Again, history is written by the victors. It “just so happens” that the Pope is the Pope because the portion of the Catholic Church which says he’s the Pope has the social, economic, and political power to make that “true.” Which would be the case no matter which portion achieved that set of powers; we could just as easily be referring to a whole different set of Popes, past and present.
I’m not talking about how they view or define themselves. If Catholic dogma wants to say that that’s what God intended, that’s fine. Neither of us has to believe it. If some other set of Popes ended up existing, that would have been “what God intended.”
What does this have to do with history? You’re not making any sense whatsoever. We’re not discussing who has social, economic, or political power. We’re talking about the fact that, since its inception, the doctrines of Catholicism define the religion as being led by the Pope, a person who is chosen by God to be his mouthpiece. By their own standard, it is impossible for there to be a “wrong” Pope because God is the one choosing who that person is. Because of this, anyone who claims that the wrong Pope was chosen is themselves wrong because God cannot be wrong and the Pope, by extension of God, cannot be wrong and is infallible.
You might not be talking about how they view or define themselves but that’s literally what this entire conversation and thread have been about. Just because you misunderstood that and interjected yourself doesn’t mean everyone else is wrong. You are.
You’re talking about “the Catholic Church and its deity is the very end of any discussion about who is the rightful Pope,” and I’m talking about “But it has happened that multiple people, each with their own supporters, claimed to be the rightful Pope at the same time.”
When that happens, which one of those is “the Catholic Church”? In the moment, there is no way to tell. Looking back across history, we can see the outcome.
I’m really not sure why this is hard for you to comprehend, or why you’re entirely hung up on Catholic dogma.
I’m not hung up on dogma. I’ve simply referred to it because you’re moving the goalposts you set at the very beginning of the discussion by saying that all someone has to do is believe they’re a Christian in order to be a Christian and that idea is demonstrably and unequivocally false.
And no… it hasn’t happened that multiple people claimed to be the rightful Pope because the entire process by which the Pope is chosen when a former Pope dies happens in entirely closed quarters and everyone in the room who votes is bound by the doctrine. There’s no place for anyone to “claim” anything because it’s an election done in view of everyone doing the voting. Whoever gets the 2/3 majority needed is the person that was chosen by God. Full stop. To go against that is to blaspheme and go against both God and his mouthpiece. You can’t be Catholic unless you accept that the Pope is infallible and chosen by god.
I love that you’re trying to twist this as something that I’m not comprehending despite the fact that you’re the who can’t comprehend it and invoked the “No True Scotsman” fallacy incorrectly.
