#12522 Can the Hierarchy Change Itself? & More Questions on Hierarchy - Joe Heschmeyer
Catholic Answers Live
Catholic Answers
4.8 • 2.1K Ratings
🗓️ 30 December 2025
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
This is an encore episode, originally aired on October 1, 2025.
“Can the Hierarchy Change Itself?” This episode delves into the complexities of Church authority and reform, addressing questions such as whether the Church still uses canon priests and how to trust the hierarchy. We also explore intriguing topics like Pope Leo’s blessing of ice and the implications of a heretical pope according to Bellarmine.
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Questions Covered:
02:55 – Does that Church still set up canon priests to assist and convey messages for bishops?
06:57 – Does the Church hierarchy have the authority to change the Church hierarchy?
15:05 – I’m returning to the Church but I’m having a hard time trusting the hierarchy.
24:09 – Why should we conform to a magisterium who has abandoned Christ?
37:55 – Are you familiar with Pope Leo blessing the block of ice and the whole significance behind that?
48:30 – When Robert Bellarmine said that there can be a heretical pope, what did he mean by that?
Transcript
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| 0:11.5 | Learn more at realestateforlife.org. Welcome back to Catholic Gantz was live. |
| 0:31.9 | Actually, having a lot of great conversations today about hierarchy. |
| 0:35.0 | Lots of people want to talk about the hierarchy of the church, the hierarchical |
| 0:39.1 | nature of the church. Did Jesus really intend to have all this Catholic, I don't know, it's like |
| 0:46.8 | a layer cake of hierarchy? Or did he, Darren gave me the nod. He said, yes, layer. That was a good |
| 0:53.5 | analogy that I can't. Thank you, Darren. |
| 0:56.9 | Or did Jesus, like, you know, just want more of a simple, you know, cool? |
| 1:01.6 | I like that you're immediately going into hippie Jesus mode. Yeah, you say it. Yeah, man. Well, |
| 1:08.1 | or something in between. You're welcome to call with your questions about the hierarchy, |
| 1:12.2 | about Jesus's intentions and how he made those clear to us about what he wanted in his church. |
| 1:17.7 | The church that he himself builds. 8883187-884 is the number to call. |
| 1:23.3 | 8883-187-884. Joe Heschmire has written a whole bunch of great books, the three I have on |
| 1:29.2 | my desk right now, all related to this topic in one way or another, the Eucharist is really Jesus, |
| 1:34.6 | Pope Peter, defending the church's most distinctive doctrine in a time of crisis. |
| 1:39.3 | The early church was the Catholic Church. Welcome back, Joe. Thank you for coming back. Thanks. Good to be back. |
| 1:46.1 | Are you as impressed as I am with that the phones have stayed so full on this topic? I wasn't sure. |
| 1:50.4 | I love the questions. I mean, I think that probably is conveyed by how hard it is for me to go on to |
| 1:55.9 | the next collar and not just stick with like one collar per show. These are, I'm loving the questions, and I'm glad people are having a place to ask. |
| 2:04.1 | It is kind of in your wheelhouse. |
| 2:05.8 | Like you love those first two centuries of the church. |
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