>social teaching is being distorted and downright misrepresented by many people (including the current Pope because of his sloppy and imprecise language)
Isn't catholic social doctrine dictated by the pope?
>Isn't catholic social doctrine dictated by the pope?
Yes, but it's more akin to how US Foreign Policy is dictated by the President.
Ignoring the religious aspect for a bit. The Pope has the power to dictate Catholic social doctrine, but he primarily interprets existing doctrine, which has been established over 2000 years. I don't believe that the current Pope has taken any steps to explicitly change doctrine, merely to explain it.
For example, the church considers abortions to be a sin (murder). This has often resulted in penalties and bias against women who have had an abortion within the church. Pope Francis has called for more love and respect towards these women. This was not presented as a change in doctrine, however the language is imprecise so it can be interpreted as "abortion is not a grave sin" or as "love the sinner, hate the sin." Obviously people will use the imprecision to support their agenda.
In a sense yes, but for example the doctrine of infallibility is restricted to specific and explicit official pronouncements 'ex cathedra'. It does not mean they believe the pope is incapable of sloppy or imprecise language in ordinary conversation for example.
No, not really. Catholic social doctrine is dictated by all the popes now and in the past. When this pope and a previous pope contradict, one of them is being interpreted incorrectly. The Church also is guided by its own traditions, ultimately meaning the collective decisions of bishops in the past.
In other words, the pope trying to dictate social doctrine would result in massive unpopularity or schism. That is why this pope is unpopular in some circles. Whether that's deserved or not is not an argument I'm having today.
Yes and no. Catholic social doctrine is dictated by the Gospels as interpreted by the Church. The Pope and other church authorities can (and do) clarify and further elucidate this teaching, but they cannot change it.
For instance, the Bible does mention how to deal with issues of bioethics, modern financial and economic systems, and many other topics because they simply didn't exist at the time.
So we need Church authorities to apply and interpret these teachings to modern issues. The Pope can and should and does tell us how to apply Catholic teaching in modern situations, but he might communicate poorly (this is a real problem with Pope Francis), or even make mistakes.
Papal infallibility is very specifically and narrowly defined and is rarely applicable. It has only been invoked twice in the last 150 years, both times for doctrinal statements relating to Mariology (i.e., Mary the Mother of God, not the monkey-fighting plumber guy, although I find that idea amusing).
In both cases, Pope Pius IX and Pius XII were establishing as doctrine teachings that had been believed and taught for centuries, and which refined, but did not fundamentally change anything.
Popes sometimes refer to an infallible statement, but this is merely a reiteration of existing doctrine (e.g., When Pope John-Paul II invoked infallibility in the restatement that the Church does not have the authority to ordain women, but he wasn't saying anything new).
The Pope's authority is valid only in as much as he is consistent with the teachings passed down from the Apostles, and when he is making statements that are consistent with Catholic teaching and in communion with the bishops and traditions of the Church.
As an example, Pope Francis' claims that capital punishment is always wrong contradicts traditional Catholic teaching. Now the application of capital punishment in a modern society may be unacceptable for reasons of the protection of rights of the accused (e.g., overturning a wrongful conviction doesn't any good if the no-longer-a-convict is dead), maintaining safety (e.g., life imprisonment keeps society safe from people who are too dangerous to be in society), and the process is just too unwieldy to be exercised in an efficient and just way (e.g., people being on death row for decades through endless appeals).
But this does not mean that capital punishment is inherently wrong, and this is what the Church has always taught. Francis is expressing an opinion here, one that is worth considering, but he is not changing Church teaching because he can't.
For the record, I don't support capital punishment, but for reasons stated above, not because it's inherently wrong, but because it is not necessary. If I were living in a small community on an isolated island, or in many other situations, my opinion might be different.
>> It has only been invoked twice in the last 150 years, both times for doctrinal statements relating to Mariology
This is a common but absurd misconception, implying that only twice in 2000 years a pope made a statement that fulfills the requirements outlined in Vatican I, ie. making a statement 1) regarding faith and morals, 2) directed to the entire church.
Isn't catholic social doctrine dictated by the pope?