Some Popes Are Not Good Definers of Catholicism

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There are conservative Catholics who believe that the pope is the only one who can define what Catholicism means. Their judgment may concluded by their intense administration of the present pope. Some are speaking of him already as "John Paul the Great."

The seem to forget, however, that John Paul II one pope in a line of more than 260, and that one day his name, like the others, will be followed by a date of death or resignation or both. Another pope will follow him and then another and another.

The assert that the pope alone determines the meaning of Catholicism is to assert of principle. And it if is a principle, it must apply to all popes, not just to the current pope or past and future …