Is the Pope Bound By Ecclesiastical Law?
From Van Noort’s Dogmatic Theology, Christ’s Church, page 282: The pope is not bound by customs or ecclesiastical laws laid down in any way whatsoever. Thus the third article of the ‘Declaration of the Gallican Clergy’ was rightly condemned: “The use of the apostolic power must be restrained by the canons, for they have been founded by the Spirit of God and consecrated by the reverence of the entire world. …” (DZ 1325) On page 283 he continues: One final point remains to be mentioned: the Roman Pontiff is subject to no one on earth and consequently cannot be called to judgment by anyone. He is obliged to render an account for his decisions to no one but Him alone Whose visible vicar he is, Jesus Christ.As the supreme lawgiver of the Church, the Pope is not legally bound by ecclesiastical decisions and usages, but by divine law alone. This demands that the Papal power, in consonance with its purpose, should be employed for the building-up of the Mystical Body of Christ, not for its destruction (II Corinthians 10:8). The divine law, therefore, is an efficacious brake on arbitrariness. The third Gallican article, which demanded a far-reaching limitation of the exercise of the Papal power, was properly rejected. D 1324. Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma, Ludwig Ott, page 286.The Church has no power to change the form of her government, nor to control the destiny of him who, once validly elected, is no vicar of hers but Vicar of Christ. Consequently she has no power to punish or depose her head. She is born to obey. This truth may seem hard, but the best theologians have never attenuated it; rather, they have accentuated it. To make us aware of all that we ought to be ready to suffer for the Church, of how much heroism she can ask of us, they have proposed extreme cases. They have supposed a Pope who shall scandalise the Church by the gravest sins; they have supposed him to be incorrigible; and then they ask whether the Church can depose him. Their answer is, no. For no one on earth can touch the Pope. -The Church of the Word Incarnate by Monsignor Charles Journet (Professor at the Major Seminary of Fribourg) Volume One: The Apostolic Hierarchy Sheed and Ward London and New York 19
Michael Fighting
The Roman Pontiff is above canon law, but any bishop is inferior to that law, and consequently can’t modify it. Pope Benedict XIV, Magnae Nobis, June 29, 1748, paragraph 9:
