Let's continue to review what the First Vatican Council says about the indefectibility of the Church. The following words are from the Roman Pontiff, Pope Pius IX, but they are also from the Holy Spirit, as they are the words of the Council. Do you have any faith at all? Do you really believe that the words of Popes and Councils are just the words of men? Read with faith:
Vatican I, Dei Filius: "And so we, following in the footsteps of our predecessors, in accordance with our supreme Apostolic office, have never left off teaching and defending Catholic truth and condemning erroneous doctrines. But now it is our purpose to profess and declare from this Chair of Peter before all eyes the saving teaching of Christ, and, by the power given us by God, to reject and condemn the contrary errors. This we shall do with the Bishops of the whole world as our co-assessors and fellow-judges, gathered here as they are in the Holy Spirit by our authority in this Ecumenical Council, and relying on the Word of God in Scripture and Tradition as we have received it, religiously preserved and authentically expounded by the Catholic Church."[i]
If it were possible for a Roman Pontiff or the body of Bishops to teach grave error or to teach or commit heresy, then how could a Pope assert that he has "never left off teaching and defending Catholic truth and condemning erroneous doctrines"? For in truth, Pope Pius IX is speaking of the role of Roman Pontiff. It is the role of the Roman Pontiff, "to profess and declare from this Chair of Peter before all eyes the saving teaching of Christ, and, by the power given us by God, to reject and condemn the contrary errors." And this occurs by the Holy Spirit in every valid Pope. It is the Roman Pontiffs, in their "supreme Apostolic office," who "have never left off teaching and defending Catholic truth and condemning erroneous doctrines..."[ii]
The Pope can teach by his own authority, as the successor of Peter. But he also teaches with his fellow Bishops, the successors to the other Apostles. "This we shall do with the Bishops of the whole world as our co-assessors and fellow-judges, gathered here as they are in the Holy Spirit by our authority in this Ecumenical Council".[iii] So if the Pope or the body of Bishops could teach grave error, then this assertion of the Ecumenical Council would not be true. But Councils do not err on faith or morals at all. For each Ecumenical Council possesses the fullness of the authority of Christ, since the successors of all the Apostles are represented therein.
Consider the opposing point of view. What if a Pope or the body of Bishops or an Ecumenical Council could teach grave error? How would you know that the error was in fact error and not doctrine? If any Pope or Council could err gravely, how would you know what to believe? Would you simply trust in the teachings of the Saints? But Saints have been known to err. And who decides which persons are Saints? The Roman Pontiffs. If a Pope or Council could err gravely, you would have no way of knowing the difference between doctrine and error. Could you have recourse to Sacred Scripture? But the Protestants, attempting to rely only on Scripture, have fallen into many divisions, and can never agree among themselves as to what Scripture means. And if that is the case for the written Word of God, the situation with the unwritten Word of God, Sacred Tradition, is more difficult. How can we agree on what Tradition is teaching us, if any Pope or Council could have erred gravely in their teaching? There would be no firm basis for our Faith, if that were the case. What does Jesus say about the firm basis for our faith?
[Matthew]
{16:17} And in response, Jesus said to him: "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father, who is in heaven.
{16:18} And I say to you, that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.
{16:19} And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. And whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound, even in heaven. And whatever you shall release on earth shall be released, even in heaven."
{16:20} Then he instructed his disciples that they should tell no one that he is Jesus the Christ.
The Church is founded on Peter and his successors. Otherwise, where would you begin? How would you judge doctrine from error? The papal accusers would have you believe that Popes can teach or commit heresy, can teach grave errors, and that Ecumenical Council can also err gravely. What, then, is the basis for deciding truth from error? Jesus says the Church and the Roman Pontiff are that basis. And those who say that the Popes and the Church have gone astray are contradicting Christ. What would they propose as the basis for deciding doctrine from error? Implicitly, they propose their own understanding to be that basis. They want you to believe that Popes can err gravely, and so can Councils, but that their own ideas are infallible truth. They wish to be the Rock on which the Faith is founded, instead of Peter. They are usurpers of Peter and traitors to Christ.
Dei Filius: "These books the Church holds to be sacred and canonical not because she subsequently approved them by her authority after they had been composed by unaided human skill, nor simply because they contain revelation without error, but because, being written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, they have God as their author, and were as such committed to the Church."[iv]
Sacred Scripture does contain "revelation without error," but that is not the only reason the Church holds these books to be sacred and canonical. The other reason is that these books of the Bible do not stand on their own, but are united with Sacred Tradition as one Word of God, and are "committed to the Church" for Her to guard and interpret their meaning.
Can we not use Sacred Scripture to judge whether a Pope or Council has erred? But Scripture is entrusted to the Church, and the Church is led by the Roman Pontiffs and by the body of Bishops. The Magisterium is the sole authoritative interpreter of Scripture precisely because Scripture was written by the Holy Spirit. Who is fit to judge the words of the Holy Spirit of God? The Magisterium is itself guided by the Holy Spirit. And so it is fitting that the Magisterium authoritatively interprets Scripture. In this way, the Holy Spirit teaches us what He himself means by His own words.
When you start to lose faith in the Roman Pontiffs and in the body of Bishops and in the Ecumenical Councils, then you have lost faith in the Church. And what you end up with is a group of self-appointed leaders, each vying for your attention, each one asking you to believe their version of the Faith. You end up with the situation of the Protestants.
Dei Filius: "that in matters of faith and morals, belonging as they do to the establishing of Christian doctrine, that meaning of Holy Scripture must be held to be the true one, which Holy mother Church held and holds, since it is her right to judge of the true meaning and interpretation of Holy Scripture. In consequence, it is not permissible for anyone to interpret Holy Scripture in a sense contrary to this, or indeed against the unanimous consent of the fathers."[v]
The indefectibility of the Church is implicit in the above teaching. The true meaning and interpretation of the Word of God in Sacred Scripture is that which the Church held and holds because the Church cannot go astray or lead astray. God entrusts the Word of God, in Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, to the Church for that reason: the indefectibility of the Church. So when some arrogant persons claim that Scripture has some other meaning, because the meaning at hand contradicts their own understanding, we are required to reject what they are saying, and to accept instead the teaching of the Church on the meaning of Sacred Scripture. And we are required to reject our own firmly held interpretation of Scripture or Tradition, in favor of the teaching of the Church founded by Christ and led by the Spirit.
Faith is required of us. As Christians, we are required by Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, to put our faith in the Church, the successors of Peter, and the successors of the other Apostles. It is a moral obligation, and the contrary is a mortal sin which puts us in danger of losing our salvation. It is quite clear that many of these papal accusers have lost their faith entirely, and that implies they do not have the virtues of love or hope, nor the state of grace. We should not judge the souls of others, true; but in this case, the papal accusers are publicly loudly proclaiming their lack of faith, and we know that without faith, no one can have the true selfless love that is an infused theological virtue. Then without love and faith, there is no hope and no salvation -- unless you repent.
Do not be led astray by clever arguments. Put your reason aside, and put your faith in the Church, the Pope, and the Bishops.
In order to take away your faith in the Church, so that you will be led by the conservative Catholic subculture, or by one or another self-proclaimed leader, the faithless have attacked the Bishops and the Popes. They make one accusation after another, an avalanche of attacks on Bishop after Bishop, so that it might seem as if there are very few Bishops left who are faithful. But that is not the truth. Many accusations against Bishops are either false or exaggerated. Many accusations are based on a difference of theological opinion between the Bishop and any particular critic of him. And the secular culture teaches us to behave sinfully, to treat others with a harsh and uncharitable judgment, to believe rumors and gossip, and to utterly reject anyone who disagrees with your views. Such is not the behavior of true disciples of Christ.
In 1 Kings 19, the prophet says: "I have been very zealous on behalf of the Lord, the God of hosts. For the sons of Israel have forsaken your covenant. They have torn down your altars. They have killed your prophets with the sword. I alone remain." (1 Kings 19:14). So the prophet thinks that everyone is evil, and all have gone astray, and he's the only faithful one left. Sound familiar? There are Catholic groups that speak this way, as if almost all the Bishops and all the recent Popes and the recent Ecumenical Councils have all erred greatly, one error after another. They imagine that few faithful are left, and that they are those few.
But what does God say to the prophet? He says, No, there are thousands who have remained faithful. You are not the only one: "And I will leave for myself seven thousand men in Israel, whose knees have not been bent before Baal." (1 Kings 19:18). Saint Paul speaks about this Scripture passage in Romans 11:2-4. The meaning is that grace does not fail. You are not the only ones who are faithful.
Do not listen to those who treat the Church as if it were a political body, and as if Her Shepherds were politicians, to be utterly rejected if they have the "wrong" views on certain issues. They treat the Faith as if it were a political party's platform. They treat those with different theological opinions as if they were political opponents. And they are just as dishonest and harsh as politicians are with their opponents. Such is the behavior of those who have lost their faith.
FAITH is the answer to the papal accusers. When the papal accusers start explaining, at length, the errors of Pope Francis or Vatican II or Pope Saint John Paul II or some other Pope or Council, the reply is simple: Faith.
Papal critics: "Let us explain to you why Pope Francis is wrong."
The faithful: "Let us explain to you what the word FAITH means."
The First Vatican Council has a chapter of the document Dei Filius (The Son of God) on faith:
"1. Since human beings are totally dependent on God as their Creator and Lord, and since created reason is completely subject to uncreated truth, we are obliged to yield to God, the Revealer, the full submission of intellect and of will, by faith."[vi]
"2. This faith, which is the beginning of human salvation, the Catholic Church professes to be a supernatural virtue, by means of which, with the grace of God inspiring and assisting us, we believe to be true what He has revealed, not because we perceive its intrinsic truth by the natural light of reason, but because of the authority of God himself, who makes the revelation and can neither deceive nor be deceived."
"3. Faith, declares the Apostle, is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen [Heb 11:1]."
Read the above again and again, until it sinks into your mind and your heart. FAITH is an obligation before God. Reason is completely subservient to uncreated TRUTH. Therefore, we must put our FAITH in the teachings of God through Tradition and Scripture as interpreted and taught by the Magisterium. Tradition is not subject to our reason, nor is Scripture subject to our reason. Rather, we are required, for the sake of our salvation and as part of the very path of salvation, to put FAITH above reason, above our own understanding, our own ideas, and that of our peers. We must believe to be true what the Church teaches, even if the light of reason -- the reason of fallen sinners -- contradicts that teaching. For our reason can err, but the teaching of the Church is free from grave error. Those errors that are possible in the non-infallible teachings of the Church cannot lead us away from salvation. And the infallible teachings of the Church, which are many, are entirely without any error at all.
FAITH is a supernatural infused virtue, which means that when we exercise faith we are cooperating with grace. Even a person who is not in the state of grace can cooperate with actual graces, to some extent, so as to return to the state of grace. Reason can be exercised with or without cooperation with grace, but faith, as an infused theological virtue, can only be exercised with grace.
The next paragraph in Dei Filius adds: "the submission of our faith should be in accordance with reason." The correct use of reason will not contradict the true teachings of divine revelation, which we believe by faith. But reason often errs when it is exercised by fallen sinners. And that is why so many times, when the Church teaches correctly from Sacred Tradition and Sacred Scripture, many members of the Church cry out against that teaching, claiming it is in error. But instead, it is their reason which has erred. How often has this happened since the founding of the Church? So many times! And yet, even after over 2000 years of reason making the mistake of calling a teaching of the Church grave error, it still continues today.
— excerpted from my forthcoming book, more to follow, RLCJ
[i] Dei Filius, Intro. n. 10. [ii] Ibid. [iii] Ibid. [iv] Dei Filius, chapter 1, n. 7. [v] Dei Filius, chapter 1, n. 8-9. [vi] Dei Filius, chapter 3, n. 1.
The Innocence of the Popes
Hi Ron - You probably already noticed this, but if not, the YouTube channel Reason and Theology has a post entitled, “Did Taylor Marshall just Deny the Indefectibility of the Church?”. And the answer is a resounding “Yes!”. I am very pleased to see someone in agreement with your writings on Indefectibility among the many, many schismatics online.
A Blessed Easter to you and family from me and mine.