Are ecumenical (or
other) councils equal to or superior to the Pope?
Answer / Resources:
[click link(s) below, as applicable]
No. The Pope's
authority in the Church is supreme. Although councils may enjoy
infallibility in certain matters, they may do so only when in union with the
Pope. As stated by the First Vatican Council...
"[T]hey stray
from the straight path of truth who affirm that it is permitted to appeal from
the judgments of the Roman Pontiffs to an ecumenical Council, as to an authority
higher than the Roman Pontiff."
Those who argue from
Scripture that Christ bestowed similar powers to the other apostles as He
gave to
St. Peter ignore the fact that St. Peter alone was given the keys, which
indicates supreme authority. Nowhere in Scripture are the keys attributed to the
other apostles.
+ + +
"The Pope has the
plenitude of power in the Church" (St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church and
'greatest theologian in the history of the Church')
"When God gave to
Blessed Peter the princely power of binding and loosing in heaven and on earth,
He made no exception, and withdrew nothing from his power." (Pope Gregory VII,
1081 A.D.)
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