The Christ, the Pope and the Church

Fr. Julio Maria

Missionary of Our Lady of SS. sacrament

Christ, the Pope and the Church

or Intimate Secrets of the Papacy

THIRD EDITION

Reviewed by the author

1940

EDITOR THE FIGHTER

Manhumirim

NIHIL OBSTAT:

P. Angelo Contessotto SJ

Ad hoc manager

IMPRIMATUR

Caratingen ,, 15 Aprilis 1935

Josephus Maria

Episc .. Dicacesanus

REIMPRIMATUR

Coratingen., 7 Augusti 1939

Joannes

Episcopus Dioc.

Approval
of His Excellency Rvma.
D. José Maria Parreira Lara
DD Bishop of Caratinga

Rev. Fr. Julio Maria,
I send you my sincere congratulations on your new book: “The Christ, the Pope and the Church” and also congratulations on making the most of the talents that God has entrusted to you.
Follow my Imprimatur, with great pleasure, and send you the opinion of the ad hoc Censor.
The censor wrote to the Hon. Mr. Bishop:
“I read the 450-page book that you demanded. sent me, and I built myself up with such a convincing and solid reading.
I think that “The Christ, the Pope and the Church or the intimate Secrets of the Papacy” is a work destined to produce a great good among the weak in the faith, who easily let themselves be impressed by these Protestant discussions that, despite a thousand refuted theses, they return to the dance again in this continuous “sport of heretics”, as this campaign of discussions classified our Fr Leonel Franca.

With my “Nihil obstat”, as an ad hoc Censor, nominated by Your Excellency, also my sincere congratulations, for a work of such erudition and usefulness, at the moment. ”

P. ANGELO CONTESSOTTO SJ

APPRECIATION OF THE EPISCOPATE AND THE PRESS ON THIS BOOK

The illustrious Episcopate is unanimous in proclaiming the extraordinary qualities of the present work.
His Eminence Cardinal D. Sebastião Leme calls it “a luminous book that victoriously refutes all objections against the Church.”

D. José Carlos de Aguirre, Bishop of Sorocaba, writes “I have been spending days on end reading his controversial religious books. They are admirable!

Our Lord granted him, priceless gifts of clarity, vigor of argument, and above all, delicacy in dealing with opponents, making them read with interest with them. ”

D. Severino Vieira de Melo, Bishop of Piauí, writes.
“I read your book carefully: Christ, the Pope and the Church; I enjoyed it immensely: I am sure it will do great good. ”

D. Rodolfo de Oliveira Pena, Bishop of Barra do Rio Grande, writes:
"I cannot fail to affirm my admiration for the talent that God Our Lord has given him, which is so brilliant in his admirable book: O Cristo, o Pope and the Church. How well is this book going to do? ”

D. José Maria Parreira Lara, Bishop of Caratinga, congratulated the author on the book and on taking advantage of the talents God has entrusted to him.

The Ecclesiastical Censor, Fr. Angelo Contessotto SJ says in NIHIL OBSTAT, that he built himself up with this reading so convincing and solid, that he finds work destined to produce a great good among the weak in the faith, with his sincere words for a work of so much scholarship and usefulness at the moment.

“A Cruz”, from Rio de Janeiro, says, in turn, among other praises; “Christ, the Pope and the Church is a magnificent book, a breathtaking work destined for the most frank success.

Father Julio Maria speaks the faith proficiently. In each of the subjects it focuses on, one sees a speaking authority, a convincing believer, an fascinating artist. It is a book that instructs, leaving no doubt in the shadow, of the points of our religion contested. It is a book that imposes itself without the need for advertising. "

The "Diário" de Minas, writes: “Fr. Julio Maria's books travel the world and are read everywhere, with the interest that corresponds to the throbbing subjects he deals with.

It can be said that in our day, Fr. Julio Maria is one of the most widely read authors, both because of his lively, clear and penetrating way of exposing truths, and because of the throbbing subjects he deals with.

In his books, and especially in this book, "The Christ, the Pope and the Church", there are no banalities, common places; everything there is new, full of life, enthusiasm, and what is even better, full of a solid, profound doctrine that allows the reader to get to the heart of the most abstract questions.

This book, according to the experts, is one of the most beautiful that produced the luminous spirit of the great polemicist. ”

The “Ave Maria”, by S, Paulo, recommending the book, writes: "We received with great joy another book by the brilliant thinker P. Júlio Maria. In fact, the most frank and enthusiastic congratulations deserve the cultured spirit of the known and appreciated. a writer for his new, valuable literary production, where his exquisite talent shines, more than ever, arguably one of the most beautiful of which our glorious Catholic hosts can be proud.

For this reason, we immediately recommend the recent publication by Fr. Julio Maria, a well-known religious scholar. ”

The “Lar Católico”, from Juiz de Fora, also writes: “Here is a great job by the tireless missionary of N. Sra. Do Ssmo. Sacramento, which is the Reverend, Fr. Julio Maria. Really: Christ, the Pope and the Church is one of the best publications of the Reverend. Fr. Julio Maria, and should be read and studied by all Catholics who, due to circumstances, are obliged to always be in contact with Protestants or bad Catholics. ”

“Let us end these assessments by analyzing the great publicist, literary, Soares de Azevedo, in" Vozes de Petrópolis ":

“Combative spirit, ardent writer and well versed in all the issues that most closely concern the Catholic Church, Fr. Júlio Maria is already the author of some 20 books, all of them of considerable acceptance in our culture. The book of today, more than controversial, nevertheless exposes a very solid doctrine and by mild processes, often playful. This is how we see Father Julio Maria dealing with the thousand and one accusations that Protestants formulate against the Pope's wealth, religious trafficking, the riches of priests, the diatribes against certain pontiffs that Protestants consider to be less austere in their lives. From there it passes to the constitution of the Church, to the first popes, to divine inspiration, to tradition and Scripture, to infallibility, etc.

Although always in the form of controversy, often vigorous, Father Júlio Maria offers us a work of great relevance, given the manifestations of the past few years, games of unrepentant sectarian, against the life of the Church of God and his work in serious problems of our times. "A work of erudition and topicality" - says the censor, and we will not need to say more, needlessly. "

Introduction

The modern world wants to know secrets.
Everything that has the appearance of secrecy has an irresistible appeal.
A science, or a doctrine, is only appreciated for its revealing side of SECRETS.
Secrets of the past or the future ... secrets of family or conscience ... secrets of nature or the transcendent ... secrets of this life or of beyond the grave ... there are secrets, and there will be readers ... it is before such an almost morbid disposition that, without being a prophet, I myself foresee a glorious future for the humble little book, which today I release to the public.
The book will succeed, because it has secrets ... MANY SECRETS ... throbbing secrets ... that almost everyone ignores and that everyone should know.
This book fully corresponds to the general anxiety about knowing secrets.
We have to unravel a big secret ... a mysterious secret.
A deep secret!
One of those secrets that surrounds us, penetrates us, excites our admiration, without the sharpest ones getting to the heart of the matter and unraveling the enigmatic knot of it.
The world would want to know you ... and it seems to be afraid to know the truth.
Why this fear?
For the reason that the disclosure of this SECRET imposes a norm on our lives and an orientation on our ideas.
Now, such a norm and orientation requires reform.
Every reform requires sacrifice ... and the addicted nature hates sacrifice.

***

This secret is the CATHOLIC Church, it is THE PAPATE.
Here is a multi-century institution, always attacked and always triumphant ... exciting the enthusiasm of some and the hatred of others.
It is not a mysterious secret that is continuously an object of love and hate:
Curious institution ...
Where does it come from?
What do you want?
How is it done?
What are your means of action?
What is your base?
What is your strength?
What is the secret of your survival?
Here are a few questions that reveal tangible and inexplicable facts for many, showing a mystery ... a secret.
And I want to unveil this secret here.

***

This book will be a REVEALING book for many, as it will show them a Church that they did not know completely, or knew only through the multicolored prism of the grotesque slanders of wickedness or the foolish objections of Protestants.
It is a Trinity in the UNITY: Trinity in nature ... unity in the person.
The Christ, the Pope and the Church, - is one and the same person: the Christ.
There are three distinct natures.
Christ is GOD.
The Pope is God's REPRESENTATIVE.
The Church is God's WORK.
Admirable trinity, whose intimate relations constitute one of the most sublime pages of Catholic theology!
Penetrating these intimacies ... lifting a corner of the veil that covers these divine treasures ... unveiling the secret that surrounds the existence of the Papacy and the Church: this is the end of these pages.
This study was provoked, as the reader will see in the first chapters, by Protestant bulletins and Catholic consultations.
After refuting the objections, it was not advisable to stop on the way; and, after having removed the dust and mud with which ignorance and wickedness seek to cloud the splendor of the Papacy, it was necessary to make a clear, simple, theological exposition of the Church's intimate secrets, to better highlight its GLORY before the world and its HOLINESS before God.
Read these pages, those who, sincere and thirsty for truth, seek the light for the spirit and the love for the heart.
Here you will find the Church's INTIMATE SECRETS, its source of life, its strength in martyrdom, its secret of expansion, its heroism in the struggle and its triumph in virtue.
I am not afraid to repeat it: This book is a REVEAL OF SECRETS for many and many ... even for educated men who, although they know the Church in its constitution and in its outer life, ignore it in their inner life and in the secrets of its fertility.
Making the truth shine and sparkle - because it never shines too brightly - and bring souls closer to this truth - since they never get close enough - this is the author's only aspiration.

P. Júlio Maria SDN

A simple approximation
Among the numerous consultations that come to me, at every moment, I received an interesting leaflet that demonstrates yet again the hatred of Protestant friends for the Catholic Church and their great desire to humiliate it.
We are tired of knowing this; but the bulletins they spread, in addition to showing their resentment towards the truth, reveal at the same time a stupendous ignorance of facts and history, and this is not forgiven in a century of civilization and progress.
A student sent me the following letter and the newsletter that I want to print here in full to give you a clear and solid answer.

Rev. Father Julio Maria.
Being a frequent reader of your extraordinary "The Fighter" and observing, through him, your great wisdom, worthy of the greatest encouragements, I decided, through your proverbial lucidity, to address you, asking you very respectfully. please refute the parallel canhestro between Jesus Christ and the Pope, which can be found in the enclosed bulletin.
Trusting, not in my request, but in your kindness, I thank you very much, and I subscribe.

From V. Revma, servant in J. Chr.

BR.

I. The infamous bulletin
Jesus Christ and the Pope (according to Delilez)
1. Jesus Christ, the man in pain, wore a crown of thorns, dripping with blood. The Pope enjoys all the delights and brings a triple royal crown, starring stones.
2. Jesus Christ was born poor, and the poor lived and died. The Pope owns land, houses, palaces. It's very rich.
3. Jesus Christ had nowhere to rest his head. The Pope inhabits a palace containing 11,000 chambers, the largest in the world.
4. Only Jesus Christ was concerned with heaven. The Pope is concerned only with politics, and has ambassadors to all powers.
5. Jesus Christ came to serve, and to give his life to redeem humanity.Popes are made to serve, and have caused the death of millions of men who did not think like them.
6, Jesus Christ wanted his disciples to be servants of all. The Pope makes princes of his own.
7. Jesus Christ and his disciples healed diseases and performed miracles. The Pope and his clergy have tortured and slaughtered men.
8. Jesus Christ was walking through Galilee to preach. The Pope does not move from the place but carried by four men.
9. Jesus Christ washed his disciples' feet. The pope gives his foot to kiss, except once a year, in which he pretends to imitate the Master.
10. Jesus Christ was meek and lowly in heart. The Pope has always been intolerant and domineering.
11. Jesus Christ fed the crowds. The Pope is surrounded by riches and coffers crammed with ornaments and stones, while the people of Italy starve to death.
12. Jesus Christ taught the truth. The Pope teaches and practices the opposite of what Jesus Christ taught. Giving untouchable lies, the force imposed on the people, and which produce general hypocrisy.
13. Jesus Christ expelled vendors from the temple. The Pope and the Church traffic in religious ceremonies: mass, sacraments, prayers, indulgences, relics, etc.

14. Jesus Christ commanded everyone to respect the authorities. popes have disconnected subjects from the oath of allegiance to princes.
15. Jesus Christ was the same holiness. Read the story of Shale IV, Innocent VIII, John XI, John XI, Alexander VI, John XXI.
16. Jesus Christ said: Love one another. Popes have sparked hatreds, stirred up wars. Thirty years old, Albigenses, Waldenses, S. Bartolomeu, Dragonadas, etc.
No one can serve two masters - Mt6: 24.
Choose today whom you will serve - Josh, 24:15.

II. The real bulletin
The first bulletin is the product of hate that insults and blasphemes without knowing what the Pope is and what he does.
I will reproduce the same bulletin here, but give you the true term of comparison.

Jesus Christ and the Pope
(According to the truth)
1, Jesus Christ, the man of pain, carried a string of thorns, dripping blood. The Pope is the martyr of all centuries, scourged by the wicked, crowned with thorns by the Freemasons, spat out by the Protestants, sold by the apostates, blasphemed by the Spiritists, carrying the heavy cross under the supporters of libertines, communists, divorcists, sexualists, etc.
2. Jesus Christ was born poor, and the poor lived and died. The Pope has nothing in this world, the palace he inhabits is the patrimony of the Catholic Church, and he has nothing there, living and dying as poor as his divine Master.
3. Jesus Christ had nowhere to rest his head.The Pope rests his head like Jesus, on the pillow of hatred, blasphemy, ignorance and fanaticism of all false creeds, forgiving his persecutors and praying for them.
4. Only Jesus Christ was concerned with heaven. The Pope is concerned only with the Church, with souls, with the happiness of his immense flock and with the conversion of his enemies.
5. Jesus Christ came to serve, and to give his life to redeem humanity. The Pope is the servant of the servants of God, the father of humanity, giving his life for the good and progress of the Church and humanity.
6. Jesus Christ wanted his disciples to be servants of all. The Pope demands, according to the Gospel, that all Catholics be the servants of the poor and the suffering, teaching and practicing charity towards all.
7. Jesus Christ and his disciples healed diseases and performed miracles. The Pope alleviates poverty and suffering everywhere; works miracles, cures diseases, as Pius X and Pontiff Pius XI did on several occasions.
8. Jesus Christ was walking through Galilee to preach. The Pope, being unable to go in person, as the popes are always men of advanced age, sends his missionaries across the world and the centuries, and he himself, through his encyclicals, instructs and directs Catholics.
9. Jesus Christ washed his disciples' feet. The Pope would wash even the feet of Protestants, Freemasons, Spiritists, Communists, if they returned to Rome, instead of casting their hatred against the Holy See.
10. Jesus Christ was meek and humble in heart.The Pope is the most humble and meek of men, and anyone who does not believe that he will go to Rome to check it out.
11. Jesus Christ fed the crowds. The Pope feeds the world through the divine word, and he would even multiply the loaves of bread to nourish enemies, if they came to them.
12. Jesus Christ taught the truth. The Pope, infallible as successor to St. Peter and Christ, never made a mistake in matters of faith and customs. He is the representative of the truth against lie and error.

13. Jesus Christ expelled vendors from the temple. The Pope expels from the temple of God the successors of the sellers, those who sell their souls for human interests.
14. Jesus Christ commanded everyone to respect the authorities. The Pope commands respect for all legitimate authority within its limits, but does not accept false authorities like Luther, Knox, Alan Kardec, Staline, etc.
15. Jesus Christ was the same holiness. Among the 266 popes, from St. Peter until today, there are 86 canonized saints after rigorous verification of their virtues and the miracles they performed, and 166 were men of exceptional virtues.
16. Jesus Christ said: Love one another. The Pope has always been the Peacemaker of the world, the living example of charity for others.

Such is the dispassionate comparison, which Catholics must not simply make, but to which every sensible man is obliged.
It is not a question of judging a man according to the appreciation of his most bitter enemies, but it is necessary to listen to his friends, and above all the indifferent ones.
The judgment of the latter, as long as there is no hatred and obsession, is more correct, since they are already in a better position to judge the truth impartially.
The poor Protestants, who never saw the Pope, who never went to Rome, or even read a book other than Protestant, are unable to judge the Pope because they are completely unaware of the facts and history.

III. Conclusion
Let us end with the same text with which the Protestant leaflet ends.
No one can serve two masters (Mt.6,24.)
We are in complete agreement.

The Christ and Luther:

Here are two Lords.
The Pope is not a LORD, but the successor of St. Peter, the continuator and representative of Jesus Christ on earth.
To follow the Pope is to follow Jesus Christ.

And Luther?
Whose representative and successor is he?
From Satan, from the first rebel, from the first liar ... To
follow Luther is, therefore, to follow Satan himself.

And the Protestant bulletin ends its sad litany, saying: Choose today whom you will serve. (JS, 24.15).
Our choice is already made; and if it were not, there would be no hesitation.
We will follow Jesus Christ, represented in the world by the Pope, the Father, and his legitimate substitute.
We will not follow Satan, represented by Luther, the rebel, the libertine, the apostate, the drunk ...
Wherefore, expensive Protestants, and well lede life of your founder to you convencerdes of God, truth, holiness, infinite purity, cannot be represented in this world by a man who so shamefully dissonates all truth, all holiness and all purity. (1)

(1) Read our book: The devil, Luther and Protestantism , or the inner secrets of Protestantism. Work of intimate, historical and moral appreciation of Protestantism.

Choosing between the two, we have no hesitation: We want the Pope ... only the Pope, exclusively the Pope, because only he has credentials of divine authority, of personal virtue, with the promises of Jesus Christ himself: Whoever listens to you listens, and whoever despises you despises me. (Lk 10,16).

Objections against the Pope
I received an interesting consultation, the answer of which will please Protestants and Catholics.

I very much appreciate such consultations, because taking the ideas of friends and enemies in the act; there is an opportunity to launch a jet of light into the darkness accumulated by error.
I therefore thank my worthy consultant, who is not a Catholic, this is palpable, but who says he is not a Protestant.
Perhaps he is a Baptist, because Baptists, claiming to be descendants of St. John the Baptist, do not want him to be Luther.
But the origin of the sect that my consultant follows does not matter; what is certain is that your consultation raises a large number of errors that I will try to refute here without omitting, forgetting or deviating, since the Catholic Church does not fear light and study, but only ignorance and vice.

1. Consultation and general response

Here is the letter in question:

Andradas, June 27, 1934.

RVMO. FATHER JÚLIO MARIA.

Rvmo. Sir:
Before I begin the main subject that led me to write this letter, I must tell you that I am neither a Protestant nor a Spiritist.
I read in your newspaper on the 24th of this month the bulletin "infamous", as V. Revma. Says, and also the comparison made by V. Revma. Of the reading of both comparisons, made by Protestants and made by priests, in my weak to understand, i came to the conclusion that you wanted to deviate from the subject, wanting to deny what the Protestants say, saying that the Pope is not rich, that “the palace he inhabits is the Patrimony of the Catholic Church and there is nothing there to dispose, living and dying poor like his Divine Master ”
I, from the little I read of the story of Christ, know that he lived and died poor, but I did not know that he, like the Pope, lived in the Palace !!!
To avoid prolonging this, I ask V. Revma. clarify the points below, but with clear and loyal answers, (I hope that V. Revma. excepting the other priests who have the soul of the color of their clothes), be loyal, not intending to divert the answers.

1º Does the Pope bring or not the triple starry crown of stones?
2 Is it true that the Pope does not move from the place but loaded?
3rd Is it a lie that the Pope gives the foot to kiss?
4th Isn't it true that the Pope and the Church traffic religious ceremonies?
5th Of the 266 popes, from S. Peter until today, the 86 canonized, by whom were they? And if they were all virtuous men, at the time of the famous "Holy Fires", did the popes walk in the world of the moon?
V. Revma, saying that of everything he said about Luther, he said nothing about himself, but that everything was collected from the historians, Denifle, Grizar and etc., but he forgot to quote here also the stories of Shale IV, Innocent VII, João XI, Alexandre VI, etc., which are also great! ...

Created at your disposal,

JMS

In addition to the five questions, there is a set of statements in the friend's letter, before which I must not pass in silence, because if, indeed, he seeks the truth, it is my duty to emphasize it in all parts of the consultation.
In replying to the infamous bulletin, I did not deviate a single point from the subject, but I peremptorily denied what the bulletin said.
Just a little common sense is enough to see hatred, bad faith and slander in every line and in every word of such CONTRAST between Christ and the Pope.
The reasoning aims to discover the truth among several assertions, as the contrast aims to highlight one point, comparing it with another.
Tell me, dear consultant: can the friend believe that the Pope is just as Protestants and other enemies of religion paint him?
Would the Catholic world, which professes feelings of obedience, veneration and profound love for St. Peter's successor, allow this man to be a monster, a pervert or a kind of antichrist?
So the Catholic, being Catholic, will have no more panache, no dignity, no conscience?
Governors, kings, emperors, generals, marshals, sages and the rich prostrate themselves before this venerable ELDER who is called the Pope, believing it to be an honor and happiness, to receive his blessing and kiss his hand, and you can . to believe that this elder, who imposes himself in the respect and veneration of men, of the world and of the centuries, is a simple explorer, a perverse, a monster?
A municipality revolts against an unworthy mayor.
A state snatches a vicious president from the throne.
A nation takes up arms to exile a miserable chief.
And would the Catholic world allow itself to be governed by miserable explorers, by human monsters, without revolting, without protesting, without feeling ashamed?
Ah! it is too much, dear Protestant, and only hatred, the blind, is capable of formulating such bastions.
In order to elevate the dignity of the supreme authority, the Catholic Church, which certainly surpasses the Protestant sects in culture, nobility, in virtue and virtue, chooses among its priests the most dignified, most virtuous and more capable ... If we listened to Protestants, all popes would be human monsters! ...
But, don't you see mr. that this is to insult the whole of Christendom, which is to downgrade the Catholic world in weight, solely to satisfy hatred, and grudges? ...
Don't you see mr. that such a procedure is unworthy and that such a statement is not the product of reasoning, nor of examining the facts of history, but solely of bad faith and hatred, which says that the Pope is perverse because Protestants say he must to be?...

II. The Pope's palace
Let us go to the second perverse statement in the letter from our Baptist friend.
And a key already worn, that of the palaces and the wealth of the Pope.
No one can believe that, as in fact no one does.
The Pope inhabits a great palace! Perfectly, and it must inhabit it.
If it did not have its palace, it would be a supreme humiliation for the whole Catholicism.
Doesn't the president of the republic have his palace? Why doesn't he live in a straw hut?
Why don't you walk barefoot?
Because?
Such a question is unreasonable.
But let us apply it to the Pope's situation.
The President of Brazil is the TEMPORAL CHIEF of some 50 million Brazilians, and his authority is limited there.
The Pope is the SPIRITUAL CHIEF in the world, the greatest authority in the universe, the most respected, the most unchallenged, the most extensive, the most fruitful and the most enduring.
And wouldn't this chief, whom kings and emperors visit, consult, prostrate themselves reverently at his feet, not have this right to a palace, a throne and protocol honors?
But, then, dear Protestant, is the Catholic, civilized world a world of Zulus and Indians?
If the Pope did not have a palace, and even the most beautiful palace in the world (which he does not have), a court, a throne, let me say all my thoughts: it would be the supreme shame of Catholics, as it would be for the Brazilian people if their president had neither a palace, nor ministers, nor honors, nor perks.
Catete is the palace of the chief of Brazil. The Vatican is the palace of the head of the Catholic Church.
Tell me if this is not logical and necessary.
And if so, why then are these simply grotesque protests by Protestants?
It is simply envy, jealousy!
Protestantism has no chief, each of whom is chief, and as such does not need a palace or court.
The Church is the monarchical society, instituted by Jesus Christ.
This society has a chief, and an authority, the successor of St. Peter, and this authority is not a mummified supremacy, but a living, spiritual and social one.
As SPIRITUAL authority, you must keep the religion of Jesus Christ whole.
As a SOCIAL authority, it must adapt to the uses and customs of the centuries, while these uses and customs are compatible with the moral of Christ.
The first chiefs of Brazil, when coming from Portugal, to lay the foundations of Brazilian civilization, did not find palaces here, but lived in huts, then in colonial houses, and it was only centuries later that Catete was built.
Jesus Christ came to teach men the divine truth as a pilgrim and missionary, founded the Catholic Church, with no home and no fixed abode.
Peter was Christ's first successor on earth.
In turn, St. Peter was, first of all, an apostle, a missionary, a preacher of the Gospel, he did not need a palace, nor could he have it.
As the Church was organized, solidified, and could have its safe center, the successors of St. Peter settled in Rome, where the apostles St. Peter and St. Paul died martyred; they organized the administrative center of the Church, its archives, its assistants, and for that, they needed an adequate building, adapted to these needs.
It is the origin of the Vatican palace.
The Vatican was built on the tomb of St. Peter, and the first popes have already settled there.
It was there that in 800 S. Leão II received Charlemagne and crowned him Emperor.
It was Pope Nicholas V who inaugurated the current Vatican buildings in 1447.
The building was completed, little by little, according to the needs, until it took on the current aspect, under the pontificate of Pope Pius VII, which was adapted to the administrative needs of the center of the Catholic Church.
Yes, the Pope lives in a palace, because he is chief, he is authority, and all authority, in order to deserve the respect of subjects, must know how to respect himself.
And this respect is not simply VIRTUE.
Virtue is inner and often overlooked by men; but what everyone perceives is MAJESTY: of grandeur, housing, environment and coexistence.
All civilized and even uneducated peoples demand this from their leaders; and we Catholics, could we allow our chief, our father and teacher, to be an ordinary plebeian, by address, by life, by clothing?
Ah! not that, my Protestant, never!
Everywhere Protestants themselves insist that their pastor, who has no authority, is well-housed, dressed and treated. And the first authority in the world, the first, would be forced to inhabit a hovel and walk barefoot, to wear a coarse tunic, under the pretext that St. Peter, when called by the divine Master, walked perhaps barefoot, dressed worker tunic and inhabited a humble hovel?
But, my friend, this is all grotesque.
So, the world can no longer progress, evolve?
Will it be necessary to preserve the primordial uses and customs of the human race?
Adam and Eve, in earthly paradise, dressed in a foliage belt, walked barefoot, slept on the green grass and ate the products of nature in their natural state.
Is it necessary for modern society to continue with these uses?
To believe in the Protestant like that should be.
But then, why doesn't he start to do it?
It is true that Protestantism, in its inexhaustible fertility of ABSURDOS, has already produced the ADAMITAS, a sect based on walking in the clothes of Adam.
But, fortunately, the police took charge of showing them that the society is progressing and has asylums, which was not in the time of Adam, and that was where those Adamites ended up.
But let's go to the case of Jesus Christ and the Pope.
Jesus Christ lived in this world, poor, scorned, suffering, and ended in the gallows of the Cross, to save lost humanity.
He spent a life of work, misery and reproach. It was the Redeemer.
But, my dear friend, remember that Jesus Christ was God, who worked miracles, raised the dead, etc ... he could humble himself, demean himself and always get great, sublime, because he was God.
And the more he humbled himself, the more sublime he became, for greatness, in humbling itself, does not make itself miserable, but aureola.
A king or emperor who descends from his throne, and prostrates himself at the feet of a poor person to comfort and serve him, becomes greater in this act, than sitting on his throne, with the scepter in hand and the crown in the head.
So was Christ.
But the Pope is not the Christ himself; is your REPRESENTATIVE.
The Pope, although clothed with divine authority, remains MAN, and not having greatness by nature, like Christ, must acquire it by the situation and majesty of his outer life.
He is the REPRESENTATIVE of Christ, and as such he must surround himself with the dignity and greatness that befits the One of whom he is a representative.
He is the SUPREME CHIEF of the universal Church and, as such, must remain at a time that befits an authority.
He is the FATHER OF CHRISTIANITY; therefore, he must retain the authority of his Father over his own children, for the dignity and goodness he exercises over them.
Now, I ask my dear Protestant what Mr. if, going to Rome, you found a simple, poorly dressed, bare-footed priest, living in a poor little house, working in a backyard? What wouldn't the people say - friends and enemies?
I would instinctively say: Is this the representative of Christ, the greatest authority in the world? It can't be! ... This is unworthy!
And they would say very well.
This is why the Pope must have his palace, his court, his guard of honor, his protocol, the solemn ceremonies, to show everyone the GREATNESS of the One whom he represents.
He is Christ's ambassador.
The people tax the ambassadors with the same honors that they tax the head of the nation they represent.
We must, therefore, honor and venerate the Pope, not as a HUMAN PERSON, but as a PERSON REPRESENTATIVE of the authority of Jesus Christ.
And since Christ is above all honors and dignities, we can and must, in a relative way, honor his representative ... And all honor is below that which such a representative deserves.
This is why we call the Pope His Holiness, or even: The Holy Father.
It is as if we said: The holiness of Christ, represented by the Pope.
It matters little the Pope's personal holiness; what matters is Christ's holiness; he is always: The Holy Father.

IV. The Elder of Rome
After these general considerations, my dear Baptist must understand - if he so wishes - the reason why the Pope lives in a palace and surrounds himself with majesty, without, therefore, departing from the examples and doctrine of the divine Master who said: Foxes have their graves and birds of the sky their nests; however, the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. (Mt 7.20)

Jesus Christ had nothing for himself, but he always found a coat to spend the night and gather his disciples there.

The Pope is as poor as his divine Master, and it was because he was poor that the Church built a palace for him, the Vatican, which is the PATRIMONY of the universal Church, but this heritage does not belong to any particular Pope.

The Pope is poor, lives in a palace that is not his property, but belongs to the Catholic Church; he lives, so to speak, on the charity of his children who support him.

The Pope appears majestic, but with vestments and ornaments that are proper to his DIGNITY and not to his CIVIL person.

He lives in the Vatican, away from family and friends, surrounded only by his administrative assistants, performing an activity that can be called almost miraculous.

The Pope is a venerable citizen, due to age, knowledge, virtue, and often blood. An elder, already exhausted by the work of the ministry of souls, who no longer lives for himself, but only for the immense flock and who has been entrusted to him.

And this old man, dressed in white, descended from an immortal strain, a living ring of an unbreakable chain, an indestructible column, against which the teeth of human beasts are broken, like the blows of tyrants; this man is always smiling, calm, dominating times, centuries and empires.

The sea of ​​passions, the ocean of corruption, the volcano of hatred, as the sewers of vices throw mud and its boiling lava at him, and this elder, with the same hand that blesses his faithful children, also blesses those who curse and blaspheme him.

Oh! poor Protestant, he confesses that all this is divinely beautiful, majestic, and at the same time grandly divine.

Are you looking for proof of the divinity of Religion?

Here is a shining proof, which no human reasoning can explain.

The only possible explanation is the word of the divine Master: You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. (Mt16,18).

This elder is Peter ...

It is Peter, always alive in the person of his successors.

And this old man, bent under the weight of the years, is not simply the hand that BLESSES, but the hand that WORKS.

A Pope is a perpetual miracle.

In order not to mention facts from the past, let us cite only the examples of the late Pope, who until recently reigned, the Holy Father Pius XI.

Just before I wrote this article I found in the “The Messenger of Faith”, May 1935, the following note, more eloquent than all the reasoning:

- His Holiness Pope Pius XI celebrated his 77th birthday on May 31. The date, however, was not celebrated, depending on the Pontiff's desire to see it go as unnoticed as possible.

Despite his advanced age, the Pope continues to impress for his energy and permanent activity. In the last months he worked day and night, it is not an exaggeration to say that his work was superior to that of many men of half his age.

During the festivities of the Holy Year, in effect, his holiness delivered 1,307 speeches or short sermons addressed to pilgrims, “the newlyweds, members of religious associations and other associations, of this total, a thousand were made in Italian and the rest in French and German.

“The Supreme Pontiff, during that period, spoke four hundred times to groups of young Catholics belonging to various associations, two hundred to newlyweds and sixty to various groups consisting of people belonging to different activities or professions. His most notable speeches will be bundled in books and published in a special edition commemorating the festivities of the Holy Year.

the Pope, as he really is and not as Protestants represent him.

For them, the Pope is a kind of MUMMY and statue that is carried in St. Peter's Basilica and in the Vatican, while he presents his feet to kiss, and blesses those who prostrate themselves before his gestational thirst.

They are seeing the difference between the Pope's true physiognomy and the manic representation of Protestantism.

But, we will deal with this issue separately.

V. The Priesthood

Before answering my Protestant friend's questions, I must not silently pass on a grotesque accusation thrown at him by priests in general.

It is another Protestant craze.

He accuses the priests of having the soul of the color of their clothes, and expects me to be more clear and loyal than the other priests.

I do not raise the insult; I feel sorry for the insulting person.

Baba is not refuted: it is swept and disinfected.

But let's go to the story, the facts, with sincerity and loyalty without diverting the answers.

What is the priesthood? What is a priest?

Perhaps the good Baptist has never looked closely at such questions.

The priesthood is the continuation of the ministry of Jesus Christ among men.

It is a STATE, not a simple function.

S. Paulo has already said it formally; "You are a priest for eternity, according to the order of Melchizedek." (Hb.5,6).

And what does this Melchizedek order consist of?

And still St. Paul who explains it: He was a priest of the Most High, he says, without a father, without a mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days, without end of life, and thus made like the Son of God, remains a priest forever. (Heb.7,1-3).

The priesthood of Jesus Christ is the EXEMPLARY TYPE, figured by the Melchizedek priesthood ... and Jesus Christ instituted this priesthood in his Church, as it should constitute the TEACHING part of the same Church, while the faithful will be the TEACHED part.

As my Father sent me, so I send you, He says to his apostles, the first (Jo, 20:21).

Therefore, as he is a priest of the Melchizedek order, and sending his apostles in the same capacity, it is clear that the latter participate in this same priesthood, belonging to the same ORDER.

Without a father, without a mother: leaving everything to consecrate oneself to the service of God.

No genealogy: no wife, keeping chastity for the love of Jesus Christ.

No beginning of days: since the priesthood is eternal, and finds its prototype in God.

Endless in life: it can never end; for the Sacrament of Order impresses on the soul an indelible character, thus made similar to the Son of God, who had no father on earth, who remained a virgin without a generation, who is God and as such eternal.

This is what the PRIESTHOOD instituted by Jesus Christ is.

Now it is necessary to know how to distinguish the ASSOCIATION and the MEMBERS in a class. Everyone understands it.

The priestly society or class is holy, it is divine.

Priests or members of this class are men, and, as such, may have their weaknesses.

Everything that is human is subject to this law.

The medical profession is dignified, noble, altruistic, although there are exploitative, ignorant, murdering doctors.

The class loses nothing with such offending elements; the evil falls on the individual and does not reach the class.

Nobody discusses this rule.

Why do Protestants want to discuss it when it comes to priests?

The priesthood, as a state, is DIVINE. The great, the great majority of priests are made up of men of virtue, self-denial, sacrifice and zeal.

There may be traitors among them, but they are relatively few.

When a scandal happens, the enemy press puts the trumpet in the world and screams in the four corners of the universe, with immense exaggeration, the scandalous fact.

And what are these facts when you think that there are nearly 700,000 priests worldwide? (At the time, in 1940.)

Note well: 700,000, so that if there were 700 scandals in a year, that would be 1 noble 1,000.

Which class finds only ONE scandal among MIL components?

Such a class does not exist here on earth.

And the Catholic priesthood is in these conditions.

It can be said that such scandals are not only ONE per thousand, but perhaps ONE over TEN THOUSAND.

There may be here and there a traitor, a Judas. Unfortunately there are, but rarely, compared to the number of priests.

And the Protestant has the courage to call the priest's soul "black soul"!

My dear friend, examine closely those men whom you Protestants call pastors, be they Baptists, Evangelists, Methodists, Presbyterians, etc.

Make a statistic, what others have already done and published, and there you will find about 10 pastors, although married, two or three of frankly immoral and disgusting lives.

This is a fact.

The stain on the Catholic clergy is slander.

It has never been and will never be proved.

The Catholic priest is educated, moral, honest, hardworking and progressive. The Catholic priest is above slander, hatred, addiction and spite; he is chaste, virtuous and worthy minister of God.

This is the truth, both historical and experimental.

You see, my friend, that your assertion is a lying hypothesis, either from ignorance, or from slander, or from lack of common sense.

There are currently around 5,000 priests in Brazil.

There aren't that many; many of whom the Baptist priests never were, as they have lately done with a mulatto with no composure, whom they called Father Dr. Emílio Ferreira.

“Such a mulatto was never a priest or a doctor, but a simple seminary porter, then preparatory, expelled for lack of intelligence and behavior.

So putting five scandals a year, that would be ONE per THOUSAND.

How beautiful and admirable is that class that counts among a thousand, only 5 sloppy or unworthy!

Digitus Dei est hie.

For a person capable of reflecting, that would be enough to prove the divinity of the Catholic Church, since only she, among all the religious, has a chaste and holy priesthood, and only she counts ministers who live exclusively for God and for women. souls.

SAW. The Pope's crown

After the preceding clarifications, I can now respond directly to the inquiries of the Baptist friend.

He asks: Does the Pope bring or not the triple starry crown of stones?

No, the Pope does not wear such a crown, but makes use of it in the great ceremonies of his magisterium.

The crown is the symbol of royalty.

All kings receive such a crown, not to wear it always, but to wear it for the extraordinary manifestations of their power.

The Pope owns his TIARA.

What is this TIARA?

And the miter used by all the bishops in the great ceremonies. The miter and the staff are the hallmarks of his authority.

The Pope, in liturgical ceremonies, wears the episcopal miter like any other Bishop, and only wears the tiara in solemn ceremonies, in coronation ceremonies, before and after pontifical functions, in St. Peter's Basilica.

The tiara is in the shape of a miter, shaped like three overlapping metal crowns, to express its power as pope, bishop and king; the tiara is topped by a cross.

The tiara is made of silk like the bishops' miter. Will it be encrusted with precious stones? I don't know; but, as such, it is just what it should be: the expression of the greatness and power it represents.

Since the tiara is the crown of the greatest monarch in the world, of the successor of Saint Peter, or representative of Christ himself, it will never be quite beautiful, rich and precious for such authority.

It is not the crown of the Pope as a man, but the crown of Christ living among men, in the person of his lieutenant.

This is where the formidable invetives of Protestant friends end.

Why don't they protest against the crown of the Russian tsar, which was made of pure gold and precious stones that cost him millions of contos?

Why don't they protest against the crowns of the king of England, Italy, Belgium, as well as against the former emperors of Rome, France and Germany?

Because?

Because the Pope is the head of the Catholic Church, he is the only and greatest enemy for them, and what he does is objectionable, even if it were not for others.

Less hatred, dear Protestants ... more common sense ... more loyalty and more dignity.

VII. The gestational headquarters

Another question, which expresses an objection from the Protestants: Is it true that the Pope does not move from the place but loaded?

It is not true ... it is another crude lie.

As I have already shown above, the Pope, although a man of advanced age, is not a MUMMY, but is of an amazing activity and spirit of work.

The Pope walks, travels, strolls to, and instead of being carried, he is able to carry others, as has happened with several popes, who even carried patients to the hospital.

The Pope's life, as I will prove later, is above all a life of prayer, of meditation of union with God, in order to be able to govern catholicity, but the popes are men of action ... and of almost miraculous action.

Who doesn't know the theological works, or the encyclical volumes of the great Lion XII?

Who has not heard of the amazing activity of the Holy Pius X, reformer of canon law, the cantochon and many other useful changes in the Church, carried out by this Pontiff?

Who has not yet heard of the extraordinary activity of the late Pontiff Pius XI and his voluminous scientific works?

Man of science, linguist, scientist, he worked almost all nights, writing countless letters to Bishops, to governments, publishing encyclicals that are true theological treatises, exhausting the subject, and thereby personally administering Vatican City, taking an interest in telegraphs, radio, railways, etc., etc.

And does the Protestant friend think that such a man only leaves his palace, majestically seated on a throne, carried by others?

This gestational thirst, of which the friend speaks, is something else.

It is a small mobile throne, on which the Pope is taken only at the solemn entrances to St. Peter's Basilica.

Such a ceremony existed in Rome between the emperors and the military chiefs, who were carried in triumph by the people.

This use was transmitted to the person of the Pope.

In addition, in the immense agglomerations of people that occur from all parts of the universe, for the great religious festivals in St. Peter's Basilica, it is necessary that everyone can see the Pope, and the only way to see him is for him to travel Basilica, loaded and seated on its throne, which is the gestational seat.

Hence it can be seen by everyone and bless everyone.

And this entrance is one of the most touching ceremonies in Catholicism.

In this immense crowd, there are people from all faiths as well as from all countries and from all walks of life.

There are people who attend these parties out of devotion, while others go there out of curiosity; some are the children of the Supreme Shepherd who wish to acclaim, others are rebellious children who want to criticize him.

But only the master of ceremonies gives the signal announcing the entrance of the Sovereign Pontiff ... only his majestic, calm, aureole shape of I don't know what supernatural reflection appears at the entrance ... only everyone looks at this apparition, which it seems to be from another world ... and here they are on their knees, friends and enemies, pious, indifferent souls and censors, all prostrate themselves as if driven by an invisible hand.

There are some who cry, others who plead, others who complain, but no one is indifferent.

One feels that it is the Christ who passes by.

It is seen that it is he who blesses ...

And among those who come in, there are unbelievers, scoffers and censors, who rise up moved, sobbing ...

They felt the hand of God ...

They saw anything of divine majesty.

Here are things, dear Protestant, that are proof of the divinity of the Catholic Church.

Only the Catholic Church has these manifestations where the supernatural is perfectly felt; where he seems to enter man through all his senses and even through all the pores of his body.

Protestantism, resentful, critical, mummified in its crude materialism, has no idea of ​​these great manifestations, in which Christ seems to LIVE among us in the person of his successor, the Roman Pontiff, to lead, console and bless humanity for him. .

VIII. The papal foot-kisser

Another formidable Protestant objection. The querent asks: Is it a lie that the Pope gives the foot to kiss?

Yes, dear friend, it is a lie, and more than a lie.

The Pope, as the supreme authority, allows himself to be kissed by the people's devotion.

Perfectly, and this shows the veneration, the love that the Catholic people dedicate to the representative of Christ.

It can be seen from the objection that Protestants appear to be the Sovereign Pontiff like a statue, placed on top of a throne, and Catholics to parade in front of this statue, kissing his feet.

Grotesque idea, as are all Protestant ideas with regard to Catholic worship.

The Holy Father receives hundreds and hundreds of visits daily and sometimes gives audiences to thousands of people.

He welcomes everyone, standing up, with affection, and with that smile that seems to be proper to Christ's successors, seeming to be a reflection of the profound gaze of Christ himself.

He talks to everyone, and has words of animation and comfort for everyone.

On the occasion of the Pontiff's entry, all the assistants put their knees on the ground to receive the blessing of the Holy Father; and after this blessing, they approach, greet and talk to him.

All of this is worthy, how simple it is ... it is paternal, how majestic ... it is diplomatic, how intimate.

In this regard, listen to what the "Santuário d'Aparecida" has just published: the news is from yesterday, and puts in full light what I just said:

“ALL ON KNEES - In April the Holy Father gave an audience to 70 journalists, representatives of four thousand newspapers.

Never had the Representative of Christ shown himself to such a varied meeting, for as far as race was concerned, there were Europeans and Americans, as well as Africans and Asians; as for religion alongside Catholics there were Protestants, Jews, Mohammedans and pagans.

Gathered in the audience room, they waited more than an hour and discussed in a low voice whether they should follow the “Catholic fashion” of kneeling.

A Protestant, a native of Berlin, does not like to bend his knees before the Roman Pontiff; and then the Arab, the enemy of Christianity? and the Jew? and the Japanese, Buddha worshiper?

They had not yet reached an agreement, when a diplomat from the pontifical court came in and greeted them with a smile, and said: "So, my lords, each one according to his taste". It was the most liberal and gentlemanly gesture possible: that each one should do as his education dictated, his way of seeing.

The Holy Father came in and ... everyone got down on their knees, not one stood.

“And none of them lost a pearl from their diadem,” wrote a Protestant journalist who was present later.

Admirable greatness of papal dignity that even these men dominated and imposed such profound respect on ”.

How about, believer friend, where is your so censored foot kisser?

Journalists did not even remember him; they just remembered to get down on their knees and although some were anti-Catholic, none of them hesitated to do so, feeling as if reflecting on the person of the supreme Pontiff the divine majesty.

Does this mean that no one kisses the feet of the Roman Pontiff?

No ... far from it ... all Catholics would be happy to be able to kiss them as an expression of their veneration.

It is because of this feeling that the custom, on certain occasions, of kissing the Holy Father's feet was introduced.

At private and solemn receptions, it is customary for those whom the Pope receives to kiss his feet.

Here are the great protocol ceremonies in use.

The Holy Father sits on the Pontifical throne, surrounded by the assisting cardinals.

Those admitted to this solemn reception, approach and kiss one of the Holy Father's feet, and then deal with the matter that led them to the presence of the Head of the Church.

All of this is simple and majestic.

The Pope does not set foot to kiss out of pride or a spirit of domination, but lets himself be kissed to foot, to satisfy the respect and piety of the faithful, who are happy to be able to kiss the feet of the REPRESENTATIVE of Christ, and who they do it with the same veneration, with which they would kiss the Savior's feet.

Do you see the Protestant friend that the case is completely different from the one that presented his imagination!

Conclusion

In order not to prolong this response excessively, we divide it here, reserving the answer to the last two objections for other chapters.

The latter, in fact, cannot be treated superficially, otherwise the value of an irrefutable answer will be taken away.

From the above we must draw a conclusion.

My querent must have noticed that the objections raised all come from ignorance of the facts.

History is not invented, as it is a reality, a series of facts, and one can only judge these facts and gather them into history, after knowing all the details, antecedents and consequences.

And that is what Protestants lack completely.

They have as a principle not to read Roman books.

It is the first and greatest recommendation of your pastors.

It matters little that they read communist, spiritist, atheist, heretics authors, but they must not read Roman authors.

Why this prevention ... this prohibition?

On the part of the Protestant ruling class, the reason is very simple. They are not unaware that Catholics treat religious issues with a lot of respect and affection and even get to the heart of the issues.

Catholic reasoning is clear, convincing, and its conclusions are compelling.

Pastors must know this; and fearing that this clarity and this imperious logic will open the eyes of those who are deluded by them, they forbid the reading of these books.

However, my dear Baptist, reflect well; if the knowledge of Protestantism is enough to be Protestant, it is not enough to attack Catholicism.

To attack principles, dogmas, teachings, etc., it is necessary to know such principles and dogmas.

Now, no Protestant knows Catholic doctrine; and not knowing her, she walks on sticks and stones, denying what we affirm and affirming what we deny.

He intends to slaughter idols that only exist in his exalted imagination, to destroy doctrines that do not exist, and to ridicule ceremonies that he has never seen, but which he only knows through the magnifying lens of prejudice and lies.

All of this is not serious, dear friend, but it is a child.

The foregoing, which is the simple documented response to your objections, is further evidence of this claim.

They are slander, misinterpretation, exaggeration, and all of this is enveloped in the most complete ignorance.

My querent being sincere, you must confess that I was completely deluded in everything I have exposed here, about the Pope's famous palace, the Pope's life and activity, the crown (tiara), the gestational seat and the papal foot-kisser.

All this understood as the spirit of the Protestants understands it, augmented by the sect's ignorance and rancor, seemed like a real ghost, when in reality all this is natural, logical, dignified and noble, both in its conception, in its execution and symbolism.

And so all Protestant objections fall. It is enough to oppose the reality of the facts to them, for the fantastic objection to crumble and disappear.

As can be seen, the Catholic Church does not seek, nor can it seek to DEVIATE the matters to be dealt with, but it takes them well in front and at the base and exposes them by the simple exposition of the truth.

If the friend, sincere and loyal, compared the Catholic truth with the Protestant mockery, he would soon understand which side is the truth, the sincerity, and which side is the lie and the hypocrisy.

I hope that these notions will dispel many nebulous prejudices in your spirit, showing you the greatness and sublimity of the pontificate of St. Peter, always alive, always firm through the centuries and passions, without losing anything of his glory and his firmness .

It will always and always be the unshakable rock on which Christ founded his immortal Church, promising to be with her until the end of the centuries.

And Christ did not lie.

He's with his Church.

And this Church is always with him, without human passions being able to tarnish his white tunic, or revolutions being able to shake his granite pedestal.

You are Petrus, repeat the centuries, leaning in front of the Roman Pontiff.

You are Petrus, the Eternal Christ repeats, protecting his representative on earth.

You are Petrus, exclaim Catholics, sobbing with emotion and kissing his sacred feet.

You are Petrus ... and your feet are the feet of a man, but this man is truly the representative of God on earth.

CHAPTER III

The riches of the Vatican

Let us continue to respond to our Baptist friend's objections.

After reading the above, he must have reformed a number of his ideas about the Papacy and the ceremonies of the popes' palace; and perhaps the responses developed have allayed the doubts of the unanswered questions.

These are two questions, and I want to give you a complete answer here, so that the mists raised by the Protestant error disappear, giving way to the shining light of Catholic truth.

1 - Religious trafficking

The 4 ^the objection is as follows:

Isn't it true that the Pope and the Church traffic religious ceremonies?

No, my friend, there is not even a shadow of truth in this; there is only Protestant blindness.

First of all, I point out to you the injustice of attributing to the Pope and the Church what should be attributed to priests.

If such traffic existed, it would not be a work; neither of the Pope nor of the Church, but only of its ministers, the priests.

But, it doesn't matter; we go to the case, without omitting anything, and after the lie of the objection has been proven, I will prove the truth of the existence of this fact among Protestants.

What the friend understands by religious ceremonies is, of course: Holy Mass, sacraments, religious processions, etc.

Selling religious objects as such is called SIMONIA, and it is a crime positively condemned by the Church.

It is not enough to accuse with words, it is necessary to quote facts.

I would like the keen friend to cite a single example of religious trafficking.

The Father celebrates Mass in the intentions of those who ask for it; he does not sell mass, but asks for remuneration for his work.

In fact, the mass lasts at least half an hour.

To celebrate you need silk vestments, an altar, with the various prescribed implements, wine, wafer, candles, a helper, etc.

All of this requires an expense.

In addition, the priest must dress and eat.

Why would he be obliged to do all this without receiving anything from those who asked him for Mass?

Then there are the sacraments. There are seven.

Baptism: the priest needs the necessary implements, records to launch the seats; you are therefore entitled to a small remuneration.

Confirmation is administered by the Bishop or a delegated priest. There is unimportant remuneration, which is used for the Prelate's trip.

The Eucharist, although it does incur expenses, is entirely FREE.

The confession is completely FREE, and then only those who have stolen will pay, making the restitution of someone else's goods, badly acquired.

Extreme anointing, which requires more fatigue, is completely FREE.

The order is FREE, but it requires a supernatural vocation and the necessary studies.

Marriage requires a light remuneration, because it requires a lot of time, reading the proclamations and bulky records.

All other ceremonies are done for free. There are processions, blessing of the Blessed Sacrament, novenas, via the Cross, recitation of the rosary, vocal and mental prayers, devotions, etc., etc., and all of this is FREE.

Among all the services of the Church, the only ceremonies for which a spatula is requested, which is incidentally very modest, are: Holy Mass, when the faithful ask it for themselves, Baptism and Marriage.

All others are FREE.

This is what happens in the Catholic Church.

If we compared this with what is going on, in the anti-Catholic sects, the friend would be horrified by the CONTRAST.

The comparison would be long; it is best to summarize it with the story of a Catholic who became a Protestant so that he would no longer be obliged to contribute to religious works.

History will tell more than all the reasons that could be cited, as it is the exact expression of seen facts that all Protestants will recognize.

II. history of Serapião

A tireless farmer, hard on the hoe and sickle, Uncle Serapião had a defect: he was crying when he had to untie the strings of the sachet that served as his wallet. To take a thousand réis out of it was a painful operation, more painful than the extraction of a recalcitrant tooth.

When they came to present a subscription, the Sovina, who sniffed alms from afar, told them that he was not at home, but the ruse, once discovered, had no effect, and the supplicants did not leave without alms. begged. The farmer had to explain himself, in any case.

In vain did he claim that the crisis was overwhelming and that the farm did not yield, and it was impossible for him to sign a very large amount.

- Anything will do, the brothers retorted; the saint thanks good will.

And the old man, almost in pain, ended up giving a hide that he could see coming out of the sack, as the distressed mothers contemplate their son leaving for war.

It was too much! There were no end to the requests that were repeated, as it were, like the days on the calendar. Today was the feast of São Sebastião and tomorrow the mass of São Benedito.

Further ahead was the litany of Nossa Senhora da Conceição or the novenary of Divino. One week, the wanderers of the Blessed Sacrament wandered, and the next, those in charge of St. Anthony. When it wasn't for São José, it was necessary for São Peter.

Even from the neighboring parishes, duly authorized handlers appeared. The partnership leaflet was shared among promoters of religious ceremonies and party-goers swarmed like locust clouds.

- I already gave, I already gave, moaned uncle top every time, with a scourged voice!

It did, but it wasn't on our list, the executioners retorted.

And with a bleeding heart, The sad peasant was spending some dear nickel.

Talking one night on the veranda with a Protestant neighbor, Uncle Serapião lamented excessive sizes. The biblist trimmed the top of the complaint on his nail and boasted, with very insinuating phrases, interspersed with verses, the detachment of the separated brothers.

- Our law doesn't have this!

- Like? asked the smith.

- Try it! We must see that our religion does not celebrate saints, nor does it sell sacraments, nor does it sell mass, nor does it live at the expense of souls.

- Oh! what good thing! Exclaimed the Somatic.

- And embracing the Bible, you do not know how many savings you will make.

The proverb says that all roads lead to Rome. it is also to be believed, the reverse is true, because for a thousand paths it is easy to get away from Rome.

It was on the road of avarice that our farmer left the Papist camps. Upon arriving at biblism, where he would no longer be a victim of brotherhoods, the good old man breathed a sigh of relief, like the traveler who escaped the dreaded danger.

Despite not being able to read, he bought a Bible at an inviting price. The pastor assured him that he resold the book at a loss.

Afterwards, the neophyte, despite having a hollow and cracked bamboo voice, received the collection of hymns and psalms, to sing at the time of worship. Always evangelical, the minister stated that he had not won in the business, and that he should demand the double for such a beautiful work.

Uncle Serapião groaned on the copper.

They were sacrifices of entry.

In this world there is no fortune that one does not pay, and the neo-turner thought it best not to act as a plea.

One beautiful day, he received true baptism. A joy rejoiced in the church, because it is written: "There will be greater joy in heaven for the sinner who does penance, than for ninety-nine righteous people who do not need penance" (Lk 15,7).

At the height of his piety, the pastor ordered beer and sweets in honor of the catechumen, of which the bill was to be paid, of course.

The farmer wanted to protest, to debut his Protestant diploma, but for the sake of caution he remained silent.

Fifteen days passed in a loving calm without the appearance of alms, when,

on a Saturday, at lunchtime, a Presbyterian appeared.

- I come, said this, to know how much you will contribute to the priestly fund!

- Contribute to what? howled Uncle Serapião, who jumped as if he were on needles.

- For the priestly fund!

Bad bad! The inana begins! But who are you, sir?

- I'm the procurator for the envelopes. I collect offers for the pastor.

The old phona rubbed his face, but subscribed to any monthly fee, so as not to be shy of the new law, and because, if he became involved with the new brothers, he would be ridiculed before Catholics.

The next day came the tithing collector, an important Presbyterian official. As the farmer opened his eyes wide, to the point of almost taking them out of their sockets, the Protestant looked at the sky and elucidated gently:

It is written: All tithes on earth, whether of grain or of fruit, are the Lord's. (Lv 27,30). Brother, do not be deaf to the maternal voice of the Bible, which tells us to deposit at the feet of the Most High, represented by the pastor, a tenth of his possessions!

Vague homesickness for Romanism began to take root in the heart of the peasant who, sick of so many stab wounds, was happy to be skinned alive> He saw that the worst always comes afterwards, but it was too late to fight back.

And each day, in the elder's casita, true Christians paraded: caretakers of the Campinas Presbyterian seminary, propagandists of the daily jury, collectors of birthday coins, in charge of the house of importance, builders of new temples, editors of the sect's newspaper, promoters from Sunday schools, delegates from the evangelical hospital, it was an endless run of begging Biblists who came up, palmed their hands and disappeared. The poor fellow even had to sign a subscription to offer a toast to the pastor's lady, on the day that the pious creature turned years for the sixtieth time.

Uncle Serapião gave, gave and gave, but each time the furor became thicker in his soul, so much so that, unable to tolerate the begging of the Bible any longer, he equipped himself with a beautiful day of a wooden stake, when he saw it appear in the doorway the procurator for the envelopes. If this did not greet him lightly, his skull would be in a pitiful state, such was the anger of the enjoyed.

The following Sunday, during the parish Mass, Uncle Serapião slowly entered the Catholic Church and there, leaning against a pillar, piously prayed the rosary. When he left, as if with irony someone asked him if he had already left the Bible, the good farmer replied:

- Yes, I did, sir! And never to return there! Man, Catholicism, with so many parties, will still be cheaper.

III. The riches of priests

It is the eternal spiel of Protestants who seek to accuse priests of being men of money.

Nothing more ridiculous.

There were times, it is true, when the priest was in a position to make a fortune, but these times are past.

Nobody, absolutely nobody, aspires to the priesthood for profit.

To form a priest, no less than 12 years of study are required.

And such studies must be done as interns at a seminar.

Assuming that the seminarian, paying his pension and a slight expense for books, clothes and travel, spends only the amount of a couple of contos a year, that would give a total of 24 contos reis to spend for a boy to reach the priesthood.

It is an expense higher than any other intellectual state of life.

With less expense, parents could train their child in medicine, law, pharmacy, bookkeeper, dentist, commerce, etc.

So the training of a priest is the most expensive and least profitable and as soon as the parents have no MATERIAL INTEREST in directing a child to seminary, as the child has no personal interest, in embracing the priestly state.

This state, in addition to the chastity sacrifice it imposes, the remoteness from the world and the exhaustive work that is its own, does not promise any well-being that compensates for these sacrifices.

The priest must receive the grace of vocation from God; otherwise he would be unable to persevere in a state of life in which EVERYTHING IS FOR GOD, and nothing for himself.

After these initial sacrifices, the priest can be placed in a chapel. What will he gain there?

The necessary to live, maintain and preserve the religious works that his position imposes.

How many vicars live poor, completely poor, and after a hard life, they don't even have a penny to treat themselves in old age.

- But there are rich priests, exclaim Protestants!

There may be ... and there are, of course; but note well that out of 50, perhaps 45 received these riches by inheritance from their parents, and only about 5 managed to collect a modest savings.

In the Catholic clergy, there are not only children of commoners, there are children of the rich, millionaires, nobles, and even princes and kings.

May they be rich, they can be; it is their paternal fortune, which is personal to them, and they can dispose of it for Catholic works, or leave it to the family after their death.

No one can take away this right.

And even if the priest gathered a small fortune from his great service in the clerical militia, would that be a sin?

The Savior said that the worker deserves his remuneration: Dignus est operarius mercede sua. (Lc10,7). And the apostle: Do you not know that those who serve the altar participate in the altar. (1Co9,13).

The priest is a minister of God, but he is also a man. As a man he must dress, have his house, have his livelihood, and, being unable to give himself to other tasks that do not match his dignity and his ministry, how can he live, if he receives nothing in return your dedication to serving the Church?

Any man of common sense understands the ridicule of this objection, inspired only by hatred and the mania to protest.

The priest is the man OF THE ALTAR, and as such must live on the altar.

He does not sell or traffic any religious ceremony, but he is entitled to remuneration for the services he provides without obligation, by virtue of his profession.

He sometimes confesses whole days and nights; he distributes holy communion, visits the sick, consoles them, administers the last sacraments, teaches the catechism to children, preaches to adults, celebrates the holy sacrifice, and asks for nothing ... absolutely nothing; therefore, it is reasonable to demand at least remuneration for your service from those who ask for the INTENTION of the Mass, as well as those who baptize children and those who marry.

It is little ... but it is enough for your sober, modest life and withdrawn from the world.

IV. Indulgences

In the accusation that concerns the trafficking in religious ceremonies, the old objection against indulgences must certainly be included.

Whether or not my friend thought about this accusation, it will, however, be useful to explain it and then give him the necessary answer.

It is said that it was because of indulgences that Luther revolted against the Church.

It can not be; the question of indulgences was only a BACKGROUND.

Luther believed in indulgences, but he was humiliated that he was not chosen instead of the Dominicans to preach them.

He therefore accused the Church of selling indulgences at a price of money.

This charge is false.

Pope Leo X asked for alms to finish the construction of the Vatican Basilica, and in return for this good work the Pontiff granted an indulgence.

It is one thing: buy an indulgence and another; receive an indulgence in return for a good work.

The Church grants indulgence to those who care for the sick, to those who instruct children in religious truths, to those who cooperate in the various good works of charity, zeal, apostolate, etc.

Such indulgences are a reward and not a purchase.

The charge of Luther and the other Protestants, his grandchildren, is therefore a slander, a malevolent and baseless invention.

What is indulgence? ...

Indulgence is the remission of the temporal penalty, due to venial sin or even mortal sin, after the eternal penalty has been forgiven.

Therefore, indulgences do not forgive sins; these are forgiven by baptism and penance, but only temporal punishment, attached to sin already forgiven.

We find in the Bible itself the mentioned existence of this temporal penalty.

Moses asks God: Forgive the sin of this people, according to the greatness of your mercy.

And God answered him: I forgave him, as you asked of me, but none of those who strayed from me will see the land that I swore to their parents. (Nm14,19).

This is how God forgives the Israelites for their sin, but He does not forgive them all the TEMPORAL FEATH, due to the same sins.

But does the Catholic Church have the power to forgive temporal penalties?

There's no doubt; she has full power to do that. Note well, Baptist friend, that Jesus Christ said only to PETER and to no one else. it will also be untied in heaven. (Mt16,19).

These words clearly show that Peter and his successors have the power to forgive all sin, all ETERNAL punishment as TEMPORAL, and to remove all obstacles that may prevent the faithful from enjoying God eternally.

This power is admirably symbolized by the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

It is not since the time of Gregory I that indulgences have been in use in the Catholic Church, as Protestants have pointedly implied, but since the beginning of Christianity.

The apostle S. Paulo, forgiving the incestuous of CORINTO the penalty imposed on him, did nothing but grant an INDULGENCE. The indulgence I used ... was for your sake, in the person of Christ, he says. (2Co2,6-10).

In this regard it is worth collecting a confession from Luther himself.

Listen well, dear friend, what he writes, in a letter to Alberto: For my soul, I assure you that, when I abandoned myself to contest indulgences, I did not know what an indulgence was, any more than those who came to consult me on such matter. (Ep. Ad Alb. 1518).

Beautiful and sincere confession of ignorance, which can be applied to Protestants who attack indulgences without knowing WHAT an indulgence IS.

And after having learned what an indulgence is, he writes in his discussions:

“I have never despised, nor have I ever taught that, if indulgences were despised. If any, deny the truth of the Pope's indulgences, let him be anathema ”(Disp. Lips. Th. 3).

Such indulgences are not acquired at the price of money, but at the price of GOOD WORKS.

To excite you to do good works, the Church promises indulgences, as she grants them in return for good works done: Nothing more!

It is not a question, therefore, of dealing in ceremonies, but of encouraging good works, and rewarding noble initiatives.

Nothing more ... and that's a lot.

Conclusion

Let us conclude this matter here, looking at the Pope's much-vaunted riches.

Lying, exaggerating, slandering, - are things that any fool is capable of; however, SAYING IS NOT PROOF, and to this day Protestants have not proved just one of the absurd ASSERTIONS they raised against the Pope ... while we daily prove history and statistics to be false in their objections.

There is no Protestant bulletin that does not allude to the fabulous riches piled up in the Vatican coffers.

It seems to be a chronic disease in adverse camps.

In all Christian countries, COLLECTIONS are made annually for Catholic works, such as the propagation of faith, holy childhood, the death of St. Peter, etc.

Money goes into the Vatican coffers.

In fact, anything must come in so that it can also leave.

What do popes do with so much money?

What do they do?

Just read the religious magazines to find out.

What did the Holy Father do for the prisoners, orphans and bereaved families during the great war?

He distributed thousands and thousands of lire, appearing in front of all the charities.

What has the Vatican recently done for Russia, a country that is increasingly moving away from Rome?

Millions of lire come out of the Vatican every year to alleviate the needs of mankind.

It is a great disloyalty to mention only the sums that ENTER the Vatican, and not want to see the amounts that leave there.

Protestants and communists shout, here in Brazil, that Catholics send huge amounts to the Vatican, but are silent, however, regarding the larger amounts that Brazil receives.

Here is a little statistic about it:

In 1929 Brazil sent 98,000 lire (some 98 contos) to Rome.

It is a fact. And how much did you receive for the missions among the savages of Amazonas, Pará and Mato Grosso?

He received a respectable sum of 480,000 lire (about 480 contos).

In this way, we received 372 contos more than we gave.

The famous “Casa do Vaticano”, the “Banco de S. Peter”, as it turns out, is the best in the world.

Putting 98 contos in it, you receive 480 contos.

In the year 1932 Brazil sent 226,375 lire to Rome.

The generosity of Catholics is increasing ... and Rome does not allow itself to be overcome.

We received 478,000 lire from there, that is, 478 contos.

Rome sent us 251 contos more than we sent.

These 251 were distributed among the missions of the various northern states.

And so in other years.

The difference is sometimes bigger, sometimes smaller, but our collections never exceed the subsidies that Rome sent us for our missions.

In compensation for this generosity, the Vatican is constantly reviled by the ignorant and the wicked.

Here are the Pope's treasures. They are TREASURES FROM A FATHER; and if your right hand receives, your left hand distributes what you receive!

It seems that this father's love multiplies donations to alleviate his children's sufferings, just as Jesus Christ multiplied the loaves to sustain the strength of those who followed him.

Here is the religious traffic that exists in Rome, and the way the Pope sells the ceremonies.

The charge is ridiculous.

The refutation seems clear enough, to confuse the slanderers and open the eyes of the ignorant.

That's what I wanted to do in this chapter.

CHAPTER IV

The canonized popes

The last objection from my Baptist-Mason friend, - I say Baptist-Mason, because I discovered at the end of his name the three characteristic points, - raises a question that many ignore.

The tri-pinged brother asks: Of the 264 popes, from S. Peter until today, the 86 canonized by whom they were?

The question is logical and deserves a complete answer, because if everyone knows what a saint is, few know how he is canonized.

This is what I intend to explain here.

The question "for whom they were" indicates the thought of the querent, who certainly believes that the Pope can canonize anyone he wants.

As for the next sentence, mocking as it is, I let it run; she will receive her answer by exposing the truth. In fact, he puts together this very Masonic and very Baptist phrase: "And if they were all virtuous men, at the time of the famous" Holy Fires "did the popes walk in the world of the moon?"

You don't have to go to the moon world to find out the truth; lunatics roam this world, although subject to the influence of the moon, while the ignorant in history go up to the moon, without knowing what is happening here on earth.

Let us, therefore, shine light on this darkness, to instruct the ignorant a little.

What is a saint?

How is canonization done?

Can the Pope canonize anyone he wants?

What is required of the saint to be canonized?

Here are four questions that I will answer here.

I. Who is a saint

What is a saint?

He is a Catholic who, during his life, heroically practiced Christian virtues.

He is a man like any other, however, in his life THREE elements must be cleared: the rectitude of DOCTRINE, the rectitude of LIFE and HEROISM in the practice of virtues.

Without one of these three elements, there can be no sanctity.

He must fully profess the religion of Jesus Christ, so that there is no voluntary error in his doctrine, professed or taught, spoken or written, with regard to the dogmas of the Catholic Church.

It's the first badge.

Righteousness in life consists in fully practicing the Christian life, as revealed by Jesus Christ and taught by the authority of the Church.

No addiction, no element contrary to Divine Law can enter your life.

It must remove all mortal sin and all attachment to venial sin.

With these two elements we have the PERFECT man, but we do not yet have the saint.

What constitutes holiness itself is the fulfillment of the third requirement or the heroic practice of virtue.

The HEROIC practice of virtue is more than the SIMPLE practice of virtue.

The removal of all sin is already a virtue, and it may even be a heroic virtue at a certain point,

It is called heroic, which requires an above-average effort on our part.

It is more than bravery; It is rampant BRAVURA.

It is more than courage; It is extraordinary FASHION.

It is more than virtue; It is the HEROISM of virtue.

And the Saint is the one who practices virtue, in a heroic way.

To thank a service is education.

Returning a service is nobility.

Doing good to others is a virtue.

Doing enemies good IS HEROISM.

In the same way it can be said:

To keep the commandments of God and the Church is to be a good Catholic.

To do more than God asks is to be virtuous.

To practice evangelical counsels is to be holy.

This is what a saint is.

It is to be a man by nature and to be an angel by virtue.

It is, in the expression of Christ, to live in this world, without being of this world: De mundo non estis, sed ego elegi vos of the world (Jo15.)

St. John says that the world is lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes and pride of life (1Jo, 2.16).

Holiness is the opposite; it is the domain of the lust of the flesh, the mortification of sight and the humility of life.

The saint is all of this.

They are seeing, then, that holiness is not an enactment of the Church; Holiness is SUBJECTIVE, it is in man, it is practiced by man; the Church does nothing but recognize that such a man is HOLY.

All men can be holy, for God's is not lacking; however, all are not saints, because everyone does not cooperate with Divine Grace.

Neither Protestantism, nor Spiritism, nor Freemasonry, nor Communism, can have saints, because they lack the RIGHTNESS of the doctrine, they are heretics, and as such separated from God.

Catholicism has SANTOS, although all Catholics are not, because they do not know how to ask God for the courage and strength necessary to practice heroic acts of virtue.

II. How canonize a saint

No one, however holy, even performing miracles, can be canonized during life, because, subject to human weaknesses, those who are standing today can fall tomorrow. São Paulo warns us quite rightly that those who think they are standing up take care not to fall. (1Co10,12).

It is necessary, therefore, to die before ... but it is not death that brings holiness, but rather the life that must give it.

It is during life that man must practice the virtues that the saints do.

When a person dies, with a reputation for extraordinary virtue, the Church, with consummate prudence, does not allow it to be immediately considered, nor invoked as a saint.

It requires that the saint himself demonstrate the virtue of his life from heaven, performing miracles ... or, better, the Church expects God to manifest a person's holiness by communicating the GIFT OF MIRACLES to him.

And, performing miracles, is a person canonized, holy?

Nothing! ... it's just the entrance, it's the first step.

Outside of exceptional cases, no saint is canonized before 50 years after death; the Church wants evidence, tangible and irrefutable evidence.

And here the process of canonization begins, a long, thorough, rigorous process.

First, the Church orders the local bishop to organize a Diocesan Tribunal.

This court collects all documents left by the deceased, interrogates survivors, examines writings, verifies facts and miracles, examines the heroic virtues practiced, and, after years of inquiries and investigations, collects all documents for and against and send them to Rome.

A commission of cardinals and theologians is appointed by the Sovereign Pontiff to examine the writings, virtues and miracles of the servant of God.

Months and years pass.

Everything is examined and discussed.

If there are solid facts and extraordinary virtues, the commission appoints the lawyer or defender of the case and his opponent.

Both do a study on the three points in question: DOCTRINE, VIRTUES, MIRACLES, however, they do it in the opposite direction.

The DEFENDER seeks to prove the orthodoxy of the doctrine of the servant of God, its virtues and the value of the miracles performed by him, after death.

The CONTRADITOR, always supported by the documents, seeks to counter the assertions of the first and show the weak side of the doctrine, virtues and miracles added.

After several meetings, in the presence of theologians and other sages, the question is resolved favorably or unfavorably.

When the absolute orthodoxy of the doctrine is investigated, the heroism of the virtues practiced, the servant of God wins, in the first examination, verifying the absolute certainty of a miracle, proven, authentic, the Church proclaims the servant of God: VENERABLE.

After that, a few more years are expected.

If there are other miracles, they are submitted to the examination and discussions of the commission, and after verifying another miracle, proven, authentic, the venerable receives the title of WELL-ADVENTURED.

Again it takes a few years ...

If the Blessed One continues to perform miracles, the commission examines them again, with the utmost rigor, and with the THIRD MIRACLE being authentically proven, the Sovereign Pontiff draws up the final canonization decree.

Using his privilege of infallibility, by the assistance of the Holy Spirit, he proclaims the absolute rightness of doctrine, the heroicity of the virtues and the authenticity of at least three miracles, giving the blessed the glorious title of HOLY.

This is how the Church canonizes the saints.

The friend is seeing, due to the delay, the investigations and discussions, that the Church proceeds with extreme prudence, and that the head of the Church, when giving the title of SANTO to a servant of God, surrounds himself with all human guarantees, besides the special assistance of the Holy Spirit, which makes this act of canonization an act of pontifical infallibility.

We come to the third and fourth questions already indicated: can the Pope canonize anyone he wants? and what is required to be canonized?

As we have just seen, canonization does not depend on the Pope, but on the HOLINESS of the person who must be manifested by miracles.

The Pope cannot canonize anyone he wants, but only those who are in the three conditions indicated here:

Have a straight doctrine.

Have practiced the virtues heroically.

Have done at least three miracles after death, and all this must be verified and proved authentically, by witnesses, writings, or other documents.

The Pope is, therefore, the INSTRUMENT of canonization, proclaiming a holiness already manifested by God, by miracles.

Now the miracle is the seal of God.

Only God can work miracles, and he can only do them for the good and for the edification of the Church.

Nothing is more serious and rigorous than the discussions about the heroic virtues.

Humanly speaking, after so many precautions and demands, it is almost impossible for the Pope to be wrong.

And, religiously speaking, since canonization is an act of supreme authority in question directly linked to dogmas of faith, the practice of morals and public edification, the Pope becomes infallible, says ex-Chairperson, with all the authority of successor of St. Peter, and the power of Christ himself, who said to him: Whoever listens to you listens to me: Qui audit, audit me. (Lk 10,16)

The Pope cannot canonize anyone who does not have the three qualities indicated in his person.

This is what reduces the numerous Protestant objections against the saints to nothing.

In their ignorance of the strict canonization laws in use in the Catholic Church, they think it is enough for the Pope to say that someone is holy, for it to be, as one is enough, a pastor to tell any believer that from now on he will be a preacher , so that he thinks he is, and travels the world, saying all kinds of caricatures.

Nobody is holy, because the Pope proclaimed him; but the Pope proclaimed it because it IS HOLY, and because such holiness is authentically verified and proven.

***

Years ago, a wise Protestant English professor at the University of Oxford wanted to examine the canonizations closely and visuously.

He left for Rome with a letter of recommendation, asking to examine the canonization documents for himself. The cardinal prefect, in charge of the causes, handed over the complete file, for and against, of some eighty CAUSES on trial.

The professor took the documents to the hotel, where, for a month, he examined them carefully, comparing the reasons in favor, cited by the defender and the reasons AGAINST, given by the adversary.

He examined, confronted, drew his favorable conclusions, and was convinced that all the facts, the doctrine, the virtues and the miracles were indisputable and that these names deserved all the halo of the saints.

Thus disposed, he then went to the cardinal, to deliver the documents to him and to thank him for his kindness, showing the positive result of his inquiry, and saying that he was convinced of the rigorous accuracy of the processes and the certainty of the results.

Ah! if all processes were thus safe and proven, exclaimed the Protestant teacher, no one else could doubt the saints in the Roman Church.

But what was his astonishment when the cardinal replied:

- Well, all these causes that mr. judged irrefutable and certain, were rejected by the Church as insufficient, none of these miracles was approved by the commission.

The teacher fell from the clouds ... or rather, he left the Protestant error, and today he venerates and invokes the saints with the greatest fervor the more he despised them before, as a Protestant.

***

Knowing now how to canonize a saint and what is required for that, we can solve the problem posed by our Baptist-Mason.

Of the 266 popes, 86 are canonized

- By whom, he asks?

By the popes, according to the procedures I have just indicated, having examined their life, doctrine and miracles performed by them.

Let us quote here the admirable list of these holy popes, from St. Peter to St. Felix, without any interruption, that is, from the Year 32 of the Christian era to the year 532, having succeeded in this interval 57 popes, all of them canonized saints.

From the year 532 to the present day, some have been canonized, others have not, but all of them, out of three, perhaps, have been men of extraordinary virtues.

Protestant calumnies have sought to cast their mud on the white tunic of certain pontiffs, however, as human passions diminish, and as true history is examined more impartially, such stains disappear, and the day is not far away. that the papacy will shine with all the brilliance of holiness without shadow, as its never-denied infallibility shines.

IV. Holy popes

In order to see this phenomenon, unique in history, up close, of an uninterrupted succession of 56 popes, succeeding in the supreme government of the Church, all of them aureolated with the radiance of holiness, let us mention here the list of the first 100 popes.

More eloquent than all reasoning, this admirable list will show the finger of God, the divinity of the Church, and the dignity of the successors of St. Peter.

And, mind you, the popes are not saints because their successors declared it so, but the popes canonized them because they Gave manifest proof of their holiness, by virtues during life and by miracles after death.

This long list will therefore be an irrefutable argument for those who sincerely want to believe the arguments.

Such a list will, at the same time, be a refutation to those who seek to demean the papacy, slander it, trying to name the names of wicked popes, which only exist in their imagination or in stories falsified by Protestant and Masonic hatred.

SECTION I

S. PETER, prince of the apostles, first resided in Antioch for 7 years; from there he transferred his apostolic headquarters to Rome, where he suffered martyrdom on 29 June of the year 67, after having ruled the Church for 34 years, of which 25 years and 2 months he spent in Rome.

1 St. Peter ruled from 33 to 67.

2 S. Evaristo of Syria 67 to 69.

3 S. Anacleto 79 to 90.

SECTION II

4 S. Clemente I, Roman, martyr 90 to 99.

5 S. Evaristo, from Syria 90 to 107.

6 S. Alexandre I, Roman 107 to 116.

7 S. Sixus I, Roman 116 to 125.

8 S. Telesforo, Greek 125 to 136.

9 S. Hygino, Greek 136 to 140.

10 S. Pio I, d'Aquiléa 140 to 154.

11 S. Aniceto, Syriac 154 to 166.

12 S. Sotero, from Campania 166 to 174.

13 S. Eleuterio, epiroto 174 to 189.

CENTURY III

14 S. Victor I, African, martyr 189 to 198.

15 S. Zeferino, Roman 198 to 217.

16 S. Callisto, 217 to 222.

17 S. Urbano, 222 to 230.

18 S. Ponciano, 230 to 235.

19 S. Antero, Greek 235 to 236.

20 S. Fabiano, Roman 236 to 250.

21 S. Cornelius, romanno 251 to 253.

22 S. Lucio I, Roman, 253 to 254.

23 S. Stephen I, Roman, 254 to 257.

24 S. Sixto II, from Athens 257 to 258.

25 S. Dionísio, from Tunis 259 to 268.

26 S. Felix I, Roman 269 to 274.

27 S. Euticiano, Tuscan 275 to 283.

28 S. Caio, dalmata 283 to 296.

FOURTH CENTURY

29 S. Marcellin, Roman, martyr 296 to 304.

30 S. Marcelo, Roman 308 to 309.

31 S. Eusébio, from Calabria 309 to 310.

32 S. Melchiades, African 311 to 314.

33 S. Silvestre I, Roman 314 to 335.

34 S. Marcos, Roman 336

35 S. Julio I, Roman 337 to 352.

36 S. Liberio, Roman 352 to 366.

37 S. Damaso, Portuguese 366 to 384.

38 S. Siricio, Roman 384 to 399.

5TH CENTURY

39 S. Anastacio, Roman 399 to 401.

40 S. Inocencio I, from Albano 401 to 417.

41 S. Zozimo, Greek 417 to 418.

42 S. Bonifacio I, Roman 418 to 422.

43 S. Celestino I, from Company 422 to 432.

44 S. Sixto III, Roman 432 to 440.

45 S. Leão I, Tuscan 440 to 461.

46 S. Ilaro, from Cagliare 461 to 468.

47 S. Simplicio, from Tivolo 468 to 483.

48 S. Felix II (III), Roman 483 to 492.

49 S. Gedasio I, African 492 to 496.

50 S. Anastacio II, Roman 496 to 498.

6th CENTURY

51 S. Simaco, Roman 498 to 514.

52 S. Hormisdas, from Frassinoni 514 to 523.

53 S. João I, Tuscan, martyr 523 to 526.

54 S. Felix III (IV), from Benevento 526 to 530.

55 S. Bonifacio II, Roman 530 to 532.

56 S. João II, Roman 533 to 535.

57 S. Agapito I, Roman 535 to 536.

58 S. Silverio, de Fron, martyr 536 to 537.

59 Virgilio, Roman 537 to 555.

60 Pelagio, Roman 556 to 561.

61 John III, Roman 561 to 574.

62 Benedict I, Roman 574 to 579.

63 Pelagio II, Roman 579 to 590.

64 S. Gregorio I (Great), Roman 590 to 604.

7th CENTURY

65 Salbiniano, from Volterra 604 to 606.

66 Bonifacio III, Roman 607 to 607.

67 S. Bonifacio IV, Marso 608 to 615.

68 S. Adeodato, Roman 615 to 618.

69 Bonifacio V, from Naples 619 to 625.

70 Honorio 1, from Campania 625 to 638.

71 Severino; Roman 640 to 640.

72 John IV, dalmata 640 to 642.

73 Theodoro 1, Greek 642 to 649.

74 S. Martinho I, from Todi, marty. 649 to 653.

75 Eugenio 1, Roman 654 to 657.

76 S. Vitaliano, from Segni 657 to 672.

77 Adeodato, Roman 672 to 676.

78 Owner, Roman 676 to 678.

79 And Agathon, Greek 678 to 681.

80 Leo 11, Sicilian 682 to 683.

81 Benedicto II, Roman 684 to 685.

82 S. João V, antiochian 685 to 686.

83 Conon, from Thracia 686 to 687.

SECTION VIII

84 S. Sergio 1, Sicilian 687 to 701.

85 John VI, Greek 701 to 705.

86 John VII, Greek 705 to 707.

87 Sisinnio, from Syria 707 to 707.

88 Constantine I Syria 708 to 715.

89 S. Gregorio II, Roman 715 to 731.

90 S, Gregorio III, from Syria 731 to 741.

91 S. Zacharias, Greek 741 to 752.

92 S. Stephen II, Roman 752 to 757.

93 St. Paul I, Roman 757 to 767.

94 S. Estevão III, from Syracusa 768 to 772.

95 Adriano I, Roman 772 to 795.

96 S. Leão, 795 to 816.

97 S. Estevão IV, 816 to 817.

98 S. Pascoal I, Roman 817 to 824.

99 Eugenium II, Roman 824 to 827.

100 Roman Valentino 827 to 827.

Conclusion

Stop here ...

Here are the first 100 popes, with their origin and the time of their pontificate.

For a sincere Protestant, who continually hears of the popes as human monsters, and of the papacy, as a Roman invention, such a list must make an impression.

And notice him, that such a list is not a Roman combination; but, rather, a HISTORICAL fact, which the profane history itself conveys and confirms.

What does this prove?

It proves, first, that the papacy is truly a DIVINE INSTITUTION.

He descends directly from Jesus Christ himself, who chose St. Peter, as the first pope; and the popes have been succeeding over the centuries, with almost mathematical punctuality.

The popes of the first three centuries, with some exceptions, were martyred.

Like their great chief, St. Peter, they also paid, a solemn profession of their faith.

Now, only the blood of a pope flows, the heads of the Church gather and, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, elect a successor who, in turn, just a few months after his election, is taken from his throne, dyeing the immortal scepter of sovereignty he just received from his blood.

But it doesn't matter!

New popes succeed each other ...

With almost dramatic heroism, another one sits on the throne recently bathed in the blood of his predecessor and while he raises his scepter to rule the Catholic world, he bows his head, to give his life for the flock of Christians.

And despite martyrdom mowing the popes, and laying them in a tomb always open for persecution, the Church is never left without a pastor.

The word of Christ is literally fulfilled: I am with you until the end of the ages. (Mt 27.20)

The gates of hell will never prevail against the Church. (Mt16,18)

Oh! tell me, dear Protestant, is that not admirable? isn't it divine? is it not a perpetual miracle of divine power?

And so the popes continue, from St. Peter to the present Pontiff, Pius XII, gloriously reigning.

***

And what is no less divine than this uninterrupted SUCCESSION is the HOLINESS of the popes.

I’ve already explained what it takes to be holy, and to be canonized,

Well, look at this long list of the first hundred popes, and see how many of them have the letter S in front of them, which indicates they are already canonized.

The first 57 popes, without exception, are canonized.

Here are 57 heroes of faith and virtue, and these heroic martyrs succeed one another without fail ... without hesitation.

From 57 onwards, those who are canonized saints are alternating and others who, although they are not, were almost all men of extraordinary virtue.

Here and there there are some who are not saints, but holiness always surrounds his throne, and from time to time he appears more brightly, during his life and after death.

Examine the list, dear Protestant, and tell me if all this is not admirable and divine!

The glow of sanctity, which highlights and elevates the Chair of St. Peter, is so great and effulgent, that heretics and addicts of all times concentrate their hatred and slander on it.

But slander is neither an argument nor a story; it is baseness, unworthy of a sincere man.

So meditate on what I have just said here about the papacy, and draw the conclusion that emanates from the right historical facts.

This conclusion must necessarily be the admiration, the respect, the submission and the conviction that the Pope is truly THE SUCCESSOR of St. Peter, and that these successors have always been and always are at the height of his sublime mission, which is to represent Christ here on earth and conserving is part of the divine religion taught by Him.

Assisted by the Holy Spirit, the Pope has always confirmed his brothers, as the Savior asked him: Confirm your fratres. (Lc21,32).

The bad popes

My Baptist consultant naturally finishes his list of objections, saying that having given information about Luther's life, I should also give information about the lives of certain popes, and say what were Shale IV, Innocence VIII, John XI, Alexander VI .

Well, dear friend; let's go through these popes' lives for a moment, or rather, I want to show you what they were, because I see that you ignore him completely, or know only the history of the popes through Protestant slanders.

One should not simply repeat what the enemies of religion are quoting. In such serious matters, it is necessary to resort to sources, or at least to serious and dispassionate authors.

Let us say a few words here about each of these incriminated popes, and analyze their lives with sincerity and candor.

1. Pope Shale IV

Pope Shale IV occupied the Pontificial throne from 1471 to 1484, that is, for 13 years.

This Pope's memory has been trifled unworthily by the enemies of religion.

The translator of César Cantú, a fanatical Protestant (Antonio Ennes), under the pretext of bringing universal history into line with the current study of historical sciences, completely falsified the history of the popes, weaving or reproducing these miserable legends, which well show the Protestant hatred , the low lie of the cultists, in the sad task of demeaning the glory of the headquarters of São Peter.

Cesar Cantú's book, updated by mr. Antonio Ennes, does not deserve any faith, since it deals with Church history; he is a simple slanderer, a forger of true history, as can be proved by contemporary histories and by numerous documents that are still preserved in ancient libraries today.

Pope Schist IV, in the century: Francisco de la Novere, was a Franciscan religious, and was even general of his order.

Contemporary historians speak of his admirable piety and thoughtful spirit.

And so it should be.

Those who know a little about religious orders know that being the superior general elected among the most worthy of the order, such superiors are almost always men of superior virtues and abilities.

Ambassador Nicodemo de Pontremoli, who knew him closely, says that "the pious and holy life he led was known to everyone, until he was elected Pope at 57", an age when it is not easily believed that a pious person can change completely of moral procedure.

Another eyewitness testimony, Senarega, Genovez and ambassador in Rome, later writing the annals of his city, makes the greatest praise of Pope Shale IV, saying that he was: "very distinguished for the sanctity of his life."

Contemporary chroniclers Angelo de Tumulillis and André Bernardo express themselves in the same way.

The language of impartial historians at the time is unanimous in praising the virtue of this pontiff.

The only one who raised his voice to slander this pope, was an enemy of religion and the popes, a politician called Infura.

But what are the sectarian's accusations worth in view of the unanimity of the contrary testimonies? Testis unus, testis nulus, say the causidics.

Protestant historians themselves acknowledge slander, that only hatred or ignorance can spread accusations that have never been proven.

Anglican Creighton (III, 115), for example, writes: “Infura has stained the memory of this Pope, with accusations of the most atrocious crimes. These incriminations, made by a partial man, who writes with obvious animosity must be dismissed as without evidence. ”

Historian Reumont (Lourenço 11, 453) is no less explicit. he writes: "Infura exaggerates the Pope's guilt against the truth." And he calls it: "the true representative of the inexhaustible backbiting of the Romans, who offered material to all those who delight in scandalous cases."

Another historian, Gregorovius, says that there is a patent lie in Infatura (L. Borgia, Siuttgart, 1847, 11-12).

Frantz (p. 481 and 483), who carefully studied the life of Shale IV, as the slanderer Infatura presented it, shows adulterations of the truth made by him, saying that he even accepts to be staggered as irreparable witnesses (V. Thomasini, 550) .

Given these statements, I ask my querent, where is the truth?

The entire impartial history, without exception, regards Pope Shale IV as a man of exceptional virtues.

A single voice rises among these witnesses, the voice of a sectarian, an enemy of the Pope (for he was a supporter of the Colonists, who fought the Pope).

This single voice, Infura's, was repelled and refuted by the contemporaries and subsequent historians themselves, as a slanderer and a liar.

So what is left standing?

The truth of history, not as the falsifier of Cesar Cantú tells, but as tradition and history proclaim it.

Pope Shale IV was a man of virtue, and he did not stain the white tunic of his pontificate at all.

I do not want to tell you, in detail, the life and government of this illustrious Pontiff; it is enough to refute the calumnies inflicted on him, to show his complete innocence, and the cursing hatred of Protestants who accept and propagate everything that is against the Church, without examining the sources, or the facts of these calumnies.

II. Pope Innocence VII

Pope Innocencio VII is also on the black list of enemies of the Church. This Pontiff was the successor of Shale IV in the government of the Church, and he reigned from 1484 to 1492, occupying the Apostolic See for almost 8 years and glorifying it for the most beautiful virtues as well as for the most enlightened zeal.

In order to understand this pope's action as well as that of his predecessor, it would be necessary to record the Inquisition so defamed by the enemies of the Church, who want to attribute to the Church an excess of governments.

Innocencio VII, before entering the sacred orders, was a wealthy businessman from Genoa, was married and had many children.

After the death of his wife, he was ordained and was an exemplary priest.

His virtue, his talents and his successes in several important businesses made him successively appoint bishop, cardinal and later pope, in succession to Shale IV.

It was a time of great upheaval in Europe.

Fernando V and Isabel, queen of Castile, his wife, after eight years of war against the Moors, ended up taking the city of Granada, their capital.

By taking over this city, Spain was free forever from the domination of Muslims, which had crushed them for more than eight centuries.

In these moments of patriotic enthusiasm, in the delirium of such a marked victory, it is understood that there was a reaction on the part of the Spaniards against the Moors, Jews and heretics.

Wishing to establish their triumphs, the kings of Spain wanted to expel the rest of the Mohammedans and the heretics themselves, who had spilled so much blood on their homeland.

Fernando and Isabel therefore asked the Pope, Shale IV for a license to erect the Inquisition court in their States, to confirm the faith and happiness of their peoples; however, it should be pointed out: the Inquisition did not have the barbaric and persecuting character that Protestants attribute to it.

Pope Shale IV granted the license in 1478, however with difficulty and with conditions, designed to safeguard the rights that Christian charity always recognizes when repenting.

This Inquisition was independent of the bishops and placed under the authority of the king.

It had an entirely political end and resembled, in the ideas of Fernando and Isabel, what we call in Brazil “the state police” (V. Histor. Protestants Ranke, Leo, Guizot, etc.)

The regulations were made in royal council, by the two sovereigns, and Torquemada, who has been so maligned, did nothing more than execute them.

At the Inquisition in Spain, it was generally more severe than among other peoples.

Rome repeatedly censored his actions and was even a place of refuge for many guilty or accused, who appealed to the judges, who were ever more forgiving of the pontifical court.

Perhaps this severity of the Spanish Inquisition should be attributed to its exclusively political character.

The Spaniards, exasperated by the bad faith of the Jews, and by so many struggles against the Moors, could not fail to conduct themselves with some rigor.

These are the reflections of Balmes (Tom.1) of Cardinal Paca (Mem. T. II) and Berault (t. VIII).

And yet, with all its rigor, this court proceeded with justice and patience.

Judges announced a 30 to 40 day grace period to heretics, during which they could acknowledge their guilt, ask for and obtain forgiveness.

What is today's civil court that begins by offering grace and mercy to the guilty?

None.

And the court of the inquisition did so without fail.

Enough of exaggeration and slander.

To judge an institution, it is necessary to know the times, the customs of this time, and analyze the facts in their own context, and not according to the ideas of the time in which we live.

As for the number of people who perished, on the scaffold, it is indisputable that the inquisition, not only in Spain, but in the four parts of the world, shed much less blood than the civil wars of different nations.

This is the time when Pope Innocence VIII appeared.

His action was calm, energetic, righteous, and no violence disturbed the eight years of his reign.

In order to stain the white tunic of this pontiff, Protestants invented the most extravagant and absurd accusations.

Innocencio VII, elevated to the supreme dignity of the Church, received frequent visits from his family.

There was nothing to be surprised about, since having been married and having several children, it was natural that the latter, with their families, visited their father, father-in-law, and perhaps grandfather.

This very natural and simple fact gave rise to malicious criticisms and petty and unlikely calumnies.

Contemporary historians, including Onufro, praise the exemplary meekness of this pontiff, his perfect integrity at the end of his life and limit the charges made against this pontiff. None of them withstand the slightest examination, both of history and of common sense.

It is the invention of Protestant hatred, to undermine the glory of the throne of St. Peter, but history has already done justice to this hatred, and the papal throne always shines in the majesty of an unfailing greatness.

III. Pope Alexander VI

Innocencio VIII's successor was Pope Alexander VI, in the century: Rodrigues Lenzuoli. Before entering the priesthood, Rodrigues was an officer in the armies of the King of Spain.

He was born in Valença in the year 1431; he was appointed cardinal in 1456 by Calixto III, a virtuous and wise pope, promoted to the sovereign pontificate in 1492, at the age of 61; he died in 1503, having ruled the Church for 11 years.

The enemies of religion attribute all sorts of crimes, debauchery, incest, usurpation, poisoning, murder, etc. however, it seems certain that these accusations are just as many slanders.

It is true, according to most historians, Rodrigues Lenzuoli or Borgia had 5 children during his military life; but Chantrel, a distinguished and conscientious author, proves with very good reasons that if this assertion is not false (since doubt is well founded), the young warrior had these children from a legitimate marriage; he always maintained good customs in the midst, even of armies, and that he did not enter the priesthood until after the death of his wife, (Hist. pop. des Papes: t. 17, p. 37 to 76).

Irreproachable in the career of arms, his conduct became edifying throughout his cardinal's time.

“Cardinal Borgia's life, says Chantrel, has always been exemplary and worthy of praise; to accuse him, his enemies were forced to make him a hypocrite. ”

"He was so esteemed (for his virtues as for his talents) that he was entrusted with the most important affairs of the Church and the State, and in the death of Innocencio VIII, the cardinals unanimously chose him from three candidates, as the most worthy of the pontificate and the most capable of remedying the great evils that threatened and began to disturb religion and society ”(Td. p. 125).

Alexander VI fully lived up to the general expectation.

A man of vast genius and perfect integrity, he restored order and enforced justice.

According to Audin, under his pontificate, both the poor and the rich were able to find judges in Rome.

People, soldiers, citizens, everyone had the highest esteem and the most sincere affection.

His life was pious, hardworking, charitable, sober and austere (Hist. De Leon X, t. I) and his life was as beautiful and uplifting as his pontificate. (Chantrel: Ib. P. 195).

In a word, Alexander VI, concludes Chantrel, was a GREAT KING and a GREAT POPE.

***

How to explain the origin of so many imputations against that Pontiff?

His energy in suppressing disorders and in repelling the claims of the rebel princes, together with the fact that he had children in his youth, although legitimate, was more than enough to give rise to these false accusations.

How many times slander is even more gratuitous.

There is no point in raising all the atrocities carried out in the memory of this illustrious pontiff.

There is talk, for example, of his incestuous trade with his daughter Lucrécia, but this alleged crime is nothing more than a fable, manufactured by Protestant hatred.

The historian Burchard, who is so brutal in his narration and so frank in telling everything he thought was bad about Alexander VI's life, does not say a word about such incestuous trade.

Others accused the pontiff of poisoning Sultan Bajaset's brother, called Djem.

Now, the same Burchard says that the cause of Djem's death was food that hurt him; and the prince's doctor testified that he had succumbed to a phlegm in his chest:

Many other witnesses refute such slander.

Brognolo, an eyewitness, wrote in 1495 to the Marquis of Mantua: “On the 25th of the past the brother of the Grand Turk died in Naples; I believe in his natural death, even though many say he was given poison to drink: what is true is that he was extremely unruly in everything ”.

Another charge: the poisoning of Cardinal Orsini.

It is another slander, already refuted. A friend of Cardinal Orsini, Justiniano, writing to Doge, says that Cardinal Orsini was in the last, and that doctors were desperate to save him, without saying a word of such poisoning.

Another slander:

Alexander VI and his brother Caesar are said to have died of a poison they had prepared for the cardinals.

It's ineptitude.

This news found a place in the simultaneous illness of the Pope and Caesar, and in the rapid corruption of the corpse.

The conscientious historian Von Pastor says that the Pope's last illness was dangerous Roman fever, and, according to the opinion of one of the attending doctors, the immediate cause of death was stroke.

“The night from 17 to 18, says Von Pastor, was bad; the fever came back with violence.

Alexander VI confessed to the Bishop of Carinola and received communion.

His brother César Borgia improved and overcame the disease, but the Pope's advanced age did not resist the attack (he was 73 years old) and died the same afternoon. ” “Considering the interval of the normal state of health, which lasted six or seven days, since the first symptoms of the disease, and also considering the course of periodic attacks of fever, one should, without any doubt, exclude the poisoning,” E Von Pastor concludes; "The relatively small violence of the phenomena that occurred, the relative well-being between the first and the second access, and finally the very duration of the disease and the symptoms of it, also goes against this hypothesis." (Hist, of the popes II, 474 et sec).

The one who raised such slanders was mainly the libertine Guicciardini; well, listen to the apostrophe that the wicked and unsuspecting Voltaire addresses to you in this regard: “I dare say Guicciardini: Europe is deceived by you, and you have been deceived by your passion; you were the enemy of the Pope, you believed too much in your hatred ”. (Dissertation on the death of Henry IV).

Here is the illustrious Pope Alexander VI, so slandered by the enemies of religion, avenged by a healthy and dispassionate criticism of history and rehabilitated in glory and in the majesty of his dignity.

I call attention to this claim of dignity, of the Catholic writers themselves, because a certain number of them, has been deceived by the slanderous assertions of Bembo, Giovio, Sanuto and Peter martyr, who have all been copying calumnies of each other, without looking for evidence serious and well founded.

Many Catholic books seek to restrict the alleged crimes of Pope Alexander VI, but few have had the courage to refute them, to reject them, as assertions without proof.

This relief shows how carefully one should read or listen to the claims made against the sovereign Pontiffs.

Let us remember that revolt and hatred always seek to slaughter the highest heads.

The Pope being the head of the Church, he has a grudge, hatred, slander and insults against all heresies and vices against him.

IV. Pope John XI

I left Pope John XI to the last place, yet another victim of anti-clerical hatred.

This Pontiff was elected Pope in 931, and died in 936, after a pontificate of just 5 incomplete years.

In order to understand the reasons for the accusations raised against this Pontiff and the others who followed him, it is necessary to know a little about the decline of this time of bloody persecutions of schism, of heresies, of invasion of barbarians.

In the midst of the political passions, violence and revenge of that time, four popes succeeded each other, all four incriminated, but without any proof; they are: Sergio III, João X, João XI and João XII.

My consultant speaks only of John XI, but it will not be useless to take a scrutinizing look at the four to better understand their action, in the midst of the turmoil of that time.

It is true that there was a time when the papacy became a victim of the parties disputing Rome and the imperial scepter.

Several popes succeeded each other, in the government of the Church, some of them, perhaps, without the proper preparation, and even without the background that they should recommend to the Catholic world; however, a wonderful fact, worthy of repair and which demonstrates the divine assistance of the Church, none of these popes failed to perform their high duties as head of the Church.

Not only did none of them, in Peter's chair, teach error, but on several occasions, although suspicious in their previous life, when appointed popes, they were virtuous and skilled.

The time was of general decay, and certain popes of this time, promoted to the pontifical solitude by the factions, often without freedom, could do nothing to preserve the people entrusted to them from decay.

Rome was dominated by the countess Theodora, princess of Tuscany, and her daughters, Theodora the girl, and Marozia, famed for their disorder and powerful for the alliances they had formed.

They intervened several times in the election of popes, seeking to place, in the Pontifical See, bishops for protected clans.

The fact is certain; but it does not yet prove that such bishops or cardinals, although protected by these powerful princesses, because they are the children of friends or relatives, were unworthy of the honors of the Pontificate.

God uses even the passions of men and political events to carry out the plans of his Providence.

The popes of this time, as a result of the disorders of these protectors, have been unfairly and unworthily accused, however, without sufficient evidence, and often for contrary political passions.

The first of these popes is Sergio III.

Flodoardo and other serious and conscientious historians affirm and prove that Sergio ascended the pontifical throne (in 905), not because of the intrigues of Marozia, as the enemies of the Holy See say, but at the request of the Roman clergy and people, according to the custom of that time .

They add that Sergio, far from leading a criminal life with his intended protector, honored his pontificate so much that he was admired throughout the Catholic world. (1) equally false to say that João X, who arrived at the pontificate due to Theodora's efforts, had no other merit than that of a beautiful exterior and a guilty love for his protector.

(1) Hist, by Pinfaill des Papes: Rohrbach, T, XII - Blanc: Tom. II. - A. Goud: Hist, Eccl.

The truth is that he was a pope full of wisdom, faithful to all his duties, worthy of veneration, and who, for more than 14 years, was the glory and happiness of the Roman Church.

He was worthy, concludes Flodoardo (2), for his death, to go to occupy a place in the sky, therefore, he was assassinated, in Year 928, by order of Marozia; this comes to be, who died for justice.

(2) Flodoardo - Nicolas le Mystique, Patriarche greg.— Muratori.

Marozia, the depraved woman, made this Pontiff murder, just because he was not sympathetic to him and did not submit to his whims.

This fact would be enough to prove that this pope was not imposed by this creature, and did not even have his esteem.

The popes succeeded John X: Leo VI and Stephen VIII, both of whom were short-pontificate, the latter dying in 931, after two years of reign.

Here, the omnipotent oppression of Marozia intervenes, she made her name Pope, with the name of John XI, a son who had, through a criminal trade, Guy, Duke of Spoleto.

This sovereign Pontiff was ordained at the age of 25, and let himself be ruled entirely by a uterine brother, who finally had him cast into a jail where he died miserably in 955.

Aside from his unjustifiable weakness, no crimes or condonations were exposed to him.

It is true that he even established rules, full of wisdom, for the canonization of the saints and the election of the popes.

The charges, brought against this pope, are grotesque, ridiculous and without foundation; and it is enough to speak of his death, as a prisoner of his own brother, to refute the absurdities invented against him.

John XII, another son that Marozia had from the Duke of Spoleto, is still missing.

The imposition was even more violent in the present case than in the case of John XI.

a student just 18 years old.

It is to be believed that, at this age, the young man was not prepared for such a task, but nothing proves that he was unworthy.

There are no crimes that the enemies of the Church do not impute; however, such accusations are contradicted by the most serious historians and contemporary monuments.

A council, celebrated in 964, concludes a beautiful praise of this pope (1), thus showing, publicly, that if there was any irregularity in his promotion, his life was up to his position and his dignity.

My consultant asked only for an explanation of the life of John XI; behold, I went beyond his request, and perhaps, without his knowing it, I pointed out other incriminated popes giving him an explanation of all of them. (two)

(1) Henri Leo: Hist. d'Italia - De Othon Frenisque - Baronio - Muratori, ismondi - Miley

(2) For 05 other accused popes, see our book: Balburdia Protestant,

Chapter VII - The bad popes.

Conclusion

Ending my consultant's libel here, the answers must also stop.

I believe I have answered everything, leaving not a single comma in the darkness, so that the Baptist friend, being sincere and loyal, will be able to draw the conclusion himself, and verify that the objections made against the Holy See of Rome are nothing more than slander without plea, unsubstantiated assertions and flabby arguments.

A serious man, willing to know the truth, and not to satisfy prejudices and passions, must confess that the papacy is the most beautiful and sublime institution in this world; it is so sublime that it goes beyond human effort, showing itself to be a divine institution.

I will not deny that there may have been weakness in the person of certain popes, but these weaknesses are very rare, they are the rare exception and they have never achieved the infallible teaching of the supreme authority, which the pope represents and that he is the living organ in this world.

The accusations, accumulated by heresy, hatred and addiction, are almost always false and always exaggerated.

Among the various accused popes, there are only three, if at all, against whom the prosecution appears to have some convincing evidence: one in the tenth century, another in the eleventh and another in the fifteenth. I say and repeat that the accusations seem to have some evidence, but I do not say that they have it, because even for the most incriminated there are serious contradictions and flagrant contradictions.

And these few facts cannot scandalize anyone; on the contrary, they show the special protection of Providence, they show that the popes are men, clothed with divine authority.

In fact, the exception proves the rule; the faults of some popes would not be so noticeable if the vast majority were not dignified, holy; about a pope who scandalized the Church, fifty built it.

It is indisputable that no throne in the universe has produced as much wisdom, science and virtue as the throne of St. Peter.

***

One could ask the detractors of Rome, why would this unprecedented privilege want that in times of universal decadence, both in the peoples and in the monarchs, the Holy See was occupied only by exceptional, brilliant and holy men?

Infallibility is neither genius nor impeccability, but, rather, the preservation of error in everything that concerns faith and morals.

Another, truly divine fact that shows how carefully Jesus Christ directs and protects his Church is that there are no troubled days, no heretics, no impostors, no wolves, trying to disturb the divine flock.

It seems that in times when the Roman pontificate struggles with internal difficulties, the devil of error is chained.

When, for a very rare exception, an incapable pope appears on the eternal throne of Peter, it is at this time that the Church enjoys perfect tranquility, as if God does not allow the truth to be attacked, as long as its representative is not in conditions to defend it.

If God allows unworthy pilots to sit at the helm, he himself then takes charge of steering the Church's ship.

It seems that God sometimes allows these clouds of decay to better emphasize the brightness of the divine light.

he reserves the supreme government for himself; men are its instruments; when the instruments are not suitable, he acts directly, thus showing that he is the Supreme Chief, the cornerstone, the basis of the Church.

And these failures, in addition to strengthening our faith in God, should increase our confidence in his Church.

Let us end with a quote from a short excerpt from the well-known Papini, author of the story of Christ:

WHO IS THE POPE?

“That creature is a man like us and speaks in the name of the divinity.

It is a terrestrial creature, as we are, and always speaks of heaven, even when it seems to talk about things on earth.

Who is living and in constant communion with the dead.

Which is modern and looks very old, because it represents perpetuity.

That he is a sinner and yet he can forgive all guilt and distribute the inheritance of graces left by the saints.

That it belongs to a nation and directs all nations.

Unique creature, which should be heard and obeyed more than any master, more than any king.

Here is the Pope! ”.

Love, therefore, veneration for the immortal Church of Christ ... and may this love and veneration extend to your visible leader, in the successor of Peter, to the representative of Christ, to the supreme pontiff of this Church ... to the Holy Father, the pope!

CHAPTER VI

The Peter Dynasty

Time passed before me ... the terrible time, which, with the destructive sickle in hand, slaughters everything, destroys and makes it disappear.

What have you done, O terrible destroyer, of these empires that seemed to fill the universe with the noise of your conquests?

Where is Tebas?

Where is Babylon?

Where is Athens?

Where are the Caesar's palaces?

And time, with a melancholy and disdainful smile, indicated with his finger some tatters of purple, remains of crowns, columns of ruined marble, on which the careless shepherds sat:

Look! he said to me.

And what will you do with the empires, the republics that now dominate the world, and these scepters, these crowns, these shining thrones? ...

- What I did with the others: a little dust that the wind will dispel.

- What will you do with this seemingly so weak throne that no human power can sustain, from this throne, on which the Catholic world calls the Pope, in calm and prayer?

Time became silent and angry, and Eternity, scornfully pointing it out with a finger, answered me with an accent that made me shudder in the very depths of my being: It will never destroy you! Non praevalebit! ...

And before this eternal throne, which I come to bow, my God!

It is the sublime and divine dynasty of this throne that I want to study now.

I have refuted the calumnies that wickedness threw at popes: it is the negative side. Now I want to show the positive side, the foundation, the greatness of the throne and the dynasty that sits on this throne: the Peter dynasty.

I. The Church

It is a sublime study that we are going to start.

These are divine horizons that we will contemplate.

Instead of dwelling on the NEGATIVE part of the Church, showing what it IS NOT, let us enter the POSITIVE part, considering what it truly is.

In order to understand well what the Pope is, it is necessary not to isolate him from the divine work he directs: the Church, - as well as to understand the greatness of the Sma. Virgin Mary, we must not separate her from the divine plan; but to place it on the side of Jesus Christ, from whom it receives its halo and its greatness.

When dealing with the Pope, the same method must be followed.

The Pope, considered in the Church, is great and sublime; aureole of the glory that surrounds Christ himself appears; while considered in isolation he is a man endowed with the greatest power in this world, but always a man.

Now, what we should see in the Pope is THE REPRESENTATIVE OF GOD on earth, he is the mortal Head of an immortal Church and the infallible guide to eternal truth.

Let us make this study ... as attractive as it is sublime ...

The Church of Christ is a whole world of ideas that stands before us.

What is the Church?

The Catechism responds that it is the society of all Christians who profess the same faith and receive the same sacraments, under the obedience of the legitimate pastors and especially the Pope.

It is a beautiful, complete analytical definition, available to all. One could give a shorter, synthetic definition and, for cultured intelligences, even more luminous.

What is the Church?

It is the society of souls in light and love.

There are societies of studies, of commerce, of businesses: they are human societies.

There is a divine society: the meeting of souls.

And what do souls want?

They want LIGHT AND LOVE.

The light of TRUTH.

THE LOVE OF THE HEART.

What a sublime society!

Men come together to explore this unique truth, and to bathe in this love, the only true love.

And being a society, there must be a BOSS.

And this society, looking for divine goods such as truth and love, its leader must be GOD.

This society, functioning here on earth, this boss must be a MAN.

What an ineffable mystery! A divine human society, with a divine human boss.

Yes, it is mysterious, but it is divinely beautiful, and all of this is divinely accomplished in the Church of Christ.

The Church exists here on earth; it is a true society, a visible gathering of men, women and children; and this society is headed by the Son of God, Christ Himself.

And since Christ, immortal, after his death, resurrection, ascension, can no longer remain visible and sensitive in the midst of this society, he has his representative, the Pope.

The Pope is from the earth, but he represents heaven.

The Pope speaks to the earth, but speaks of heaven.

The Pope teaches on earth, but the truth taught is from heaven.

Christ is the head of the Church, encompassing the churches: glorious in heaven, suffering, in purgatory, militant, on earth.

Christ's majesty governs the Church in heaven.

Christ's mercy rules the Church in purgatory.

Christ's representative governs the Church on earth.

It is a single Church.

It is also a single boss.

The Church is therefore a divine work, a SOCIETY destined to communicate LIGHT AND LOVE to men.

But for there to be a society, there must be a regime, a governmental form.

Jesus Christ chose the monarchical government, but a monarchy as if transformed, that has nothing, nor can have, the absolutism of human monarchies, like nothing, has the pride of the aristocratic government, nor, none of the turbulence of democratic governments.

Christ formed a government unknown until then: ONE and immutable as monarchy, active and ardent as democracy, resistant and adaptable to all circumstances ... all HUMAN on the one hand, absolutely DIVINE on the other.

Let us examine this more closely, and we will see a Church appear before us, perhaps unknown to us.

Jesus Christ formed his Church on earth, after the type of the Church in heaven.

One flock and one shepherd.

Fiet unum opile et unus Pastor. (Jo10,16).

The Church is such a planetary system, in which there are thousands of stars launched into space, with a SINGLE CENTER, around which all revolve in harmonious groups.

It is a perfect unit.

Everything depends on the center, everything revolves around the center, everything receives light and heat from the center.

The sun is the center of our planetary system ... illuminating everything, directing everything in the harmonious march we admire, preserving order, unity and harmony between satellites and planets.

THE POPE IS THE SUN OF THE CHURCH. The divine light, which Christ deposited in him, radiates over all the members of this Church, through which all receive from him the light of truth and the love of God, which make us revolve in perfect and harmonious order, around Christ Himself , which the Pope represents.

As representative of Christ, the Pope is here on earth what Christ is in the heavenly Jerusalem, as described in the Apocalypse: His lamp is the Lamb and the nations will walk in his light. (Ap21,23,24).

II. The Church Center

The center of the Church is Peter ...

Jesus Christ indicates and chooses him as such, from the first day; and this choice is made “with calculated slowness, so that the world will know, that such a choice is not the result of chance, but of a divine plan.

If Peter had come to Jesus first, or had been chosen in the first place, it would have been possible to think that such PRIMACY came from him being the first to introduce himself.

Therefore, the first one chosen will not be Peter, to emphasize that he is not the first in DIGNITY, because he was chosen, but because Christ determined it.

André and João are the first chosen.

André picks up his brother (Jo, 1.42).

Peter appears in third place; but when he appears, the scene changes completely, and he immediately takes first place.

The evangelist makes it explicitly noted:

Jesus, he says, fixing his eyes on him, said: You are Simon, son of John, you will be called Cephas, which means Peter (stone). (Jo1,49).

Here is a first badge, a formal preference, a BASIC UPGRADE.

Simão's common name is replaced by a symbolic and significant name, the meaning of which will be explained by the future.

This name change is extremely significant, and in the Bible we find only three cases of such a change, each time to express a great event.

God changed the name Abrão to ABRAÃO (Gn.17,5), to express that he must be the father of many peoples.

He also changed Jacob's name to: ISRAEL (Gn32,28), to signify the strength against God, with which Jacob fought against the angel.

Here the name of Simon changes, in that of PETER, to express that Peter must be the foundation of his Church. Peter, in Aramaic Kefas, is a proper person's name and the name of stone, rock, as in French, Pierre means Peter and stone, as in Portuguese the word is almost identical.

***

Let us now follow the development of this the Savior's act.

Shortly afterwards, Jesus ascends a mountain, and after having prayed a lot, he chooses his apostles, out of TWELVE.

Now, says St. Matthew, the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first is Simon, whose name is Peter, and Andrew his brother, James, son of Zebedee and John his brother ... etc, (Mt, 10.2 ).

Why is Peter the first?

It is John who was the first to speak to the Savior.

It was Andrew who was the first to exclaim: We found the Messiah!

João or André should be the first.

Why did Peter pass?

Because?

Because the Master wanted him, chose him, placed him first as the leader of others.

There is no other reason.

***

But maybe it's just a title, a precedence of honor!

Let us also listen to the Evangelist, who will answer us.

Jesus enters the solitude of the Jordan; on the way he asks his apostles:

Who do men say that the Son of Man is?

And they answered, Some say that it is John the Baptist, others that it is Elijah and others that it is Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.

And Jesus said to them, "Who do you say that I am?"

Answering Simon Peter, he said: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. (Mt, 16: 13-16).

Let us now listen to the response of Jesus Christ. It has a majesty, an authority, a strength, a singular simplicity and greatness.

Blessed are you, Simon, son of John: for it was not the flesh and blood that revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven; and I say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

And I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven: and whatever you bind on earth will be bound, also in the heavens; and whatever you untie on earth will be untied also in the heavens. (Mt, 21, 17-19)

Such are the creative words of the papacy.

The supreme authority of the Master and Lord of heaven and earth is felt in every word.

And notice how admirably these words were prepared!

First, Christ separates Peter from the crowd, setting him apart, calling him PETER or stone.

Christ needs a fundamental stone for his Church, and chooses this stone: You are a stone, not Simon anymore.

And why this stone?

To serve as a base for the Church: On this stone I will build my Church.

This is positively the INDEFECTIBILITY promised to Peter.

The foundation of an eternal, immutable Church, against which the gates of hell will not prevail, is necessarily IMPERECIBLE, it cannot disappear; because, when the foundations are broken, the building must also collapse.

What sustains an eternal Church cannot be ended.

***

The base is set, and this base is PETER, Peter INDEFECTIBLE, who does not perish.

But it is not enough to be indestructible; it is necessary that the Church, and consequently the head of this Church, fully preserve the doctrine received from her Master; otherwise the Church, although imperishable in its EXISTENCE, could vary in its TEACHING, in its doctrine, and in the truths it explains.

It is necessary, therefore, that Peter, imperishable in existence, is also INFALLIBLE in doctrine.

It is necessary that Peter, in addition to the SOVEREIGN AUTHORITY, also has a SOVEREIGN LIGHT.

This is why Jesus Christ continues in a divine majesty: I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

They are not simply the keys to the kingdom of the earth, for the Church, by its extension in heaven and in purgatory, is a heavenly kingdom, and as such the keys of the earthly part of this kingdom are heavenly keys, for the earthly part is the door of heavenly part. They are not two kingdoms, but it is a SINGLE KINGDOM, they are two parts of the same kingdom, having intimate relations with each other.

The Church is the society of souls, begun on earth, but which only in heaven receives its total perfection. This is clearly expressed by the divine founder: Everything you untie on earth will be untied also in the heavens.

On another occasion, the Savior will indicate the infallibility of Peter's teaching.

It is at his last supper, a few hours before his death, that he addressed Peter Jesus; Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has promptly demanded of you to winnowing you like wheat, but I prayed for you, lest your faith be lacking, and you, once converted, confirm your brothers. (Lc21,31,32).

Here is a new privilege: INFALIBILITY: I prayed for you, so that your faith will not fail.

What does this mean?

It is enough to want to understand, to understand it.

It is as if Christ said; Your faith will always be holy, always true, always the same: firm and luminous; and this is not just for you, to enlighten you, but also to enlighten your brothers, to confirm them in truth, if they came to stumble, to hesitate, to falter.

I could have asked them for this firmness and this light, as I could have given each planet its own light, but I don't, I reserved this prerogative only for you, as I reserved the prerogative to illuminate the planets in the sun; you will be the luminous and firm center of my Church, as the sun is the luminous and firm center of the planetary system, taking everything to the final term: the sky.

The building whose foundation is firm is quite firm.

There is no escape or subterfuge: Peter and all his successors are INFALLIBLE in doctrine, as the Church governed by them is IMPERECIBLE.

How clear, glowing, grandiose all this enchants and makes the finger of God feel!

It is God's nature to show himself sublime by simplicity.

And here everything is simply sublime.

III. The Supreme Shepherd

Peter is therefore the center of religion, or as the Savior said: the foundation of the Church.

That's what Santo Ambrósio said: Ubi Petrus, ibi Ecclesia! Where Peter is, there is the Church. it's just one thing.

In the divine will, Peter and the Church are two things inseparably united, as in a building the foundations and the building are united.

For INDEFECTIBILITY Peter is the foundation of the Church.

Through INFALIBILITY he is the light of the Church.

But there is more than that. It would be in vain that Peter would show the way to the earth's wanderers, and in vain would teach them the truth, if he did not have the power to GOVERN them, by their laws, and by their sovereign direction, to pull them out of the dangers that threaten them.

Now Jesus Christ does not do his work in half: fullness and perfection are the seal of divine works.

Jesus Christ must therefore finish the work by giving Peter the authority of SUPREME SHEPHERD.

It is one of the most delicious and tender pages of the Gospel.

The scene took place after the resurrection, on the Savior's third appearance.

The modest supper ended, to which Jesus himself wanted to participate after the miraculous catch.

So when they had dinner, he narrates the Gospel, Jesus said to Simon Peter:

Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?

he said to her: Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.

I said to him: (Jesus) ROCK MY, LAMBS.

I said to him again, Simon, son of John, do you love me?

He said to her: Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.

I said to him: (Jesus) GROW MY LAMBS.

I said to Simon, for the third time, do you love me?

Peter was sad, because for the third time he said to him: Do you love me? And he said to him, Lord, you know everything: you know that I love you.

Jesus said to him: ROSE MY SHEEP. (Jo21,15).

It is impossible to express the beauty and tenderness of these words, everything in them of delicacy and strength, and how everything is in harmony with the mission of the Church.

Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves him: why this triple question?

There is a double reason: one for REPAIR, the other for INVESTMENT.

During his passion, in Caiaphas's atrium, Peter had had the weakness of denying his divine Master three times: He swore he didn't know this man. (Mt26,74).

Peter was to repair this threefold denial by a threefold affirmation of love for Jesus.

And, as he affirms his faith, swearing in a solemn act of love his unalterable fidelity to the Savior, the latter gives him the endowment of the supreme authority over his entire Church.

Let us note, in fact, that the Church, in her sublime and perfect unity, consists of three parts:

The simple FAITHFUL.

THE PRIESTS.

BISHOPS.

And all of these are under Peter's orders.

In its significant terms, we can make the scene as follows:

- Peter, do you love me more than these?

- Yes, Lord, you know that I love you,

Well, be the Pastor of the Bishops of the Church.

Peter, do you love me?

Yes, sir, you know that I love you.

Well, be the Shepherd of my priests.

Peter, do you love me?

Lord, you know everything; you know i love you.

Well, be the Shepherd of all my flock, of all the faithful.

It is divinely delicious!

For every act of love and reparation of Peter, an act of INVESTMENT by the supreme authority corresponds to Jesus.

The bishops and their auxiliary priests have the same priesthood, however, in the bishops the fullness of this priesthood resides, forming under the authority of Peter: the TEACHING Church.

The faithful are the sheep of the great flock, forming the Church DISCENTE.

And Peter is the head of the entire Church: of bishops, priests and the faithful.

Christ had already said: there will be a single flock and a single Shepherd. (Jo10,16).

This unique Shepherd, here he is; it is Peter, it is the Pope, having full powers to enlighten souls, full powers to govern them, full powers to remove obstacles from it, never failing the Church, neither in the order of TRUTH nor in the order of GRACE; never lacking, and exercising the sovereign authority of a King over souls.

It is with Peter that Christ begins the construction of his Church.

In the man's body, before he has organs there is a VITAL CENTER:

Jesus Christ follows the same law: He begins with the CENTER: he begins with the Pope.

This is how the Pope's divine human figure appears beautiful, radiant, he is a MAN by nature and personality.

He is DIVINE by authority and teaching.

He is a man who speaks, but his word is the word of God since he speaks as the supreme chief.

He is a man who governs, but the acts of his government are divine acts, since they address the universal Church.

And all this is so clearly indicated in the Gospel, that it is not understood how there can be people who do not see and understand such beautiful and sublime truths!

IV. The Episcopate

We could stop here and limit ourselves to checking Peter's supreme authority, but it would be leaving a MONUMENT unfinished and mutilated, considering only the statue that dominates it, without looking at the pedestal that supports it.

All of this forms a unique monument; there are several pieces of the same monument; not of equal authority, but of equal artistic value.

As we have just seen, by the threefold affirmation of his love, Peter receives a threefold supremacy, becoming the Head and Shepherd of the entire flock, which is made up of bishops, priests and simple believers.

Jesus Christ has just created the Papacy, It is a true creation and how sublime!

But the Pope cannot be alone.

How will he reach souls, all souls, to the end of time and space?

He could undoubtedly do so by choosing ministers, instituting and recalling them at will, as Protestants do.

For them it is enough to want to be a pastor, so thought, it is done; overnight the illiterate becomes a doctor; yesterday he didn't even know about the Bible, today he buys a Bible, and tomorrow he will explain it to others.

This is serious ... it is less than human.

Christ could not do this in the organization of his immortal Church.

A hierarchy was needed ... and a divinely instituted hierarchy.

This is why inferior to the PAPADO the Savior creates the EPISCOPATE, and creates it eternal, indestructible, as is the Papacy itself, of the same divine institution, but not of the same authority.

He chooses the first holders: they are apostles. It forms them at the same time as Peter, and in the same way, per modum unius.

They are almost the same words as INSTITUTION, because the mission is the same. It is another passage of the Gospel of dazzling clarity, of energy without replication, of maternal tenderness.

We collect these words, as we have collected those that establish Peter's universal supremacy.

It is another scene, performed after the resurrection. Jesus appears, suddenly, to his Apostles, in the room where they were gathered for fear of the Jews.

Jesus said to them: Peace be with you.

As my Father sent me, so I send you.

Receive the Holy Spirit.

Whoever you forgive your sins will be forgiven them, and whoever you keep them from will be forgiven them. (Jo20,21,23).

Go all over the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. (Mc, 16.15).

Whoever listens to you listens to me; he who despises you despises me. (Lk, 10,16).

I have been given all power in heaven and on earth; therefore go, teach all peoples, baptizing them, in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all the things that I sent you: and, behold, I am with you every day until the end of the age. (Mt 27,18-20).

Such are the solemn, august words with which Jesus Christ instituted the Episcopate, charged with shepherding, governing, with Peter and under his direction, the world of souls.

But note well in this similarity of words addressed to Peter and the apostles, the great and important differences.

What Christ says to Peter tells him separately, separated from the apostles; and what he says to the Apostles never tells them separately from Peter.

In this way we have PETER but Peter ONLY, because he is the supreme authority, and we have the BISHOPS together WITH PETER.

Peter alone is Pope; and Peter is a bishop as are the other bishops.

In addition to this difference in what can be called the word frame, compare the words and you will find a new difference.

Jesus said to Peter: On this stone (Peter) or on you, I will build my Church.

(Mt16,18).

To the apostles he says: Go, teach all peoples. (Mt17,19).

First, Jesus places Peter as the foundation of his Church, and then he regulates its development through space.

Jesus said to Peter: Whatever you connect on earth, it will also be connected in heaven. (Mt, 16.19).

He says to the apostles: Whatever you connect on earth, it will also be connected in heaven. (Mt17,18).

They are the same words, but the first time they were spoken to Peter, only, in the singular, and the second time to all the apostles, united to Peter, in the plural.

Finally, when Jesus Christ says: Go, teach all peoples, he does not say it to Peter separated from the apostles, nor to the apostles separated from Peter, for such a division is impossible.

He says it to Peter and his apostles, united, in this indestructible union that Jesus Christ asked for, and consequently obtained, when he said: My Father, be they one, as we are one. (Jo17,11).

How harmonious and great everything is!

Peter is the supreme leader of the apostles. The apostles united with Peter constitute the TEACHING part of the divinely instituted and organized Church.

And over the centuries, this same hierarchy has happened without interruption and without shadow.

Peter is the Pope.

The apostles are the bishops.

The Pope is the bishop of Rome; he is an apostle like the other apostles; and he is a Bishop like the other bishops; but he is more than that.

As Peter was the head of the apostles, the Pope is the head of bishops, it is in him that infallibility resides, in him alone, and in the bishops united with him.

It is in the Pope, and in the bishops gathered to the Pope, that the INDEFECTIBILITY of the divine Church of Christ resides.

There will always be the Pope; there will always be bishops in the Church of Jesus, for both are of divine institution, and the works of God are indestructible. - Dei perfecta sunt opera. (Dt, 32.4).

V. The Priesthood

The Pope and the bishops essentially form the TEACHING Church, but its extension is not limited there.

Between the DISCENT part and the TEACHING part in its essential element, there is the PRIEST or the priests, the priests themselves.

However numerous the bishops are, the Pope being free to multiply them according to needs, the hierarchy of the Church would lack something, its adaptation to needs, if there were no INTERMEDIATES between the bishops and the people.

This is why, one fine day, this anguished cry escaped the Savior's chest: Oh! how great the harvest is, but the workers are few. (Lc, 10.2).

What will Jesus do to remedy the evil? he realizes the evil and soon will apply the medicine to him. The Pope must govern the entire Church.

The bishops, associated with the government of the Church, must be the princes of this Church, of which the Pope is the supreme leader.

But, it is not enough to have an organized government, there must be officers and ministers who, penetrating among the people, transmit and enforce the orders of the chiefs, closely follow the observation of these orders and point out the abuses that can be introduced in the middle of the herd. It is the role of the simple priest, the priest, in charge of the ministry of souls.

It is another sublime and tender page of the gospel, which reveals the mission of the Catholic priest.

It is an admirable page, but which, unfortunately, is not well known.

Being better known, it traces the priest's route forever in the ministry of the divine word and the service of the altars.

It is the great priestly code of pastors, missionaries and all those who work in the sacred ministry.

Let us listen to this divine code of priestly ministry.

The Son of man, said Jesus, did not come to lose souls, but to save them. (Lk 9,56).

After this, the Lord chose seventy-two others: and sent them, two by two, ahead of him, through all the cities and places, where he was about to go.

And he said to them: The harvest is really great, but the workers are few; therefore pray to the owner of the harvest to send workers to his harvest. (Lc, 10.1-2).

This is the vocation aroused by God, this is the need for prayer for vocations, so that God may arouse them, Jesus does not send the harvest, but asks God to CHOOSE AND SEND workers for the harvest.

After the divine vocation, manifested by grace, attractiveness and ability, the three essential elements of the vocation, comes the work of the priest, his ministry, more exhaustive, more arduous than the service of the bishops, and already indicated by the divine Master .

Go, Jesus said to the seventy priests, chosen as auxiliaries to the bishops.

Go: behold, I send you as lambs among wolves. It is priestly zeal and patience.

Do not take a purse, bag, or shoes, and you do not greet anyone on the roads. It is the detachment of goods and friends from the world.

In whatever house you enter, say first: Peace be in this house, and remain in this house, eating and drinking what they have; because the worker is worthy of his reward, it is the apostolate and sacrifices he imposes to save souls.

Do not walk from house to house. It is perseverance in the apostolate, avoiding inconstancy.

And in whatever city you enter, and receive you, eat whatever is set before you and heal the sick that are in it ”. It is the spirit of mortification and the spirit of charity to win souls.

The first disciples, the priests, thus sent by the divine Master to the populations, fulfilled the recommendations and saw their efforts and apostolate crowned with full success.

And the seventy-two returned joyfully, the Gospel continues, saying, Lord, even the demons obeyed us by virtue of Your name.

He said to them: I saw Satan falling from heaven like lightning. It is the power over the very demons that Jesus Christ gives them.

Behold, I have given you the power to put on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the enemy's strength and nothing will harm you. This is what the saints in the Church continually do.

However, do not rejoice, because evil spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in the heavens. (Lc.10,17-20).

It is the preservation of vainglory and the desire to glorify God alone.

What an admirable code of perfection for all the priests, engaged in the ministry of parishes and for missionaries sowing the divine word!

This is the institution of priests in charge of healing souls.

Priests do not have the powers of bishops; for Jesus Christ treats them differently.

There is a clear, visible, palpable gradation between the Pope and the bishops, between the bishops and the priests.

It does not lay hands on the latter.

It doesn't blow on their forehead.

He leaves it to his apostles to do it themselves, to mark the independence in which they must remain: LAMBS, regarding the people, SHEEP, regarding the bishops.

The POWERS 'POWERS, like that of the bishops and that of the Pope, come directly from Jesus Christ, but they are exercised under the hierarchical dependence established by Christ himself.

Bishops exercise their powers under the direction of the Pope; priests exercise their powers under the direction of bishops.

Just as the bishop's powers do not come from the Pope, so the priests' powers do not come from the bishop.

The priesthood, like the episcopate and like the papacy, is of divine institution; and as such, it is eternal, indestructible like them; or rather, there is only ONE SINGLE PRIESTHOOD, whose FULLNESS is in the episcopate and whose source and CORONATION is in the Pope.

There are therefore three degrees in the hierarchy: THE PAPATE, the EPISCOPATE and the PRIESTHOOD.

They are like the bones of the Church, whose perfect juxtaposition and perfect fit preserve her sacred body in the most harmonious unity.

I said above that the Church could be defined: the society of souls in the sacred bond of God's love. I must gather now, so that the definition is complete: under the direction of the Pastors, instituted by Jesus Christ and particularly the Sovereign Pontiff, his representative.

Here is Peter's complete dynasty, the Church of Christ, not simply in its components, but in its sacred articulations that give it movement and life.

It is the Church complete with its divine INSTITUTION, with its divine POWER, with its divine HIERARCHY.

SAW. General overview

We have just analyzed the beautiful and harmonious organization of the Church - the divine monument of Peter's dynasty.

What we saw is already sublime and, however, we note that the whole ANALYSIS, due to the separation of the pieces that it contemplates separately, necessarily loses the harmony of the set.

A monument, to be perfectly appreciated, must be seen as such, as a whole.

The foundation, the pedestal and the statue, separately, can have their artistic value, but the monument only acquires its beauty when these pieces are juxtaposed, each in its place, making each other stand out.

The same is true of the Church of Christ.

For this reason, after the succinct ANALYSIS of the component parts, we will now, in a SUMMARY, join these different pieces, to better admire the reason for their union and the majesty of their ensemble.

We saw in this chapter the beautiful and harmonious hierarchy instituted by Jesus Christ: the Pope, throughout the world; the bishop, in his diocese; the priest in his parish.

It is like an image of the Trinity in this world.

The Pope is the PRINCIPLE of all authority.

The bishop is like THE VERB of the Pope, in the southern diocese.

The priest united with the pope and the bishop is like SANCTIFIER of souls in his parish.

It is for the priest that the people, with whom he is immediately united, join the bishop and the pope.

Where there is a group of souls, there is a parish.

Where there is a parish, there is a priest or vicar.

The vicar is the MAN OF SOULS.

It is he who introduces them into the Church through baptism.

It is he who educates them by the divine word.

It is he who purifies them by confession.

It is he who feeds them through the Eucharist.

Finally, it is he who opens the way to the Christian home, who sustains them at the last minute, who consoles them, shows them the sky, and does not abandon them until after he has deposited his remains in the cemetery.

Augusta and sublime mission, that of the priest!

He is the bond that binds souls to God and the ascending force to heaven.

He is the unifying center of the parish in light and love!

Such is the priest, successor to the disciples of Jesus Christ.

***

But this is only the initial germ of the great Catholic unit.

If it stopped there, there would be thousands and thousands of isolated churches, without the common bond; there would be CHURCHES, but there would be no CHURCH.

This is what happens in Protestantism, whose house of worship is a church, independent, without union, without a tie that binds it to other houses of worship, who profess the religion that their pastor teaches him, without knowing what others profess; an isolated unit, making a mess in the whole.

But this is Luther's work.

Jesus Christ formed the PERFECT UNITY in multiplicity.

He gave the priest immense powers, however, in the interest of unity; there is only one power that refused him: the priest cannot create another priest.

The priest dies sterile, and his church dies with him.

We have seen sad and sublime examples in Japan.

There were believers there capable of suffering martyrdom.

There were sublime, heroic priests, but there were no more bishops; and immense and magnificent Christendom went out, like a light, in the absence of fuel; he died, radiant with heroism ... but with heroism that served as a shroud.

Only the bishop can, in fact, ordain other priests.

This power is the bishop's OWN POWER, reserved and incommunicable.

It is by this power that he is not simply a superior authority, a hierarchical leader, but a SUPERIOR POWER.

This is the reason why, due to the divine will and the nature of the hierarchy, all parishes, gathered together, unified in the priest are forced to group around the bishop, who alone can give them a lasting, uninterrupted life, because only he has the power to create priests.

Such is the bishop, the successor of the apostles.

It is around him, for him, and in him, that the second group of souls in the Church forms, lives and lives: DIOCESE.

The bishop is the unity of the diocese, in light it is in love.

***

But that is not enough.

In the same way that all priests are united in the bishop, from where they take their lives, so all bishops are united in the Pope. Through the space that separates them, the different dioceses look at each other and recognize each other as sisters.

They feel that the same sap runs through its members, and that all of them together form one and the same body: the great Church of Christ.

It is the sublime doctrine and masterful exposition of Saint Paul in his Epistle to the Corinthians.

“Just as the body is one, says the apostle, and has many members, but all members of the body, although they are many, are nevertheless one body; so is Christ. (ICo12,12).

“Now you are the body of Christ, and members are joined to members. (1Co11,27).

And so some constituted God in the Church in the first place: the apostles (and the apostles, in the order of hierarchy and power, as explained above, with Peter being the first.)

The first is Simon, whose name is Peter. (Mt10.2).

The aspirations for unity of parishes and dioceses are thus found in a single and supreme central point, which is the Pope.

The Pope is the SUBSTANTIAL JUNCTION and alive of the whole catholicity.

It is at the same time the inexhaustible source of all life.

Only he can create bishops, as only the bishop can create priests.

Only he can make dioceses immemorial, reviving them after the death of each bishop.

Only he can teach infallibly.

Only the unity of souls finds its sensitive image and its living reality in it.

All the faithful are represented in PADRE.

All priests are represented at BISPO.

All bishops are represented in the POPE.

Conclusion

This is the perfect unity, which exists and can only exist in the divine Church of Christ.

Religious sects seek to imitate this divine organization; they never knew how to reproduce it, because the divine does not reproduce.

Such is the ebb and flow of love.

Respect, obedience, dedication, sacrifice, everything goes up to the priest; by the priest to the bishop; and by the bishop to the Pope ... to the Christ, And then everything comes DOWN: light, grace, power, privileges, blessings, everything comes down from Christ to the Pope and from the Pope to the bishop, from the bishop to the priest, from the priest to the faithful .

The Pope is the unity of the Church in light and love.

In this way souls are as if connected, united by this triple knot of divine life; these three forces of attraction include the entire organization of the Church, forming a SINGLE CENTER.

Everything is grouped around the priest in the parish.

Everything is grouped around the bishop in the diocese.

Everything is grouped around the Pope, in the world, to form the universal Church. With each step that rises, life spills more abundantly, and the mystery of UNITY shines with more brilliance.

It is a true throne, an immortal, eternal throne, the throne of the Catholic Church, and, seated on this throne, always smiling, always fatherly, immortal like the rock of the mountains, resplendent as the starry firmament, calm and smooth as the dawn, but and like the eternity it represents, on top of this throne an old man dressed in white sits, holding in his hands the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and on his forehead the radiance of unfailing truth ... and this man, this old man , that blasphemous wickedness, Christ continually redizes the creative word of this supreme authority: You are Peter ... and on this rock my Church is built, and the gates of hell will never prevail against it.

How beautiful and grand all this is! And how the divine finger feels in all this!

A sincere, dispassionate man, seeing such wonders, cannot help exclaiming, "Here is the truth."

And this truth is called the Catholic Church.

And the chief of this truth is Peter.

Ubi Petrus, ibi Ecclesia, said Saint Ambrose.

Peter's dynasty is a divine dynasty against which nothing can, neither time, nor hatred, nor power, nor persecution.

CHAPTER VII

The life tree

In Sacred Scripture, there are numerous comparisons taken from trees (Mt3, 1O-7,17-6,18-12,33, etc.) and, in the language of Jesus Christ, such comparisons almost always refer to the Church (Mt, 13.32).

The first allegory of the Church is found in the description of earthly paradise, at the beginning of the world,

The Lord God had planted from the beginning a paradise of delights, in which the man he had formed was placed.

And the Lord God had produced from the earth all kinds of beautiful trees in sight, and sweet fruits to eat: and the tree OF LIFE in the middle of paradise and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. (Gn, 2,8,9).

Paradise is the world still a virgin from sin.

At the center of this world, God created THE TREE OF LIFE; he also created the SCIENCE tree of good and evil.

These two trees did not produce fruits of special virtues, but they were so named by Moses, perhaps because the fruit of the first tree was ADVISED by God, as a nutritive element; and the second as an object of PROHIBITION, to experience his fidelity to the Creator.

Such is the opinion of Sto. Augustine (De Gem ad litt. 1. VI, e. VD.)

We can see, however, in this TREE OF LIFE the allegory to the Catholic Church, whose doctrine is the life of souls, as we can see, in the TREE FORBIDDEN the image of sin.

The tree of life is the Church, the Pope, the head of the Church, who is placed in the middle of the world to guide him, to direct him, like a lighthouse by the ocean, serves to guide the march of the navigators.

We will study here the constituent parts of this TREE OF LIFE.

1. The trunk, which is Peter

A tree can be considered an immutable, unchanging part: it is the tree as such. The dimensions matter little: the height, width, and firmness of its roots: they are mere accidents. A tree does not depend on these accidents, but on its intimate constitution, which makes an orange tree an orange tree and not a mango tree. It is a tree: it can grow, extend, become a colossus ... it will always be the tree, or orange tree, or mango tree or whatever.

But, if the tree remains what it is, it grows and grows, because having life, it is characteristic of life to develop.

In this way, we have the immutability of its trunk and, as such, its active sap, its development, the harmony between its various parts and the fruits it must produce.

The danger of human institutions is mobility.

Man can always undo what he has done.

Only the works of God are eternal and immutable.

The holy man Job was right when he said that even the saints themselves are not immutable.

Ecee inter sanctos ejus, nemo immutabilis.

(Job, 15.15) but God does not change (Ml, 1.6) and his works are eternal.

That is why the throne of Peter, being, as we have shown above, a divine work, and a work that has the promises of immutability, this work dominates the world, and will always dominate it, despite the joint efforts of hell, the world and the flesh .

Men pass ... the centuries follow ... impiety pushes impiety ... empires collapse and bury one another; and above the vicissitudes of the world, Peter's eternal throne is always firm and smiling ... the popes' dynasty ... the column and the firmament of Truth. (1Tm.3,15), which is the Papacy.

If Jesus Christ had left the Apostles to the task of giving a Constitution to his Church, he could also leave the care to modify this Constitution to adapt it to the situation, the times and the needs.

But no, nothing like that. he did everything himself, without the intervention of men, He acted as Sovereign God.

The same power that launched stars into space, numerous as the sands of maritime beaches, called Peter and the apostles.

The same omnipotence that gave stars and planets their greatness, their laws and harmonious attractions, which must direct them, also gave the Pope, the bishops and the priests, different but divine powers, which they cannot modify, nor to destroy.

Papacy, episcopacy, priesthood, gospel and sacraments - all this is outside of man, it is above man, solemnly imposed by him who did not tell the apostles build the Church, but who said to one of them; You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church.

It is he, the Christ, who will build the Church,

And this Church is His Church, his alone,

And this Igreja D'ELE, built by HIM, is built ABOUT PETER.

Peter is like the visible external sign, so if anyone doubts or hesitates where the Church of Christ is, just look at where Peter is, and there will be the true and only Church of Christ.

Ubi Petrus, ibi Ecclesia, a sign available to all, visible to all. It is a divine sign.

Et hoc vobis signum. (Lc2,12).

The constitution of the Church is therefore immutable, because it is the direct, personal and indefectible work of Jesus Christ himself.

It is for yet another reason, in another way even more wonderful, - and I would like to note this fact, - because it is sometimes forgotten and this forgetfulness has disastrous consequences.

The divine powers, which Jesus Christ gave to the Pope, the bishops and the priests, He imprints them in their souls, so that no one can take them away.

He established a SACRAMENT, the effect of which is to imprint a divine character on the soul of his ministers: an indelible, eternal character, which, once printed, cannot be erased by anyone.

The most humble of priests, since he received the laying on of hands, is a priest for eternity.

Neither the Pope nor the bishops, even when meeting in an ecumenical council, can prevent a priest from becoming a priest.

If they no longer had confidence in him, they could then take away the exercise of power, remove him from the field of action, but there would always remain powers that attest to his eternal dignity, in particular the greatest of all: the power to consecrate the Body and the Blood of Christ, a power that can never be invalidated because God Himself is the direct object of this power.

The same must be said of the bishop. The Pope can withdraw his diocese, but he cannot withdraw his character.

And reaching the supreme authority of the Church, the Pope, we can continue the same reasoning.

The Pope, once legitimately elected, is Pope for eternity and there is no power, human or divine, that can take away his sacred and divine character from his authority.

All the bishops of the whole world can, meet in council and can do nothing against the Pope ...

If the Pope does not join them, their meeting cannot be ecumenical or enjoy infallibility. Authority lies with the Pope; only in the Pope, and in the council when the Pope presides over him or has someone preside over him.

The priesthood is unique: the priesthood of Christ, like the Sacrament, and this priesthood is in the priest, the bishop and the Pope, however, not with the same fullness.

The priesthood has its fullness in the bishop, as an ORDER; and has its fullness as AUTHORITY, in the Pope.

The Pope is like the STEM of the great and leafy tree of the Church.

He is the representative of Christ on earth, he is the head of the Church, but he is not simply a leader who dominates by his dignity and his power; he is a chief who has his throne in the soul of every Catholic.

Looking at the virgin forests, you can see over the lush vegetation secular trees that dominate the whole and seem to want to sit their green canopy on top of the other trees that surround it.

Examining the colossus from below, we see that it has its roots, beneath the other trees; that its strong and powerful trunk leaves the bowels of the earth, thus uniting strength with greatness, solidity with grandeur.

So it is with the papacy.

The Pope dominates the world by divine authority, which he represents and exercises over others, but this authority is rooted in the soul of the Christian ... It is an authority that comes, at the same time from heaven, but roots its roots in souls, so that if this authority is divine by the institution, it is human by the respect, by the veneration, with which it receives and sustains men.

It is another face of the splendor of Peter's throne, and it is no less interesting, though less well-known face.

Let us try to penetrate these new chasms where we will see the divine majesty and the majesty of the Pope's throne shine with equal radiance.

II. The branches, in the hierarchy

But here's another wonder.

Every tree trunk is surrounded by branches.

Branches and branches, while not constituting the tree, are an integral part of it.

In the Church, the trunk is Peter.

But Peter cannot be alone.

DUTY is correlative to RIGHT, and subjects are correlative to superiors, hierarchy is correlative to divine works.

God does not act for himself, but He acts for secondary causes. He is the first cause, and as the first cause he sets in motion the second causes.

The Pope must not be isolated.

He is the first authority ... there must be subordinate authorities ...

And the group of these authorities, below the Pope, but united to the Pope, is called the ecclesiastical hierarchy.

The harmony of this hierarchy is one of the most shining proofs of the Church's divinity.

God communicates divine powers to his ministers, which we studied in the preceding chapter.

But, it not only communicates these powers to them, but IMPRESSES them in the soul, through an indelible character.

And not only does the character of this power impress on their souls, but up to the limits of this power; thus placing, with a firm and divinely foresighted hand on the good and functioning of the hierarchy, by which one member is subject to another, and cannot interfere in the functions of the other, without usurping them and this without the possibility of confusion , encounter, shock or rivalry.

The priest, through his ORDINATION, receives the power to baptize, to absolve, to consecrate, but he does not receive the power to ordain, to make new priests.

Not having this power due to its sacred character, no one can give it, neither the Pope nor the bishops.

For this reason, he is obliged to bow to the bishop, who, having higher powers than the priest, is his superior by divine right.

The same is true of the bishop.

In his SACRATION, he receives magnificent powers, the power to confirm, to order to create priests; but there is a power that he does not receive, which is to teach INFALLIVELY.

All assembled bishops have no more than an isolated bishop. In view of this inferiority they are obliged to bow to the Pope, who is the only one who has universal and infallible authority.

There is nothing similar in human societies.

None of this exists in religious sects founded by men, where dignities are simply external.

The power that men give is a dignity that affects only the body and does not penetrate even the soul.

The consequences of this fact are palpable and of all times.

The slightest revolutionary breath brings down kings, presidents, governments, societies and religious sects, while the most violent storms can do nothing against the sacred character imprinted on the forehead of the priest, the bishop and the Pope.

Persecuted, expelled, imprisoned, the priest is always a priest, the bishop is always a bishop, the Pope is always a Pope.

The people obey them when they are incarcerated, as when they are sitting on their throne, because the hierarchy remains unchanged.

From this complete immutability from the sacred character, HARMONY results in respect, and veneration in love.

The priest venerates the bishop, on whose forehead the fullness of the priesthood shines.

The bishop venerates the Pope, on whose head infallibility and sovereign authority shine.

In turn, the Pope venerates the bishop, his equal in powers of order, and both worship the priest, who is not inferior to either of them, in what is most sublime in them: the power to consecrate the body and blood of Jesus Christ, at the feet of whom both kneel to confess their weaknesses and attain forgiveness.

In this way, respect, love, veneration, obedience, like the angels in Jacob's vision, ascend and descend along this divine ladder, which is the Catholic hierarchy.

***

As we study the immutability of Peter's throne, in the admirable hierarchy that forms its pedestal and its halo, we discover, at each step, new wonders.

Harmony is characteristic of divine works as disorder is characteristic of error and vice.

Job wanting to give an idea of ​​hell, tells us that it is the place where there are shadows of death, where there is no order, and where there is an eternal horror, (Job, 10:22), and speaking of heaven, he says it is the supreme harmony (Job, 38.37).

The Church of Jesus Christ is also the supreme HARMONY: harmony in the ORDINATION, harmony in the POWERS granted, harmony still in the conferred MISSION.

It is not enough to have the power, it is necessary to be sent to exercise this power.

ORDERING gives power.

MISSION determines the exercise of this power. It is not enough to be a priest, to be a bishop; you must be sent, receive a mission, or a warrant.

Jesus Christ said to Peter and the apostles: Just as my Father sent me, I send you. (Jo20,21).

Peter's successor, the Pope, tells the successor bishops of the apostles: just as Christ sent me, I send you.

The bishop, for his part, tells the priests, his assistants: just as the Pope sent me, I am sending you.

Admirable hierarchy of powers and ineffable transmission of MISSIONS, which proves the fruitful life of the Church, and appears to us as a guiding thread, visible to the eyes, through the splendours of the union of the divine Church.

There is a mission, a warrant.

This DUTY is linked to the DUTY to watch over, judge and transfer the people sent, according to the needs of the moment, and even the RIGHT to reprimand them.

This duty and this right by the superiors over the inferiors gives the Catholic hierarchy the movement, the flexibility that the world admires, but does not know how to understand.

The priest, at the bottom of his presbytery, who would faint or become unworthy of his sublime ministry, would soon be banned by his bishop; in a similar case the bishop would be for the Pope; and this thought is a true preservative, which sustains it, keeps it from evil, to preserve it in the halo of its greatness.

III - The soul of the Church

The soul is the principle of life.

Everything that lives has a soul, Plants have a vegetative soul: they grow.

Animals have a sensitive soul: they feel.

Men have a rational soul: they reason.

The Church has a divine soul: it divinizes.

What we have just seen constitutes the body of the Church and its physical and material structure.

The trunk and branches of a tree would be worthless if they were not fertilized by the sap that quickens them.

The Church therefore has a soul.

And what is this soul?

Let us remember the magnificent scene of the creation of Adam.

After having taken a little clay in his venerable hands, after having kneaded it and formed the body of man, suddenly God takes a breath of love out of his own heart, and, behold, the clay statue for Him formed it cheers up, opens its eyes, the heart beats ... and humanity begins.

It is the imperfect image of what happened in the cradle of the Church.

It is created in divine joints, its great arteries are formed; but where is the breath that will set this body in motion?

Jesus Christ promised it before giving it, when he said: I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot understand them now; but when the Spirit of truth comes, he will teach you the whole truth. (Jo16,12,13).

I said these things to you, staying with you; but the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I have told you. (Jo15,25-26).

All of this is still in the future. It's a promise; but let us wait for the Resurrection, and Jesus, acting as head of the rescued humanity, will shine with all the majesty and authority of God: Peace be with you! As my Father sent me, so I send you.

Having said these words, he blew on them, and said to them: Receive the Holy Spirit! (Jo20,22).

At the beginning of the world, God breathed on Adam's forehead and created a living soul in him. (Gn11,7).

Here Jesus Christ blows on the forehead of his Church - et insulflavit in eos - and makes it a living society - Accipe Spiritum Sanctum - and this is why, immediately afterwards, with an omnipotent word, He throws it into space, as launched by Adam in the space in the world, saying:

Muntes ergo . - Go, therefore, teach all people, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

It is one of the first manifestations of the soul that must enliven the Church. It is not yet the solemn endowment. The latter will take place on the occasion of Pentecost.

It is another divine scene ... ten days after the Ascension, the apostles with St. Peter, withdrawing to solitude, according to Jesus' prescription, to prepare for the office of head of the Church, suddenly, in the morning, behold, a noise, like an impetuous wind, filled the whole house where they were sitting and they appeared highlighted, like tongues of fire, that were placed on each one of them.

Soon they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. (At2,1-4).

Then, Peter, presenting himself with the eleven, raised his voice ... (Ac11,14). And those who received his word were ... about three thousand people. (Ibd.41).

Under the breath of God, Adam stood up, began to sing, ecstatic.

The Church also rises under the breath of the Holy Spirit, who descended on her, begins to speak, to act and to convert the world; and in this fruitful action the life-giving influx of the Holy Spirit is felt everywhere.

The Church's body is beautiful, harmonious, what is even more harmonious and more beautiful is her soul: it is the Holy Spirit who animates her.

The enemies of the Church are singularly deluded in this regard. What can they do against the Church?

To imprison a Pope?

Exile bishops?

Murder priests?

Demolish some churches?

But all this is small, it is stingy, it is low!

What would be needed is to destroy the Church's soul, to strangle it.

But how to do that, when you can't even touch a child's soul!

Oh! stalkers! Oh! powerful! God can give you the body; however, there is one thing you will never handle: it is the soul!

The soul is impregnable, incomprehensible, irreducible. It defies all the forces of the universe.

Search for it on the lips, and it withdraws.

Seek it in the eyes, and it extinguishes its flame.

She wants to shut up; how to make her talk?

She wants to speak; how to make her shut up?

It is a word, it is a gesture, a look, a breath.

It is less than that.

I opened my eyes, held out my hand. What do you hold?

Nothing. The soul spoke!

And if you can do nothing against a child's soul, what can you do against the divine soul of the Church?

For 19 centuries, wickedness, vice and madness have sought to tear the soul out of the Church.

What have they achieved?

They fell; and on her tomb the Church, always triumphant, sings her “De profundis!”. She is always alive and always glorious even in the blood of her children ... triumphant even, at the fires and under the sword of her pursuers.

The soul of the Church is not attached, because this soul is the Holy Spirit: it is God.

It is said of Caesar that in the middle of a tremendous storm, seeing the pilot tremble, to the point of despondency, he shouted indignantly: What do you fear? Carry Cesar!

It was a sublime, though proud, word. The Christian can say better, in the face of the storm of hatred, slander, blood and mud that overwhelms the Church, he cries out: What do you fear? You carry the Christ!

Having arrived here, we can now perfect our first definition and say that the Church is the society of souls in the faith and love of God, under the invisible direction of Jesus Christ and the visible government of the Pope, his representative.

IV. Tree life

We know the body, and we also know the soul. The union of these two constitutive elements results in LIFE.

The life of the Church. What life will this be?

Life is all the more noble and higher the more noble is the soul that animates the body.

And the soul of the Church, we have just seen it, is the Holy Spirit ... WHAT DIVINE LIFE must, therefore, link in the veins of this admirable body that is the Church! Divine life that comes out of the Pope, as from the heart, passes through the bishops who are the great Arteries of this body, branches out through the priests who constitute the small circulation and which communicates blood to all parts of the body.

Let us study this life for a moment. It is a new world of wonders unfolding before us.

What is life?

It is essentially a development.

It supposes two things: an invariable part without which the being would disappear and a variable part without which the being would be petrified.

There are two extremes.

If nothing remained, the being would cease to exist; if nothing changed, there would be no life.

Darwin strove to make continual change the law of the world. It is a mistake. For one thing to change, something else needs to stay.

How many things are there that never change: the elements, the structure of plants, the march of stars, man, etc.

In general, what is constitutive does not change, as it is the Master's stamp and nobody can touch it.

After 5 or 10,000 years, man is always man. Egypt's mummies are no different from today's embalmed ones.

But if there is an INVARABLE part, there is also a VARIABLE part, and it is this part that constitutes development, progress, life.

VARIABILITY affects all living beings.

Now, if the Church of Jesus Christ lives, there must be, alongside the invariable part, a continuous and progressive development, which is the sign of life.

Theologians point out that the works of God fall into two categories: The first, which God does in his adorable Trinity, and which are called ad intra; the latter, those which God produces in the outside world, and which they call ad extra.

The works ad intra, being of God and for God, are immutable, invariant.

Forever the Father loves the Son.

Forever the Son loves the Father.

Eternally, from this mutual love proceeds from the Holy Spirit.

But how many works God has done for men! And these works change, they vary, because man changes.

We find the same phenomenon in the Church.

The Church is a WORK OF GOD and as such it is immutable.

But it is MADE FOR MEN and as such it must change, it must progress, it must follow man, and man progresses.

In all of God's works, we find these two characters. Proceeding from God they are immutable; made for man, they develop.

And the Church, God's masterpiece, cannot escape these general rules.

The Church is immutable, not like the pyramids of Egypt, but like a tree, or like one of these immense mountain cedars, whose feet are firmly rooted, facing storms and while it remains firm, unbreakable, the sap circulates, the branches grow, the leaves open and the flowers blossom.

If one branch dries, another replaces it, and in this exuberance of life it extends around it its great shadow that serves as a rest for the travelers.

Here is the image with which Jesus Christ represents his Church, in its double constitutive element: IMMUTABILITY and PROGRESS.

It is the parable of the mustard seed: Minimum quidem omnibus seminibus, et fit arbor. (Mt, 13.32).

***

Such are the fundamental laws of the Church.

Let us now see, for a moment, the facts corroborating these laws.

Against these two laws, immutability and progress, two enemies arose, seeking to find the two principles stated lacking.

The first intended to MARCH the Church along with them, with the century, fashions, uses and abuses.

But it is impossible. The Church is immutable in her being, immutable in her light, immutable in her love.

Others sought to PETRIFY the Church, nail it to the ground, condemn it to a mummy inertia.

But, again, it is impossible. The Church has the progress of being, the progress of light, the progress of love.

It is therefore these two characters, magnificently united, that she confuses her enemies and her children ecstasy, proving to both that she truly has life in her - In ipso vita erat, (Jo1,4).

And how could the Church not be immutable?

It is THE TRUTH, and the truth does not change.

It has the DIVINE WORD, and that word does not change.

For whom was the Church founded?

For souls. Now, all souls are created in the image of God.

And by whom was it founded?

Through Jesus Christ. Now the Christ is God and does not change.

And as beautiful as this immutability, this granite immobility, there is something even more beautiful in this Church: it is its progress, its successive and continuous development.

This progress is the miracle of miracles,

What was this Church when it left the Upper Room?

A small germ, from the point of view of your being, your doctrine and your love.

A tiny germ entrusted to weak men, and this triple germ has become the religion of humanity and of the whole world.

We don't need any other proof: Such a religion is divine.

The Church has a body, a soul and a life that develops, that expands, while the body and soul are immutable and solid like the rock in the middle of the furious waves of the sea.

The life of the Church is the life of a tree, whose roots plunge and fix themselves in the bowels of divinity, while its trunk grows, its branches extend and bend under the weight of the flowers and fruits that it continually offers to humanity.

V. Continuous growth

The Catholic Church, having a life of its own, must extend, it must grow, it must continually expand.

There are only two slopes in life: an amount, from the bottom up; another descendant, from top to bottom.

The first rises from the cradle to the heights, from full life.

The second descends from full life to the grave.

The first is progress: the second is decay.

Every living being is strictly subject to one or the other of these laws, which made physiologists say: "Either grow or decay!", "Or rise or fall."

A society that no longer grows, either in number or in value, or in firmness, is a society eaten by the worm of decay.

Now, the Church cannot know decay. Christ said: the gates of hell will never prevail against it.

It must therefore grow.

This phenomenon is visible: There are countries that, losing their faith, disconnect from Peter's rock ... it is true; but look from the other side, and you will see other nations that are civilized, that are converted and enter the Catholic Church.

The Church may lose on one side, but it wins on the other; in a tree there are dead branches that the storm pulls out, but beside those that disappear, the dew kisses the leaves, the shoots that the summer heat makes to sprout.

The tree remains ... the trunk does not change ... but under its wrapping the living sap boils, which develops the tree and makes it produce new fruits every year.

Father Lacordaire, in one of his lectures, represents the world in the figure of a traveler, knocking on the Vatican's door.

FAITH; under the figure of the Pope, he shows himself at the entrance and asks the world:

- What do you want from me?

- Change, responds the world.

- I don't change.

- But everything changed and contained to change in this world.

Why are you always the same?

Because I'm from God and God doesn't change.

This word will always be the last word of the Catholic Church; it does not change.

It does not change, but, as we have seen, it is not a granitic immutability, it is the immutability of the tree that grows, blossoms and bears fruit but always remains the same tree.

Simile est regnum colorum grano si (Mt11,31).

When Jesus Christ planted the seed of his Church in the hearts of his apostles, what was it?

What were they?

A mustard seed, planted on ungrateful ground.

But this little grain comes out of the earth, which must have smothered it; this little grain grows, develops despite the fires of Nero and the rivers of blood of Domitian, which seek to kill him.

Here is the stem that appears ... it always grows ... it produces flowers, it produces fruit ...

invades the world.

They try to uproot it ... it resists,

They try to cut it ... it doesn't die,

They try to drown her in the blood ... she gets more beautiful.

All of this is divine ... it is the finger of God!

Digitus Dei est hic.

The most curious spectacle imaginable is to see the apostles leave the upper room dividing the universe between them, and going with the cross in one hand, holding the wand of a traveler in the other, preaching the Gospel to the whole world that they received from Jesus Christ; and let us note it well: what a Gospel!

They preach a Gospel that accuses falsehood, abomination, imposture and scam everything that the pagan world believed in and considered religious acts.

The apostles, without fear, without hesitation, without distinction, rise up against all abuses, demand the destruction of the temples erected in honor of the deities, trample idols on their feet and make a man God, ignominiously dead on the scaffold of the cross, worship. .

***

To one of these audacious reformers, one of the sages of the Areopagus of Athens, who had come to listen to him out of curiosity, I said, perhaps, admired by such zeal and such conviction:

This Master, of whom you speak with so much admiration, has, without a doubt, been transmitted the right means of success?

- No, says the apostle. He simply said to us: Go, teach all nations, we obey Him.

Undoubtedly, do you calculate attracting the people by the bait of pleasure, honors, riches?

Not! in promising life we ​​do not promise anything other than humiliation, suffering, poverty. And such is the only thing we hope for.

- But, at least, did your Master prepare the hearts of kings and peoples to welcome you?

- Not! He told us that we would be hated, persecuted, strangled and our bodies already bear the bloody stigmas of the blows that we have received.

- He gave you, without a doubt, gold, to attract the eager crowd, and to make those who abandon everything to follow you live in opulence?

Not! None of this: he forbade us to take gold, provisions, even two tunics, and demanded that we live poor and detached leaving even our homes, our fields, our parents and our brothers!

- But, at least, did He give you weapons to defend you, ward off enemies and punish those who attack you?

- Not! Nothing of all this: He sent us like sheep among the wolves, saying, that we present the face to those who wanted to beat us, that we pray for our enemies, do good to all.

- Your Master must have had unlimited confidence in your knowledge, in your talents, in your eloquence!

- No, no! He chose us, because we were the most foolish, the weakest, the most despicable and he recommended that we avoid all intrigue and duplicity.

The sage Areopagita, already astonished, opened his eyes wide ... he examined this man, and, in a gesture of contempt, of supreme contempt, exclaimed:

But then you are crazy!

And the apostle, blessing the one who was humanly right, withdrew happily because he had the opportunity to suffer a little ignominy for Jesus Christ.

And behold, little by little, the powerful of the century humble themselves, rationalist philosophers abjure their science, and abandon their reasoning, the proud jousters become poor ... the world becomes Christian, and the Church it extends in all nations, penetrates deserts, empires, sits on thrones as it sits under the hut of the poor ... renews the world ... makes a new world ... leans smiling over the cradle where man is born, and let his tears fall on the closing tombs.

In fact: It's incredible!

Incredible? ... Yes ... But it is so ... Soon, it is DIVINE!

***

Today the Church is the world's first force.

She won three things that no man can win!

She won over time, space, man himself.

She won the time. Who can doubt that?

I went through the immense, uninterrupted list of popes, from S. Peter to Pius XII, currently reigning. (Reviewer's note: This book was written in 1940. Eighty years ago!)

It is the centuries that follow ... but popes follow one another.

Reread the list of the first 100 popes that was published in chapter IV of this book.

There are 8 centuries represented there.

Then read the continuation of this list, at the end of this study, and you will see that the Church, which is the papacy, has truly won TIME.

And space?

It is another victory.

Nations have their well-defined borders: frontier of races, frontier of nations ... The Catholic Church knows neither nationalities nor races: she is UNIVERSAL ... Catholic.

1900 years ago they were gathered in a poor room in Jerusalem - it was his Bethlehem, 12 humble fishermen; there was a woman and a representative of Christ there: the first Pope, St. Peter.

Peter and Maria Ssma. they were kneeling with the eleven.

They left this Upper Room, twelve left from Jerusalem.

The Roman Empire massacred some on the way, threw others into prisons and dragged them over the bloody scaffolds.

Years passed, the apostles returned, gathered around their chief,

Peter: there were only a thousand people.

After 10 centuries, they were the Episcopate of the Catholic world, representing all nations, all races and all borders, and on the tomb of Peter they sing the triumph of the Catholic Church that has conquered space and today constitutes the universal Church.

In this way, the Church is a POWER that overcame TIME and SPACE, overcame what is most difficult to overcome, MAN himself.

She, the immortal Church, took man, in all its forms, civilizations and intellectual development, took him as he is, with his aversions, his grudges, his hatreds and his stubbornness, and transformed him into another man.

The pagan man became a Christian.

The barbarian received baptism.

Nomads settled in societies.

At the present time more than two hundred million men surround Peter, to form this great and harmonious unit that is the Catholic Church.

Man was defeated and civilized, the family was defeated and reformed, society was defeated and remodeled in the light and love of the doctrine of Jesus Christ.

It is a perpetual miracle and visible to everyone.

Conclusion

It almost seems that we have moved away from the subject: the Pope; but not. The Church and the Pope form one element.

The Church without the Pope is no longer a Church, it is a simple gathering of men, without an ideal, without movement, without a head.

The Pope, without the Church, cannot exist, just as a son without a father does not exist.

To be a FATHER it is necessary to have a child; and the son supposes the father; they are two complementary terms, they are the cause and the effect of the same phenomenon.

It is worth highlighting this great truth: the Church's immutability rests on the Pope. Christ is the DIVINE VERB made MAN.

The POPE is the immutability of the Church, made MAN.

It is his perpetual incarnation: the incarnation of divine immutability in Peter and his successors.

All other Churches may collapse; one is immutable: it is the Church of Peter.

All apostolic successions may have their hour of collapse, even interruption; one will never break.

A Pope will always succeed another Pope, and the divine deposit will always descend, intact, unchanging, exempt from any change, from one Pope to another, until the end of time.

In this way, there will always be an invariable STANDARD in the Church, on which each particular Church will be able to confront, and measure its Faith, to see if it has been faithful to the divine doctrine.

Each particular Church, having to be apostolic, that is, having to go back, by an uninterrupted succession, by its pastors, to the apostles, will have a point of view, unchanging, authentic, where it will be able to guide and redo its apostolic succession, if the time had obscured or destroyed it.

Examine the succession of the Roman Pontiffs.

I descended from S. Peter (1st century) to S. Clemente, (2nd century) to S. Victor, (3rd century) S. Marcello, (4th century) S. Anastacio, (5th century) S. Symaco, (6th century ) S. Gregorio I, (7th century) S. Sergio I, (8th century) until reaching the 20th century that opens with Leo XIII, Pius X, Benedict XV, Pius XI, Pius XI.

Go back after Pius XII ... through the 19 centuries, and you will find in this luminous scale an uninterrupted succession of Pius XII S. Peter.

It is like the backbone of the Church, which connects to the ribs, the nerves, around which all vital fluids circulate.

What an admirable simplicity to recognize over the centuries!

How easy it is for churches to see where they are safe!

But what audacity on the part of him who did such a marvel!

To break a man's backbone, a blow is enough; it is certain death.

The enemies of the Church know this perfectly well, and that is why they throw themselves at the papacy to slaughter it, diminish it, make it bend.

But it is wasted time.

Lafontaine's fable is reproduced continuously, or better, it continues through the centuries.

A snake found a file and started to bite it.

His teeth were spoiled, his tongue was worn out and when, no longer able to bite or rub his tongue, he thought he had finished with lime ... it was his own teeth and his own tongue that had disappeared.

Communists, divorcers, anti-clerics, spiritualists, Protestants, atheists, schismatics, know too well that the Pope embodies hierarchical, doctrinal and sacramental immutability.

This has been going on for 19 centuries.

It will always last, because evil will always exist in this world: it is the consequence of the freedom that God gave to man.

He's a man against everyone ... and they could never beat him!

However, it is a mortal; he dies, but is replaced.

The man dies, PETER IS IMMORTAL.

Violence, cunning, and betrayal can do nothing against Peter's throne.

Today, after 1900 years, in Pius XII we sanded the 262nd ring of the Church's backbone, always threatened and never broken, always immutable and always alive and enlivening.

It is the Church and the Pope.

The Church of Christ.

The Pope of the Church.

And both are from God, because one cannot exist without the other.

You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my Church, said the Master.

Peter, being the foundation of the Church, is not distinct from the Church, because one cannot separate the building and the foundations in a construction, as they form one and the same building.

This is why it was convenient to study the Church building: its body, its soul, its immutability, its incomparable fruitfulness.

This fertility, this development, is the strongest argument for educated spirits, as it has been the cause for the conversion of Protestants and intellectuals.

Newman, the great cardinal Newman, was a Protestant before his conversion.

He was an intelligent, insightful, sincere man.

As a Protestant, he wrote a book that was the cause of his conversion.

He began to study Catholic dogma, he noticed that in this dogma there is a continuous movement.

He immediately drew this conclusion: what is moving is CORRUPTING, or is DEVELOPING.

Everything changes in this world; but some things change because they become corrupted, others change because they develop.

Newman then studied the laws that govern this development; he tried to apply them to religious truths, where a change presides over everything that, without altering the nature of those truths, communicates a new face to them.

He came to be convinced and to see, with clarity and evidence, that Catholic dogma did not immediately reach its perfection, but God was putting the principles down, leaving to men, their faith and their heart, the care to deduce the conclusions of these principles.

It was a spark for your intelligence and your heart. He left everything: position, future, fortune, to enter the Catholic Church, the only Church where this development existed without harming its immutability.

It is one of the beauties of Catholicism; it is also the halo of its august chief, the Pope.

It is immutable ... but it develops, in growth, in perfection, under the impulse of divine life that runs through your veins ... and that is necessarily fruitful: it is the tree of life.

CHAPTER VIII

The Trustee

What we have already seen of the Church's hierarchical constitution is truly sublime, and it would be enough for a sincere man to discover the finger of God in this hierarchy and to find in it the proof of his divinity.

Compare the readers, in fact, this organization to any human institution, and you will soon see the immense distance that separates them. They will find in the human work the brilliance of the thought perhaps of a genius, but in the Church they will find THE GLOW of divine power.

But that is not all: let's go ahead and show the greatest pessimists what they ignore, and what will reveal to them a Church they do not know, the true Church of Christ: its functions over souls.

God created souls for eternal happiness ... but for them to reach HAPPINESS they need the TRUTH.

The truth is the happiness of intelligence as the love and happiness of the heart.

It is a double happiness in its OBJECT, but one in its SUBJECT; for intelligence and love are the two faculties of our soul.

To have the truth, two conditions were necessary:

1. that the Church possessed the truth with absolute certainty.

2. that I could not change this truth.

These are the two conditions that we are going to address here.

1) God CREATING the truth and entrusting it to his Church: it is divine inspiration.

2) God ASSISTING his Church to infallibly preserve this truth: it is the Pope's infallibility.

Two divinely beautiful and humanly tender truths.

I. The source of truth

Protestants say that everyone has the truth and must interpret it with special assistance from the Holy Spirit.

It is a ridiculous assertion for anyone who reflects.

But then, what is the Church for? what for the temples? what are the houses of worship for? for what pastors?

Since everyone has the truth and can explain it for themselves, everything falls, and the Church has no more reason to be: it is useless.

However, Christ founded a Church.

It is indisputable.

He says it in several places:

I will build my Church. (Mt16,18).

He who does not hear the Church is a pagan. (Mt17,17).

If you don't listen, tell the Church (Ibd).

The Church is submissive to Christ. (Ef5,24).

Will you despise the Church of God? (1Co11,29). -;

Because I persecuted the Church of God. (Gl1,13).

The Church prayed without ceasing. (At12.5).

These and many other texts prove that Jesus Christ instituted a Church; and founded this Church as a DIVINE HUMAN society.

It is another indisputable truth.

Divine, because its founder is God, because it teaches a divine doctrine, and is linked to the divine society of angels and saints by the Communion of Saints.

Human, because it is in this world, it is composed of men and, as such, must be directed, by men.

We have already exposed, in detail, the HIERARCHY of the Church.

The supreme authority, who holds the keys to the kingdom of heaven in his hands, (Mt 16, 19) is Peter.

The first is Simon, whose name is Peter, says the Gospel. (Mt10.2).

Then and under the general authority of Peter comes the bishops: The Holy Spirit has placed the bishops to govern the Church, say the Acts. (20.28)

And these bishops are truly the SUCCESSORS OF THE APOSTLES, since the Acts already give this name to the successor of Judas, the traitor: Let another one receive his episcopate. Episcopatum ejus accipiat alter. (At 1.20).

And the apostle writes: If anyone wants the episcopate, he wants a good work. (1Tm3,1).

How to desire what does not exist?

And the apostle continues to list the qualities that a Bishop must have; he must be blameless, sober, prudent, honest, humble, meek, etc. (1Tm3,2-7).

St. Peter sums up this authority by saying: You were like lost sheep, but now you have become the shepherd and Bishop of your souls. (1Pd, 2.25).

Then comes the priesthood: the Fathers, who are like the bond that unites the authority of the Pope of bishops to the people. Go, the Savior said to them, behold, I send you as lambs among wolves. (Lc10,3s).

Here, then, is the Church, a divine society of souls, but established among men, composed of men, governed by men.

The Pope, UNIVERSAL CHIEF of the Church.

The Dispo, DIOCESAN CHIEF of the Church under the authority of the Pope.

The priest, local head of the Church, under the authority of the bishop and the Pope.

All of this is divinely beautiful, harmonious and clear.

And this is the Church, so hierarchically organized that Jesus Christ entrusts his divine doctrine, and that makes DEPOSITARY of eternal truth.

God would have been able to entrust the truth to each individual; yes, he could, because he is omnipotent, but he should not, because it would be contrary to all the laws established by Him in this world.

It would be to give SPIRITUAL LIFE, to those who do not even have material life in themselves.

But that would be foolish!

Man has no life in him: neither material life nor spiritual life; everything comes from outside ... absolutely everything.

What is your life? asks S. Tiago and he answers right away: it is a vapor that appears for a moment, and then disappears. (Jac.IV, 15).

And this little vapor, which is man, without consistency, would want to have divine life in his own intelligence, when he doesn't even have human life.

Once again: it is foolish!

It is a boundless pride!

No, no, it is impossible, such is not the DIVINE PLAN!

There must be a FOCUS OF LIGHT for the intelligence of man as there is for his earthly life a FOCUS OF SUPPORT.

Look at the physical world and observe what is happening there.

The child, just born, releases a noise; his insides are moved: he is hungry.

Now, what is hunger, if not proof without reply, that it does not have the sustenance of life in it?

And where is this sustenance?

Out of it: in the mother's breast, which leans over her cradle, taking her life in the milk heated by love, from a heart fertilized by motherhood.

This is the plane of the physical world.

This is also the plan of the spirit world.

We are born with the CAPACITY to know the truth, as the child is born with the capacity to receive the sustenance of life.

But it is pure capacity.

And where will this ability find what it lacks?

In itself?

Never, because in this case you would already have what you want in yourself ... and nobody wants what you already have.

It's out of your mind.

It is in the Church ... of God ... There is life, the source, the sustenance of divine life.

And the grace of God, eternal life, in Christ, says the apostle. (Rm 6,23).

For the grace of Jesus to be revealed to us (2Co4,10), it is necessary to receive the divine truth from the Church, which God has placed in her.

It is the firmament of truth, (1Tm15), as the child receives the element that sustains mortal life from the mother's breast.

This is why the saints called the Church the Holy Mother Church!

She is a mother ... and they said it tenderly, with tears of love and tenderness in her eyes and heart.

Sancta Mater Ecclesia!

It is from the eternal and loving bosom of this Church that TRUTH flows, that distills the truth in the soul of the Christian.

He does not have this truth in him ... He must receive it within the Church! ...

Sancta Mater Ecclesia!

II. Divine inspiration

But let us go into the details of the admirable work that we are analyzing.

The Church of Christ is the depository of the truth.

And how is that?

Saint Paul, in a polite phrase, gives the answer, in the preamble of his Epistle to the Hebrews: God, he says, having spoken many times and in many ways to our parents through the prophets, lately, these days, he spoke to us through your son. (Hb1,1-2).

This is how the source of the truths entrusted to the Church is made.

It was not done suddenly or at once, it is by complete enlightenment, but successively, slowly, in many ways, and many times.

And this text, well interpreted, would suffice to bring down the Protestant claim of individual inspiration to each particular soul.

Total inspiration is not personal, but it is entrusted by public teaching, to certain men chosen, inspired, sent by God, to transmit his divine doctrine.

Divine inspiration may be INDIVIDUAL as long as it is done to a person, but it is UNIVERSAL, while this teaching must be transmitted to the whole of humanity. Now, if all men are inspired equally, to whom will they transmit the teachings received from above?

Inspiration is UNIVERSAL or it is PRIVATE ...

If it is universal, in this case only some can be favored by it, with the mission of transmitting the truth revealed to others, and in this case, the individual Protestant inspiration falls, disappears, has no reason or possibility to be.

If it is private, inspired people should keep it to themselves, not advertise it, not even communicate it to others, and pastors cannot preach their doctrines or interpret the Bible, because the Holy Spirit must speak to each one in private. , and again such Protestant inspiration collapses, being in complete contradiction with itself.

In both cases they are wrong: it is a dilemma with no way out.

How simpler, clearer and more logical Catholic truth is!

God communicates the truth to men, through INSPIRATION; in the beginning, by the prophets and after the coming of Jesus Christ, by the apostles, communicating this truth to them, and sending them to announce it to the world.

It is an uninterrupted current:

From Adam to Noah,

From Noah to Abraham,

From Abraham to David,

From David to Isaiah,

From Isaiah to Jeremiah,

From Jeremiah to Daniel,

From Daniel to Malachi,

From the prophets to the apostles,

S. Matheus, Marcos, Lucas, S. João, S. Paulo, etc., etc.

Each one comes in his own time, as for the time as to the truth and as to the terms to use.

Contain them, like Moses, the mysteries of the past, or contemplate them as S.

John, an unknown future, they narrate, like the evangelists, the facts present, it does not matter: it is the divine inspiration: in them everything is DIVINE as to the truth, and at the same time everything is HUMAN as to the way of saying.

Each writer keeps his genius, his character, his education, his memories, the external and internal conditions of his life. He feels that he is a man who speaks ... this man says: or divine things, or human things , but says them divinely.

It is the word of God that becomes flesh and dwells among us!

The divine word becomes a human word and reaches our ears, full of grace and truth.

It is you, Lord, who spoke through my mouth, I your Servant; exclaims Isaiah. (Is17,21)

The Spirit of the Eternal spoke for me, and his word was on my tongue, says David (2R21,2).

All Scripture was divinely inspired, continues St. Paul. (2Tm3,16).

It is under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that the saints of God spoke, completes S. Peter, (2Pd1,21).

And at the same time that God is creating by completing this SOURCE OF TRUTH, it brings it closer to humanity, puts it within reach, provides it to its strength, to its development, so that it is not too high for the little ones, nor too low for the big ones.

Each writer keeps his style, and under this style, the immensity of the divine Spirit is hidden, as under the various barks of the trees, the multiplicity of woods is hidden.

Here are the holy books. Here's how they were composed. Apparently it is a disorder; and in reality, it is an admirable order, a wonderful measure, progression, harmony, unity.

Such a great music master conducting a great orchestra, signals one, then the other, excites one and stops the other until the harmony piece is finished, so God has done throughout the centuries.

His gaze sees and travels the keyboard of forty centuries; he put his hand, not by chance, but now on one, now on another key, until he finished this incomparable piece of divine harmony, which are the inspired books.

God said everything, not what he knows, but everything he wants to say, and what man should know.

He won't speak anymore!

The inspiration is finished!

The harmony piece is complete.

The book is closed.

The source of the truth is sealed.

The Apocalypse, the book of the future closed the time of inspiration forever, which Moses opened .... through Genesis; that S. João closed in Patmos.

Men, approach this source ... read this sacred book ... that the Church presents to you ... but not the distorted, falsified, interpolated books that Protestantism spreads.

Listen to the divine authority of the Church, to whom this deposit has been entrusted.

Everything is there: the truths of the present time and the secrets of the future!

III. Tradition and Scripture

Having created the sacred deposit of his divine word, from the source of truth, God entrusted it to his Church.

That is why he established his Church.

The Church is essentially a depository.

The depository must exist before the deposit.

The Church began in earthly paradise, by the union of the first believers, who were Adam and Eve, and then on earth: Adam, Eve, Cain, Abel - then Set, Enos, Enoc, Lamec, etc. Adam being the supreme pontiff of the early Church.

The first deposit, made by God and entrusted to the supreme authority on earth, was still in paradise, orally, to be transmitted from father to son.

The first written deposit was made by God to Moses, 2,500 years after the creation of the world.

Moses was born 1,500 years before Jesus Christ, ranging from the creation of the world to Jesus Christ nearly 4,000 years ago.

The early Church therefore existed 2,500 before receiving the Scriptures, solely with the oral deposit of divine truth that we call TRADITION.

Hence, several conclusions to be drawn against the blindness of Protestants.

They say that the Bible is enough to know the truth, and they really recognize nothing outside the Bible.

But, in this case, the truth only began to exist 2,500 years after the creation of man!

So God created the world and man in a lie?

How do you recognize a DEPOSIT without first recognizing the depositary?

If the deposit exists, there must be a depositary.

The deposit exists. S. Paulo says it:

O Timothy, keep the deposit. (1Tm6.20)

The one who has the power to keep my deposit. (2Tm.12).

Keep the good deposit by the Holy Spirit. (2Tm1,14).

This is the deposit of truth.

And who was entrusted with this deposit?

It is Jesus Christ himself who answers Peter: I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. (Mt16,19)

This kingdom of heaven, for us, is the Church.

S. Peter has the keys to this kingdom.

Which means that it has THE GUARD of the deposit of truth, to enlighten and confirm others.

And you, Peter, continue Jesus Christ, once converted, confirm your brothers. (Lc21,32).

A second conclusion, a continuation of the first.

The apostle, in the aforementioned text, says God manifested the truth, MULTISQUE MODIS, in various forms, especially in two forms: ORAL FORM and WRITTEN FORM.

The oral form took revenge for 2,500 years, it continues today, because the truth does not change.

The written form started in 2,500, this 1,500 before Jesus Christ until the death of John, in 104 of our era.

In the beginning, when Scripture still existed, how was the truth communicated to Adam, Noah, the antediluvian patriarchs?

How was it given to Abraham and the righteous who preceded Moses?

Under ORAL FORM, by tradition: There was no other.

After the art of writing was invented, they used it. It is a less lively form, however, MORE STABLE.

So did the Prophets ... and later the apostles; however, they did not abandon TRADITION.

They wrote, but they didn't write everything; they would not have been able to write everything, especially the apostles.

Standing in front of Jesus Christ for three years; contemplating it, listening to it, enchanted by the doctrine, that the Master poured the flux on Galilee and Jerusalem, there was neither time nor leisure capable of containing such a wealth of doctrine.

Nor would the world fit the books that would have to be written, says St. John, if one wrote one by one all the things that Jesus did. (Jo21,25).

By ordering his apostles to spread the TRUTH, Jesus did not send them to write, nor to spread bibles, but to PREACH: euntes, docete omnes. (Mt 27,19).

And they always preached.

They wrote little, and only on occasion.

This is why they always recommend to keep the TRADITIONS received orally.

Remain constant, brothers, says the apostle, and keep the traditions you have learned, either by our WORDS or by our LETTER. (2Ts2,14).

Here is the double source of divine truth, clearly indicated by St. Paul: THE WORDS AND LETTERS, the tradition and the Scriptures.

And these two forms are so closely united that it can be said that there is no point in tradition that is not at least indicated by S. Scripture, as there is no dogma in Sacred Scripture, an article of faith that does not have its own roots steeped in tradition.

In one form or another one finds the same spirit, the same voice: THE DIVINE VOICE!

It was one of the most foolish and contradictory claims of Protestantism, wanting to reject tradition in order to preserve only Scripture.

In this case, as we have already said, it is to deny the very institution of the Church.

By right, the Church predates the Scriptures.

It was created first; the deposit of truth was sent later; and this deposit was first ORAL, and only after 25 centuries it was WRITTEN.

That's what Protestant Lessing recognizes. (opera., t. VII):

"The whole religion of Jesus Christ, he says, was already accepted and practiced, before a gospel was written."

When David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, spoke or wrote their psalms, their lamentations or prophecies, the Jewish Church (image of the Church of Christ) was there to collect them.

In the same way, the Catholic Church had existed for a long time, when the first Gospel appeared.

St. Paul had long preached to the Corinthian faithful in Athens, Ephesus and

Rome when the Gospel of his disciple Luke appeared, and he himself had not yet written.

The Church existed for nearly 70 years, when S. João closed the period of inspiration by APOCALYPSE.

There was preaching, baptism, communion, Holy Mass was celebrated, the bishops were consecrated, the priests were ordained, before there was a single Gospel, a single epistle any writing of the apostles.

Jesus Christ came, preached his Gospel, founded the Church, and this Church, composed of his apostles, after the disciples, received from Him ORALLY the deposit of divine truth.

So the Church is not founded on tradition, nor on the Scriptures, but on Jesus Christ himself, having himself chosen the first stone, the cornerstone of this Church: Saint Peter.

It is not, therefore, the deposit of truth that sustains the Church ... it is THE CHURCH THAT SUPPORTS THE DEPOSIT OF TRUTH.

It is the right, safe, immutable depositary.

Peter, I prayed for you that your faith will not fail. (Lc21,32).

The gates of hell will never prevail against it. (Mt16,18).

This is what is clear and absolutely irrefutable ... and this is what causes the entire Protestant building to collapse, wanting the Church to depend on the Bible, not the Church's Bible - wanting only the Bible to be the only article of faith .

It is as if someone says that a book exists before the writer ... and that the writer depends on the book!

Poor blindness! of those who do not want to see! ...

IV. Divine assistance

The Church therefore has the DEPOSIT of divine truth.

But owning is not enough.

The truth is not a diamond that is hidden and preserved in a precious deposit; the truth is a LIGHT: the light of the intelligences.

Jesus Christ said it: You are the light of ... A city on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does a light come on and put it under the bushel, but on the candlestick, so that it may give light before men. (Mt 5,14-15).

The light must radiate ... it must illuminate.

Divine truth, being the light of intelligences, must penetrate these intelligences, and for this two things are necessary: ​​UNDERSTAND and INTERPRET the divine word.

Understand, since every scripture necessarily has its darkness.

However clear and methodical the writer may be, he is not understood by all readers, for the very simple reason that the reader is not always at the intellectual level of the writer; and, being inferior to him, there will necessarily be things that the writer understands well, tries to make understand, but that the reader does not understand.

A perfect understanding between writer and reader, supposes an equality of intelligence.

Now, Sacred Scripture, being the expression of divine truth, is infinitely superior to the understanding of human intelligence; hence, as São Peter says in the letters of S. Paulo:

There are some things that are difficult to understand, that the unlearned, fickle, adulterate (as well as the other Scriptures) to their own perdition. (2Pd3,16).

The Church, charged with preserving the divine deposit, must understand this deposit, must interpret it, give it its true meaning, and if necessary, impose the obligation to believe its word.

That is why she needs DIVINE ASSISTANCE.

Let us note well the difference between: divine INSPIRATION and divine ASSISTANCE.

Inspiration was meant to reveal NEW truths.

Assistance aims to conserve, explain and apply the revealed truths:

When Jesus Christ said to the apostles: Go, teach all peoples ... teaching them to observe all the things that I have sent you: and that I am with you every day until the end of the world (Mt 27,19-20) this promise included inspiration and assistance; inspiration referred to HIS PEOPLE: it was a personal privilege, which made them, each in particular, infallible in the exposition of the doctrine. This inspiration, however, was limited to them and was not passed on to their successors, the bishops.

None of the bishops, nor the Pope himself, enjoys divine INSPIRATION, being closed at the time of inspirations.

The Church has however received the promise of divine ASSISTANCE: Behold, I am with you, - assistance to preserve, explain and apply the deposit of divine truth.

After the dynasty of INSPIRATES, the dynasty of ASSISTANTS was raised and this dynasty is that of the popes of Rome: the center of the Catholic Church.

There is a phenomenon in the Church that we have already explained: the granitic firmness of its dogmas; and the continuous growth of these dogmas.

It is one of the deepest and most resplendent phenomena in the Church, and it demonstrates the divinity of its organization, its assistance and its growth.

Catholic dogmas are not precious stones; they are GERMANS OF LIFE.

The Church is a tree of life.

They are germs. Now the germ contains the plant, the tree; but to make this germ bloom, it is necessary to sow it in a prepared ground, watch over it, water it, give the soil moisture from its roots, and the heat of the day to its stem.

And who should do this job?

The human spirit.

And this work, being delicate, dangerous, God gave the Church a gift: the infallibility that we will study in the next chapter, to guide and sustain the spirit of man, lest he stray from the truth.

The Church is life.

And this life, it communicates it to all its members, as the tree communicates the life that circulates in its trunk to all the branches that spring from it.

Man enters the Church, not simply PASSIVE - it is the great evil of ignorance

- but ACTIVE, studying their religion, trying to understand it, penetrating it even in its deepest principles, to draw consequences from them, make applications to their own lives and the lives of others.

And do not think that this is the privilege of the Pope, the bishops and the priests ...

Not! it is the COMMON HERITAGE of all the faithful; everyone should study religion, try to get to know it in depth.

Religion is a GERMEN.

Now, a germ is not buried at the bottom of a tomb.

It is necessary to sow it in the spirit, water it by prayer, give it the sun of divine grace, so that it can blossom and bear its fruits.

And in this development work, the Supreme Authority watches over, directs, shows errors, indicates the truth, so that in this effervescence of life it serves as a TUTOR that sustains the spirit and keeps it on the path of truth.

From the top of the Vatican, seated on this eternal throne, Peter's successor follows these effluvia of life that spring from divine truth, watering the earth with its fruitful waters; he sees everything, follows everything, encouraging those who are safe, supporting those who falter, raising those who fall, redirecting those who stray from the path!

And in this eternal struggle, in this unending trepidation, assisted by the Holy Spirit, the Church preserves, explains and applies the deposit of divine truth entrusted to her.

And while mankind obeys this supreme authority, it follows the path of truth, guided with security by the one who was established to guide and confirm his brothers.

Oh! Sancta Mater Ecelesia! how beautiful you are, how loving you are, how sublime you are, wrapped in the white mantle of the one the world acclaims: the Holy Father.

Guiding is the father's own; and you are a father.

To guide without making mistakes is the saint's own; and you are holy.

You are a father by authority; you are holy for the representation of the Supreme Holiness, which is Christ.

V. Conclusion

How beautiful it is and ignored by those who have only a superficial knowledge of religion!

Under the radiance of these doctrinal notions, the Holy Church of Christ, governed by the successor of Peter, appears to us, great and sublime.

The divine deposit, now entrusted to the Church, was completed through the ages, by the prophets and the apostles, ending this phase by the death of the apostle St. John, the last inspired.

This period of INSPIRATION, which lasted 4000 years, from the first line of Genesis to the last line of Revelation, is followed by a second time, that of divine ASSISTANCE.

The Catholic Church received sublime gifts in its cradle, but God communicated them only for a few days, and only for its definitive organization and extension in the world, the gift of INSPIRATION.

A thousand times higher than the Mosaic Church, which it finishes and perfects, the Catholic Church does not, however, enjoy the gift of inspiration, and cannot add another word to the divine book.

The book is closed and closed; the Holy Spirit ended it with this divinely sublime and tenderly human phrase that is the golden diadem, crowning a divine work:

He who testifies to these things says: Yes, come quickly: Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all: Amen! (Ap21.20)

What a lovely golden key to closing the cycle of 4,000 years of inspiration!

The treasure is complete: He lacks nothing more.

And the seer of Patmos, the apostle of love seems to take in his trembling hands an elderly man close to 100 years old ... the last of the apostles ... the last representative of the centuries ... the last testimony of Jesus Christ in earth ... to present the 72 inspired books to the Church of Jesus Christ, as the perfect, complete summary of divine manifestations on earth ... is the integral expression of God's love for men.

The time of inspiration was over.

John, in the name of the prophets of the Old Testament and in the name of the apostles of the New, was able to write as an end of sentence this inspired phrase, proof of the authenticity of the divine books: I protest to all who hear the words of the prophecy of this book, which, if anyone brings them anything together, God will punish them with the plagues written in this book.

And if anyone takes anything away from the words of prophecy in this book, God will take away their part of the book of life, and of the holy city, and of the things that are written in this book.

(Ap22,18-19).

Ending the time of inspiration. God does not want to make us understand that he has nothing more to communicate to us.

Of course, God, being infinite, can never communicate to men everything he knows.

Finite man is unable to contain the infinite of God. God was not exhausted, but he said everything he had to say and what he meant.

Delivering, therefore, the closed book of revelations, Saint John says to the Church: Keep this deposit, explain it ... penetrate it, in order to discover the infinite riches that it contains,

Keep everything that I taught you, the divine Master had said ... everything: omnia.

Do not change a comma, even if an angel from heaven asks you to.

Depositum custodi: keep it, and as the human spirit is subject to error, even in the interpretation of what is clear, behold, I am with you until the end of the age. (Mt 27.20).

I am with you: this is divine ASSISTANCE - and this until the end of the centuries, as long as the Church exists.

This is why we do not say that the Church is INSPIRED, to teach the truth, which would be a mistake.

We do not say that the Church teaches new dogmas.

He would have been able to do it, if God had wanted him; but I didn't want it, nor will I want it anymore.

The dynasty of the INSPIRED, which for 40 centuries had taught men truths that have not yet been revealed, definitely followed the dynasty of the ASSISTED, who teach nothing new, but who keep, even in the smallest details, what was taught.

Such is the divine plan.

God, through the lips of the prophets, created the SOURCE of divine truth, and the same God

through the lips of the popes, keep this fountain, in the integrity and purity of its divine origin.

All of this is divinely beautiful and harmonious and shows the FINGER, the HAND, and even the ARM of God.

When God favors a work, S. Scripture says that God puts his finger on it: the heavens are the work of his fingers, says the psalmist. (Ps 7,4).

When the work is more important, God puts his hand on it: Jesus touched it with his hand and the fever disappeared. (Mt 8,15).

And when the work is of paramount importance, God puts his arm in it: God will lead you, with a strong hand, with outstretched arms. (Dt5,15).

In the work of the Church, God has also put his strong hand and the ARM extended: it is his favorite work, the work of his heart: his loving wife.

CHAPTER IX

Infallibility

In writing this word, it seems to me to hear in the distance the echo of a thousand Protestant objections, hatred, impiety, the envy of traitors, and the sarcasm of atheists.

Imagine, they cry, talking about an INFALLIBLE MAN, in the middle of the twentieth century, the century of lights, is wanting to introduce despotism in an era of emancipation and freedom.

What a backward thing! ... How absurd! ...

And slowly I see it appear, in the luminous background of the dawn, trampling the clouds of dust at the feet, raised by the restless and skeptical spirit of the enemies of the Church, the Christ ... The great Christ ... the Christ of the Corcovado ... of arms outstretched ... with raised forehead ... to look to reflect the love of your heart ... and this great Christ, this immortal Christ, with this same voice that dominated the storms, expelled the demons and raised corpses from the grave in putrefaction, this Christ who preached, who knew how to cry, smile, and caress the little children ... this Christ repeats over the crowd, surrounded by the dust of those who revolt against Him: I am the light of the world; what follows me does not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life! (Jo8,12).

We need light ...

We especially need the LIGHT OF LIFE.

The light of life is the doctrine.

How can we distinguish it from so many errors that today run the world and penetrate everywhere?

Through the voice of someone who teaches us the truth, without fear of making mistakes, without the possibility of making mistakes.

And this someone, this privileged man is the one to whom Christ said:

Behold, I am with you until the end of the ages. (Mt28.20).

I prayed for you that your faith will not fail. (Lc21,32).

Whoever listens to you listens to me. (Lk, 10,16).

This is infallibility in all its simplicity, extension and grandeur.

It is this infallibility that we must now study, as a continuation, as a necessary complement to divine assistance.

1. What is ... what is not!

What we have said of divine assistance, given to the Church, so that it fulfills and explains the deposit of the Scriptures, is already an exposition of infallibility.

Those who cry out against this dogma show only that they do not even know what infallibility is; they confuse it with INSPIRATION ... or with IMPECABILITY and believing neither in inspiration nor in impeccability, they cannot believe in infallibility.

Before crying out against a truth, it is necessary to know that truth; before attacking an enemy, you must first see where he is, otherwise it would be punching with knife points.

Fanaticism does not solve anything; but ignorance explains everything.

What does such infallibility consist of?

It consists of the privilege granted by Jesus Christ to Peter and his successors to enjoy DIVINE ASSISTANCE, to preserve and explain divine doctrine, so that they cannot err, when they teach publicly in the name of the Church, with the supreme authority of the head of the Church. .

Nothing more ... That's it!

It is little ... but this is absolutely necessary.

You come to me and teach me a doctrine.

I have my doubts.

I am a man like you, and what you understand I can understand ... but, not understanding, I continue to doubt.

This is a torment!

I am looking for a more intelligent one ... and another one ... and I always go on without understanding, because the human spirit is a reasoner. .. is critical ... and wants to see the bottom of the issues.

Now, how many sciences are based solely on hypotheses ... on pure assumptions, without proof!

Things happen, as if they obeyed such a law.

I continue to doubt ... I consult more, until I bow to a man of known ability, of known intellectual training ... I bow my head because I feel that this man does not want and cannot deceive me.

I practically attribute to this man the gift of ALMOST INFALIBILITY.

The world does this daily.

A man goes to visit Paris, London, Berlin; and then he tells me wonders of everything he saw and admired; I believe without hesitation, although I may never have seen one of these cities.

I give this traveler the gift of ALMOST INFALIBILITY. I didn't see it, but he did, and I believe it.

Poor atheists, they don't want to accept the Pope's infallibility, for being Pope, and they accept the infallibility of any traveling salesman, any teacher, any writer!

They deserve faith; only the Pope does not deserve it, because he is Pope!

But this is unwise!

So the Pope, a man chosen from thousands, a man of age, of science, of virtue, of experience, since he sits in the supreme chair of St. Peter, would no longer have a privilege that men grant to anyone, since do you notice sincerity and capacity?

Now, the doubts that penetrate the spirit, regarding the human sciences, also penetrate the soul, in religious matters.

Doubt is a weakness ... and we are, very weak. This is why we need someone to tell us clearly and categorically: The truth is this: believe!

The great writer, Count de Maistre, said elsewhere that infallibility is none other than sovereignty, and added that, claiming infallibility for the Church, he did not claim any privileges, other than that enjoyed by all sovereigns, since everyone necessarily acts as infallible.

It's a big truth.

There is no sovereignty, there is no supreme court, there is no judge at last appeal, whose sentences could stop the troubled spirits and restore peace to society if they did not enjoy a kind of infallibility.

In every jurisdiction, a judge must be reached who judges and cannot be judged by anyone.

There the spirit stops and stoops, subjecting itself at least externally.

It is almost ALMOST infallible, because it requires only outward obedience.

If the law could require subjects to have inner obedience and submission of spirit, it would be complete INFALIBILITY.

This is the case with the Church.

She is not content with outward obedience.

She wants more than a respectful silence.

It requires absolute adherence.

Why this requirement?

Because it is the word of God whose existence and meaning it guarantees.

How can I say: I believe, if there was any possibility of error on her part?

God was to give the Church infallibility, so that our faith would be free from doubt.

I believe, my God, in everything that you have revealed, and that the Church proposes me to believe.

Can't you see it's a necessity?

Faith and doubt cannot hold hands.

Faith, even divine, is always rational.

Where there is voluntary doubt, there is no faith.

Faith is adherence to the truths revealed by God, because of the authority of the one who reveals.

But how can we be sure that we understand what God reveals?

There the Church's infallibility intervenes: it interprets the revealed truth to us, and gives us the absolute certainty, BY DIVINE ASSISTANCE, that such is the meaning and extent of the revealed truth.

Infallibility is therefore the necessary complement to divine revelation.

We instinctively feel that a divine religion must descend from Sinai, with its forehead lighter, holding the tables of the law in its hands, or else leave the Cenacle with tongues of fire on its head and then say to humanity:

You really need it: Here it is.

You need love: here it is.

You need to go to God: Give me your hand, because I know the way that leads to Him.

But how can that be, if religion can be wrong, if it can give me the error instead of the truth! she can give me false love instead of true love! it can lead me to the abyss, instead of leading me to God!

In order to be sure of following the right path - and God cannot allow doubt on such a serious matter - the Church must be INFALLIBLE.

Infallible, because it comes from God.

Infallible, because it must lead me to God.

These are truths that are not even discussed; put themselves by common sense.

II. Apologetic proof

The Church is therefore infallible ...

She always believed it ... she always said it.

And this statement is proof of your divinity.

I went through the list of religious sects: there are so many, from different faiths, different conceptions, from the gross fetishism to the proud positivism; examine his doctrines, and in all of them you will find points of contact, concordances, since they all aim to bring man closer to God, but there is a point, in which no sect agrees with the Catholic religion: it is the INFALIBILITY of its leader.

Among all religions, only the Catholic religion had the boldness, the simplicity, or else the sublimity of believing in the infallibility of its supreme chief.

It is indeed, a lot of boldness! Such boldness is such that it can only come from heaven or hell, but never from men.

The man can be as proud as he wants but he never had or has the courage to indulge in infallibility.

Why that?

Because he himself feels that he is deceiving himself every moment ... everyone believes in his mistakes, because they are palpable.

Infallibility - not even that word was known in pagan antiquity.

The old poets, philosophers like Plato, Socrates, Cicero, Horace, etc., had faith in science, but they distrusted their science feeling it was weak, flawed and incomplete.

Jesus Christ came to this world and proclaimed THE INFALIBILITY of his Church, and this so fundamental and so necessary truth always remains the exclusive heritage of his Church.

Heresies are born, they separate themselves from the Church of Christ, they form religious sects, they maintain certain practices and even sacraments from the same Church, but no sect has dared to claim for its leader the gift of infallibility.

Neither Luther, nor Calvin, nor Henry VIII, nor the Tsar of Russia, had the courage to assume infallibility.

They themselves felt that, if they did, the world would scoff too much at their pretensions ... everyone would laugh with such blindness.

The Catholic Church believes in its infallibility and professes this doctrine as a dogma of faith ... and nobody makes fun of it.

The Protestant screams in anger, makes a thousand objections, but feels defeated by the authority of the Pope.

It is curious that the Church had the courage to proclaim this truth.

It is even more curious that no religious sect, seeing the predominant authority that the Church acquires with this prerogative, has not had the courage to imitate it!

The Church's boldness is proof of her divinity.

The fear that sects have to resort to this power is proof of their mistakes.

Every sect lacks something essential: it is infallibility!

And he does not have the courage to claim it, because he feels that, being from the earth, he is not entitled to a privilege that comes from Heaven.

This is an argument that deserves to be cited by apologists, in favor of the Catholic religion.

Infallibility in the explanation of a divine religion is absolutely necessary, otherwise the divine would be subject to the human, and such a divine religion would cease to be divine.

Such a privilege exists only in the Catholic Church.

It alone is therefore divine, and therefore true.

III. The infallibility organ

What is the organ of this infallibility, this inability to make mistakes?

The seat of this organ is the seat of São Peter.

Its own organ is the Pope.

The Church has always believed in the existence of this prerogative, but there have been, sometimes, regarding the organ itself.

Some thought that it was, as it were, spread among the Church's teaching staff.

It was prudent ... it was a human opinion.

A thousand or two thousand bishops would hardly get it ... it is almost INFALIBILITY.

infallibility, however, is a divine prerogative and, as such, does not depend on the NUMBER.

What depends on the number comes from the earth ... in divine things the number does not matter.

Quoting a text from the sacred books, it both proves one, as well as twenty.

If a bishop is not infallible, neither fifty nor a thousand will be.

Infallibility is a complete prerogative in itself; whoever owns it owns it whole; whoever does not have it whole, has nothing.

There can be no more or less in this gift; it is an integral and complete gift.

This is why the Church studied the issue thoroughly, penetrated it to the core and sought the proper organ of this infallibility.

He sought, and solemnly proclaimed, in the Vatican Council, that such power resides IN THE POPE'S PERSON.

It does not reside in the number; but, rather, in unity, in a single head, in the POPE OF ROME who is the successor of Saint Peter.

In one head, incredulity cries out, but if this head is cut ... what will happen next?

Yes, they can cut the human head, they do not cut the divine head.

Popes are men; they can kill these men and have already killed them in frightening numbers.

The first 31 popes, from San Peter to San Marcello I, in 309, lost their heads under the sword of tyrants.

St. Peter's headquarters was in the middle of a lake of blood.

But they killed only the man, and the San Peter headquarters continued to dominate the world.

Man dies, but God does not die ... and while He is alive, it is not difficult for him to raise a representative.

Ah! if the Roman Pontificate had been only a human institution, it would have long been submerged under the waves of hatred, vice and blood, which hell has raised against him; but it is a divine institution ... and those on Earth always descend in the current, they cannot go up, and that is why everyone falls helplessly against Peter's rock and cannot even splash the pedestal of his throne with mud.

All of this is admirable, no doubt; but there is something even more admirable.

The truth of infallibility has always existed, now accepted, now opposed to its thirst and extent, as are, indeed, almost all questions not defined dogmatically.

It is one thing to EXIST; it is another to be DEFINED, and yet another to be PROCLAMED.

Electricity has always existed; even before its action was defined by the wise and its power proclaimed by use.

The nineteenth century arrived, a rationalist, revolutionary century.

It seems that prudence commanded the reserve: so the prudents of this world thought.

But the Church does not follow the ways of men. They are the men who should follow her ways.

It often happens that, in its critical hours, the Church is as excited by a mysterious and hidden force, disconcerting its enemies and even itself.

It's the finger of God ...

It is divine assistance!

As we have already said, infallibility is the logical consequence of its sovereign authority over souls, and as such it is not a new doctrine, but it is a part of the deposit of revelation.

It is a part that is needed, until the day when, due to certain circumstances, the Pope or the ecumenical Council proclaims such a truth a dogma of faith.

Infallibility is the logical consequence of the word of Jesus Christ: Behold, I am with you until the end of the age.

God is infallible; who will deny it?

And the one whom God attends is likewise; who will deny it?

Now, Jesus Christ promised to ASSIST the Church, so that it would not make mistakes.

Therefore, the ASSISTED Church is INFALLIBLE.

It is possible to torture texts, as Protestants do, to spend intelligence and time, and even Greek and Syriac, to avoid the luminous evidence of this word, but the truth will always remain the same.

To the calm man, however, sensible and friend of the truth, having the Gospel and history in hand, common sense will ask: to preserve the divine deposit, to understand it, to stop and teach it, does the Church have the precision of infallibility ? And did Jesus Christ himself want to give this infallibility?

The answer will always be: Yes! And this answer will be dictated by common sense ... before even consulting the divine texts, as we will see below.

IV. The evangelical test

Infallibility being considered by the Protestants as an invention of the Church, it is necessary to determine and clearly explain the evangelical texts that are the expression of this dogma and serve as a foundation, both to refute the adverse error, and to solidify the Catholic faith.

When and how did Jesus Christ grant infallibility to Peter alone and in his person to the Pope alone?

We have already quoted the texts, but it will not be useless to reproduce them again.

Jesus Christ granted infallibility THREE TIMES and three different words, each more explicit and more positive than the others.

The first was pronounced in the circumstances already known (see page 153)

St. Peter had just made a solemn profession of his faith; I just said to the Savior: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. (Mt 16, 16) And Jesus, as a reward for this faith, answered him: You are Peter (or stone) and on this stone I will build my Church, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. (Ibi.18).

These words are addressed to Peter, only and nominally addressed to him alone: ​​You are Peter, you are not Paul, neither James nor John, but Peter.

These words therefore put Peter as THE FOUNDATION OF THE CHURCH; and as an INDEFECTIBLE foundation, since he has to sustain an indefectible Church.

It is clear, in fact, that the foundation shares the fate of the building, so an indefectible building must have an indefectible foundation.

And Protestants do not object that Christ is the cornerstone.

Christ is the BUILDER; now, builder and construction are necessarily distinct.

Jesus Christ says: I will build my Church: Therefore, he is the Architect ... the wise architect, as the apostle says, who lays a foundation for the building he wants to build. (1Co3,10).

And where will you lay this foundation?

Just read the continuation of the text on stone, which is Peter, since Peter was previously called Simon, and Christ changed his name to that of stone (Kephas, which means stone and Peter as in French: Pierre (Peter) and pierre ( stone) is a single word.

The first word of Jesus Christ is therefore clear and indisputable.

***

The second is even more expressive.

Simon, Simon ... I prayed for you that your faith will not fail, and you, once converted, confirm your brothers. (Lc22,32).

These divine words, in their literal and obvious sense, mean that faith in Peter will never be lacking, because what Christ asks for, achieves; he asked that the faith in Peter never be lacking.

These words also express that Peter is the SUPPORT OF FAITH! THAT ANIMATED THE OTHER APOSTLES.

Now, this KEEP must be INFALLIBLE, because if it were not, I could not preserve others from falling.

Here is another clear and irrefutable word.

***

The third word illuminates the others with a divine light; it is lightning (see page 159).

Jesus Christ asked Peter if he loved him, and hearing from his lips the affirmation of his love, He answers him: RATE MY LAMBS. (Jo21,15).

These words are again addressed to Peter alone, and before the other apostles.

These words establish Peter PASTOR DOS CORDEIROS, who are the BISHOPS.

A second question follows ... and a second investiture, establishing Peter PASTOR OF OTHER LAMBS, which are the priests, because priests are lambs, in relation to the faithful, and are sheep in relation to the bishops.

There follows a third question ... and a third investiture, establishing Peter PASTOR DAS OVELHAS, who are the FAITHFUL.

Triple investiture, graduated with infinite wisdom and tenderness: Peter is the GENERAL SHEPHERD: of the bishops, of the priests, of the faithful, in a word: of the whole Church. (See p.161).

What should be concluded from these words?

Only what they literally express: there are in São Peter, and the popes, their successors in law, two prerogatives that are personal to him: PRIMACY and INFALIBILITY.

Such words demand from all members of the Church of Jesus Christ an entire, total, exterior and interior submission to teaching, and necessarily the truth; and a sincere and unrestricted obedience to an authority that comes directly from God, and that no one on earth has the right to challenge.

Meditate on these words, sincerely with faith: everything there is luminous.

Each word is a lightning bolt.

Each word contains something infinite.

There is no reservation here: Christ gives them hands full.

The Pope is the successor of Jesus Christ, the gatekeeper to heaven, the livelihood of his brothers, the shepherd of sheep and lambs, that is, of the entire flock.

Look for what the Pope is not! ... and you will see that he is everything.

He is immortal like the Church.

He is indefectible, like the Church.

He is infallible, like the Church.

He is the door of salvation, like the Church.

There are question marks to be made, no doubt, about the extent and limits of these privileges.

But, notice it; - in the beginning, in the catacombs, no questions are asked ... because the first faithful would dislike asking them.

Faith and love live in trust and abandonment.

What stands out at this time, and what is enough, is that Peter, the Pope, is the FIRST of all: the highest representative of Christ; that everyone owes him respect, obedience; that it should be treated, as Jesus Christ himself would be treated.

Enough of that!

Too soon the sad struggles will come; the terrible needs to distinguish, to DEFINE.

It is distinguished when there is discussion ... and for there to be DEFINITION, there must be denial.

V. The primacy of Peter

We have already seen the Pope's infallibility.

We must say a word of PRIMACY, because infallibility and primacy are inseparably united in the person of the head of the Church, or rather: spiritual PRIMAZY is the principle of doctrinal INFALIBILITY, it is its necessary consequence.

The Florence Council and then the Vatican Council clarify this prerogative admirably:

“We teach and declare that this primacy of the Roman Church, by a divine disposition, is a PRIMACY OF ORDINARY POWER over all other Churches, and that this jurisdiction of the Roman Pontiff is a truly episcopal and immediate power, so that pastors and faithful, each and everyone, whatever their rite and their dignity, are subject to it by the duty of hierarchical subordination, by true obedience, not only in matters concerning faith and morals, but also in those which refers to the discipline and government of the universal Church. "

"In this way, maintaining the union in communion and in the profession of a faith with the Roman Pontiff, the Church of Christ constitutes a SINGLE FLOCK, under the direction of a SINGLE SHEPHERD."

“Such is the teaching of Catholic truth, from which no one can depart, without losing faith (Cons. Dogm. Ecl., C., III).

It is seen in these words that the primacy of Peter is not simply one of honor, but of AUTHORITY:

To see this primacy of authority, just open the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, on whose pages it shines with all the brilliance and majesty of a basic truth.