"Bigotry" and the Status of the Catholic Church

In a recent letter to the weekly newspaper "The Irish Catholic", a Pastor of the Cork Free Presbyterian Church accuses the Catholic Church of "bigotry" for re-affirming that Protestant communities are not "Churches".

In a recent letter to a National Daily he also rejects the statement that the Head of the Catholic Church is Jesus Christ, quoting statements in the Catholic Encyclopaedia calling the Pope 'the Supreme Head of the Church'.

"Bigotry", according to the Chambers Encyclopaedia, means "a blind and obstinate attachment to one's own ideas and opinions, and rejection of that of others". It is not being blind or obstinate - not bigotry - to say, "You are wrong for the following reasons" - on the contrary, it invites understanding.

The relevant Vatican document explains that Protestant communities, not having Apostolic Succession or valid Sacraments, do not qualify as what Catholics mean by "Churches". Christ founded one Church, not Churches. The historical evidence is incontrovertible that the individual groupings of Christians (also called 'Catholics' from the beginning) were not autonomous, isolated communities but tightly bound and organised under their bishops, who were in communion with Rome. In this sense, they have been called "Churches".

The Pastor, with respect, mixes up the ways in which the Church, as a Divine Institution with an Earthly dimension, has a Head. Christ is the Head of the Catholic Church (Green Catechism, Q151) and the Pope is His visible Head of the Church on Earth - the Vicar of Christ (Q152). The Church has three parts - the Church Triumphant in Heaven, the Church Militant on Earth, and the Church Suffering in Purgatory. The Pope is the Supreme Head of the Church on Earth, but his power is entirely derived from Christ. Pastor Maxwell, in a recent public debate here in Cork, has accused the Pope of usurping Christ, because he does not grasp this distinction.

The Encyclopaedia does not mention this distinction each and every time it refers to the Pope as Supreme Head of the Church because it is common knowledge. Quoting small passages out of context is a mistake that Catholics have often pointed out among our Protestant friends. As for the historical reality of the Papacy, it is a firmly attested fact of history. There never was, and the Romans never heard of, a religion called "Christianity". They dealt with - and the pagans hated - a definite Organisation that had rules, discipline and a visible Head. (There was a chamber in the catacombs devoted entirely to the tombs of Popes - from 2nd and 3rd centuries).It had a name. Its name was, and is, "The Catholic Church". It was this Organisation that defined the Sacred Books, preserved literacy and trained monks to copy out the Bible by hand for a thousand years. That is why we can read it now.