the Greekekklesia (ecclesia), the term by which the New Testament writers denote the society founded by Our Lord Jesus Christ. The derivation of the word has been much debated. It is now agreed that it is derived from the Greek kyriakon(cyriacon), i.e. the Lord's house, a term which from the third century was used, as well as ekklesia, to signify a Christian place of worship. This, though the less usual expression, had apparently obtained currency among theTeutonic races. The Northern tribes had been accustomed to pillage theChristian churches of the empire, long before their own conversion. Hence, even prior to the arrival of the Saxons in Britain, their language had acquired words to designate some of the externals of the Christian religion.

The present article is arranged as follows:

• The term Ecclesia
• The Church in prophecy
• Its constitution by Christ; the Church after the Ascension
• Its organization by the Apostles
• The Church, a divine society
• The Church, the necessary means of salvation
• Visibility of the Church
• The principle of authority; infallibility; jurisdiction
• Members of the Church
• Indefectibility of the Church; continuity
• Universality of the Church; the "Branch" Theory
• Notes of the Church
• The Church, a perfect society
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• Of course, you know, the Church building is only "the Church" by extension, too, as the place where the Ecclesia, the Christians, meet for worship
• And....the definition given by the traditional Catholic Encyclopedia many not be the most enlightening. I prefer a more Biblical approach as distinct from the "theological" approach of the CE. 
• In general, I want to simplify the issues and heave as close as possible to the "Historical Jesus" and his teachings.