Why we have a Pope

One of the major differences between Catholics and other Churches is the claim that Catholics make that they are the "One True Church." John Paul II said of all other faiths that they are "deficient", a claim that made a lot of people mad. But if you understand what the Catholics actually believe, it makes sense.

Catholicism is not simply one faith amongst faiths. It is not simply one denomination of Christianity, equal to all the other denominations. Catholicism claims to be infallible. This means that it can never make a mistake in faith and morals. (Explain.)

As you know, the Catholics have a Pope. This guy is not just the leader of the Catholics, apparently he is the 'vicar of Christ'... In other words, he has the authority of Christ on Earth! Of course, he does not always use that authority. If he were to wake up in the morning, and get offered Cherios and Corn Flakes for breakfast, and he said "cherios are better", this would not mean that all Catholics would have to eat Cherios and never cornflakes. It wouldn't carry that authority.

But even though the Church claims top have that Authority, how do we know that it actually does?

When Luther started the protestant reformation, one of his battle cries was "sola scriptura" which means "scripture alone". His point was that Catholics did not interpret the scriptures properly, and besides they did not really have the authority to interpret them. People should respect no authority on faith and morals except scripture. This is why they are called "protestants"- they protested against the authority of the Church.

Since then, many people have come up with many ideas about what the scriptures mean. Most protestants no longer believe in the true presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. They say that when Jesus says "This is my body", he means "this represents my body"- and of course, they can believe whatever they want, since they have no authority to help them to know what it means! Many Protestants do not even believe that Jesus was God. Many think that before the end of the world, all true Christians will suddenly disappear in what is called the rapture. Jehovahs witnesses believe that Jesus is actually St Michael The Archangel- even though we all use the same Bible! So by using the Bible alone as an authority, we have all kinds of different ideas of what is true. This is one good reason to believe that God
would give us an authority like the Church- because frankly the Bible is not that clear on everything!

However, even though God has a good motivation to give us an authority, it doesn't necessarily mean that He did. But the claim "sola scriptura" is self refuting. What that means is that it disproves itself! If you say "You should only believe stuff that's in the Bible" but the Bible doesn't say "You should only believe stuff that's in the Bible", then you cannot believe that you should only believe stuff that's in the Bible!

The other question is, who's to decide what books belong in the Bible? You've heard perhaps of the "Other Gospels." There was tons of literature that came out shortly after the time of Jesus, about Jesus. Someone had to decide which stuff was considered authoritative and scripture, and which wasn't. The following quote is from the Gospel of Thomas:

114. Simon Peter said to them, "Make Mary leave us, for females don't deserve life."
Jesus said, "Look, I will guide her to make her male, so that she too may become a living spirit resembling you males. For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven."

Which books belonged in the Bible was decided by a council of Bishops in the 4th century. A council (like Vatican II) is when all the bishops get together to finalize a question about the Church. So the Nicene creed, for example, was written at the council of Nicea. That was before anyone even decided which books belong in the Bible!
If you consider the council which decided which nooks belong in the bible authoritative, than you must consider those bishops authoritative. If you don't, then you don't even know for sure which books belong in the Bible! You might be forced to believe that God wants to turn all women into men!

So we know that people who accept the bible as an Authority have to accept the authority of the Bishops. However, Catholics go a step further and say that there should be one Bishop over the rest- the Bishop of Rome, or the Pope. First of all, it should be clear that the councils have agreed that the Pope is infallible- therefore if you accept the authority of the Bible, you accept the authority of the Bishops, you must accept the authority of the Pope. But there are those who refuse to listen to logic, and still need the thing clearly laid out in scripture. I am happy to oblige.


Matt 16:
15He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?"
16Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
17And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
18"I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.
19"I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."

This is the passage where we get the idea that Peter stands by the gates of Heaven, letting people in or out.

But in the Bible, when it talks about the Kingdom, it's not necessarily talking about a place we go after we die. Jesus said "the kingdom is in your midst." It seems more like Jesus is saying "I have established my Kingdom on earth, and I'm giving you the keys!"

In biblical times, the 'keys of the kingdom" were given to the prime minister. The prime minister is not the king, but he is given all the authority of the king. So Jesus gave Peter his own authority!
Now where it says that he would have the power to bind and to loose. Some people think that this refers to the authority to forgive sins, which is pretty impressive in itself. But the rabbis, who were the Jewish leaders at the time, would say "Bind and loose" to talk about which things to teach and which things not to teach- they got to decide. For Peter the promise is bigger. What he binds, is bound in Heaven. The promise is that He will not teach anything that is not true! And then it says "the gates of Hades will not overpower it"- in other words, no lie, no deciet, no error will be a problem. Not because Peter is a genius. But because Jesus will protect him!

Peter was clearly the head of the apostles. He is mentioned more times in the NT than any other person (other than Jesus.) The apostles are refered to as "Peter and the Apostles." St Paul and St Peter didn't get along, but Paul still recognized Peters authority. But how do we know that the present Pope has the authority that Peter had?

Peter went to Rome, and was the bishop there, and there he died. That's why the Pope is the bishop of Rome. You can actually trace all the Bishops of Rome all the way back to Peter, and track where they got their authority. The amazing thing is- none of them ever contradicted each other! Ever. Once. In 2000 years. 266 Popes. Some of them were known to believe things contrary to the Churches teaching. But they never taught it.

Creepy.

Here's the deal. Catholics teach that the Pope, and the magisterium, are infallible, and that we have to obey them and give our assent of faith. The latter means choose to believe them first, then try to understand it. Of course, this is difficult and requires humility. But, we are called to holiness. That is difficult, and requires humility.