A Quick Note About the Next Pope

The media and various groups inside and outside of the Church are salivating at the possibility of electing a new pope who will "modernize" the Church's teachings - women priests, allowing divorce and remarriage, and the approval of contraception, abortion, sex before marriage, and homosexuality (to name but a few items on their "to do" list). I would like to take this quick opportunity to remind these groups: DON'T HOLD YOUR BREATH. The Church is the mystical body of Christ. It is not a presidency. It is not a democratically-ruled faith decided by popular vote, like the various denominations that hold periodic assemblies and synods to vote on their dogma (such as the Anglicans, the Presbyterian Church USA, etc). Therefore, our teachings on faith and morals can never deviate from the faith as it has been delivered to us. This is the purpose of the papacy - through it, Catholics have the assurance of the continuity of the faith as it was passed on from Jesus to the Apostles. If you look at the true history of Christianity, you'll find many instances when the Church was divided over theological issues: Was Jesus really God? Is the Holy Spirit God? Was Jesus really a man? Did Jesus really die on the cross? Do we need God's grace for salvation? And on and on through history up to and including the various Protestant theologies and the modernist heresy that continues to plague the Church to this very day. Throughout all of these challenges, the faith has never been abandoned or changed by the pope and the bishops in communion with him. There are developments of doctrine, to be sure: I've heard the deposit of faith described as a lake and the development of doctrine as mankind's exploration of that lake; the lake remains the same (the faith never changes) - the only thing that changes is how much of the lake (the faith) we've discovered. But the apostolic faith - the faith as it was handed on to us by Christ and His apostles - has not changed. If the early Christians believed that abortion was murder, it's still murder 2,000 years later. If the early Christians learned from the mouth of the apostles that sex outside of marriage was wrong, then it's still wrong 2,000 years later. If the early Christians had a devotion to Mary, believed in Christ's real presence in the Eucharist, believed in confession to a male priest, in the seven sacraments, that there are 73 books of the Bible (not 66), and in Sacred Tradition, then so do we. And so on and so forth.

So, for the people out there like Chris Matthews and all the other "experts" and "insiders" the secular media has been trotting out of the woodwork, those people (with and without a collar) who are hoping for a new pope who will "modernize" the Church, prepare to be disappointed because the papacy is the assurance that the faith will be preserved. This is because Christ established a Church with St. Peter as its earthly shepherd (And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven). For a direct explanation of the papacy and the college of bishops, please read paragraphs 880-887 in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. This will explain why the papacy (and the bishops in communion with Peter) assure us of the continual passing on of the orthodox Catholic faith (for a more extensive exploration of the wisdom behind Christ's hierarchical design for the Church, I suggest reading the document Lumen Gentium). For a fantastic audio series that dispels many of the popular rumors, confusion, and lies about the papacy, please check out Patrick Madrid's, Pope Fiction for free download.

This is the whole purpose of the papacy and the hierarchy - not to change the faith with each passing whim of society, but to preserve the faith from heresy and confusion. Even the worst popes in Church history have never taught heresy as part of the faith. So, those of us who reject Catholic teaching - prepare to be disappointed. And for those of us who are devout Catholics, trust in the Holy Spirit and prepare to be joyous, for the faith shall be preserved once again, just as it's been for 2,000 years.