Beloved friends in Christ,
Today we step onto holy ground: the mystery and majesty of the papal office. The Pope is not merely the president of a religious organization, nor a spokesman for a majority opinion. He is the Vicar of Christ, the visible principle of unity for the entire Church on earth. As St. Irenaeus testified in the second century, “For with this Church, because of its superior origin, all Churches must agree, that is, all the faithful in the whole world. And it is in her that the faithful everywhere have maintained the apostolic tradition.”
To be Catholic is to be in communion with Peter. His voice, when joined to the perennial tradition, is a safeguard against error and a guide for the flock. This is why we pray for him at every Mass. Christ founded His Church on Peter, and in every age the successor of Peter bears a singular office – real authority, real responsibility, and grace for the office.
But what happens when the shepherd seems to speak with uncertainty on what the Church has always taught clearly? We still honor the office, and we pray for the man, but we speak the apostolic truth. And sometimes Peter must be corrected – but not by contempt, but rather by charity.
Listen to the Word of God:
“And I say to 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 to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven … ” (Matthew 16:18-19).
“But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and thou, being once converted, confirm thy brethren” (Luke 22:32).
Christ gives the office, the keys, and the charge to confirm the brethren. That office abides until the end of time in Peter’s successors.
And yet Sacred Scripture also records a moment when Peter himself needed correction:
“But when Cephas was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed … But when I saw that they walked not uprightly unto the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all: if thou, being a Jew, live after the manner of the Gentiles, and not as the Jews do, how dost thou compel the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?” (Galatians 2:11-14).
St. Paul’s correction was not a revolt against the office; it was fidelity to the Gospel. The office remains, although the man can falter; but charity demands clarity.
The First Vatican Council defined both the primacy and the limits of papal infallibility. Hear the Council’s own words:
“For the Holy Spirit was promised to the successors of Peter not so that they might, by his revelation, make known some new doctrine, but that, by his assistance, they might religiously guard and faithfully expound the revelation or deposit of faith transmitted by the apostles.”
That line dismantles the modern myth that the pope can make or unmake doctrine at will. He is guardian, not inventor.
St. Thomas Aquinas gives the classic rule:
“It must be observed, however, that if the faith were endangered, a subject ought to rebuke his prelate even publicly.”
Note the condition: “when the faith is endangered.” Such correction is an act of charity and fidelity, never contempt. It aims to confirm what Christ and His Church have always taught.
St. Paul’s model in the second chapter of Galatians is precisely that – public scandal required public clarity, for the sake of souls (Galatians 2:11-14).
Let us consider the matter of abortion, for example: the Magisterium has spoken with the highest clarity. St. John Paul II said:
“Therefore, by the authority which Christ conferred upon Peter and his successors … I declare that direct abortion, that is, abortion willed as an end or as a means, always constitutes a grave moral disorder, since it is the deliberate killing of an innocent human being.”
Therefore, this is not a matter for “national discernment” or “ethical brainstorming.” It is settled Catholic doctrine: abortion is a grave, intrinsic evil. The Church’s constant witness stands from the earliest times – reference for example the teaching of the twelve apostles in the Didache from the First Century – and this teaching remains unchanged and unchangeable to the present.
Pope Benedict XVI, in a homily, diagnosed our cultural sickness with lapidary precision the day before his election:
“We are building a dictatorship of relativism that does not recognize anything as definitive and whose ultimate goal consists solely of one’s own ego and desires.”
Therefore, when leaders speak ambiguously about truths that save – or evils that destroy (for example, abortion) – relativism rushes into the vacuum. Shepherds exist to banish that fog.
Pope St. Pius X gives the antidote:
“Indeed, the true friends of the people are neither revolutionaries, nor innovators: they are traditionalists.”
To love the poor, to defend the weak, to protect mothers and children – we must “keep and faithfully expound” what Christ gave, not innovate moral novelties.
So how do we live this tension? With supernatural loyalty:
- Honor the Office – Peter’s chair is Christ’s instrument for unity. We pray for the Pope by name at every Mass. We should love the Pope as a father, defend him as a shepherd, and pray for him as Christ’s chosen servant. But this love must always be bound to Christ Himself, who is the true Head of the Church.
- Demand Apostolic Clarity – When public words of the Holy Father sow confusion on settled doctrine, then bishops, priests, and lay faithful may and sometimes must ask for correction – humbly, firmly, publicly – so that the faithful are not scandalized.
- Cling to the Deposit – The pope’s mission is to guard, not reinvent, the faith: “not … new doctrine,” but the deposit “delivered through the Apostles.”
Therefore, dear friends, our response must always be Catholic – that is, universal, faithful, and supernatural. We love the Pope not because he never falters, but because Christ has bound us to Peter’s chair until the end of time.
Therefore, we pray for the Holy Father. We beg heaven for a trumpet-clear witness. And while we honor the office, we also echo St. Paul: when public confusion endangers faith and souls, we “withstand to the face” – in love, for the salvation of many (Galatians 2:11).
Lord Jesus Christ, Shepherd and Bishop of our souls, strengthen the successor of Peter to confirm the brethren. Give to every bishop the courage of the apostles, to speak the truth in love. Guard the little ones. Heal the wounded. And make Your Church a lamp on the lampstand once more.
Bishop Joseph E. Strickland
Bishop Emeritus
