"Does This Liberal Pope Represent God?"

John Myste is a progressive friend of mine who is often a contrarian commenter on Saving Common Sense.  He asked an interesting question last week, following Pope Francis’ visit to the United States.  He inquired of me, “Does this liberal pope represent God?”  Evidently he is interested in the perspective of an “intelligent conservative Catholic” on the matter, and as he believes the pool of qualified people to ask is quite limited, he informed me that I was thus duly elected – probably because I am the only conservative Catholic he knows – intelligent or otherwise.  That said, I feel it is my duty to answer my friend in a circumloquacious manner, if for no other reason than to give full justice to his question, and perhaps annoy him just a little.

Let’s begin with a little history, shall we?  Looking at the Gospel of Matthew’s sixteenth chapter, specifically with verses 13 through 19, we find the following scripture:

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?"  They replied, "Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter said in reply, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus said to him in reply, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."

Pretty heavy stuff, but what does that all mean?  Well, let’s discuss "the keys to the kingdom of heaven" first. 

In ancient times, a king would appoint a trusted steward to run the kingdom’s affairs in the king’s absence when he was away conducting trade or engaged in war or such.  That steward spoke with the king’s authority.  The king would literally give him the keys to the castle in his absence to conduct necessary business until the king’s return.

Jesus acknowledged that His Father had revealed to Peter who He truly was.  Because of this revelation of Peter’s, Christ declared Peter to be the rock upon which He would build His church. (petra is Greek for “rock”)  Indeed the Catholic Church was the only Christian Church for over a millennia and a half until the 16^th Century when Martin Luther caused the first great schism by being the catalyst for the Protestant Reformation.  Nowadays we have over 30,000 different Christian denominations, but I digress.

Christ said he would build his church upon the rock of Peter.  He would give him the keys to the kingdom of heaven.  Peter would become Christ’s steward on earth.  This is why Peter is typically depicted as holding a set of keys and is often thought of as being at the pearly gates to thus let in the faithful into the kingdom of heaven.  

Christ also gave Peter the power to bind and loose on earth.  That means Peter’s decrees on God’s behalf on earth do indeed speak for Christ.  Peter is thus recognized, on Christ’s own authority, as the leader of His Church on earth that He himself established.  Peter was the very first pope accordingly.  The Catholic Church has been governed ever since with an unbroken line of apostolic successors from Peter to Pope Francis today. 

Currently, many non-Catholics think that we Catholics believe the pope to be impeccable in all of his utterances.  They assume that is what is meant by papal infallibility – that the pope is incapable of error. This is absolutely incorrect.  The pope is a fallen man subject to the sins of the world, just like the rest of us.  The Catholic Church teaches that the pope is infallible ONLY when he speaks from his position of authority on a particular Church dogma or doctrine. According to the Catholic Church, this infallibility of the pope, only when speaking ex cathedra, is part of the Catholic Church’s Magisterium, or the teaching authority of the Church which God gave to Peter and His church to guide her infallibly. This “teaching authority of the Church” is made up of the pope’s infallible teaching ability, the infallible teaching ability of church councils assembled under the authority of the pope, and the “ordinary” Magisterium of the bishops.

Indeed, Christ told his disciples, "Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me." (Luke 10:16)

What infallibility actually does is prevent a pope from solemnly and formally teaching as "truth" something that is, in fact, error.  The Holy Spirit guides the pope in such matters to make it impossible for him to teach in error on matters of doctrine or dogma.  It does not provide the pope with new revelations, as Catholics believe that the deposit of faith is complete.  The Holy Spirit may guide the pope into greater understanding of existing revelation though. 

Now many conservative Catholics have indeed taken umbrage with some of Pope Francis’ recent comments, and I am sure this is where my friend John has formed this question for me.  Am I, as a Catholic, required to believe in global warming or some of the more socialistic policies of which Pope Francis has advocated?  No.  He has not formally declared and taught these things from a point of apostolic authority over the Church’s Magisterium; therefore, these things are not taught as being infallible.  Furthermore, I would submit that these topics are outside of the scope of Church doctrine in the first place and therefore Pope Francis could NOT teach his advocated positions as being infallible.

We have an absolute duty to care for the poor, as Christ told us that we must care for the least of our brothers and sisters.  I respectfully disagree with Pope Francis in some regards on how to go about doing so though.  American capitalism has been the source for the creation of far more wealth for a far greater majority of people and the eradication of far more poverty than any other country in the world has ever seen.  Socialism on the other hand has often created great poverty in the nations that have enacted it over the course of the 20^th century.  That said, crony capitalism and some of its unrestricted excesses are absolutely in need of government restrictions by force of law, but that is a subject for another time.

The bottom line is that I am indeed obligated to follow the pope when he declares and speaks infallibly on matters of Church doctrine.  After all, Christ gave him the authority in succession from Peter to speak for Him.  If I were to ignore him on such matters, I would indeed be ignoring God Himself.  In that matter, Pope Francis and all the popes before and after him do indeed represent God and therefore I must follow them to remain faithful to Christ as a Catholic regarding His Church.

On economics and environmentalism, Pope Francis is just a concerned and fallible man speaking on issues outside of magisterial doctrine and I can research and either agree or disagree with him accordingly. Pope Francis doesn’t necessarily represent me on matters of socialism or global warming.  He may or may not represent God on those issues outside of the scope of his office of pope.  For that question to be answered, we will have to wait until we can speak with God Himself. 

So to answer my friend John's question, ultimately the answer is that Pope Francis does indeed speak for God on matters involving Christ's Church's doctrine and dogma.  On matters outside of those, the pope may or may not be in communion with God's own thoughts -- just like the rest of us.