They don't believe that the pope is channeling God or anything. At the end of the day the pope is still just a guy, a very holy guy but still a guy and you'll never have to look long to find Catholics who believe the pope is wrong about whatever, or just an idiot in general.
Catholics believe the pope is infallible in the very rare instances where he talks about matters of doctrine ex cathedra. It is generally considered only to have happened twice in the last two centuries and the idea of papal infallibility only became official doctrine in 1870.
They don't believe that the pope is channeling God or anything. At the end of the day the pope is still just a guy, a very holy guy but still a guy and you'll never have to look long to find Catholics who believe the pope is wrong about whatever, or just an idiot in general.
Catholics believe the pope is infallible in the very rare instances where he talks about matters of doctrine ex cathedra. It is generally considered only to have happened twice in the last two centuries and the idea of papal infallibility only became official doctrine in 1870.