P. Krzemiński: What are the limits of papal power?

For all Catholics, it is clear that the Pope has superior authority in the Church and no 1 has the right to challenge its chief jurisdiction. Of course, this does not change the fact that the pope is not only bound by all the principles of religion which concern the secular and clergy in general, but his main task is to uphold the Apostolic Tradition. At the outset, I will point out that no secular or priest has the right to account for the incumbent pope for whether he fulfils his role. However, this does not mean that the Pope has unconditional power, for if he falls into heresy and monotonously imposes it on the Church, then de facto loses the Holy Spirit's assistance, even though de jure He's inactive the Pope. For the Holy Spirit cannot act by individual who repeatedly and consciously rejects the truths upon which the full Tradition of the Church is based.

Doctor of the Church of St. Robert Bellarmin in his work (De Romano Pontifice, II, 29. and 30.) wrote:

‘It is allowed to defy the Bishop of Rome, who tries to destruct the Church. I say that he is permitted to defy by disobeying his orders and by preventing the exercise of his will. The Pope, who is an overt heretic automatically (per se) ceases to be the pope and head of the Church, as he immediately ceases to be a Christian and a associate of the Church. For this reason he can be tried and punished by the Church. This is in line with the teachings of all the Fathers who taught that outright heretics immediately lose all jurisdiction.”

Card. Robert Bellarmin

It should be noted that this is the position of this peculiar Doctor of the Church. However, opponents of this opinion must trust on at least 1 saint who would have authority akin to Cardinal Robert Bellarmin and who explicitly proclaimed that the heretic has the right to administer the Church. I have no authority to undermine the teaching of Saint Robert Bellarmin or to admit that it obliges the full Church. But as a reasonable person, I can interpret holy words on the basis of common sense.

First of all, a Catholic has a work to stay faithful to the Apostolic Tradition, even if the Pope, the Dicastery of the Doctrine of Faith, or even the Holy See, will preach a different Gospel than that which built the One, the Holy, the Universal and the Apostolic Church. Secondly, we have a work to counteract the highest authorities of the Church if they destruct the Catholic morality ordained for 2 1000 years of the Church's existence. Thirdly, if the pope, through a notorious and monotonous heresy, is harming the Church, then the cardinal group has the power to force the apostate to resign.

At the same time, it should be stressed that the Church has never declared any circumstantial action towards the pope-heretics, so the debate on this subject remains open. Common sense, however, suggests that an apostate cannot respect himself as the Master of Christ due to the fact that it would be a sin against the Holy Spirit.

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