Papacy: Protestants do not believe, in the Papacy, because they claim it is not specifically written in Sacred Scriptures. In truth, by the definition of papacy, it is the office held by the pope, the leader of the Catholic Church. It indicates clearly that one man is given authority to lead the people of God, here on earth.
Protestants, argue that the papacy, with its claims of authority and infallibility, lacks biblical foundation and is not a necessary structure for the Christian church.
Response: Christ Himself gave authority to Peter, to administer His Church (Matthew 16: 18 and John 18:15-27). With this authority comes infallibility. What Protestants are not aware of is that the infallibility of the Pope, is only in matters of faith and doctrines and must be from his chair (ex cathedra). He first gathers the bishops and they pray over the issue, before he makes that pronunciation Throughout Church history only two infallible statements have been made by popes. The 1854 declaration by Pope Pius IX on the Immaculate Conception and the 1950 declaration by Pope Pius XII on the Assumption of Mary.
We all accept that only God can forgive sins, but Jesus Christ gave the power to forgive sins, to Peter and the apostles, He made their decision on forgiveness of sins, infallible.
Many Protestants argue that there is no clear biblical text that establishes a single, supreme leader over the church, or that designates Peter as such. There are lots of evidence in Sacred Scripture to support a single supreme leader. Please read, below.
To the Protestants, Matthew 16:18 the mention of Rock in Matthew 16:18 refers to Peter’s faith or the truth of the gospel rather than to Peter as the first pope.
Response: Peter’s strong faith in Jesus, was what Jesus saw in him and made him the leader of His Church
Protestants generally believe that individual believers, guided by the Holy Spirit and Scripture, are ultimately the authority in matters of faith and practice. So, the Pope does not possess the unique authority to interpret scripture and make doctrinal decisions. And his authority is not based on divine mandate but on human power structures.
Response: If that is the way to look at things, then all church leaders in Protestant churches do not also have the authority to interpret scripture.
Protestants often emphasize the role of the church as the body of believers, with individual congregations having autonomy rather than a centralized hierarchical structure led by the Pope.
In the Bible, there is evidence that some people have been set apart to interpret the Word of God. Jesus in Matthew 13: 10-15, explained that only a few people are gifted with the interpretation of the Word of God. In Luke 24: 13-35, Jesus joined two disciples on their way to Emmaus who were caught trying to understand events of the crucifixion. He opened their minds when He interpreted the Scriptures to them. And in Acts 20:26-40, the Holy Spirit sent Phillip to an Ethiopian eunuch, who was trying to understand what he was reading from the scriptures and the apostle interpreted it to him.
Many Protestants argue that the idea of apostolic succession, where bishops are believed to have inherited authority from the apostles, is not supported by scripture or historical evidence.
Response: This perception is very wrong. There are scriptural evidences, below.
Protestants often cite the distinction between clergy and laity, and the hierarchical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, as being unbiblical.
Again, there are evidences where the early church had the clergy and the laity. The apostles visited communities and established the church there, leaving it in the hands of appointed personnel who were filled with the Holy Spirit and could instruct the laity the way they should go.
Going through Sacred Scriptures, there are instances, where someone is made to lead the God’s people and after their death, someone succeeds them. Abraham was picked by God and after him, his son Isaac took over. Mind you Isaac was not the first born. After Isaac came Jacob, who was also not the eldest.
Moses was chosen by God to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and after him, Joshua took over. In the natural order of things, a group, community, nation must have one leader who will have the authority over everybody and these leaders are succeeded after they die or quit the position.
Based on Peter’s proclamation about who Jesus is, in Matthew 16:16, Jesus elevated Peter in Matthew 16: 18-19, saying,“And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church,and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it.I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in Heaven; and whatever you loose, on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.”
The significance of being given the Keys, establishes an administrative leadership and authority second to Jesus. Jesus’ statement is in reference to what God said in Isaiah 22:20-22, “On that day I will summon my servant Eliakim, son of Hilkiah; I will clothe him with your robe, gird him with your sash, confer on him your authority. He shall be a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Judah. I will place the key of the House of David on his shoulder; what he opens, no one will shut, what he shuts, no one will open.” In 2 Kings 18:37, Eliakim was mentioned as the master of the palace.
Peter, then took leadership over the other eleven as recorded in various passages, as the spokesman for the apostles, (Mt. 18:21; Mk. 8:29; Lk. 12:41 and Jn. 6:67-68); as the central figure in dramatic scenes in the Gospel, (Mt. 14:27-28; Mt. 17: 24-25; Mk. 8: 29 and Lk. 5: 3-8) and he was always named first when the apostles are listed, (Mt.10:2; Mk. 3:16-17; Lk. 6:13-14 and Acts 1:13). The Gospels make explicit statements about St. Peter’s unique role in the Church, (Mt. 16: 15-19; Lk. 22: 31-32 and Jn. 21: 15-17) and Luke in the Acts of the Apostles acknowledges Peter’s leadership role. (Acts 2: 14; 3:6; 3:12; 4:8; 5:3; 5: 15; 5:29; 8:20; 9:34; 9:40; 10: 9-10; 10:34; 10: 46-47; 11:4 and 15:7.
After St. Peter died, his vacant chair was occupied by St. Linus and he was succeeded after his death and the succession continued to this day and era.
Protestants also condemns apostolic succession, claiming that it has no biblical references. In Acts 1: 15-26, the Peter stood in the midst of one-hundred and twenty brothers, and told them that scriptures had to be fulfilled through the Holy Spirit, quoting from Psalm 109: 8, that someone was to take Judas’ place. And so, they picked Barsabbas and Mathias, and after praying to the Holy Spirit for directions, the cast lots and Mathias won to replace Judas as an apostle.
This is an apostolic succession and if Judas could be replaced, then what about the leader, Peter? The Catholic Church has kept this tradition to this day, because Jesus Christ wanted someone to lead His church at all times.
Peter was made the leader by Jesus, but on that Thursday night of His Passion, Peter denied his Lord and Master, three times as recorded in Matthew 26:69-75, Mark 14:66-72, Luke 22:54-62, and John 18:15-27. By this he voluntarily relinquished his role as leader.
All the same, Jesus had faith in him and in John 21: 15-17, He asked Peter, thrice, whether he loves Him and thrice Peter professed love for Christ, from the debt of his heart, even acknowledging his short comings. By professing love, which is the greatest of all the virtues (1 Corinthians 13:13), Peter was restored to his leadership role. Peter was asked to feed and tend to the sheep and lambs of Jesus, meaning he was to take care of the Church.
The Catholic Church, which was the only Church founded by Jesus, has respected Jesus’ command to this day and so whenever the Chair of Peter is vacant (sedevacante), someone must be elected through the Holy Spirit to occupy that Chair.
Conclave:Today, May 7, 2025, the Conclave begins with only one balloting for the first day. If no cardinal gets at least the required two-third majority, to be elected pope, the balloting will continue the following day with two ballots in the morning and two in the evening, until a cardinal gets elected. Every balloting will be afresh, until if after the thirty-fourth balloting, no cardinal gets elected, then only the top two cardinals will be voted on in the next ballot.
The balloting will be secret and a cardinal can vote for himself, which never used to be the case, until reformations in the elections of pope came up.The reformations did not permit cardinals to vote for themselves, neither did they prohibit that.
The Conclave begins with a solemn oath of secrecy and the traditional extra omnes command, which dismisses all non-cardinals from the chapel. The electors, that is cardinals below the age of 80 will pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit and there will be some exhortation after, with emphasis placed on where the Church and the world are today. Then they will proceed with rest of the agenda.
When a cardinal is elected pope, and he accepts it, he will be taken to a room to put on pope’s garment and led to the famous window where the senior cardinal deacon will announce to the people in the square and the world, the traditional words, HabemusPapam (We have a Pope).
In as much as all Ghanaians want Cardinal Appiah Tuckson to be elected Pope, we must pray to the Holy Spirit to choose him. He makes the choice because the pope is about Jesus and His Sanctam Ecclésiam Cathòlicam.
Hon Daniel Dugan
