I worship God, not the Pope.

For Catholics, the pope interprets for God. In this case, he has not declared infallibility, yet.

Although a common Catholic belief, the concept is actually heresy. The pope interprets for the Church, in consultation with all the bishops, for the betterment (spiritual salvation) of the People of God.

According to the Church's own canons, ultimately, an individual's properly informed and mature conscience is where the rubber meets the road!

This thread has turned ridiculous. The topic was use of condoms in Africa, and the Pope's comments on that.

You are correct on conscience but uninformed on infallibility. The encyclical to be infallible must be proclaimed from the throne of St. Peter. This has only been done twice in the history of the church. Look it up.

Yoda

Yoda right not. Actually, I'm quite aware of the ex-cathedra dogma, although I know many Catholics are unaware that the pope is not infallible when he speaks. The only two times were on the Immaculate Conception (That's Mary's conception, not Jesus') and the Assumption of Mary (bodily and unstained) into Heaven.

Neither of these doctrines have even a whiff of Biblical evidence to support them. But the question persisted for centuries AND the Church needs to exercise power over the masses. Again, through the years, Sister, Brother and Father had much more power when they claimed to be part of the magical (spiritual) power of the Pope's direct line to God.

I'm a total believer in the Truth of Christianity and the authenticity of the Church, so the "magical" parts do not affect my faith, even if others might label it incorrectly as cafeteria Catholicism.

After all, for centuries, the Church cafeteria served up flat earths, Earth-centered universes and Inquisitions as part of the menu. I've got no problem pushing those away- and neither did the Church once it got its act together a bit. It seems almost arrogant to assume that today's Church is the epitome of knowledge of God's Plan.

...yet even more arrogant is that any of us are so smart that we know better.