Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Can Catholics disagree with the Pope? The answer is yes—but only with serious qualifications.
Support the channel by visiting: brianholdsworth.ca/help
In this video, I explain the difference between the Pope’s personal opinions, prudential judgments, authentic magisterial teaching, ordinary magisterium, extraordinary magisterium, and the kind of religious submission Catholics owe to Church teaching.
Using recent reactions to Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical as the backdrop, I walk through how Catholics should think about papal authority without falling into either extreme: treating every papal statement as infallible, or dismissing the Pope whenever we disagree.
00:00 – Pope Leo XIV’s new encyclical and the rush to react
00:54 – Can Catholics disagree with the Pope?
01:55 – What the magisterium actually is
02:20 – Not every papal statement is magisterial
02:58 – The confusion caused by interviews and press conferences
03:49 – Principles vs. prudential applications
04:47 – Papal opinions on politics are not always binding
07:12 – Encyclicals can contain both teaching and opinion
07:44 – Ordinary vs. extraordinary magisterium
08:51 – What religious submission really means
10:15 – Legitimate areas of disagreement
11:46 – A hierarchy for evaluating papal statements
13:00 – Why humility is usually safer than public dissent
Music written and generously provided by Paul Jernberg. Find out more about his work as a composer here: pauljernberg.com
Podcast Version: brianholdsworth.libsyn.com
Can Catholics disagree with the Pope? The answer is yes—but only with serious qualifications.
Support the channel by visiting: brianholdsworth.ca/help
In this video, I explain the difference between the Pope’s personal opinions, prudential judgments, authentic magisterial teaching, ordinary magisterium, extraordinary magisterium, and the kind of religious submission Catholics owe to Church teaching.
Using recent reactions to Pope Leo XIV’s first encyclical as the backdrop, I walk through how Catholics should think about papal authority without falling into either extreme: treating every papal statement as infallible, or dismissing the Pope whenever we disagree.
00:00 – Pope Leo XIV’s new encyclical and the rush to react
00:54 – Can Catholics disagree with the Pope?
01:55 – What the magisterium actually is
02:20 – Not every papal statement is magisterial
02:58 – The confusion caused by interviews and press conferences
03:49 – Principles vs. prudential applications
04:47 – Papal opinions on politics are not always binding
07:12 – Encyclicals can contain both teaching and opinion
07:44 – Ordinary vs. extraordinary magisterium
08:51 – What religious submission really means
10:15 – Legitimate areas of disagreement
11:46 – A hierarchy for evaluating papal statements
13:00 – Why humility is usually safer than public dissent
Music written and generously provided by Paul Jernberg. Find out more about his work as a composer here: pauljernberg.com
Podcast Version: brianholdsworth.libsyn.com
