Does the Catholic Pope have too much power?

GwynneMa

I am curious about what powers you feel he has over you?  Unless your Catholic.  But even as a Catholic I do not see him exerting much power over my life.  He undoubtedly has power over my priest, whom I respect greatly and choose to follow, but you could argue that both choose it.

YeshuaBought

@GwynneMazour Mr. Pope has no power over me personally, but he has too much religious and political power for a finite man. I believe Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, not Mr. Pope. I call him Mr. Pope so I don't sound mean, but I have concerns about the Catholic brand of religion, which I personally feel is not Biblical Christianity. Why do Catholics pray to people other than God, make graven images, the rape culture scandal, and in the past, they have used the name of Jesus Christ to terrorize people. Did you know people used to be executed for owning a Bible, and Catholics claim to have love for Jesus Christ? I also question their stance on birth control that acts before conception. I have a lot of issues with the Catholic church, but I bear no ill will towards Catholics, just their brand of religion. Love the person, disagree with the religion, I say. I hope that helps.

GwynneMa

Well I am not sure what topic you want to cover here, because you named alot of them.  I would happily discuss the other topics, because I actually know some of the answers. 
As to the popes political and spiritual power:
Yes he has both, but I would argue there are numerous people in our world with an equal amount of power and some people who have complete power over others on an admittedly smaller scale, ie Putin, Trump, Kim Jong-il. 
Having a leader (a good leader( is generally considered a strength.  The Pope is simply the Catholic leader, one many Catholics actually hate.

Sam_Densmore

@YeshuaBought The Pope ever since the second Vatican council has had nothing more than ceremonial power outside of the Catholic church (and even that is diminished, just look at the American church). Now for your concerns of the Catholic "brand of religion." Your concerns are very much valid and would need to be changed if just looked at face value. First, the praying to those other than God. This is a very common concern because it sounds a lot like praising another like God and this is due to the fact that most people misunderstand the function and Biblical implications. The function is not praying like to God,but is the act of thinking about or pulling great disciples of the faith into the mind so that when we pray to God we have an example of what the perfect disciple life is. Another function is calling upon one or many saints (Christians) in heaven within the communion of saints which Paul talks about in Romans 12:4-13. This function is asking Christians in heaven to pray for them like if I asked you to pray for me, and prayers going to God from the saints dead and alive is better than just I praying alone. Praying to saints is not praise but it is rather remembrance.And your next objection with "graven images" is misguided but can be valid. Catholics have images of the saints and other artifacts because humans are visual creatures. By using these objects it makes it easier for Christians to get into the correct mind set to worship God correctly. Not worship again. Then your final objection about the atrocities committed in the church. All I can say for this, when you have a tradition and institute that has humans in it (even Christians) that is 2,000+ years old, there will be ups and downs, but with a lot more downs because humans are sinful and tend to screw good things up. The Catholic tradition has a lot of bad but a lot of good with it too. Catholicism is just another Christian denomination and as Christians of other denominations we need to stand up with them and help our brothers and sisters of the faith in these down times.