Can you shed some light on my continued confusion over the papacy?

[20purple02]

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Old Nov 24, '04, 11:10 am How were sinful popes infallible?
“Infallibility has to do with the Holy Spirit guarding the Church from teaching error. It has nothing to do with the personal sanctity of the popes. The fact that some popes were such scoundrels only testifies the more to the protection from error that the Church enjoys. Not one of those popes brought error to the Church’s teachings.”
Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.

Current question
Dear Father Serpa:

First, let me state I am not Catholic. My husband is Catholic and I visit your site to ask questions and learn. My questions are always asked with respect and confusion. If I understand correctly, Peter was the first pope. If this is true then the occasional “bad” pope breaks the succession of popes. Even if the bad popes did not make errors in teaching, how is succession intact? Isn’t the Papacy much more than an instrument of instruction? The bad popes had to affect the church in other ways. I have been reading/searching in the encyclopaedia but have not found the subject matter. I hope I have articulated my confusion so you can help me understand. Thank you for your time.

Gail B.

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Dear Gail,

The Lord’s Church, like its’ founder, is both human and divine. Unlike Him, it’s human side suffers the effects of original sin. Its’ healers are wounded and have been so in varying degrees since St. Peter who denied his Lord three times. In the end he suffered and died for Him. But in the interim his life had its’ ups and downs. The fact that some who succeeded him in the office of the papacy, were great sinners, doesn’t lessen the objective character of the office itself. This is true of priests as well. The Church teaches that the validity of the sacraments does not depend on the sanctity of the priests who administer them. The nature of a sacrament is that it has objective value regardless of the behavior of the one who has received it. When someone who is steeped in sin, receives Jesus in the Eucharist, he still receives Jesus because Jesus is objectively present in the sacrament apart from the recipient’s state of soul.

Jesus doesn’t guarantee that his priests will be holy; he guarantees that the power He gives them in ordination is His power and not theirs. It is HIS priesthood. He is in control and He is the one who keeps the chain unbroken from pope to pope. We have, indeed, had some very holy popes after some very bad ones. But most have been good.

For more, see:

oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=Pope

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.