The
Claim of Papal Infallibility
Who Is Like Unto God?
(1)
INTRODUCTION
The M+G+R Foundation
commissioned Lee Penn, author of False
Dawn (2),
to prepare this
document. Miguel de Portugal vouches for the contents of this document;
a document which brings into sharp focus one of the central messages
that Miguel must convey to all - believers and non-believers alike: Accept no man-made substitutes for the
true Christ.
THE
PROBLEM AND THE ASSOCIATED ILLUSIONS
1. Popes - supported by the Councils
of the Roman Catholic Church - have claimed to teach infallibly on
matters of faith and morals. This claim was written into Roman Catholic
dogma in 1870, with the decree Pastor
Aeternus by the First Vatican Council.
The text of the Vatican I decree on papal infallibility makes it clear that the scope of
this authority is limited; it applies to a Papal definition of
doctrine on faith and morals, intended to be binding on all:
"We teach and define as a divinely
revealed dogma that when the Roman Pontiff speaks EX CATHEDRA, that is,
when, in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all
Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a
doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole Church, he
possesses, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter,
that infallibility which the divine Redeemer willed his Church to enjoy
in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals. Therefore, such
definitions of the Roman Pontiff are of themselves, and not by the
consent of the Church, irreformable." (3)
This dogma was not defined by the Hierarchy until 1870 - which means
either:
(a)
that the Holy Spirit offered infallibility to the Church only after
1870 - about 1,840 years after Pentecost, when the Church began,
or
(b)
that this decree was retroactive, covering all binding Papal teachings
on "faith and morals" since the Church was founded. This poses obvious
problems, as I discuss below.
In any case, there's Scriptural evidence that Peter, who Roman
Catholics consider to be the first of the Popes, erred at least once
after Pentecost in teaching "faith and morals," and required correction
from St. Paul. As Paul said:
"But when Cephas came to Antioch I
opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For before certain
men came from James, he ate with the Gentiles; but when they came he
drew back and separated himself, fearing the circumcision party. And
with him the rest of the Jews acted insincerely, so that even Barnabas
was carried away by their insincerity. But when I saw that they were
not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas
before them all, 'If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not
like a Jew, how can you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?'" (Gal.
2:11-14)
Additionally, as a Catholic historian notes, "the popes of the first
four centuries wielded relatively limited authority beyond Rome and its
immediate environs. ... Not until the pontificate of Leo the Great
(440-461) was the claim of universal papal jurisdiction (that is, over
the whole Church, East as well as West) first articulated and an
attempt made to exercise it in any really decisive manner." (4) Another
historian of the Papacy adds, "No controversy in the first thousand
years of Christianity had been settled merely by Papal fiat." (5)
2. The Vatican has given the doctrine
of infallibility a very wide interpretation, so as to cover almost any
Papal teachings with the mantle of infallibility. Pope John Paul II
said in 1993:
"Alongside this infallibility of ex
cathedra definitions, there is the charism of the Holy Spirit's
assistance, granted to Peter and his successors so that they would not
err in matters of faith and morals, but rather shed great light on the
Christian people. This charism is not limited to exceptional cases, but
embraces in varying degrees the whole exercise of the Magisterium. ...
We will close by noting that the exercise of the Magisterium is a
concrete expression of the Roman Pontiff's contribution to the
development of the Church's teaching." (6)
Therefore, as article 2037 of the 1994 Catechism of the Catholic Church
says:
"The law of God entrusted to the Church
is taught to the faithful as the way of life and truth. ... They have
the duty of observing the constitutions and decrees conveyed by the
legitimate authority of the Church. Even if they concern disciplinary
matters, these determinations call for docility in charity." (7)
In other words, the Vatican says the faithful are to obey all teachings issued by the
Catholic Church, in matters of discipline as well as in faith and
morals. A recent participant in a Catholic discussion group understands
what the Vatican wants, and urges us all to trust and obey:
"When doubts cloud our minds and things
seem grey, we should exhibit humble, childlike trust in the Church and
in the Pope. The Church is our sweet mother on earth and the Pope is
our spiritual father. Sometimes to children their parents seem
arbitrary and contradictory, but it is only because they are lacking in
the maturity to grasp things that are beyond them." (8)
The Vatican now extends its claim of infallibility even to the
canonization of saints. A 1997 decree by Ratzinger's Congregation for
the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) says that "truths connected to
revelation by historical necessity and which are to be held
definitively" by Catholics include "the canonizations of saints
(dogmatic facts)." (9)
The CDF says that Catholics must assent, "based on faith in the Holy
Spirit's assistance to the Magisterium and on the Catholic doctrine of
the infallibility of the Magisterium." (10) A pre-Vatican II
theological manual explains that "if the Church could err in her
opinion" that "a member of the Church has been assumed into eternal
bliss and may be the object of general veneration," "consequences would
arise which would be incompatible with the sanctity of the Church."
(11) So, the
Vatican now says that whoever "denies these truths" -
including the accuracy of canonizations - "would be in a position of
rejecting a truth of Catholic doctrine and would therefore no longer be
in full communion with the Catholic Church." (12)
If this ruling means what it says, those who deny that the founder of
Opus Dei is a saint are out of communion with Rome. Meanwhile, there's
the counter-example of Joan of Arc, who was burned as a heretic in
1431, found innocent in a Church re-trial in 1456, and canonized in
1920. (13)
3. In conjunction with this new
doctrine on Papal authority, the trend since Pius IX has been to
promote the Pope as a living icon and a media star, and to make him the
center of Catholicism.
A historian of the Papacy says that in
the mid-1800s, "in the age of cheap popular print and the emergence of
the mass media, the Pope himself became, quite literally, a popular
icon. Catholic households from Africa to the Americas were as likely to
display a picture of the Pope as a crucifix or a statue of the Virgin,
and the face of Pio Nono [Pius IX] was better known than that of any
Pope in history." (14)
In 1876, Cardinal Henry Manning of England said
that the Pope, "stripped of his 'temporal glory,' was the living icon
of the Sacred Heart." (15)
A popular hymn of the time ran thus:
"Full in the panting Heart of Rome
Beneath the Apostle's crowning dome.
From pilgrim lips that kiss the ground,
Breathes in all tongues one only sound:
'God bless our Pope, the great the good!'" (16)
Such veneration apparently went to the Pope's head. When Cardinal Guidi
spoke at Vatican I in favor of limiting the scope of Papal
infallibility (saying that its use must be assisted by "the counsel of
the bishops manifesting the tradition of the churches"), Pius IX
reprimanded the Cardinal, saying "I am the tradition." (17)
There's more...
The Greek-Catholic Patriarch Youssef
had opposed the infallibility decree, and left Rome before the dogma
was voted upon. Later, Pius IX "forced the Patriarch to kneel in front
of him, then placed his foot on the Patriarch's neck," (18) and said, "testa dura" (19) (in essence,
calling him a stubborn mule). (20)
Pius IX, incidentally, was declared "Blessed" by John Paul II in 2000,
putting him on the road to canonization.
As Pius IX did, Leo XIII (1878-1903) continued. The historian Eamon
Duffy said that Leo "surrounded himself with the trappings of monarchy,
insisted that Catholics received in audiences kneel before him
throughout the interview, never allowed his entourage to sit in his
presence, never in twenty-five years exchanged a single word with his
coachman." (21)
John XXIII and Paul VI divested the Papacy of some of the courtly pomp
and regal trappings that it had inherited - but since the election of
John Paul II, there has been a renewed emphasis on the idolatrous
mystique of the Papacy. The Pope is no longer lifted up and carried
about on a sedan chair by his footmen; he is lifted up before the whole
world by his publicists, with the cooperation of image-hungry media.
* Recent news stories in Catholic and
secular publications say that Benedict XVI is more popular than John
Paul II, as measured by attendance at Papal audiences and other Vatican
events.
* George Weigel, a pro-war neoconservative and Catholic apologist,
recently issued God's Choice: Pope
Benedict XVI and the Future of the
Catholic Church. The title implies that the current Pope was the
best
choice, one made by God (acting through the Conclave).
* Two writers for a Catholic Worker newspaper gave this headline to
their story about the death of John Paul II: "Our Dear Sweet Christ on
Earth, John Paul II, Has Died." (22)
(St. Catherine of Siena had used
this phrase to describe the Pope in the 1300s.)
The Papal press secretary since 1984 - under John Paul II and Benedict
XVI - has been Dr. Joaquin Navarro-Valls. He has stage-managed the
recent Popes' public image, and has the background to do it: he is an
Opus Dei numerary, a former actor and psychiatrist, and author of a
book titled Manipulation in
Advertising. (23)
4. With the media-star status of
current Popes goes encouragement of adulation of the Pope, and
uncritical support for his teachings and actions.
Catholic apologist Patrick Madrid says: "We call the Pope 'The Holy
Father' because he extends heaven's paternal presence." (24) He adds,
"The Lord kept His promise to be with the Church always, and this
promise has been kept, par excellence, in the office of the Papacy."
(25) Madrid
describes St. Peter's Basilica and the Vatican as "the
universal focal point of the Christian religion" (26) - even though the
Basilica was funded, in part, by the sale of indulgences. (It was these
sales, directed by Julius II and Leo X, that sparked Luther's protest
in 1517). In the conclusion of his book-length defense of the Papacy
against its critics, Madrid says that Peter "was the first in a
two-thousand-year line of bishops of Rome who stand at the center of
the Christian Church. In a sense you can say the popes are its center." (27) (Do you see
the bait-and-switch being done: the substitution of a human ruler for
God as the head and center of the Church?)
What Madrid says, many have echoed - including the current Pope. On the
day after his election, Benedict XVI told the Cardinals that during
"the death and the funeral of the lamented John Paul II ... the entire
world looked to him with trust. To many it seemed as if that intense
participation, amplified to the confines of the planet by the social
communications media, was like a choral request for help addressed to
the pope by modern humanity which, wracked by fear and uncertainty,
questions itself about the future." (28)
Ratzinger seemed to put himself forward as the one to answer that
"request for help," by reason of his election by God to the Papacy:
"If the weight of the responsibility
that now lies on my poor shoulders is enormous, the divine power on
which I can count is surely immeasurable: 'You are Peter and on this
rock I will build my Church.' Electing me as the Bishop of Rome, the
Lord wanted me as his Vicar, he wished me to be the 'rock' upon which
everyone may rest with confidence." (29)
These, indeed, are new teachings! Who knew that "everyone may rest with
confidence" in the God-appointed Bishop of Rome, or that the mass
interest in the funeral of John Paul II constituted a "choral request
for help addressed to the pope by modern humanity"?
Strong leaders need willing followers. In response to the ongoing decay
of Roman Catholic institutions, various Catholic commentators have
proposed strict obedience to
the hierarchy as the solution. Archbishop Charles Chaput of the
Archdiocese of Denver spoke for them when - as an antidote to the
"prophetic" antics of liberal dissenters in religious orders - he
proposed that we follow one of the "Rules for Thinking with the Church"
(30) offered
during the Reformation by St. Ignatius of Loyola. The
"Thirteenth Rule," cited by the Archbishop, is:
"If we wish to proceed securely in all
things, we must hold fast to the following principle: What seems to me
white, I will believe black if the hierarchical Church so defines. For
I must be convinced that in Christ our Lord, the Bridegroom, and in His
spouse, the Church, only one Spirit holds sway, which governs and rules
for the salvation of souls. For it is by the same Spirit and Lord who
gave the Ten Commandments that our holy mother Church is ruled and
governed." (31)
With the call to strict obedience
comes the habit of secrecy, as may be required to protect the assets
and reputation of the institution. In October 2003, when John Paul II
named 30 men as cardinals, the oath they all swore included this vow:
"not to reveal to any one what is confided to me in secret, nor to
divulge what may bring harm or dishonor to Holy Church." (32) This
reads like a charter for covering up priestly abuse and hierarchical
malfeasance.
Such policies and propaganda encourage people to focus on, and follow,
the Pope - without considering whether Papal teachings and policies are
consistent with the teachings of Christ.
This view of authority and obedience is straight out of George Orwell's
novel 1984. As the Inner
Party inquisitor told Winston, the imprisoned dissident, "Whatever the
Party holds to be truth is truth. It is impossible to see reality
except by looking through the eyes of the Party." (33) Acceptance of
this irrational mind-set prepares the faithful to goose-step off a
spiritual cliff.
EPILOGUE
by miguel de Portugal
Once the Pontificate of H.H. John Paul II ended all that we have
discussed in this document only has historical value. John Paul II was the last legitimate
Successor to Peter. (34)
NOTES
(1) Which means: "Who dares to try to pass himself as God"
(2) False Dawn - The United
Religions Initiative, Globalism, and the Quest for a One-World Religion
(3) Vatican I, First Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of
Christ, ch. 4, para. 9, July 18, 1870, http://www.ewtn.com/library/COUNCILS/V1.HTM#6,
accessed 01/06/06.
(4) Richard P. McBrien, Lives of the Popes, Harper San
Francisco, 2000, p. 395.
(5) Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners, Yale University
Press, 2001, p. 299.
(6) John Paul II, General Audience, March 24, 1993, "The Holy
Spirit Assists the Roman Pontiff," http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/audiences/alpha/data/aud19930324en..html,
accessed 01/06/06.
(7) Catechism of the Catholic Church, article 2037, http://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P74.HTM,
accessed 01/06/06.
(8) http://www.bettnet.com/blog/index.php/weblog/comments/a_clarification_on_papal_infallibility/,
accessed 01/11/06.
(9) Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, "Doctrinal
Commentary on the Concluding Formula of the Professio Fidei,"
June 29, 1998, section 11, http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/CDFADTU.HTM,
printed 09/19/05.
(10) Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, "Doctrinal
Commentary on the Concluding Formula of the Professio Fidei,"
June 29, 1998, section 8, http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/CDFADTU.HTM,
printed 09/19/05.
(11) Dr. Ludwig Ott, "The Infallibility of the Church," Fundamentals
of Catholic Dogma, TAN Books and Publishers, Inc., 1960, p. 299.
(12) Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, "Doctrinal
Commentary on the Concluding Formula of the Professio Fidei,"
June 29, 1998, section 6, http://www.ewtn.com/library/CURIA/CDFADTU..HTM,
printed 09/19/05.
(13) St. Joan was tried by a Church court, recanted her
"heresy," and was sentenced to life in prison. She later "relapsed,"
and was tried and condemned as a relapsed heretic by a secular court.
Without the prior Church sentence, the secular court could not have
executed her for her "relapse."
(14) Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners, Yale University
Press, 2001, p. 293.
(15) Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners, Yale University
Press, 2001, p. 293.
(16) Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners, Yale University
Press, 2001, p. 294. This hymn was written in the mid-1800s by Cardinal
Wiseman, of England.
(17) Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners, Yale University
Press, 2001, p. 299.
(18) Melkite Greek Catholic Church Information Center, "History
of the Melkite Greek Catholic Church," part 8, 24 August 2003, http://www.mliles.com/melkite/historyfrjamesbulletin.shtml,
accessed 01/24/06.
(19) Archbishop Elias Zoghby, We Are All Schismatics,
Educational Services (Greek-Catholic Diocese of Newton), 1996, p. 31.
(20) Jerry Ryan, "Back to the Future: Christian Unity and the
Papacy," Commonweal, Jan. 15. 1999, http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1252/is_1_126/ai_53889747,
accessed 01/24/06.
(21) Eamon Duffy, Saints and Sinners, Yale University
Press, 2001, p. 318.
(22) Mark and Louise Zwick, "Our Dear Sweet Christ on Earth,
John Paul II, Has Died," Houston Catholic Worker, Vol. XXV, No.
4, Special Edition 2005, http://www.cjd.org/paper/jpII.html,
accessed 01/12/06.
(23) Stefania Rossini, "The Pope's Spokesman, in his own words,"
Catholic World Report, August/September 2005, p. 44; see also
Navarro-Valls' resume on his web site, http://www.navarro-valls.info/biography.html,
printed 09/15/05.
(24) Patrick Madrid, Pope Fiction, Basilica Press, 1999,
p. 13.
(25) Patrick Madrid, Pope Fiction, Basilica Press, 1999,
p. 19.
(26) Patrick Madrid, Pope Fiction, Basilica Press, 1999,
p. 24.
(27) Patrick Madrid, Pope Fiction, Basilica Press, 1999,
p. 307.
(28) Benedict XVI, "You Are Peter," first address given to the
College of Cardinals, April 20, 2005, as reprinted in Inside the
Vatican, May 2005, p. 29.
(29) Benedict XVI, "You Are Peter," first address given to the
College of Cardinals, April 20, 2005, as reprinted in Inside the
Vatican, May 2005, p. 27.
(30) Ignatius Loyola, "Rules for Thinking with the Church," in
"Readings from the Protestant and Counter Reformations," http://www.thecaveonline.com/APEH/reformdocument.html,
printed 05/08/04; this version lists the first 13 of Ignatius' rules.
(31) Archbishop Charles Chaput, "Consecrated life meant to be
leaven in the Church," April 24, 2002, Archdiocese of Denver, http://www.archden.org/archbishop/docs/4_24_02_consecrated_life.htm,
printed 05/08/04. This rule is part of the Spiritual Exercises
of St. Ignatius of Loyola; the full set of eighteen rules may be found
on-line at http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/loyola-spirex.html,
as of 05/19/04.
(32) ZENIT.org, "Cardinals' Oath on Receiving Biretta," October
21, 2003, http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=43207,
printed 09/19/05. This oath was "translated from the Latin original by
ZENIT," a news agency associated with the Legionaries of Christ.
(33) George Orwell, 1984, New American Library edition,
1961, p. 205.
(34) Who is Benedict XVI?
En Español: La alegación
de
Infalibilidad Papal - ¿Quién cómo Dios?
Published on February 2, 2006 -
The Presentation of the Lord
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