Rest assured, Christ’s Church will prevail

Father John A. Kiley
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The nineteenth century meant tough times for Catholic Europe. Queen Elizabeth (Isabella) II of Spain was deposed in 1868. France toppled four monarchs during this epoch: Louis XVIII in 1824; Charles X in 1830; Louis Phillippe in 1848; and Napoleon III in 1870. Catholic Bavaria was absorbed by Protestant Prussia under the heavy and clever hand of Prince von Bismarck. The Austrian Emperor survived the century but endured humbling military defeats, outfoxed again by Bismarck. He also lost his Italian territories to the newly unifying Italy. The Papal States, most of central Italy, were also annexed into the newly forming Kingdom of Italy, much to the displeasure of Pius IX, who was twice driven into exile, but also twice restored to the Papal throne. France to the rescue!
Even though the Roman Church was not spared political turmoil, the people of Catholic Europe began to see the Pope and the papacy as the one constant fixture in the nineteenth century’s relentless mayhem. The Pope might have been driven into exile; he might have lost his territorial holdings; he might have had to rely on the kindness of strangers to survive; but he was never deposed! He was never toppled! His throne was secure, even if it had to be moved from Rome to Gaeta or to Civitavecchia or even to France. The Pope’s kingdom was not of this world; it would survive riots, rebellions, and revolutions. Pius IX, pontiff for thirty-two years, 1846-1878, especially became a symbol of stability in the midst of tumult in a rapidly changing Catholic Europe. Some Europeans, whom history labels “ultramontanes,” began to look “over the mountains,” over the Alps, for re-assurance.
Jesuit Father John O’Malley suggest in his book Vatican I that the celebrated decrees on Papal primacy and Papal infallibility resulting from that Ecumenical Council were supported in no small measure by the Catholic faithful who themselves were desperate for stability, security and a steady hand at the highest level. Although today Catholics link Vatican I mostly with papal infallibility, author O’Malley suggests that at the time Papal primacy – Church authority – was also a prime concern not just for the Pope and Church leaders but for the average believer. Pius IX, recalled today as a reactionary, was happy to go with this flow. The average nineteenth century Catholic wanted stability in the midst of chaos, so Pius IX obliged. He invoked an Ecumenical Council which made solemnly official the belief held from apostolic times that the Bishop of Rome “is the universal pastor and supreme head of the Catholic Church. He has full, supreme, immediate, and universal jurisdictional authority to govern the Church.” This decree means that no bishop, synod, or council of bishops can override his authority. Christ died and left the bishop of Rome Pope, so to speak.
Papal primacy, the Pope’s supreme governing authority, is actually distinct from papal infallibility, which expounds the Pontiff’s teaching authority. Strictly formal infallible teaching (de fide definita) has been rarely employed by the popes through the centuries. The dogmas of the Immaculate Conception in 1854 and the Assumption in 1950 are two prime examples. But papal primacy is invoked, for example, every time the pope appoints a bishop or revises the liturgy or canonizes a saint.
One Scriptural source for the Church’s teachings on papal primacy and papal infallibility is found in the Gospel passage for this coming Sunday, Matthew 16:17-19. All four Gospels have St. Peter’s confession of faith in Jesus as Messiah and Lord, but St. Matthew’s account is the most informative. Jesus clearly nominates St. Peter as the rock, the solid foundation, upon which the faithful of the Church can rely for both wise direction and sound teaching. Jesus famously declares, “You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Pope Pius IX’s actions in the nineteenth century gave the Catholic faithful some sense of security in the era’s tumultuous times. Jesus’ words in the first century were measured to give to the believing Church in every century abiding confidence in challenging times. Neither the gates of hell nor political disorder nor ecclesiastical turmoil will ever prevail over Christ’s Church. Rest assured.