Throughout the centuries of Rome's existence, the popes have regularly claimed to be divine. As the supposed successor of Peter, the Pope claims infallibility, the position of God on Earth, and ability to judge and excommunicate angels.
Throughout the centuries of Rome's existence, the popes have regularly claimed to be divine. As the supposed successor of Peter, the Pope claims infallibility, the position of God on Earth, and ability to judge and excommunicate angels.
The Catholic Council of Trent in 1545 declared this:
We define that the Holy Apostolic See and the Roman Pontiff hold primacy over the whole world.i
In the same century, Cardinal Robert Bellarmine stated this:
All names which in the Scriptures are applied to Christ, by virtue of which it is established that he is over the church, all the same names are applied to the Pope.ii
In 1895 an article from the
Catholic National said this:
The Pope is not only the representative of Jesus Christ, but he is Jesus Christ, Himself, hidden under the veil of flesh.iii
This belief has so assimilated into society's thinking that it is believed by many beyond Catholic circles. According to
TIME, Pope John Paul II's assassination attempt prompted a young Jewish man to say, "shooting the Pope—It's like shooting God."
ivFurther Quotes from Vatican Documents show the Papacy's belief in Papal Infallibility:
He [the Pope] can pronounce sentences and judgments in contradiction to the rights of nations, to the law of God and man...He can free himself from the commands of the apostles, he being their superior, and from the rules of the Old Testament...The Pope has power to change times, to abrogate laws, and to dispense with all things, even the precepts of Christ.v
In 1512 Christopher Marcellus said this to Pope Julius II:
Take care that we lose not that salvation, that life and breath which thou hast given us, for thou art our shepherd, thou art our physician, thou art our governor, thou art our husbandman, thou art finally another God on earth (emphasis added).vi
The Gloss of Extravagantes of Pope John XXII says this:
To believe that our Lord God the Popehas not the power to decree as he is decreed, is to be deemed heretical (emphasis added).vii
And speaking about the same document, Father A. Pereira said this:
It is quite certain that Popes have never disapproved or rejected this title "Lord God the Pope" for the passage in the gloss referred to appears in the edition of the Canon Law published in Rome by Gregory XIII.viii
Papal documents also say this:
Those whom the Pope of Rome doth separate, it is not a man that separates them but God. For the Pope holdeth place on earth, not simply of a man but of the true God....dissolves, not by human but rather by divine authority....I am in all and above all, so that God Himself and I, the vicar of God, hath both one consistory, and I am able to do almost all that God can do...wherefore, if those things that I do be said not to be done of man, but of God, what do you make of me but God? Again, if prelates of the Church be called of Constantine for gods, I then being above all prelates, seem by this reason to be above all gods (emphasis added).ix
The Pope takes the place of Jesus Christ on earth...by divine right the Pope has supreme and full power in faith, in morals over each and every pastor and his flock. He is the true vicar, the head of the entire church, the father and teacher of all Christians. He is the infallible ruler, the founder of dogmas, the author of and the judge of councils; the universal ruler of truth, the arbiter of the world, the supreme judge of heaven and earth, the judge of all, being judged by no one, God himself on earth (emphasis added).x
The pope is of so great dignity and so exalted that he is not a mere man, but as it were God, and the vicar of God...The Pope alone is called most holy...Hence the Pope is crowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven and of earth and of hell. Moreover the superiority and the power of the Roman Pontiff by no means pertains only to heavenly things, but also earthly things, and to things under the earth, and even over the angels, whom he his greater than. So that if it were possible that the angels might err in the faith, or might think contrary to the faith,they could be judged and excommunicated by the Pope...the Pope is as it were God on earth, sole sovereign of the faithful of Christ, chief of kings, having plenitude of power (emphasis added).xi
Words from the Popes themselves:
In 1302 Pope Boniface said this in a letter to the Catholic Church:
Furthermore, we declare, we proclaim, we define that it is
absolutely necessary for salvation that every human creature be subject
to the Roman Pontiff.xii
Pope Pius V said this:
The Pope and God are the same, so he has all power in Heaven and earth.xiii
Pope Pius XI said this about himself:
PIUS XI, Pontifex Maximus.xiv
Pope Leo XIII said this about the role of the Pope:
We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.xv
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