Is it more important what the Bible says or what the Pope says?

Answer 1

In short, what The Bible says is more important than what the Pope says. Refer to the Gospel of St. John 3: 31. Ideally, what the Pope says will match perfectly with what the Bible says. What the Pope says, however, may fall within the realm of interpretation. The Bible is always the inspired Word of God. Man speaks from his own beliefs, which are simply that. Beliefs about God's Word are necessarily different in nature from God's Word, regardless of how sincerely the beliefs are held. When one's beliefs precisely align with God's Word, then the beliefs are accurate; but, still, they are beliefs and not God's Word. As Christians, we approach God through our beliefs about what God has revealed of himself through the Holy Scriptures. There's no getting AROUND our beliefs. Rather we must go THROUGH our beliefs. Beliefs, however, are subject to error; God's Word is not. The Bible says of itself that it is God-breathed. See 2 Timothy 3:16. Beliefs, on the other hand, are not God-breathed. Beliefs may, and often do, change. God's Word never changes. Man has no capacity to judge God's Word. Rather it is God's Word that judges Man. When someone proposes to speak of the inaccuracy of Scripture, for example, it is like a dog barking in the wind. When contrasted against the Word of God, which is from the top down, what Man says and means is necessarily from the bottom up. That is, the perspectives are different. Man does not have the proper and necessary perspective to judge God's Word. The Pope, according to Catholism, is Christ's representative on Earth. The Pope, however, is not, and does not claim to be, God. The Holy Scriptures, as contained in the Bible, is God's Word and, therefore, is more important than what anyone says. The Pope is subordinate to and a servant of the Word. The Word is subservient to no one. According to the Catholic view the Pope, when speaking ex cathedra in his position as head of the church, and making a statement about faith or doctrine is speaking infallibly. As stated above, the Pope is a man and cannot be infallible by definition. Those who do not follow the Catholic position also note that the Pope has defined doctrines which contradict the Bible.

Those who follow the Catholic view must, by definition, be placing the Pope and Catholic tradition ahead and over the Bible. This will not be a problem where and if the Catholic view is in accord with Bible teaching.

If there is an apparent disagreement the Catholic position would always put the Pope first.

Others would have a higher regard for the word of God, as the word of one who cannot err and would place that first. Such would also note that there are many significant disagreements between what the Pope teaches and what the Bible teaches, although of course there are quite a number where they appear to agree.

Answer 2

I am not a Catholic theologian but I have spent all of my 70 years as a Catholic and have 12 years of primary and secondary Catholic education in my resume as well as 13 years of teaching theology in a Catholic middle school. Therefore, my answer is based on my understanding of my Catholic faith.
When speaking on the matters of faith and morals, what the Pope says is what the Bible says based on the Catholic interpretation of scripture. It is called the Magisterium - the teaching authority of the Church. This includes both the Pope as well as all the bishops of the Church acting in consort to interpret what Catholics are to believe. This assures that every Catholic on earth is getting the same message. Of course, Protestants have there own interpretation of scripture which helps explain why there are over 30,000 different Protestant denominations in the world and only one Catholic Church.
Sooooooooooo then, if the Protestants are correct, which of these 30,000 interpretations are we to believe? Since it was the Catholic Church, essentially, who wrote the Bible, I think I will stick with the Catholic view. I firmly believe that such great minds as St. Augustine of Hippo, Thomas Aquinas and so many more great Catholic minds have a much better grasp of the true meanings of scripture than any other non Catholic preacher. Many of the Protestant founders, such as Martin Luther, revised parts of the Bible to put it in line with their personal interpretations. Some times it was just a matter of altering a few words but, in some cases, entire books of the Bible were simply dropped.
Throughout the history of the Catholic Church we have had a few very evil men assume the Chair of St. Peter. Popes are men and not gods. All are subject to the same temptations and distractions as are all men. To their credit, however, not one of these bad popes has ever taught anything contrary to basic Catholic doctrine.
One must also separate what the Pope says as a man from what the Pope says as the leader of the Catholic Church. For example, if he mentions his favorite professional soccer team, he is speaking as a man and not as a spokesman for God.