Papacy and Protestant Folly

Listening to a radio show last week, a Protestant called saying( or saying something to this effect): “I follow no Pope! Christianity is all about a ‘personal relationship’ with Christ. I pray to him alone, I ask for forgiveness and favours in personally to God. Its about relationship – not religion.” Catholics in union with the New-Rome will find nothing wrong in that comment, especially when we consider the preponderance of protestant theology within the Novus Ordo circles. There is NOTHING RIGHT in that comment, and I will explain under two headings.

“I Follow No Pope!”

Going back to  the old testament, men have always been moved by the devil to revolt against God’s authority. They have always wanted to pick a king by themselves and not take instructions from God’s anointed. They craved for a sort of  democracy. To Moses they said; “Who made you a ruler and a Judge!” (Acts 7:38) To quiet this ever-growing thirst at that time, Gideon announced: “I will not rule over you and my Son will not rule over you. The Lord will rule over you.”( Judges 8:24)  When they finally ushered themselves into this “democratic” regime, they suffered greatly because barely 10 out of over 40 kings( who ruled Israel and Judah) between 1049 B.C. and 586 B.C. ruled well. Most where either evil or just foolish.

In our time, God governs the Church through the Papacy -“on this rock, I will build my Church”(Matt. 16:18). Men who turned against the Papacy eventually ended up creating a sect and MADE THEMSELVES the head. It is not just a cry against a “Popish” religion but also an expression of an inherent intention of being at the head – in other words, it has pride at its roots. Martin Luther broke away and formed the Lutheran religion, of course enthroned himself as the head of the Lutheran movement. King Henry VIII formed the Anglican communion and made himself the head of the sect despite the existence of the seat of Archbishop of Canterbury. Even within the Anti-Catholic fold, men such as Charles T. Russell protested against the Congregationalists and jumped to Seventh Day Adventist, he also revolted before forming what we now know today as Jehovah’s Witness. He also MADE HIMSELF the head of the sect – as usual. This main character among the “Anti-Papal” camp is the main reason why Protestantism has no unified doctrine and today they have over 9,000 denominations in the world and if we include the “Independents and the Marginals” (like Jehovah’s Witness, Unitarians, Mormons etc) the number rises up to 33,000 denominations! Jesus Christ pointed to a distinct feature of His Church when He said, “there shall be One Fold, One Shepherd!”(John 10:16). When the people of Israel rejected Samuel, God told Samuel: “They have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me”(1 Sam. 8:7). The same applies to those who reject the Papacy.

“Personal Relationship” with God

I have never seen the word “personal relationship with God” in the bible. The Jews in the old testament, never subscribed to this method for they had their priests and their temples for sacrifices. Christ will NEVER used that sentence because this term because destroys the very concept of Congregation. The early Christians met for the breaking of the bread, just as the also remained together when the Holy Spirit descended upon them. If a Christian can “personally” obtain all his spiritual needs from God at the comfort of his home, “what is the need to go to Church?” – he thinks! To this poor soul, the church now becomes a socializing joint! Such notion undermines especially the sanctifying nature of the Church. Jesus Christ found the Church to teach, govern and SANCTIFY all men.

There is a fine line between “Personal Sanctification” and “Personal Relationship”. When we make good use of the sacraments of the Church for the sanctification of our souls – that can be called Personal Sanctification since it is a personal effort made to keep the soul in state of grace. In this case we approach God through the means prescribed by the Church and not just inventing a devotion we think fit for the Most High. The Church through its Sacraments provides the means through which we remain in the state of grace. God loves us and the only way to return his love is to keep his commandments(John 14:15).  We look to the Church to guide us as we observe God’s commandments. When we keep his commandments, we surely tread on the path of personal sanctification.

Kyrie Eleison