Can a pope fall into Heresy?

Can a pope fall into Heresy? Mar 15, 2018 16:32:27 GMT

Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2018 16:32:27 GMT

Q. Can a pope fall into Heresy?

Heresy is an error against the Catholic faith and is spoken in degrees being Material (one who is ignorant of the error against the faith) and Formal (one who is conscience and pertinacious in error against the faith). All error is grave and mentioned by St. Thomas Aquinas the state of fallen man is always in error until one is gifted by Baptism in sanctifying grace our Lord commanded: "And he said to them: Go ye into the whole world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not shall be condemned." (Mark 16: 15-16)

So all men sin and can and do err. So can a pope fall into heresy? Yes, a pope is every much a man needing the acts of redemption and the sacraments to save his soul. A pope in his office, like St. Peter, is only to protect and spread the faith: to Teach, Govern, and Sanctify. A pope is not infallible in his person. He is only infallible, like all Catholics, when he speaks in continuity of Divine Revelation. A pope, like all Catholics, cannot teach new things. He can only hold and pass on to every generation what was given to him, under pain of sin. Public Revelation was completed or closed at the death of the last Apostle, St. John. A pope and the Duties of Bishops (here and here) have a clear definition and delineated how to Teach, Govern and Sanctify. They cannot do what they want - it is regulated by the guidance of the Faith - if not done, a bishop is a derelict and is in gave danger for his eternal salvation.

When a teaching of the church is expounded more clearly and infallibly explained, by the Holy Spirit, like the Assumption of Mary in 1950, a pope can only do so under certain conditions by "Ex Cathedra" (from the chair). There is a formal process and criteria with four conditions in place to do so, not from his private capacity, preacher, or allocutionist, nor in his capacity as a temporal prince or as a mere ordinary of the Diocese of Rome. It must be done in Divine Revelation and continuity with all his predecessors. Since Vatican II, there has never been any proclamation of Ex Cathedra - thankfully. Also in fact, the Vatican II council refused to pronounce Ex Cathedra to be in any way an infallible teaching.

Can a pope fall into Heresy? Mar 15, 2018 17:52:05 GMT

Post by Deleted on Mar 15, 2018 17:52:05 GMT

There is no question in our day there is a crisis with the post-vatican II popes who are teaching error. Whether he does so materially or formally does not matter for us to keep the faith and pursue the good and fidelity of God. It is not the fidelity of the pope that defines the indefectibility of the Church, it is the whole of the Church in Her members that determines the indefectibility.

As noted above, all men and even a pope can and do err, the promise of our Lord is on His Church; not on individuals. Knowing what the Catholic Church is, our Lord is the Head and the baptized faithful are the members, helps understand our Lord's context. So all the bishops and pope can err and be wrong, like in the time of the Arian heresy, but the Church continues to shine and grow in Her grace by the fidelity of the baptized others...waiting for the conversion of Her temporal leaders to come back into the grace of God. No different in view and examples of the Old Testament, no different in the view and examples of the New Testament. God is always the same; His Church is always the same.

Knowing there is a divide of understanding pertaining to the pope and his defectibility/infallibility between two sides: conciliarism and traditionalism. Mostly the misunderstanding is caused by Vatican II's erroneous teaching of the french revolution's: liberty, equality and collegiality. Whereby the freedom of man has too much oxygen in their head raising up their own tower of Babel showing their pride.

There is a very good exchange between an author Emmett O'Regan who wrote an article in the news outlet La Stampa trying to defend the position that a pope CANNOT fall into heresy, and in the comment section by a person named Drew in this link.

I import this discoruse because it is important to arrive at the finer points of the problem, which I believe this person Drew had done a very good job relating to this topic.

Though we know a pope can err, as explained in brief above, Mr. O'Regan however started his article with a good foundation to include St. Robert Bellarmine, Suárez, St. John of Thomas, among various others, and a particular proclamation from the First Vatican council one would think he is on the right path. However, Mr. O'Regan added his personal belief by making a bridge, in the end, to interpret a pope cannot err in the faith.

The nuclei of the problem is interpreting the proclamation from the First Vatican Council in one particular word - "conferred".

"This gift of truth and *never-failing faith was therefore divinely conferred on Peter and his successors in this See* so that they might discharge their exalted office for the salvation of all, and so that the whole flock of Christ might be kept away by them from the poisonous food of error and be nourished with the sustenance of heavenly doctrine. Thus the tendency to schism is removed and the whole Church is preserved in unity, and, resting on its foundation, can stand firm against the gates of hell." (Pastor Aeternus Chap IV par. )

The word "conferred" means to bestow, to place upon. This proclamation from the First Vatican council is stating the positive commission for the pope and his successors to faithfully pass on what was given to them. It does not mean nor give a personally assent or privilege to a certain individual(s) as the pope. Often the other side will highlight the words of our Lord to Peter: "But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren." (Luke 22) But that is a personal prayer for peter and in extension for the Church in whole. Noting, our Lord said "...being once converted" to indicate peter can still fall...which he did afterwards and gravely when he denied our Lord three times in the court of the high priest Caiaphas.

For our Lord taking upon his prayer for certain individuals is akin to His love he has for certain individuals, like he had for St. John, and he had in particular to St. Mary Magdalene, the dead son carried on the stretcher...to bless one different from another. Tradition teaches us that the blessing of Thomas the Apostle to receive a special visitation from the resurrected Lord was because of Thomas' faith just days prior of our Lord going into Jerusalem, saying, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." (John 11:16)

It is important to understand the constitution of the Church it is the Heavenly blessing and presence of God Himself dwelling with His people. The new religion of man takes God out and off his throne to place man to interpret and rule their sin as a "common fault" the Calvinists like to convey. Sedevacantist have succumbed to this error as well, unfortunately, by putting too much emphasis on the man pope than on the Divinity of the Church marking souls with faith; not a faith ruled by a legalize Jansenism or dependent on survival whether there is an abuse of authority or not. We see these same examples and abuse in plethora within the Old Testament...the Church continues.

This is a question of the Faith and our fidelity or infidelity to Him.