South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-10-20

belief in Christs own words: Thou
art Peter; and upon this rock I will
build Ny church. and the gates OF
nell shall not prevail against IT, And
1 Will give TO thee the keys OF the
kingdom Of heaven. Outsiders ask.
How can two be the rock; Christ is
called a rock. St Peter frequently
uses this term in relation TO Christ
If He is the foundation rock. how can
you apply the words 10 Peter2 Christ
is the true foundation stone upon
which our religion is built. He is the
primary rock. but He as God having
all power on earth as in heaven made
Peter. and Peters successors the sec
ondary rocks on which His church
was TO stand securely. In those words
10 Peter. Thou art a rock. and on this
rock ] shall build, ETC. Christ sssOci-
ated Peter with Himself constituting
by the rock foundation OF His Church.
Christ fOresaw that other Sees, the
Sees Of Antioch, OF COnstantinOple-~el
Alexandria, for example. would fall
into error; but He willed that one See
should not fail, one See should remain
always immaculate, and from that See
OF Peter should spring universal
Christianity. So it has always been.
When priests and bishops and rulers
began 20 teach false doctrines, when
one denied the divinity of Jesus. an
other the powers Of the priesthood,
another the right Of divorce. the Pope
always defended the truth and pro-
scribed the error. The See Of Peter
declared that is wrong this is the
teaching OF Jesus Christ.
Yielded Authority.
To Peter also was given the power
of the keys. That expression was well
understood in our Lords time. When
"A Jewish official handed over the keys
of city 10 the Roman commander it
meant the yielding OF his authority TO
the Roman When Jesus gave Peter
the keys Of the kingdom Of heaven
the church on e2rth--He who was the
head made Peter the head, the key
bearer in His kingdom; in other words
He gave Peter complete power and
jurisdiction in His church St. Luke
confirms this meaning of our Lords
in the passage wherein our Saviour
tells Peter He has prayed for him
that his faith remain firm TO strength
en- the faith OF the doubling and wav-
ering brethren. In st. Johns gospel
Christ gave Peter what He had prom
tsed on other occasions. Three times
He asked Peter. Lowest thou Me?'
and then committed 10 him the care
of the sheep and the lambs Of the
flock. This is very clear. Jesus. who
called Himself the Good Shepherd.
and said Other sheep / have not 'of
this fold: them also must / bring.
and there shall be one fold and one
shepherd, tells Peter plainly. as /
have come TO be the Good Shepherd
Of souls, after / am gone be the good
shepherd in My place; / commit TO
your care the sheepfold over which I
rule. Feed my sheep with the true
doctrine and the true worship
Historical Side.
IF we examine the historical side
Of the subject we find that from the
very beginning down to the present
the Popes have always claimed to be
the personal representatives of Christ
and to speak with supreme authority
When bishops came together. as they
come now, TO discuss questions Of doc
trine or morals: TO settle some dis
pute: the authority of the Pope was
always final. Rome has spoken, the
question is settled has become a prov
erb. Papal supremacy has been ex-
ercised in every period of the church's
history. True, there have been many
anti-Popes at different epochs of the
worlds history. but the line of sue
cessiOn was not thereby DESTROYED
One was the true Pope and he was the
fountain of authority and a true cen
ter Of unity to all the world owing
10 the interference of INSCRIPTIONS
rulers. kings and barOns, men have
sometimes occupied the Papal chair
who were unworthy. That admission
does not destroy the claim that the
lawful successor of st. Peter was an
infallible teacher We have never
claimed that n Pope can do no wrong.
\ Pope is a man, subject to a mans
weaknesses and temptations. His per-
sonal character. nationality conduct,
talents. virtues, have no bearing on
his AUTHORITY as head Of the church
on earth. We do not say the Pope
is inspired. We do say the evangelists
were inspired
Meaning OF InfaIIibIe
When we say the Pope is infallible
We mean that God so assists him in
his official teaching that, under Ger
tain conditions these teachings are
guaranteed from error. 1t makes no
difference whether the head of the
church is an Italian. a Frenchman. an
Englishman. n saint a sinner or a
scholar When he speaks ex-cathedra
to the universal church on a Meter
pertaining 10 doctrine or morals. the
millions of his spiritual children give
implicit adherence TO his dictum. be-
cause he stands in Christ's place and
speaks with the infallible certainty of
his Master. He is not infaHible when
ne addresses body of pilgrims from
his own or distant country: or when
he settles n disa greement bet I'll
bishops. or dispute between n p-ivs-
and his bishop: he may speak as the
bishop. Of Rome and not be infallible
He must speak of the universal
church in his official capacity. on a
matter within his Jurisdiction. Just as
the presiding Judge Of the supreme
court gives in his official capacity a
decision binding on the entire coun-
try"