Many Catholics do not know what their own church teaches. When I confronted a gentleman (who had graduated with a Master’s Degree at a Catholic college) about the Pope being Christ on earth, he replied, “Get your facts straight before coming up with such nonsense.” So, without further adieu, let the Catholic Church speak for itself on this matter. The following are from their own published works.
|
| STATEMENT | SOURCE |
| These words appeared in the Roman Canon Law: “To believe that our Lord God the Pope has not the power to decree as he (God) is decreed, is to be deemed heretical.” | The Gloss “Extravagantes” of Pope John XXII Cum inter, Tit. XIV, Cap. IV. Ad Callem Sexti Decretalium, Paris, 1685. |
| “It is quite certain that Popes have never approved or rejected this title ‘Lord God the Pope,’ for the passage in the gloss referred to appears in the edition of the Canon Law published in Rome in 1580 by Gregory XIII.” | Quoted by Father A. Pereira, who lived during the 16th Century. |
| Writers on the Canon Law say, “The Pope and God are the same, so he has all power in heaven and earth.” | Barclay Cap. XXVII, p. 218. Cites Petrus Bertrandus, Pius V. Cardinal Cusa supports his statement. |
| Pope Nicholas I declared that “the appellation of God had been confirmed by Constantine on the Pope, who, being God, cannot be judged by man.” | Labb IX Dist.: 96 Can. 7, Satis evidentur, Decret Gratian Primer Para. |
| “The pope is of so great dignity and so exalted that he is not a mere man…he is as it were, God on earth, sole sovereign of he faithful of Christ, chief of kings, having plenitude of power.” | Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca, 1763, Volume VI, ‘Papa II’, pp. 25 – 29 |
| “The supreme teacher in the Church is the Roman Pontiff. Union of minds, therefore, requires…complete submission and obedience of will to the Church and to the Roman Pontiff, as to God Himself.” | Leo VIII, On the Chief Duties of Christians as Citizens, Encyclical letter, 1890 |
| “God separates those whom the Roman Pontiff, who exercises the functions, not of mere man, but of the true God… dissolves, not by human but rather by divine authority.” | Decretals of Gregory IX, Book 1, Chapter 7.3 |
| “Hence the Pope is crowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven and of earth and of the lower regions (infernorum).” | Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca, 1763, Volume VI, ‘Papa II’, p.26 |
| “Indeed, it is not too much to say that in view of the sublimity of their offices the priests are so many gods.” | Quoting Pope Innocent III, The Dignity of the Priesthood, by Liguori p, 36 |
| “The Pope is not only the representative of Jesus Christ, he is Jesus Christ himself, hidden under the veil of flesh.” | Catholic National, July 1895. |
| “We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty” | Pope Leo XIII, Encyclical Letter of June 20, 1894 |
| “For thou art the shepherd, thou art the physician, thou art the director, thou art the husbandman, finally thou art another God on earth.” | Labbe and Cossart’s History of the Councils, Vol. XIV, col. 109 |
| The title “Lord God the Pope” is found within a gloss of Extravagantes. | Pope John XXII, title 14, chapter 4 |
| Dominum Deum Nostrum Papam (Our Lord God the Pope). | Antwerp edition of the Extravagantes, column 153. In a Paris edition, they are found in column 140. |
| Roman Catholic Canon Law stipulates through Pope Innocent III that the Roman pontiff is “the vicegerent upon earth, not a mere man, but of a very God;” and in a gloss on the passage it is explained that this is because he is the vicegerent of Christ, who is “very God and very man.” | Decretales Domini Gregorii translatione Episcoporum, (on the transference of Bishops), title 7, chapter 3; Corpus Juris Canonice (2nd Leipzig ed., 1881), col. 99; (Paris, 1612), tom. 2, Devretales, col. 205 |
| “The pope is the supreme judge of the law of the land. He is the vicegerent (replacement) of Christ, who is not only a Priest forever, but also King of kings and Lord of lords.” | La Civilia Cattolica, March 18, 1871, quoted in Leonard Woosely Bacaon, An Inside View of the Vatican Council (American Tract Society ed.), p.229, n. |
| “The Roman Pontiff judges all men, but is judged by no one. We declare, assert, define and pronounce: to be subject to the Roman Pontiff is to every human creature necessary for salvation that which was spoken of Christ ‘thou has subdued all things under his feet’ may well seem verified in me… I have the authority of the King of Kings. I am all in all and above all, so that God himself and I, the vicar of God, are one, and I am able to do all that God can do.” | Bull Unam Sanctam, issued by Pope Boniface VIII. |
| “Christ entrusted His office to the chief pontiff; but all power in heaven and in earth has been given to Christ. Therefore the chief pontiff, who is His vicar, will have this power.” | Corpus Juris chap. 1 column 29, translated from a gloss on the words Porro Subesse, Romano Pontiff. |
| “All the faithful must believe that the Holy Apostolic See and the Roman Pontiff (the Pope) possesses the primacy over the whole world, and the Roman Pontiff is the successor of blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, and is true vicar of Christ, and heed of the whole church, and father and teacher of all Christians; and that full power was given to him in blessed Peter to rule, feed, and govern the universal Church by Jesus Christ our Lord.” | First Dogmatic Constitution on the Church of Christ, “Eternal Pastor,” published in the fourth session of the Vatican Council, 1870, chap. 3, in Philip Schaff, Creeds of Christendom. vol. 2, p. 262. |
| “The Pope’s authority is unlimited, incalculable; it can strike, as Innocent III says, wherever sin is; it can punish every one; it allows no appeal and is itself Sovereign Caprice; for the Pope carries, according to the expression of Boniface VIII, all rights in the Shrine of his breast. As he has now become infallible, he can by the use of the little word, orbi (which means that he turns himself round to the whole Church) make every rule, every doctrine, every demand, into a certain and incontestable article of Faith. No right can stand against him, no personal or corporate liberty; or as the [Roman Catholic] Canonists put it—, ‘The tribunal of God and of the pope is one and the same.’” | Ignaz von Dollinger, a letter addressed to the Archbishop of Munich 1871; as quoted in MacDougall, The Acton Newman Relations (Fordham University Press) pp. 119,120. |
| “The Saviour Himself is the door of the sheepfold: ‘I am the door of the sheep.’ Into this fold of Jesus Christ, no man may enter unless he be led by the Sovereign Pontiff; and only if they be united to him can men be saved, for the Roman Pontiff is the Vicar of Christ and His personal representative on earth.” | Pope John XXIII in his homily to the Bishops and faithful assisting at his coronation on November 4, 1958. |
| “This is our last lesson to you: receive it, engrave it in your minds, all of you: by God’s commandment salvation is to be found nowhere but in the Church; the strong and effective instrument of salvation is none other than the Roman Pontificate.” | Pope Leo XIII, Allocution for the 25th anniversary of his election, February 20, 1903; Papal Teachings: The Church, Benedictine Monks of Solesmes, St. Paul Editions, Boston, 1962, para. 65 |
| “Furthermore, in this one Church of Christ no man can be or remain who does not accept, recognize and obey the authority and supremacy of Peter and his legitimate successors.” | Pope Pius XI, Encyclical, Mortalium animos, January 6, 1928, The Papal Encyclicals, Claudia Carlen, I.H.M., McGrath Publishing Co., 1981, pp. 317, 318 |
| “We define that the Holy Apostolic See (the Vatican) and the Roman Pontiff hold the primacy over the whole world.” | A Decree of the Council of Trent, quoted in Philippe Labbe and Gabriel Cossart, The Most Holy Councils, col. 1167. |
| “Of what sublime dignity is the office of the Christian priest who is thus privileged to act as the ambassador and the vicegerent of Christ on earth! He continues the essential ministry of Christ; he teaches the faithful with the authority of Christ, he pardons the penitent sinner with the power of Christ, he offers up again the same sacrifice of adoration and atonement which Christ offered on Calvary. No wonder that the name which spiritual writers are especially found of applying to the priest is that of ‘alter Christus.’ For the priest is and should be another Christ.” | Faith of Millions, John O’Brien, Ph.D., LL.D., 268-269, nihil obstat, by Rev. T. E. Dillon-Censor. Librorum and “imprimatur,” by John Francis Noll, D.D., Bishop of Fort Wayne. |
The Bible sais:
|
Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. But the greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. (Matt 23:9-12)
|