Each Pope has the charism of truth and never-failing faith. So then how could Saint Peter the Apostle have failed in faith when he denied Christ three times at the time of the Passion and Crucifixion of Jesus? Certainly, to deny Christ is a grave failure of faith.

The answer is that Peter was not yet Roman Pontiff at that time. The Pontificate of Peter, his role as Vicar of Christ and as the visible head of the Church on earth, did not begin until Christ was no longer the visible Head of the Church on earth. So Peter’s Pontificate began at the Ascension of Christ. And this is the teaching of the Magisterium.

First Council of Lyons: “The Son of God, Jesus Christ, for the redemption of the human race descended from the height of heaven to the lowest part of the world and underwent a temporal death. But when after his Resurrection he was about to ascend to his Father, that he might not leave the flock redeemed by his glorious blood without a shepherd, he entrusted its care to the blessed apostle Peter, so that by the firmness of his own faith he might strengthen others in the Christian religion and kindle their minds with the ardor of devotion to the works of their salvation.”

Pope Pius XII, Mystical Body of Christ, 40: “But we must not think that He rules only in a hidden or extraordinary manner. On the contrary, our Redeemer also governs His Mystical Body in a visible and normal way through His Vicar on earth. You know, Venerable Brethren, that after He had ruled the “little flock” Himself during His mortal pilgrimage, Christ our Lord, when about to leave this world and return to the Father, entrusted to the Chief of the Apostles the visible government of the entire community He had founded. Since He was all wise He could not leave the body of the Church He had founded as a human society without a visible head. Nor against this may one argue that the primacy of jurisdiction established in the Church gives such a Mystical Body two heads. For Peter in view of his primacy is only Christ’s Vicar; so that there is only one chief Head of this Body, namely Christ, who never ceases Himself to guide the Church invisibly, though at the same time He rules it visibly, through him who is His representative on earth. After His glorious Ascension into Heaven this Church rested not on Him alone, but on Peter, too, its visible foundation stone. That Christ and His Vicar constitute one only Head is the solemn teaching of Our predecessor of immortal memory Boniface VIII in the Apostolic Letter Unam Sanctam; and his successors have never ceased to repeat the same.”

Pope Leo XIII, Satis Cognitum, 11: “The nature of this supreme authority, which all Christians are bound to obey, can be ascertained only by finding out what was the evident and positive will of Christ. Certainly Christ is a King for ever; and though invisible, He continues unto the end of time to govern and guard His church from Heaven. But since He willed that His kingdom should be visible He was obliged, when He ascended into Heaven, to designate a vice-gerent on earth.
[Pope Leo XIII then quotes St. Thomas:]
” ‘Should anyone say that Christ is the one head and the one shepherd, the one spouse of the one Church, he does not give an adequate reply. It is clear, indeed, that Christ is the author of grace in the Sacraments of the Church; it is Christ Himself who baptizes; it is He who forgives sins; it is He who is the true priest who bath offered Himself upon the altar of the cross, and it is by His power that His body is daily consecrated upon the altar; and still, because He was not to be visibly present to all the faithful, He made choice of ministers through whom the aforesaid Sacraments should be dispensed to the faithful as said above’ (cap. 74).
” ‘For the same reason, therefore, because He was about to withdraw His visible presence from the Church, it was necessary that He should appoint someone in His place, to have the charge of the Universal Church. Hence before His Ascension He said to Peter: “Feed my sheep” ‘ (St. Thomas, Contra Gentiles, lib. iv., cap. 76).”

An Ecumenical Council, two Roman Pontiffs, and Saint Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church, all explain the same point, that Saint Peter the Apostle was NOT the Vicar of Christ and Roman Pontiff UNTIL Christ ascended to Heaven. At that point, Christ was no longer the visible head of the Church, and He willed that the faithful continue to have a visible head of the Church in His place. So the Pontificate of Peter, and his reception and use of the papal charisms, began only at the Ascension of Christ.

So then, at the time of the Passion and Crucifixion of Christ, Peter was not yet Pope and did not have the charism of truth and never-failing faith. Therefore, his grave failure in faith by denying Christ three times was not the failure in faith of a Pope, nor a proof against the charism of truth and never-failing faith, since he had not yet received it. That charism is only granted to each Roman Pontiff DURING his pontificate.

And this is why Jesus says to Peter, “But I have prayed for you, so that your faith may not fail, and so that you, once converted, may confirm your brothers.” The wording indicates the future reception of the charism by Peter, after his conversion. It also indicates that every Pope receives a conversion, to the extent and of the type needed, as soon as he becomes Pope, so as to be in conformity with the charism of truth and never-failing faith. Thus Vigilius was converted from a manifest heretic and schismatic to a rock of never-failing faith, when he became true Pope.

Before a man becomes Pope, he does not yet have the papal charisms. After a man is no longer Pope, as when he willingly resigns, he no longer has the papal charisms.

So the charism of truth and never-failing faith cannot be refuted by reference to the failure of faith of Peter when he denied Christ three times at the Crucifixion.

Ronald L Conte Jr