Debunking papal infallibility

IN Northern Ireland, Protestants cite papal history as the best evidence against the Roman Catholic doctrine on papacy. They call Catholics “papists” — a derogatory description of followers of the pope who are incapable of independent thinking.

Christian history, they say, refutes the presumption that the apostle Peter was the first pope because, on the contrary, the Bible highlights him as “the apostle who denied Jesus Christ thrice.” It says nothing about him and the other 10 surviving apostles regrouping to preach about Jesus Christ the Messiah. Could it be because, until his crucifixion and death, Jesus had not renounced his Jewish religion?

I once saw the 1951 movie “Quo Vadis,” depicting the “martyrdom” of repentant Peter by upside-down crucifixion as ordered by Emperor Nero, who reigned from A.D. 54 to 68. But it did not portray him as the organizer of nascent Christianity.

These days, one only needs an encyclopedia or the internet to discover that the earliest Roman bishop presiding over the Diocese of Rome was Pius I from A.D. 142 to 155. Then and for many years thereafter, Roman emperors wielded power over the early bishops. Sylvester, the bishop of Rome from A.D. 314 to 335, drew authority from his benefactor, Emperor Constantine.

The papacy that we know today began only in 1073 with Pope Gregory VII.

As to whether the pope is the living vicar or representative of Christ, he is so only in the minds of unquestioning Catholics. But it is not grounded in factual origin. Jesus Christ himself never played God over his 12 disciples. With them, he prayed to “our Father.”

It was his objection to papacy that prodded a German Augustinian monk, Martin Luther, to launch the Protestant Reformation in 1517. He resented the Church’s fundraising in Germany to build impressive architecture in Rome.

Luther questioned the Church’s selling of indulgences in exchange for forgiveness of sins and freedom from purgatory, of which the Bible says nothing. As a Bible student and teacher, he challenged his followers to stick to “what is written.”

In philosophy, papal infallibility falls flat against this syllogism: “The pope is a human being. All human beings are fallible. Therefore, the pope is fallible.”

History throbs with verifiable papal errors, the most infamous of which happened in the 16th century when the Church adopted the Aristotelian theory that the sun revolves around the Earth. This was contested by Italian physicist Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), inventor of the telescope, who endorsed the contrary Copernican theory that it’s the Earth that revolves around the sun.

It was Pope Urban VII who asked chief inquisitor Fr. Vincenzo Maculano da Firenzuola to preside over Galileo’s trial for heresy. During his church trial, Galileo revealed that the Copernican theory was not his sole basis for contradicting the pope. On the contrary, he stressed that the “moving earth” idea was hinted at by the prophet Job, who said that God “moves the earth” (Job 9:6).

Nevertheless, Galileo was convicted and sentenced to indefinite house arrest on April 12, 1633.

Pope Urban VII’s error sprang from the Church’s reliance on the writings of Greek philosopher Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), who believed that the universe was “finite and spherical with a stationary earth at its center.”

Since Catholic theology recognizes the traditions of the Church as equal to, or even above, the authority of written Scripture, changing all handed-down beliefs would take time.

Meanwhile, even if the Church has made no formal recantation of its “stationary earth” error, it has no better choice this time than to agree with Galileo.

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MORE POWER TO URBAN FARMERS

MORE Electric and Power Corporation (MORE Power) does much more than electrify homes and business establishments in Iloilo City.

According to Iloilo City Agriculturist Iñigo Garingalao, the company has been supporting initiatives that create practical and sustained opportunities for communities, including Iloilo City’s urban farmers.

MORE Power was the major sponsor of the recent Harvest Festival held in Barangay Ticud, La Paz.

Organized by the Ticud Farmers Association, the event showcased various freshly harvested vegetables and fruits, giving employees and community members an opportunity to directly support the farmers while enjoying their produce.

MORE Power employees participated in harvesting and buying more than 200 high-quality hybrid melons grown by the Ticud farmers.

MORE Power also donated liquid fertilizer and grass cutters to help the farmers prepare for succeeding crop cycles.