By Anthony Esolen, Crisis Magazine, Sept. 20, 2023
Dr. Anthony Esolen is the author of 28 books on literature, culture, and the Christian life, whose most recent work is In the Beginning Was the Word: An Annotated Reading of the Prologue of John. He and his wife Debra also produce a new web magazine, Word and Song, devoted to reintroducing people to the good, the true, and the beautiful.
The pope is not a free agent. His authority, humanly considered, flows from his submission to and dependence upon Peter, that fisherman, that first pilot of the bark of the Church.
I do not desire to wander from the way.
We Catholics believe that when the pope teaches ex cathedra on a matter of faith or morals, the Holy Spirit protects him from wandering—from error. That is what infallible means. The word does not guarantee wisdom, courage, temperance, or even a just appraisal of his political or ecclesiastical enemies. It means that his teaching will not veer out of the path, even though he, as a man, may well do so. …