Is this justice....?: Papal Resignation, Papal Infallibility and Mother Mary

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Papal Resignation, Papal Infallibility and Mother Mary

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Papal Resignation, Papal Infallibility and Mother Mary

Epigraph:

"Allah sets forth for those who believe, (as role models), the example of the wife of Pharaoh when she said, 'My Lord! build for me a house with Thee in the Garden; and deliver me from Pharaoh and his work, and deliver me from the wrongdoing people;' and the example of Mary, the daughter of 'Imran, who guarded her chastity — so We breathed into her of Our Spirit — and she fulfilled in her person the words of her Lord and His Books and was one of the obedient." (Al Quran 66:12-13)

Painting of Assumption of mother Mary by Rubens circa. 1626 CE

Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD

The Holy Quran presents mother Mary as a paragon of virtue and chastity and a chapter of the Quran is named after her. Christianity on the other hand is unable to make up her mind about her, because of the conundrum created by catapulting a man, son of Mary, Jesus, may peace be on him, to divinity. One moment she is human and in the very next she is 'mother of God.'

Announcement of Papal resignation, by Pope Benedict XVI on February 11, 2013, has brought to prominence, issues like his legacy and infallibility. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica:

Papal infallibility, in Roman Catholic theology, the doctrine that the pope, acting as supreme teacher and under certain conditions, cannot err when he teaches in matters of faith or morals. As an element of the broader understanding of the infallibility of the church, this doctrine is based on the belief that the church has been entrusted with the teaching mission of Jesus Christ and that, in view of its mandate from Christ, it will remain faithful to that teaching through the assistance of the Holy Spirit. As such, the doctrine is related to, but distinguishable from, the concept of indefectibility, or the doctrine that the grace promised to the church assures its perseverance until the end of time.

The term infallibility was rarely mentioned in the early and medieval church. Critics of the doctrine have pointed to various occasions in the history of the church when popes are said to have taught heretical doctrines, the most notable case being that of Honorius I (625–638), who was condemned by the third Council of Constantinople (680–681, the sixth ecumenical council).[a]

Papal issues pertaining to infallibility can be examined, in historical details, on scores of issues pertaining to Trinity, politics, antisemitism, Islamophobia and divorce to name a few. Today the focus is on Catholic understanding about mother Mary, especially as presented by some of the Popes, explicitly or implicitly.

'Perpetual virginity of Mary', means that Mary was a virgin before, during and after giving birth. (De fide) This oldest Marian Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox doctrine affirms Mary's "real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to the Son of God made Man."^[86] Thus, by the teaching of this dogma, the faithful believe that Mary was ever-Virgin (Greek ?e?p???e???) for the remainder of her life, making Jesus her only biological son, whose conception and birth are miraculous.

This does not leave much room for her marriage to Joseph, as mentioned in the New Testament and any children, other than Jesus, may peace be on him.

Mary remained a virgin after giving birth (De fide). This belief of the Church was questioned in its early years^[94] Today most Protestants disagree with this teaching, although Martin Luther and his contemporaries believed in the ever Virgin Mary^[95] The scriptures say little about this, mentioning the brothers of Jesus, but never "sons of Mary," suggesting to the patristical writers a broader family relationship.^[96]

It took the Church almost 1900 years to discover or at least officially announce that mother Mary had gone to heaven alive.

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven, informally known as the Assumption, according to the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and parts of Anglicanism, was the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her earthly life.

The Roman Catholic Church teaches as dogma that the Virgin Mary "having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory."^[1] This doctrine was dogmatically defined by Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950, in his Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus by exercising papal infallibility.

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