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Why Roman Catholic members call their Pope Holy Father since God the Father is in Heaven?

God says: call no one as your father as I am God, the Father who is in Heaven

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    Because they are not aware that the doctrines they receive from their leaders are Anti-Christ. It is Clear in Mateo 23:9 that GOD is prohibiting us to call any body on earth father in terms of religion.

    Mat 23:9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

    It is clear that chatolics violated the doctrines of Christ.

  • 1 decade ago

    OK Sweetie, you can call Bubba your daddy if you so desire it. He can punish you for being so naughty. You pick; you can get a harmonious spanking from Bubba with either a paddle or a belt.

    Since you are so concerned about the holy father, after your excursion in Spanking-ville, Bubba can give you a real workout. Then you can say, Oh God I'm coming. If others in the building hear your joyous cries, they will know you have gone to be with your father in heaven.

  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    We call him father because he is a spiritual father, like St. Paul, who wrote, "For though you have countless guides in Christ, you do not have many fathers. For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel." (1 Corinthians 4:15)

    We call him holy because he is "devoted entirely to the deity or the work of the deity." (Merriam-Webster; see this usage in Luke 1:70, Luke 2:23, Act 3:21, Romans 11:16)

    If you have a problem with it, take it up with St. Paul and the other writers.

  • 1 decade ago

    There you go again, Catholic haters!

    You just do not want to understand and come again and again with these absurd arguments

    Read the previous verse (Mt. 23:8), and Jesus also says: "call no one teacher", yet I´m sure that´s what you have called your teachers in school, and I bet you have also called your daddy "father"

    Jesus means do not call any man your "father" as "your creator",

    We call the Pope "Holy Father " because he is like a father to us and he is a holy man, but we know he is not our creator

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  • 1 decade ago

    If you look at the context of Matt. 23:9, you will see that Jesus was telling his disciples not to call one another "Father" in a RELIGIOUS sense. He did not mean the biological male parent could not be addresses as such.

    Catholics try to justify calling their priests "father" by pointing to the apostle Paul who identifying himself as a father to the Corinthian congregation. But what they choose to ignore is that Paul was not using that word as a title. He was NEVER addresses as Father Paul. Neither were the other prominent men in the Christian congregation. No matter what kind of spin Catholics try to put on Matt. 23:9, they are still in violation of Jesus' explicit command not to use the word "father" as a religious title.

    At John 17:11, Jesus rightly addresses his Father as "Holy Father." For any man, including the Pope, to apply that to himself is stealing a title that belongs exclusively to God.

  • 4 years ago

    Too undesirable you probably did not "stumble" upon this Bible textual content fabric: For in case you have been to have infinite tutors in Christ, yet you does not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father for the duration of the gospel. (a million Cor 4:15) Paul referred to as himself "father" to those over whom he had pastoral duty. So did Peter: She who's in Babylon, chosen consisting of you, sends you greetings, and so does my son, Mark. (a million Peter 5:thirteen) If the 1st monks of Christ's Church have been reported as "father", why does not the monks of that comparable Church be reported as "father" immediately? additionally, did you stumble onto the very next verse, which says "call no guy your instructor"? Do you have any instructors on your church? If not, the thank you to you learn something?

  • ?
    Lv 6
    1 decade ago

    Catholics call their priests ``Father'' because in all matters pertaining to Christ's holy faith they perform the duties of a father, representing God. The priest is the agent of the Christian's supernatural birth and sustenance in the world. ``Father'' is a title which does not conflict in the slightest with Matthew 23:9. Christ forbids the Christian to acknowledge any fatherhood which conflicts with the Fatherhood of God--just as He commands the Christian to ``hate'' his father, mother, wife, and his own life, insofar as these conflict with the following of Christ. (Luke 14:26). But Christ does not forbid Christians to call His own representatives by the name of ``Father.'' Catholic priests share in the priesthood of Jesus Christ (not a human priesthood), and their sacred ministry partakes of the Fatherhood of God. Like St. Paul (himself a Catholic priest), every Catholic priest can refer to the souls he has spiritually begotten as his children in Christ. (1 Cor. 4:14). St. Paul considered himself to be the spiritual father, in Christ, of the Corinthians: ``For if you have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus, by the gospel, I have begotten you.'' (I Cor. 4:15). The title of ``Father'' is entirely proper for an ordained priest of Jesus Christ.

    God Bless You

  • 1 decade ago

    Matthew 23:6-9 reads, "They love places of honor at banquets, seats of honor in synagogues, greetings in marketplaces, and the salutation 'Rabbi.' As for you, do not be called 'Rabbi.' You have but one teacher, and you are all brothers. Call no one on earth your father; you have but one Father in heaven."

    Are we also not to call anyone "teacher" or "doctor" which is how "rabbi' would translate?

    This is call for humility for those in leadership roles. Not to be taken literally.

    We are not to deny our male parent and cut the Commandment to honor our father and mother in half.

    Some leaders in any church may fall into the same folly as the pharisees of Jesus' day.

    With love in Christ.

  • 1 decade ago

    That is just one of the many discrepancies that led me to leave the Catholic faith. I did not understand it either and no one could give me an answer that made sense. I was told that because he is the leader of the Church, he earned the name Holy Father. But in my way of thinking, the Pope is NOT the leader of the Church, GOD is!.I may not have answered your question, but I am with you all the way on this one.

  • 1 decade ago

    bla bla bla

    Its a title

    The terms "Abbot" and "Pope" also mean "Father."

    Catholic & Orthodox Christians give this title to their clergy because they believe that all Christian believers make up the Body of Christ (or the Church). They believe that the clergy who receive this title are spiritual fathers because as one is a member of the Body, so there are also "elders,", "rabbis," and other leaders. Father can be translated as an elder because it presumes that one has, because of age or study, wisdom and knowledge of the doctrines of the Church.

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