# Papal Infallibility **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [February 29, 2016, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/papal-infallibility/747480 "2016-02-29T05:40:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![qazwart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/5fc32e/32.png) [@qazwart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qazwart)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/papal-infallibility/747480/41 "2016-03-03T15:27:59Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Eating meat on Fridays is not a _malum per se_, but a _malum prohibitum_. A Catholic who eats meat on Fridays is not committing the sin of eating meat on Fridays, but the sin of disobeying the Church. It’s sort of like how some posters here have been instructed by the mods to avoid certain topics, even though those topics aren’t prohibited in general. And it’s only natural that a prohibition of this sort can be very easily set aside: If the bishop says that it’s OK to eat capybara, or to have corned beef on St. Patrick’s Day, or whatever, then you’re not disobeying the Church, and so there’s no problem. Does anyone know when not eating meat on Fridays started? I know that this was mentioned in the fourth century by Pope Peter I of Alexandria (Pope of the Coptic church). I wonder if this is something that started in order to help differentiate what was then the newly established Christian religion from Judaism. In Judaism, the Shabbat Friday night meal is an extremely festive affair celebrating the start of the Jewish Shabbat. If a Jew can only afford to eat meat once per week, it should be the Shabbat Friday night meal. I could see the early Christian Church challenging this custom, making Friday night a night of sacrifice and penance instead of celebration. You either were going to eat meat, and be loyal to Judaism, or refrain from eating meat and be loyal to Christianity. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/papal-infallibility/747480/42 "2016-03-03T15:53:04Z")
> [@qazwart](#): > > However, since the Church has to show that the current Pope is from an unbreakable line of leaders from the time of St. Peter, only a single pope can exist at a particular point in time. Do they? I know that Apostolic succession is a thing as far as ordination is concerned, but that should have been taken care of when they were ordained a priest or bishop. Picking the Bishop of Rome is merely a political matter… there aren’t any requirements other than save being Catholic and male; they’ll ordain you up if need be. There are de-facto requirements- be a member of the College of Cardinals, etc… but they’re not theologically significant. ---
**Author:** ![NeonMadman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58f4c7/32.png) [@NeonMadman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NeonMadman)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/papal-infallibility/747480/43 "2016-03-03T15:55:37Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > I wouldn’t say this trumps Scripture since it’s not in opposition to Scripture. > > It’s on Friday because the death of the Lord is observed on Friday and so this is a day to make a sacrifice of something good as a penance for our sins. > > [https://www.ewtn.com/faith/lent/fast.htm](https://www.ewtn.com/faith/lent/fast.htm) > > Canon law still calls for abstinence on all Fridays that aren’t feast days, but other charity or penance can take its place outside of Lent. I understand what you’re saying, and the amount of sense it makes depends on your attitude toward the authority of the church. This wasn’t a case of people deciding on their own to abstain from meat on Fridays as a kind of personal semi-fast; it was imposed on \*all \*Catholics by the authority of the church. Someone, somewhere decided on that rule; it did not derive from Scripture or the teaching of the apostles. You can probably imagine that such a restriction seems “silly” (to use the operative term) to someone who does not recognize the authority of the pope or the Magisterium of the RCC. You say that the rule is not in opposition to Scripture, but some would argue that it is: 1 Timothy 4:1-3 (ESV) Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will _depart from the faith_ by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and _teachings of demons_, through the insincerity of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid marriage and _require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving_ by those who believe and know the truth. Forbidding marriage, at least for clergy, is another doctrine of the RCC that might seem to be in opposition to this text. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/papal-infallibility/747480/44 "2016-03-03T16:00:00Z")
> [@qazwart](#): > > Does anyone know when not eating meat on Fridays started? I know that this was mentioned in the fourth century by Pope Peter I of Alexandria (Pope of the Coptic church). This cite mentions the first century: > **[Why don’t Catholics eat meat on Fridays? - Archdiocese of Saint Paul and...](https://www.archspm.org/faith-and-discipleship/catholic-faith/why-dont-catholics-eat-meat-on-fridays/)** > > Catholics abstain from flesh meat on days of penance, such as Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and the Fridays of Lent. Didache: [https://bible.org/seriespage/chapter-3-fasting-through-patristic-era](https://bible.org/seriespage/chapter-3-fasting-through-patristic-era) The Didache contains three explicit references to fasting: 1.3, 7.4, and 8.1.246 Clearly fasting was an accepted part of life for the early Christian community being addressed, and the practice is given certain practical associations and distinctions. The main themes that emerge are that fasting and prayer should be done for the sake of one’s enemies, fasting is part of the preparation for baptism, and fasting should be practiced on different days from the Jews. … Fasting on Different Days Than Jews. The final reference to fasting in Did. 8.1 follows immediately the reference in 7.4, and so fasting becomes the transitional hinge to a further brief discussion of prayer. The text reads: “Let not your fasts be with the hypocrites, for they fast on Mondays and Thursdays, but do you fast on Wednesdays and Fridays.” This is clearly similar to Matt 6:16, with the next verse following suit echoing Matt 6:5, “Whenever you pray, do not be like the hypocrites,” and finishing up with the Lord’s prayer that is similar in wording to Matt 6:9-13.256 Included in this passage is the not-so-subtle implication that the term “hypocrites” referred to by Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount is being applied to practitioners of Jewish fasting generally. As already seen, certain members of the Jewish community fasted twice a week (like the Pharisee in Luke 18:12), on Mondays and Thursdays. Here the Christians are instructed to change their fasting days to Wednesdays and Fridays, and the imperative mood ( ὑμεῖς δὲ νηστεύσατε) suggests to some that this fasting may have been compulsory, though that is not certain. … Fasting on Wednesdays and Fridays could commemorate Jesus’ betrayal and crucifixion, as well as distinguishing Christian practice from Judaism. Since Jews prepared meals for the Sabbath on Fridays, it was a day of extra food preparation, and Christian fasting on Friday would imply breaking with Jewish Sabbath observance as well. By marking out different days for fasting, the Christians represented by the writing of the Didache appear to be using fasting as a means of self-identity. This at least shows an awareness that they believed they were a new community, while still being linked through Christ, the promised fulfillment, to the old. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/papal-infallibility/747480/45 "2016-03-03T20:58:01Z")
_I_ want to know [how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_many_angels_can_dance_on_the_head_of_a_pin%3F) [Cecil](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1008/did-medieval-scholars-argue-over-how-many-angels-could-dance-on-the-head-of-a-pin)had something to say about it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/papal-infallibility/747480.md?page=2)