(2-11-11)
***
“The Pope and God are the same. So he has all [the] power in Heaven and earth.” — Pope Pius V, quoted in Barclay.
[seen on a Facebook page tonight, but obviously gotten from somewhere else off the Internet. “The” in brackets is added from the usual “quotation” used, seen below]
***
Here are examples of many anti-Catholic sites using the botched citation, without checking it for accuracy (a basic, rudimentary, elementary requirement of all serious research). No one ever links to something that can be checked out online, or finds any semblance of an original source (I found a real source within ten minutes of searching). Instead, we get “Barclay,” chapter so-and-so. Huh?:
“The Pope and God are the same, so he has all power in Heaven and earth.” Pope Pius V, quoted in Barclay, Chapter XXVII, p. 218, “Cities Petrus Bertanous”.
(“Amazing Catholic Statements Regarding the Pope,” Let There be Lies, er Light Ministries)
“The Pope and God are the same, so he has all power in Heaven and earth.” — Pope Pius V, quoted in Barclay, Chapter XXVII, p. 218, “Cities Petrus Bertanous.”
The same quote also appeared on these pages:
(“666, the Pope, Anti-Christ & Vatican – For Dummies!”)
(“Who is the AntiChrist: The Beast of Revelation 13”)
(“Words of a Beast”)
(“Mystery Babylon”)
(“The Roman Catholic Church’s Shame”)
(“Bible Prophecy – False Doctrine”)
Etc., etc. ad nauseam . . . See many more by consulting the same Google search that I did:
This is a complete distortion of what was actually written, wickedly spread by anti-Catholic sites. The actual statement comes from Pope St. Pius V’s Bull Against [Queen] Elizabeth / Regnans in Excelsis (27 April 1570). It begins:
Pius Bishop, servant of the servants of God, in lasting memory of the matter.
He that reigneth on high, to whom is given all power in heaven and earth, has committed one holy Catholic and apostolic Church, outside of which there is no salvation, to one alone upon earth, namely to Peter, the first of the apostles, and to Peter’s successor, the pope of Rome, to be by him governed in fullness of power.
(from the Tudorhistory.org website; the wording in Papal Encyclicals Online is identical; see also the original Latin version)
The phrase is about God, not about the pope:
1) God, the one that reigns on high.
2) “To whom is given all power in heaven and earth” — obviously referring to Jesus, about Whom this is stated in Scripture.
3) . . . has committed [the Church] . . .
4) ” to one alone upon earth, . . . Peter’s successor”
It’s been quoted radically out of context and with a completely invented addition, by people with an agenda who don’t care about accuracy. Another phrase in the Bull also clearly distinguishes between the pope and God:
“. . . we (who by God’s goodness are called to the aforesaid government of the Church) . . .”
Catholics have never believed that the pope is God. That’s utterly ridiculous. It is a damnable lie spread by anti-Catholics.
***
***
Photo credit: Portrait of Pius V, Pope, by El Greco (1541-1614) [public domain / Wikimedia Commons]
***
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In