re: Pope Francis has Died

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letting priests marry would lead to more people becoming priests

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Estimates that I have seen show there would likely be 4x as many priest if we allowed them to marry. Unfortunately, the expense of a Parish supporting up to 30 more individuals would likely bankrupt the Parish. Eastern Orthodox priests can get married, but they have to support themselves by having a job. Once a priest has to work and parent, the 4x number nets you back down to the current situation, with likely less dedicated priests.

If we want more priests, have more kids and be grateful and encouraging when they show an interest in the priesthood. Parents are reluctant to give up their only son.

I can't speak being Orthdox, as our church is as old as Catholicism and even more demanding in our adherence to tradition (hence the great Schism), but this mentality right here:

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Exactly. I believe a lot of Catholics are so tied up in tradition that they miss the forest for the trees. Almost Jewish in their demanding on tradition.

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is why there's 45 thousand protestant denominations and another 60 thousand other sects of "Christianity." Last I checked, the one true God is not a God of confusion, but that's precisely what we have now.

If Luther, Calvin, etc., could see what their 500 year old churches have become (a caricature, really), I'd venture to say they'd of scrapped their plans and stayed with the 2000 year old Apostolic patriarchates built from the day of Pentecost instead of on their own interpretations.

That shaky foundation and lack of tradition is precisely why western Christianity is in the shape it's in: If the 8 piece band isn't coming down from the rafters on cables with a laser show for the stadium seat attendees who sip lattes and hear a pastor-centered worship service on what Christ can do for them if they tithe their minimum 10%, instead of going to church to hear authoritative worship and 2000 year old traditions on what they can do to honor Christ for His sacrifice, then the seats are barren and dusty.

The forest is protestantism, and the trees need to be thinned badly because disease has set in.

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Your answer should be more nuanced than this. He's not called The Vicar of Christ for nothing.

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I answered in the way easiest to understand. Catholics do not believe that

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the pope is the physical form of God on earth

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Which was what my ‘no’ was to.

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Last I checked, the one true God is not a God of confusion, but that's precisely what we have now.

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That confusion is not from God, it's from the original liar. His only true weapon against Christ's Truth.

I pray every day for the reunification of East and West and believe one day it will happen. We are not as far divided as some would have us believe.

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What are the "doctrines" you are talking about? You aren't talking about his opinions on things like climate change and economics are you? Those are not things he's spoken on authoritatively, and no Catholic is bound to agree with him on those things.

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Very well said

Also (and this is meant in general, not directed at you) I think we shouldn't get into east/west pissing matches, at least publicly. We're so close "doctrinally" it would be nice if we could stick together as much as possible.

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I thought you had to convert for the marriage to be recognized by the Roman Catholic Church. Is that not the case?

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no you can be married with the ‘disparity of cult’ clause

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Funny, the eastern church was on board with the authority of Rome for the first millennium of Christianity.

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Either you're intentionally lying, or you are severely, severely misinformed.

There was a period of relative unity in the first century of Christianity, and the patriarchates recognized Rome as primus inter pares in the ecumenical councils, but the other patriarchates never accepted Papal primacy - which is what I asked about, not church unity. Again, you're either mixed up on what 1000 years of church unity meant regarding ecumenical councils and Apostolic succession vs. Papal primacy, you're misinformed, or your telling a lie.

Never was Papal primacy recognized by the Apostolic churches, and to say anything but is an outlandish misrepresentation of the truth, i.e., an outright lie.

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The Pope keeps the Catholic Church from becoming what the Orthodox churches have become. Orthodox churches can't even agree on what constitutes a valid baptism, and then you have them excommunicating/separating from each other. All because they bailed on the authority they once recognized, and now they have no authority to settle their disagreements.

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Absolute nonsense. There some minor differences, but the Orthodox church is one and worships as one every Divine Liturgy. You are severely misinformed about Orthodoxy.

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All because they bailed on the authority they once recognized, and now they have no authority to settle their disagreements.

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You mean like the authority who just passed away and who was an outright, open socialist? Were there any disagreements about his stance on that? What about transgenderism, lgbtq, universalism, and more? Last I checked there were more than one member of the clergy who experienced laicization and/or defrocking because of disagreements with this so called, "Papal authority."

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What are the "doctrines" you are talking about? You aren't talking about his opinions on things like climate change and economics are you? Those are not things he's spoken on authoritatively, and no Catholic is bound to agree with him on those things.

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Lies. See above: He spoke authoritatively enough on them where clergy who spoke out in protest faced very real consequences.

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no Catholic is bound to agree with him on those things.

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Again, Papal primacy is a central dogma for the Catholic church, but for everyone who's not a Catholic, we all see the hypocrisy of such an absurd notion, and this quote right here above is exhibit A. Either he has primacy or he doesn't, you can't have it both ways.

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But having said this, the Latin mass is loved and enjoyed by many people who hold this faith and depriving them of the option to participate in a cherished tradition is a peculiar choice for a denomination which is so deeply embracing of tradition. Seems like a reasonable liberty to me.

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And I would agree with that view on it, even if the practice doesn’t make sense to me.

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The church needs to steer back to its roots. More traditional Latin in mass, more traditional views.

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Yes historically when the Catholic Church refuses to adjust to the world and gets “back to its roots”, great things happen.

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Either he has primacy or he doesn't, you can't have it both ways.

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he has primacy when he’s speaking ‘ex cathedra’ - it’s not that hard of a concept to grasp