May I add that there is such a thing as, Catholic, Protestant, and Humanist fundamentalists?
Indeed. And that is why I usually use a lowercase F in the word "fundamentalist" (though I sometimes get lazy with the grammatical distinction).
"Fundamentalist" (capital F) usually refers to a particular sect of Christianity that teaches the absolute literal word of the Bible. These are the guys with the Young Earth theory, and the ones building a giant terrarium where they plan to raise lizards in a high-oxygen environment (like they say existed a few thousand years ago when the Earth was made) and expect the lizards to turn into dinosaurs thereby proving that dinosaurs are just what lizards were when there was more oxygen. Yeah. They really are building that.
The fundamentalists of other religions typically take the beliefs of their church to an extreme that was never intended. I should note that "Catholic Fundamentalist" is little but of a misnomer since once you become one you aren't Catholic anymore. If you put a Catholic Fundamentalist in a room with the Pope, they would grow very exasperated with one another since they would agree on very little.
On matters of faith and morals does the present pope, Pope Benedict, have the ear of God?
The Pope, like every other member of clergy, is a man. He was appointed by mortals and is as human and mortal and normal as you and me. Does he have the ear of God? Sure. So do you and I, even if you don't believe it.
Usually, this question is related to a misunderstanding of Papal Infallibility. If that's not where you were going, I apologize for this tangent I'm about to hit. A lot of people think that Catholics believe the Pope is infallible. That's a misconception. He's human, he's mortal, and he sins. (He even has a confessor to whom he confesses every week.) Infallibility is not some divine power granted by God. It is an authority granted by mortals allowing the Pope (in the case of Papal Infallibility) or an Ecumenical Council like Vatican II (in the case of Ecumenical Infallibility) to define the teachings of the church.
It is rarely invoked. The last time was 57 years ago. In 1950 the Pope declared that the assumption of Mary into heaven is an article of faith. The result of that invocation of the authority of Papal Infallibility is that this is now an official teaching of the church, and anybody teaching anything else is not doing so as part of the church.
We grant the legislative branch of our government the right to make laws. Once they are made, everybody needs to follow them or be punished if caught. This is exactly the same kind of authority granted through Papal Infallibility.
To what definitive questions does he have the definitive answers?
From the above, the answer should now be clear: He can definitively tell you what the church teaches. If you ask him questions on any other topic, related to God or not, his responses are as fallible as any other highly educated person.
w
