The assumption that the Pope is wrong, and you and your peers are right is sinful pride. This is the way that the opponents of Pope Francis think. They say they must oppose Pope Francis because he is clearly wrong. They say that any faithful Catholic can compare the teachings of Tradition or the clear meaning of past magisterial teachings to the teachings of Pope Francis and see that he is wrong. But they are presuming a certain indefectibility or even infallibility in themselves, which is only found in the Pope and in the body of Bishops led by the Pope.

When a member of the Church, who does not have the charism of truth and never-failing faith given to the Roman Pontiff, when a group of clergy and laity in the Church, who do not have the participation in the charism of truth and never-failing faith given to the body of Bishops led by the Roman Pontiff, think that they are right and the Pope is wrong, are they necessary right? No, why would they be? This is the main error of the accusers of Pope Francis. They cannot imagine that they could possibly be wrong.

Here is an example of this type of presumption: “You who rightly scorn the Communism of the clergy, do you have mercy on the poor? You who justly rebuke bishops for their cowardice, are you then courageous to preach the Gospel? You who burn with righteous indignation at the sins of the Holy Father, do you burn with charity also to forgive him?” [OnePeterFive, Advent Reflections on the Four Last Things: Judgment, T. S. Flanders December 9, 2023]

The above quote accuses the clergy in general of “Communism”, some bishops of cowardice, and accuses the Roman Pontiff, Pope Francis, of grave sins — the gravity is indicated by the phrasing “burn with righteous indignation”. All these accusations above are simply assumed. Then the author presents himself as holy by encouraging the readers, who accept these accusation as if fact, to holiness. This is like the prayer of the Pharisee in the temple, who assumes the publican is wicked and beneath him, while presenting himself to God as if he were holy. This attitude is always sinful, and it is all the more sinful when the Roman Pontiff and the body of Bishops are accused contrary to the indefectibility of the Church or the charism of truth and never-failing faith of the Pope (in which the Bishops participate when they teach or rule as a body led by the Pope).

You are not necessarily right in opposing the Pope. No matter how clear it seems to your fallen sinful mind that the Pope must have erred gravely — you just can’t understand the situation any other way! — if the situation is that either you are a heretic, or the Pope is a heretic, then it is certain that you are a heretic. The Pope only seems to be a heretic to you because you are looking at his words and deeds through your own heretical eyes. To a heretic, faithful doctrine looks like heresy. You must not assume that your own understanding of the faith is certain (and essentially dogma); it is not.

Saint John the Baptist, after proclaiming Jesus to be the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, doubted and sent two of his disciples to ask Jesus if He was the predicted Messiah, or would there be another after Him. Saint Joseph, after his betrothal to the Blessed Virgin Mary, decided to divorce her quietly — he decided to divorce the Mother of God !!! — and had to be corrected by an angel in a dream. Some of the holiest fallen members of the Church misunderstood very weighty matters of faith, and had to be corrected by God. So you, a fallen sinner who is not a Saint, a sinner who rails against Popes, Bishops, and Councils, how can you claim to judge and condemn the Vicar of Christ or the Bishops as a body or an Ecumenical Council by your own judgment and the judgment of those like you? That is sinful ignorant pride.

Part of the reason they are convinced of their own correctness is certainly pride, gravely sinful pride. They have made themselves out to be judges over all things in religion and even society. Some of them have built a large following online, a following that treats them as an ultra-reliable source of religious truth. They have long presented themselves as persons who can teach definitively, and they are treated that way by their adherents.

Another factor is that these opponents of the Pope are part of a subculture in the Church. When the subculture reaches a consensus on religion, the adherents of that subculture think that they cannot be wrong. Everyone they respect in religion, everyone they have turned to for answers and guidance for many years, is in that subculture. So they tend to assume that the subculture and its leaders cannot err.

But Christ did not made any subculture the Rock on which the Church is founded. No subculture, neither liberal, nor conservative, nor traditionalist, nor any other, was made the Head of the Church. Indefectibility was given to the Church, not to an ideology or subculture. The papal charisms are given only to the Pope, though the body of Bishops can participate in some of these charisms when led by the Pope. Only Peter and his successors hold the Keys, though the Bishops exercise this same authority only with and under the Roman Pontiff.

Over time, many conservatives and traditionalists have transferred their loyalty from the Pope and body of Bishops to an ideological subculture. So when that culture opposes the Pope, they oppose him. Then a Pope or Ecumenical Council teaches contrary to that subculture, they reject the teaching. When a liberal Pope was elected, i.e. Pope Francis, then certain conservatives and traditionalists — those who trust the subculture and its ideology more than they trust the Church and Her Magisterium — turned against the Pope and against every Bishop who supports and follows him. They treat the Pope with malice, contempt, denigration and ridicule. For they think that their group is holy and faithful and understands the Faith perfectly merely because the group adheres to the ideology of that subculture (conservatism or traditionalism).

FAITH means believing what the Pope or the Pope and the body of Bishops teaches, whether infallible or non-infallible. FAITH means believing even when your own mind and heart cannot see how that can be true. If you only believe what your own mind tells you is right, you are no different from an atheist.

Ronald L Conte Jr