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I know you have reservations that prevent you from believing 100% of Church Doctrine...just for example, the doctrinal position regarding abortion. I wasn't being prideful; I was merely accurately describing my theological position (and yours). I have accepted all that the Church teaches (an act of will/choice), not just the parts that I like, or the parts which agree with my political beliefs. I guess I understand how you might have thought that was prideful, but I do not think of that as something to brag about. I was just trying to demonstrate that I do not fear your "bookmark," and I wondered why you thought it was somehow significant. You obviously hope to catch me disagreeing with the doctrine of the Church. If you do, it would be a cause for introspection on my part, not an opportunity to justify my disagreement. You opt for the latter (justifying your disagreement) when discussing abortion...again, just a statement of fact. When the Catechism points out that intentional abortion is always evil, you seek to find ways to get around that doctrine; you do not think about changing your position to bring it in line with teaching...and yet you try to claim your arguments are Catholic, which is a cause for scandal (in the theological, not secular sense of the term). If I am wrong on this point, feel free to say so.

The decision to allow all priests to handle absolution for abortion (which I did not know about) is more of a matter of discipline (practice) rather than doctrine (belief), and as such, it can be changed over time by the Church. I'm fine with that. The gravely sinful nature of abortion in the abstract, however, is a matter of doctrine, which is not changeable over time, and individual pronouncements by even a pope which purport to change that doctrine (or any doctrine) have no effect, notwithstanding the fact that the pope is part of the Magisterium...he is not all of the Magisterium. We can discuss whether his role is magnified when he speaks "ex cathedra" or "from the chair of St. Peter," but that has not happened with regard to the issues you seek to change about Church Doctrine.