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THE INFALLIBLE POPE

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Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Feb 24, 1881

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 7, No. 8.

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THE INFALLIBLE POPE

THE Pope of Rome was declared infallible, July 18, 1870, by the following decree:—
“We, therefore, faithfully adhering to the traditions received from the beginning of the Christian faith, for the glory of God our Saviour, the exaltation of the Christian people, the sacred council giving it sanction; teach and define that it is a dogma divinely revealed, that the Pope of Rome, when he speaks ex-cathedra—that is, when discharging the duty of pastor and teacher of all Christians, he defines a doctrine by his supreme apostolic authority either about faith or morals, to be held by the universal church, by the divine assistance promised him in most blessed Peter—is possessed of that infallibility by which the divine Redeemer wished his church to be instructed; therefore, definitions of the Roman Pontiff of this description are of themselves irreformable and not from the consent of the church. But if any one shall presume to contradict this definition of ours, which may God avert, let him be anathema.” (Accursed.)
The Pope had made great arrangements for a grand display, when the decree was to be read. He had made a scaffold on the east side of his palace, on which he planned to appear arrayed in glittering diamonds and pearls, so that the first rays of the rising sun would so make him glitter and shine, that the people would proclaim him God. But the sun did not rise in splendor that morning; it rose amidst clouds and storm. It is said to have been a very dark, gloomy day in Rome. While the infallibility decree was being read, the thunder and lightning was so terrific that a Cardinal sprang to his feet, exclaiming: “God is angry with the Pope on account of his words,” and when the eyes of the aged Pontiff could no longer discern the writing, he handed the paper to a Cardinal to finish the reading.
On the very next day, July 19, Napoleon III. withdrew his army from Rome on account of the Franco-Prussian war. And Sept. 20, 1870, the Italians entered Rome, made the Pope practically a prisoner in the Vatican, took away from him the last vestige of temporal power, sold many of his goods at auction, and made Rome the capital of the Italian States. Thus the poor, deluded Pope was not as infallible in his power as he proclaimed himself to be in his opinions and doctrine.
How wonderfully has the word of the Lord been fulfilled concerning this great power. Prior to the time mentioned above, the Romish church was supported by different kings, who in turn supported her by the power of arms (see Rev. 17), but since this event she has been seated upon “the waters,” which are explained to mean “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” The Pope has been supported by Peter’s pence, a small amount from each Catholic of all nations, though it constitutes a large sum in the aggregate. All that now remains of prophetic declaration as to her fate, is for her to “be utterly burned with fire.” When this is done, the resurrection comes. The kingdom long ago promised to the faithful saints will be given.—W. N. Tenney, in Bible Banner.