Ex Cathedra Debate Windsor v. Rosenthal

Ex Cathedra Debate

David Rosenthal

Opening Statement

We who are about to die salute you.

To me the issue is simple and should remain simple: popes in exercise of ex cathedra pronouncements have contradicted scripture.

The example I put forward is that of the Immaculate Conception, which is a contradiction of scripture, as it states that Mary was born free from the stain of original sin. (By encyclical, it merits mentioning, Mary was also considered free of all sin which, though not ex cathedra, is also a contradiction of scripture.)

According to Wikipedia: The Immaculate Conception is a dogma of the Catholic Church maintaining that the Blessed Virgin Mary was kept free of original sin from her moment of conception and was filled with the sanctifying grace normally conferred during baptism.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immaculate_conception] (Sources for this cited by Wikipedia are Encyclical Ineffabilis Deus of Pope Pius IX [http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius09/p9ineff.htm] and Encyclical Ad diem illum of Pope Pius X [http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/pius_x/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-x_enc_02021904_ad-diem-illum-laetissimum_en.html].)

The Wikipedia article on papal infallibility, however, lists the Immaculate Conception as one of six infallible declarations of the church, citing Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX, 1854, defining the Immaculate Conception, which information it claims was published in 1985 in Creative Fidelity: Weighing and Interpreting Documents of the Magisterium, by Francis A. Sullivan, chapter 6.
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_infallibility] (As the church does not, as far as I can determine, publish a list of infallible pronouncements, I depended on the abovementioned to know whether the Immaculate Conception was an ex cathedra pronouncement.)

Mary's parents passed on the stain of original sin just as all other parents pass it on to their children. Nothing in scripture states or suggests otherwise. (In contradiction of the encyclical on her sinlessness, Mary stated that she had a savior, which only sinners require. [Luke 1:46,47] And scripture also states that all have sinned and fallen short of God's glory. [Romans 3:23])

Word Count: 333

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