Re: His mother must have received a wad of Ted Kennedy's mutant spunk.

 
 Vito wrote:
| >   Does Catholic
| > doctern deem him infallable?
|
| Actually - no.  Papal "infallibility, " per Catholic "doctern," as you
| put it, comes into play only when the pope is speaking "ex cathedra"
| (lit., "from the chair"), meaning when he declares a specific formal
| statement to be a teaching on faith, received by divine revelation.  The
| Pope is not assumed to be free from error in his everyday opinions or
| even in most of his statements in his official capacity.  Papal opinions
| therefore do NOT automatically become Catholic dogma or doctrine.
|
Thanks for the info, Bob.  Do you happen to know where the 'doctrine' about
life beginning at conception came from?  Is it ex cathedra or ???   Tnx

   On 6/29/2011 3:40 PM, Vito wrote:

Good question. I tried to find something that gave a definite answer on
this, and here's the best I could come up with:

http://www.catholic.com/library/Abortion.asp

The notion that life "begins at conception" appears to derive from the
following:

"The same is shown in James 2:26, which tells us that 'the body without
the spirit is dead': The soul is the life-principle of the human body.
Since from the time of conception the child’s body is alive (as shown by
the fact it is /growing/), the child’s body must already have its spirit."

...but I can't find a reference that clearly states that this
determination was ever made by a papal ex cathedra decree.

One thing I find interesting here is that this justification seems to be
in conflict with current Catholic acceptance of neurological criteria
(e.g., "brain death") in determining the point of death. If the supposed
soul has left the body at or before the point at which "brain death" has
been determined, then clearly we have numerous examples of human bodies
which are undeniably "alive" per the criteria of "growth" (a body can
certainly grow even without detectable brain activity) and yet per this
definition could not contain a "soul."

(Ref: http://www.ncbcenter.org/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pidC6 )

Also from the above, note:

"Neurological criteria are compatible with Catholic teaching that a
human being is a substantial union of body and rational soul. When all
brain function is completely and irreversibly lost, this may be taken as
a reasonable indicator that the rational soul is no longer present."

If the last sentence is accepted, then the converse must also be true:
there could be no soul present PRIOR to "brain function," and clearly
there can be no brain function at the time of conception since there is
nothing remotely resembling a brain yet present!

Of course, I should add the following disclaimer: it will come as no
surprise to regular readers here that I am not Catholic myself, and
cannot claim any special knowledge or experience with Catholic doctrine.
I just research those things I find interesting...

Bob M.

 | Good question. I tried to find something that gave a definite answer on
| this, and here's the best I could come up with:
|
| http://www.catholic.com/library/Abortion.asp
|

Tnx again.  Somewhere I got the idea that it was fairly recent ... after
1850 or so. Tnx for the clarification.