The Pope

I like the Pope.

Don't stone me yet. There is a very good reason for both Christians and Catholics to like Pope Benedict.

Last summer, Joseph Ratzinger, as Pope Benedict, issued through the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, a branch of the Vatican, a response to some questions regarding the doctrine of the Church (Roman Catholic). Here is the pertinent question:

FIFTH QUESTION

Why do the texts of the Council and those of the Magisterium since the Council not use the title of “Church” with regard to those Christian Communities born out of the Reformation of the sixteenth century?

RESPONSE

According to Catholic doctrine, these Communities do not enjoy apostolic succession in the sacrament of Orders, and are, therefore, deprived of a constitutive element of the Church. These ecclesial Communities which, specifically because of the absence of the sacramental priesthood, have not preserved the genuine and integral substance of the Eucharistic Mystery cannot, according to Catholic doctrine, be called “Churches” in the proper sense.

The Supreme Pontiff Benedict XVI, at the Audience granted to the undersigned Cardinal Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, ratified and confirmed these Responses, adopted in the Plenary Session of the Congregation, and ordered their publication.

What did he say? Basically, Benedict plainly declared that the churches that came out of the Reformation cannot be considered true churches. You're still trying to figure out why this makes me giddy, aren't you?

Here's the deal: We finally have a church leader who has the courage to say what most church leaders, Protestant, Catholic, or Oprahnarian, won't. The Catholic church is NOT the Protestant church.

Frankly we're toying with iceberg tips; it goes way beyond apostolic succession which itself doesn't have a whole lot of biblical support. It gets right down to theological basics. Basics about the church. Basics about salvation. Etcetera.

So John Cardinal Ratzinger pierced the bullseye when he drew a stark line between Roman Catholicism and the Church of the Reformation. Apples and oranges.

And here's the rub, folks: Both can't be right! Who's to say? Sure would be nice if there was a standard by which we could determine what the church should look like...Oh yeah! It's called the Bible.

Sola scriptura. Sola fide. Sola gratia. Solus Christus.

Soli Deo Gloria!