�The most powerful evidence against the papacy being biblical is the
record of the popes themselves. There have been numerous bad popes, men
who murdered, stole, were greedy, arrogant, violent and incredibly
immoral. This alone disqualifies the papacy as being part of Christ�s
plan for His Church. There�s no way He would have entrusted the �papacy
to sinful men.� This is one of the thirty myths about the papacy among
non-Catholics and misguided Catholics.
As apostles for Christ, we
need to know these facts. First of all, how do you account for Christ
entrusting the office of Apostle to sinful men like Judas? He was one of
the Lord�s hand� picked prot�g�es and he was a pretty sinful
character, yet he was chosen as an apostle. We learn in the Scriptures
that at one time or another all the Apostles failed to live according to
Christ�s commands. Though they never appear to have slipped into sexual
immorality, the Apostles did blunder their way into plenty of other sins
before the New Testament story was finished.
By turns they were violent
(Peter cut off the ear of the high priest�s servant in the Garden of
Gethsemane), vain (they bickered bitterly more than once over which of
them would be highest in heaven), lazy (�Can you not stay awake with me
one hour?� Christ asked them as they slept during his agony in the
Garden), and disbelieving (Christ identified by name as a �devil,� one
of those who refused to believe His teaching on the Eucharist in John
6:7-71). The Apostles were cowardly (running away from Christ when he was
taken into custody by the Jews). Peter denied three times, once under
oath, even knowing his Lord.
Clearly, Christ entrusted the
role of Apostle to weak, even at times wicked men. But does that fact
somehow disqualify them from fulfilling the purpose for which He called
them? Of course not; God�s grace is more powerful than man�s sin, and
the same is true when it comes to the papacy.
Yes, there have been some
wicked popes. Corruptions, immorality, even murder, were sins committed by
some bishops of Rome. But what does that prove, except that they, like the
Apostles, were not always faithful to the graces that God gave them? This
is true of all of us, to one extent or another. The fact that there have
been bad popes , a fact no Catholic disputes, does not disprove the
doctrine of the papacy. Why? As we�ve seen, Christ entrusts important
work to men who are sinners. He offers them all the grace necessary to be
faithful and holy, even though some spurn those graces and choose sin
anyway.
Another problem with this
fiction is that it seems to assume that all the popes have been
scoundrels. That�s very far from the truth. The fact is, most of the
popes have been good, even heroically good men. They have been on the
whole, good examples of Christian virtue and perseverance in the
apostolate. Critics of the papacy easily forget that fact.
And there�s another issue
here. Scripture is clear that God can and does confer special teaching
authority on men even if they are sinful. One striking example concerns
Caiaphas, the high priest at the time of Christ�s Crucifixion:
Caiaphas, who was high priest
that year, said to them, �You know nothing, nor do you consider that it
is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that
the whole nation may not perish.� He did not say this his own, but since
he was high priest for that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to
die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but also to gather into
one the dispersed children of God. So from that day on they planned to
kill him.�
This is a good example of God
using a sinful man�a wicked man, it seems�to utter inspired prophecy.
The Holy Spirit spoke through his lips, in spite of the fact that Caiaphas
was actively plotting to kill Jesus.
Another episode that
illustrates this point, though from a different angle, is found in the
Gospel of Matthew. Jesus points to the Jewish leaders and reminds his
audience that they possessed a God-given authority to teach. This
authority was valid even though many of them were corrupt.
Christ later calls them �hypocrites�
, a �brood of vipers,� �blind guides,� �whitened sepulchers full
of dead men�s bones.� The Lord made it clear that even though these
men were personally corrupt and unworthy of their position of authority,
they nonetheless had that authority: Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to
his disciples, saying, �The Scribes and Pharisees have taken their seat
on the chair of Moses. Therefore, do and observe all the things whatsoever
they tell you, but do not follow their example. For they preach but they
do not practice.�
In the same way, the Lord
commissioned sinful, weak, impetuous Simon Peter to feed His sheep and
tend His flock, to carry the keys of the kingdom of heaven, to bind and
loose in His name and with His authority, to strengthen the other Apostles
in times of crisis and uncertainty, to be the rock on which the Church
would be built. Peter�s successors, the popes, continue in that
ministry. Some fulfilled it poorly, hobbled by the chains of sin and
personal failings, but most carried out the task well, many of them
completing their sacred ministry with martyrdom; their supreme effort to
�strengthen their brothers.�
Patrick Madrid
is the editor-in-chief of Envoy Magazine. This article is condensed from
Pope Fiction, answers to 30 myths and misconceptions about the papacy and
is available on-line at www.sfspirit..com
By clicking
on the blue type, you can read other articles in the June
2000 issue of