Apologia Moment | Pope Francis

I'm Daniel Schultz and this is an Apologia Moment. You have probably heard about the latest scandal rocking the Roman Catholic Church. The reports of the sexual abuse that was rampant not only in Pennsylvania Catholic Churches, but in Catholic Churches across the world.

These scandals are astonishing and go back decades. This is a huge case that involves many high-level priests, cardinals, and bishops, including Pope Francis. Pope Francis has been accused of participating in the cover-up, even going so far as to remove penalties that had been given to one of the alleged perpetrators by the previous pope.

The Abuse Scandal and the Roman Catholic Church

When we are thinking about this situation as Christians, we need to think about what it reveals about not only Pope Francis and his integrity, or lack of integrity, but also what it reveals about the Roman Catholic Church as a whole.

Because of the Roman Catholic Church's false doctrine, this issue goes beyond just another abuse scandal. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that the pope holds the keys to the kingdom of God, that when the pope speaks in an official capacity, known as speaking ex cathedra, he is speaking for God himself.

According to Roman Catholics, the pope sits in an honored position of authority over the church and holds titles such as an alter Christus, another Christ, holy father, and the vicar.

Of Christ.

Papal Authority, Ex Cathedra, and False Doctrine

Yet, would the holy father do such a thing as cover up for his sexual predator? Would another Christ stoop so low as to ignore the abuses within the church? Would the vicar of Christ represent Christ in such a way as to bring his name dishonor?

The pope is a sinful man who represents a corrupt system that doesn't possess the true message of Jesus Christ. The true message of Jesus Christ isn't that you can work the plan of salvation by going to masses that can never perfect you, or by receiving indulgences on Twitter, or by accessing the excess merit of the saints, or bowing down and giving honor to idols, but rather that God himself came down in the form of a man, lived a perfect life, and died in the place of his people.

Jesus lived the perfect life that we couldn't, not so that we could join his work and ours in a synergistic effort to perfect ourselves, but to live that life for us so that we might be given it by his grace.

Christ Alone, Grace, and Repentance for the Pope

A few years ago, when Francis was named as the new pope, evangelicals swooned over him, lauding him for his charity and his openness to people with AIDS and afflictions.

As our new pope, he was very, very symbolic in, you know, his first mass with people of AIDS. His kissing of the deformed man, his loving the children, this authenticity, this humility, the caring for the poor.

This is what the whole world expects us Christians to do.

Not only did these Christian leaders ignore the blasphemous activities of the pope, but they are currently silent on his scandal. These people have vested interest in keeping up appearances, whether it be Catholic or evangelical leaders.

Why Christians Should Call the Pope to Repentance

So we have to ask ourselves, as Christians, we have to ask ourselves a question. As the growing surge of conservative voices are calling for the pope to resign, should we call for the pope to resign? No, we should call him to repentance for all of the gross idolatry he has practiced and.

Taught.

We should call him to faith in a Christ that saves to the uttermost all those who draw near to him through faith. We should call the pope to use his voice not to cover up scandals or to solve climate change or to resign over scandals, but we should call him to extol the virtues of Jesus Christ, the only Christ who was sent by the true Holy Father to pay the penalty for our sin and who sent the true representative, the Holy Spirit, as his witness to his people that they might walk in newness of life.

The pope shouldn't resign. He should repent.