Before his election, which he did not seek, Cardinal Bergoglio, now Francis I, stated: “Once elected, the Pope is, by virtue of the promise of Jesus to Peter, …preserved from the possibility of error.” Though Protestants believe that the solid foundation was indeed laid by inspired apostles, they do not believe that the role of the Church was to elect more inspired apostles, but rather faithful men who would preserve the already-laid deposit.
We can pray for the Bishop of Rome, however, who has much wisdom. He rejects abortion, same sex marriage and moral relativism as notions thoroughly opposed to the Christian Faith. Though concerned for the poor, he is not a crypto-Marxist do-gooder. He believes poverty is the result of the Fall, so ultimately (since socialism, he believes, creates more poverty), “there is nothing the Church can do except try to educate people to become good consumers”… in a fair capitalistic economy.
My prayer for the Bishop of Rome is that he fully integrate into his declarations and actions the truths of the epistle to the Romans. The Medieval popes failed to do this, in spite of the urging of a Catholic monk, Martin Luther. From their beginning, the Jesuits were viscerally opposed to the Gospel.
So, we do not pray that Francis will become a successor of Luther, but of those from whom he claims succession, including the apostle Paul. Paul declared with divinely-given liberating power: “The just shall live by faith,” that is, a faith, not in our own righteousness but an empowering faith in the gift of God’s righteousness, won for us at the Cross of His Son.
Dear Mr. Jones: I am a traditional Roman Catholic and my prayer is identical to yours. It is not true that we Catholics believe all the popes are infallible. Infallibility pertains only to Peter, the first pope, and to those popes, his successors, who are in union with him in the Apostolic Faith. The dogma of infallibility really only means that the Apostolic Faith is infallible as it is expressed by the Church. It is a dogma of our faith that only pronouncements that are completely faithful to the Apostolic Tradition can be infallible. No pope has the power to innovate anything. But today we see a complete collapse of the Catholic Church. Most true catholics have already moved to the periphery, attending only traditional masses illegally with priest who are already considered illicit by the Vatican. This persecution will only intensify. I personally fear that we have reached the time spoken of by St. Paul when he described the days of the Antichrist and said that “He (the Holy Ghost) who now holds will hold “donec de medio fiat”; that is, until it be done from the midst, the middle, the center…and I think: the papal office is this center of the Church. The man called pope now cannot be a true pope because he is not even Christian, much less Catholic. And really, from here there seems to be no way back. The Catholics who are resisting this are comparatively minuscule in number. I think that in order for the situation to be corrected, the Church would have to start all over. The vast majority of Catholics are completely apostate and refuse all correction. But we know the Church is never going to start all over. There is no such prophecy as that! We know a great Apostasy is certain …. I ask, could there be a greater apostasy from the Apostolic Faith than that we see all around us? If so, much greater woes are to come. If you loose your life for the Faith, I thank you in advance for all you have done for the love of Christ to clarify these issues while there was still time, the means, and freedom to speak! In Amore Christi, Gloria Thomas