How can the pope cause people to go to hell?

[CrossoverManiac]

My problem with the holy days of obligation is this: if you miss a holy day of obligation, you have committed a mortal sin and is in danger of going to Hell. My problem is how did the Pope or whoever choses when to have the Holy Days of Obligation can pick a day that, if you're not at Mass, you can die and go to Hell. Now, the Pope does have authority given to him by Christ Himself, but I was under the impression that God would judge who would go to Heaven or Hell. I don't see how any man, even that man is the Pope, can create a mortal sin when it's God that sets the standards for whether or not a man is spiritually clean.

[Fr. Vincent Serpa]

Dear CM,

First of all, if you forget to attend Mass on a holy day of obligation, it’s no sin. One can’t forget on purpose.

Jesus gave authority to St. Peter and his successors. “Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven,” He said. So the pope has authority to call us to Mass on certain days under the pain of serious sin. True, it is God who ultimately determines who will go to heaven and who will go to hell. Some people get by because of ignorance and some ask for mercy with their dying breath. But the pope does have the authority to set moral requirements because Jesus gave him that authority. He doesn’t use such authority arbitrarily, but always in keeping with what the Lord has already revealed. In this case, it is the Lord who requires us to worship Him once a week. The pope is just extending this requirement to certain important celebrations of the year.

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.