Friday, February 9, 2024

E. Sylvester Berry on the Temporal Power of the Pope being of "Divine Right"

  

Our Lord conferred no temporal kingdom upon St. Peter; consequently we cannot say that temporal power is a matter of divine institution; but it is conditionally of divine right, for, since the pope is exempt from all temporal power by divine right, whatever is necessary to protect and preserve this immunity is also of divine right, but only on condition that other suitable means cannot be found to serve the same purpose. Temporal power seems to be the only possible means to secure the necessary freedom and independence of the pope in the government of the Church; but whether this power should be restricted to a small territory, as at present, or extended to a larger dominion, as formerly, must be judged from circumstances. Either condition presents many advantages over the other, and both also have disadvantages. (E. Sylvester Berry, The Church of Christ: An Apologetic and Dogmatic Treatise [Frederick County, Md.: Mount Saint Mary's Seminary, 1955; repr., Eugene, Oreg.: Wipf and Stock, 2009], 312-13)