Can the Pope Become a Heretic as a Private Person?
There are two theories on this proposition. One proposes that a Pope cannot become a heretic as a private person, because until 1958 this had never happened. The second opinion is that a Pope cannot become a heretic as a private person. We shall consider the second theory first, giving the various propositions on this page. Two separate pages will be devoted to the two options recommended by one Canonist, which appear also to be the theory of everyone else who holds that the Pope can become a heretic as a private person. Note well that it is impossible for the Pope to be a heretic in his public actions. S. B. Smith provides a possible answer: There are two opinions: one holds that he is by virtue of divine appointment, divested ipso facto, of the Pontificate; the other, that he is, jure divino, only removable. Both opinions agree that he must at least be declared guilty of heresy by the church-i.e., by an ecumenical council or the College of Cardinals. What to Do With a Heretical Pope
In discussing resignation of the Pope, Abbo and Hannan in The Sacred Canons (1921) state: Moreover, the jurisdiction of the Roman Pontiff would cease if he should become insane, though only if this were established by incontrovertible proof, for insanity is juridically equivalent to death. According to the opinion of some canonists, it would cease also upon his notorious lapse into heresy. Neither of these two eventualities has occurred in the long history of the papacy. We can reason that heresy is also equivalent to death, spiritual, since Pope Pius XII infallibly teaches: For not every sin, however great it may be, is such as of its own nature to sever a man from the Body of the Church, as does schism or heresy or apostasy. (Pope Pius XII, Mystici Corporis Christi) Should the Pope as a private person fall into heresy, publicly and notoriously, he would place himself outside of the Church and ipso facto lose his office. (Wernz. II, n. 614.) Constitution of the Church by Ayrinhac (1925). He also discusses this under Canon 221, which discusses the resignation of the Pope. S. B. Smith in his Elements of Ecclesiastical Law, written prior to the promulgation of the Code of Canon Law states: Q. Is a Pope who falls into heresy deprived, ipso jure, of the Pontificate? A. There are two opinions: one holds that he is by virtue of divine appointment, divested ipso facto, of the Pontificate; the other, that he is, jure divino, only removable. Both opinions agree that he must at least be declared guilty of heresy by the church.e., by an ecumenical council or the College of Cardinals. The question is hypothetical rather than practical. For although, according to the more probable opinion, the Pope may fall into heresy and err in matters of faith, as a private person, yet it is also universally admitted that no Pope ever did fall into heresy, even as a private doctor. Dogmatic Theology: Christ’s Church by Van Noort (1957) teaches: All theologians admit that the pope can make a mistake in matters of faith or morals when so speaking: either by proposing a false opinion in a matter not yet defined, or by innocently differing from some doctrine already defined. Theologians disagree, however, over the question of whether the pope can become a formal heretic by stubbornly clinging to at error in a matter already defined. The more probable and respectful opinion, followed by Suarez, Bellarmine and many others, holds that just as God has not till this day ever permitted such a thing to happen, so too He will never permit a pope to become a formal and public heretic. Still, some competent theologians do concede that the pope when not speaking ex cathedra could fall into formal heresy. They add that should such a case of public papal heresy occur, the pope, either by the very deed itself or at least by a subsequent decision of an ecumenical council, would by divine law forfeit his jurisdiction. Obviously a man could not continue to be the head of the Church if he ceased to be even a member of the Church.Let us consider the possibility of a Pope becoming a heretic as a private doctor. Should the Pope as a private person fall into heresy, publicly and notoriously, he would place himself outside of the Church and ipso facto lose his office. (Wernz. II, n. 614.) Constitution of the Church by Ayrinhac (1925). Canon 188, paragraph 4 provides that heretics resign all offices by the very act of heresy and the Papacy is an office, which can be resigned. The question arises, who can issue a declaratory sentence that this indeed has happened? The Pope has no superior on earth. The issuance of a declaratory sentence is reserved to a superior. Will Jesus Christ Himself have to return to earth to issue such a declaration? Smith provides a possible answer: There are two opinions: one holds that he is by virtue of divine appointment, divested ipso facto, of the Pontificate; the other, that he is, jure divino, only removable. Both opinions agree that he must at least be declared guilty of heresy by the church-i.e., by an ecumenical council or the College of Cardinals. Let us consider Smith's first proposition in the light of the 1917 (and only) Code of Canon Law; Canon 222 states: There can be no Ecumenical Council unless it is convoked by the Roman Pontiff. Are we to ask this heretical Pope who may have already resigned by the act of heresy (the more probable opinion) to call a Council. Let us think about this. You Holiness, we would like you to convene an Ecumenical Council to depose you. No one is going to do this, and yet there are those, such as the Abbe de Nantes waiting for this to happen! Smith's second option is equally unworkable. The College of Cardinals has the authority to elect a Pope, during a vacancy, but the moment a Pope accepts election, they become his subjects in all matters. To teach otherwise is heretical, therefore the College of Cardinals has no authority to depose an apparently heretical Pope. Some in the earlier days of the interregnum (1970's) were looking to the College of Cardinals to depose Antipope Paul VI for his obviously heretical acts at Vatican II and for instituting the pagan Novus Ordo Missae. In fact some made contact with the more conservative cardinals, such as Joseph Siri. Van Noort is correct in stating: Obviously a man could not continue to be the head of the Church if he ceased to be even a member of the Church. This applies to whether or not a man is capable of becoming head of the Catholic Church.Since all of the proposed solutions lead to an unworkable proposition, can we conclude that it is impossible for a Pope to become a heretic as a private person, since there is no certain way to establish the fact and provide for the verification of his ipso facto resignation by the commission of such heresy? Against Papal Heresy
Smith states (1877): yet it is also universally admitted that no Pope ever did fall into heresy, even as a private doctor. Abbo and Hannan in The Sacred Canons (1921) state: Moreover, the jurisdiction of the Roman Pontiff would cease if he should become insane, though only if this were established by incontrovertible proof, for insanity is juridically equivalent to death. According to the opinion of some canonists, it would cease also upon his notorious lapse into heresy. Neither of these two eventualities has occurred in the long history of the papacy. As of 1921 it is stated that never has a Pope ever become a heretic in any way, shape or form. Note that Bellarmine is against the possibility of a Pope becoming a heretic, as demonstrated above, and confirmed by two modern sources, Michael Davies and Andre Perlant. Davies quotes de Romano Pontifice of Saint Robert Cardinal Bellarmine (An Heretical Pope): This opinion (that the Pope could not become an heretic) is probable and easily defended … Nonetheless, in view of the fact that this is not certain, and that the common opinion is the opposite one, it is useful to examine the solution to this question, within the hypothesis that the Pope can be an heretic. Davies goes on to state: The great Jesuit theologian, Francisco de Suarez (1548-1617) was also sure that God’s “sweet providence” would never allow the one who could not teach error to fall into error, and that this was guaranteed by the promise Ego auten rogavi pro te … (Luke 22:32). He goes on to quote Saint Alphonsus Ligouri: We ought rightly to presume as Cardinal Bellarmine declares, that God will never let it happen that a Roman Pontiff, even as a private person, becomes a public heretic or an occult heretic. Andre Perlant in An Papa Hereticus Deponi Potest also confirms that Bellarmine thought that it was impossible for a Pope to become a heretic. He however, quoted the other proposition and has been quoted from, but OUT OF CONTEXT. Perlant reports that Bellarmine went into every case of alleged Papal heresy and disproved them all, confirming what has been reported above that this has never happened in the past. Individual Cases Addressed
If the natural and grammatical sense of the assertion of Honorious to blame, at least the personal sense of the rescript of that pope has been solidly justified, in such wise that in the dogmatic facts there is nothing contrary to the infallibility of the Church. Moreover, Honorious never ceased, to his last breath, to profess and to defend the truth, and to exhort and threaten those same Mopnothelites whose opinions he has since been accused of embracing. History of the Papacy, by Baron Henrion, second edition, 1834, page 128, quoted in de Montor’s Lives of the Popes. Pope Liberius
Pope John XXII (the last alleged case of Papal Heresy prior to 1963)
With the issuance of Pacem in Terris, Roncalli contradicted the Syllabus of Errors of Pope Pius IX. Can one Pope contradict another on a matter of faith and morals? Given the obvious contradiction, where Pope Pius IX condemns religious liberty as a damnable heresy and Roncalli holds it is a inalienable human right that must be defended by the State, there must be an answer. Notice the number for Roncalli John XXIII-II. Never before in history has a Pope taken the name and number of an Antipope. John XXIII-I was the last of the Pisan line, during the Western Schism. Pope Benedict XIV has declared that Pope Gregory XII was the true Pope, during the Western Schism, descending from Pope Urban VI, the first elected. The Cardinals claimed they were forced by the Roman people to elect Urban, so they left Rome and proceeded to start the schism by electing another man to the Papacy. This demonstrates that the Cardinals have no authority to declare an election invalid or to depose the Pope. It has been demonstrated that Roncalli was not papabile, since he was a heretic prior to his election. The same can be said of Montini (Paul VI), Luciani (John Paul I), Wojtyla (John Paul II the Great Deceiver) and Benedict XVI. Final Thoughts
Pope Saint Agatho wrote a letter to the Synod of Rome (679ad, as reported in de Montor’s Lives of the Popes, volume 1, page 166): The Catholic universe recognizes this Church for the mother and mistress of all others. Her primacy came from St. Peter, the prince of the Apostles, to whom Jesus Christ intrusted the care of His whole flock, with a promise that his faith should never be found wanting. The Synod then declared: Peter had spoken by the mouth of Agatho. The Vatican Council in 1870 infallibly declared: And indeed all the venerable Fathers have embraced and the holy orthodox Doctors have venerated and followed their apostolic doctrine; knowing most fully that this See of Saint Peter remains ever free from all blemish of error, according to the divine promise of the LORD our SAVIOUR made to the Prince of His disciples: “I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not; and when thou art converted, confirm thy brethren.” (Luke 22:32) (DZ 1836)Saint Leo IX on September 2, 1053 states (DZ 351): Chap. 7 . . . The holy Church built upon a rock, that is Christ, and upon Peter or Cephas, the son of John who first was called Simon, because by the gates of Hell, that is, by the disputations of heretics which lead the vain to destruction, it would never be overcome; thus Truth itself promises, through whom are true, whatsoever things are true: “The gates of hell will not prevail against it”. The same Son declares that He obtained the effect of this promise from the Father by prayers, by saying to Peter: “Simon, behold Satan etc.” [Luke 23:31]. Therefore, will there be anyone so foolish as to dare to regard His prayer as in anyway vain whose being willing is being able? By the See of the chief of the Apostles, namely by the Roman Church, through the same Peter, as well as through his successors, have not the comments of all the heretics been disapproved, rejected, and overcome, and the hearts of the brethren in the faith of Peter which so far neither has failed, nor up to the end will fail, been strengthened? …(DZ 353) Chap. 32 . . . As the hinge while remaining immovable opens and closes the door, so Peter and his successors have free judgment over all the Church, since no one should remove their status because “the highest See is judged by no one.”Benedict XV, page 270-1: First Cardinal Giorgi read the profession of Faith formulated by the Tridentine and Vatican Councils. The Pope’s rochet, pectoral cross, and stole were put over his night clothes, but he was too weak to sit up and read the formula. Therefore, it was read a few words at a time, and the dying Pope repeated it. What the ritual demands is that the dying pontiff with what is almost his last breath prove that he holds securely to the deposit of Faith of which he was the supreme guardian.De Montor’s Lives of the Popes, volume 1, page 707: This pope ranks among the ecclesiastical writers, by his Commentary upon the book of Sentences. This book, first printed when he was a professor at Louvain, was reprinted without the author’s sanction when he was the head of Christendom. It is one proposition is that “the pope can err even in what concerns the faith,” a proposition which proves nothing in favor of the Protestants, though they often repeat it in their attacks on the infallibility of the sovereign pontiff, as it may be understood of the private opinions of the popes, and not be essentially applicable to their solemn decisions, still less to their decrees accepted by the body of bishops. Adrian, on the throne, also, retracted the censurable opinions contained in this book. What is said is proved by the results, because Catholic faith has always been preserved without stain in the Apostolic See. Pope Leo XIII in Satis Cognitum quoting the Creed written up for Hormisdas by the Eighth Council. Note that some suppor the proposition that a Pope can become a heretic, but some of these have been disproven, such as Pope Adrian VI. 
Michael Fighting
