Understanding the Role of the Pope

Some people became confused because they objected, for instance,

to some statement that the Pope made or some action that

he, he, he did, which they could do

because the Pope is, is, yes, he's the successor of Christ

on Earth, but he's also a h- a, a man, and sometimes the

Pope speaks as a man, uh, and sometimes he speaks

as the vicar of Christ on Earth. And if, if the Pope makes a

spontaneous remark to some reporter or something, this is not

the, the doctrine of the faith, and i- one could legitimately object to

something that the, the Pope said.

In the past, Popes were very hesitant to speak.

They spoke very little because they didn't want the faithful to be in any way

confused, uh, with regard to what might be their own

personal ideas

and opinions and what they as, uh, head of the Apostolic

College would proclaim. This, I think, is so important for us

today that e- even if we object to something that a

particular Pope may have said and done, this isn't the first time this has

happened

in the history of the church, as we well know.

We must never, ever lose respect for the

office of, of Saint Peter, the office conferred by Christ

himself. Christ willed this. It's divinely willed for the life of the

Church that the- there be Saint Peter as

that firm principle foundation of, of the

unity of the Church. And this is so clear

throughout our Lord's public ministry and his particular things he

said to Saint Peter, and this has been faithfully the case

throughout the history of the Church.

Even if there were Popes who were, who did not fulfill

their, their ministry in a, in a worthy way, um,

nevertheless, the office of the vi- vicar of Christ on

Earth stands and will always stand, uh, in

the Catholic Church.