I’ve been asked this before by non-Catholics who don’t completely understand the point of a worldwide central authority for the Church. The question confuses the Vatican and the Holy See a bit, but I’ll explain the difference and the rationale first:
Holy See or Vatican: What is what?
The Vatican is officially the residence of the Pope. In actuality, the Vatican is just a series of buildings that include the Pope’s residence. Often, however, people use the term Vatican to refer to the Holy See. A see is simply the area of the local bishop’s diocese. However only one see is the Holy See and that is the one in Rome, which is the diocese passed down by the Apostle Peter, the first Pope. The Pope is the “first among equals” – remember Peter was ordered by Jesus to “feed [His] sheep.” So the Holy See is actually the head of the Catholic Church, but what is the role of the Pope and the College of Cardinals?
Some basics: why does the Holy See exists?
It’s important to understand why we actually have the Holy See. We’ve written on this before, so I will just cite our earlier articles and you can read more there. First, the Holy See has to be in Rome, Italy because of Biblical prophecy. I explain this in Why are we Roman Catholics instead of just Catholics?
Second, the Church must exist. This seems odd to non-Catholics, but it is simply true. Jesus founded a Church while he was on earth and promised that it would not fail (See The Visible Church and the Bible). If there were no Church it would either mean Jesus was wrong or unable to sustain His Church. Either is not acceptable to Christians.
So what is the purpose of the Holy See?
The Holy See is the authority within the Catholic Church. As The Encyclopedia of Catholic History puts it:
As the successor of St. Peter, the pope is the sovereign pontiff, visible head of the Church, and holder of supreme, absolute jurisdiction over the entire Church, governing with the full authority of St. Peter.
The Holy See is not the Pope alone, however. He is assisted by the Roman Curia, which includes aides and congregations, often run by Cardinals of the Church. The Cardinals are the successors of the Apostles. The Pope with the bishops of the world constitutes the leadership of the Church and they are entrusted with leading the people to God. As Marcellino D’Ambrosio points out in
Exploring the Catholic Church:
It’s important to note that the Church doesn’t put these men (bishops) over the Bible and Tradition. As the Second Vatican Council noted, these leaders are under the authority of God’s word and are subject to it, like every other follower of Christ (see Dei Verbum, par. 10). Their job is to serve the word of God by teaching and interpreting it so that we can take it as the guide of our lives without falling into all sorts of distortions.
Even an infallible book needs an infallible interpreter, right? The Pope and the Bishops are charged with insuring that the word of God is not distorted and that it is heard throughout the world. In our day we see those who support abortion, homosexuality, and all other forms of immorality using Scripture to justify their position. The Church must make sure that these people can’t distort the Truth – and call them back to holiness when they do. And the Church carries the Truth out to the World, even to countries like China where it is illegal to be Catholic.
The Pope is the spiritual leader of the Catholic Church and appoints many of the leadership positions within the Church. He also the visible head of the Church on earth – Jesus Christ is the actual head of Church. The Encyclopedia of Catholic Doctrine puts it this way:
Christ, present in His Church, continues to proclaim the message of redemption and to offer the means of salvation to generation after generation: “I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt. 28:20). He sent his Apostles and their successors to teach, guide, and sanctify in his name, promising that he would be behind their teaching (“He who hears you hears me, and he who rejects you rejects me” (Lk. 10:16) and guaranteeing those who obeyed their authority that it had a divine seal of approval placed upon it: “Whatever you [plural] bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you [plural] loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Mt. 18:18).
The Pope is the leader of the Church and given special authority.
Lumen Gentium explains that he has “full, supreme, and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered” (22). So the Pope is the earthly leader of the Church and does make decisions in that role.
But isn’t the Pope Infallible?
This might come as a shock to you, but the Pope is not infallible. The Pope is simply a man who is given the position to lead the Church. Having said that, the Pope can issue infallible decrees, but only in certain circumstances. This also doesn’t mean the Pope is infallible; it means that we believe the Holy Spirit will protect His Church from error, so He [the Holy Spirit] will insure that the Pope is absolutely correct in these circumstances. What are the circumstances?
The Pope is infallible when “he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals” (Lumen Gentium, 25). There are three conditions:
- the Pope must intend to speak infallibly or ex cathedra (sometimes referred to as “from the Chair of Peter”)
- the Pope must be speaking on faith or morals
- the Pope must be speaking to the universal Church and not privately
Typically the Pope does this through encyclical letters, but the Pope uses this to clarify doctrine in cases of question. For example, the doctrine of the Trinity was decided by an infallible declaration from the councils of Nicea (325 A.D.) and Constantinople I (381 A.D.) after questions had arisen concerning the relationship of Jesus to God.
So the Pope cannot speak infallibly on science, history, or anything other than faith or morals. And the Pope must intend to speak infallibly before doing so. When this occurs we believe that the Holy Spirit protects the Pope from error and history has proven this true. In the past Popes have suddenly died while walking to the podium to infallibly declare an erroneous doctrine.
The Holy Spirit protects the Church today just as He did when Scripture was written. However it’s important to note that Scripture isn’t just infallible, it is also inspired, which means “God-breathed.” The Pope speaking infallibly is not inspired in this same way – Scripture was written by God through human instruments, whereas the Pope’s writings are the writings of a man protected from error by the Holy Spirit. There is an important difference between the two.
Conclusion: the Vatican and the Catholic Church
So to bring this back around, the Vatican is the home of the Pope and the Church. The role of Church leadership is to lead the faithful to God and protect the word of God (both written and oral) from error. The Pope can (and does) speak infallibly in order to clarify truth, rather than invent it. As Catholics we believe there is absolute truth (see 1 Tim 3:15) and the Church is the protector of it.
Without the Vatican, the Catholic Church would be broken and divided like so many of the protestant congregations we see. With it, we are the body of Christ calling all to unity in the Church that Jesus Christ founded.
God bless,
Jay
