No, Steve D, the Holy Ghost does not arbitrarily and summarily “choose” the Pope. But He most certainly does guide and influence the process in accordance with the permissive plan of God. As humans with free will, which even the Lord Himself will not override, those who are entrusted with the task of selecting a Supreme Pontiff by what ever method or means canonically enforced at the time, are able …More
No, Steve D, the Holy Ghost does not arbitrarily and summarily “choose” the Pope. But He most certainly does guide and influence the process in accordance with the permissive plan of God. As humans with free will, which even the Lord Himself will not override, those who are entrusted with the task of selecting a Supreme Pontiff by what ever method or means canonically enforced at the time, are able to exercise their own intellect and are subject to their own biases and personal desires, along with other influences that impact their choice.
Over the millennia there have been various ways in which a man has been chosen to sit and reign upon the Throne of Saint Peter as Chief Shepherd of Holy Mother Church. All of which have been anchored in a mechanism of human design, construct and auspices - although the human processes have often incorporated and been buttressed by deeply spiritual exercises developed and included with the express purpose of creating a setting and environment that invites and includes the presence of God and His mind and will in the selection. In spite of these centuries-long efforts at invoking the Lord’s participation and the revelation of His divine choice, as well as safeguarding and protecting the selection process itself, choosing a Pope still remains very much a human tainted endeavor. However, there can be no debate that the Lord, by the power and unction of the Holy Spirit, has always kept His guiding Hand as Captain of our Salvation upon the selection of the Helmsman who holds the rudder of Peter’s Barque, irrespective of who is ultimately chosen.
But what YOU apparently fail to understand and acknowledge is that ONCE THE LEGITIMATE CHOICE IS MADE, and a man is duly and canonically selected by those who have been empowered with the competencies by Holy Mother Church to do so - and he accepts the Office and assents to their choice of him - that man, regardless of all other factors, immediately becomes PETER, the Rock upon which the whole Church is built and Christ’s own and only Vicar on this earth. He then has all of the power and authority vested in the Peterine ministry given to Saint Peter and all of his Successors by Christ Himself while He was physically present in the world, to bind and to loose on earth and in Heaven. As long as he retains the Papal Office and Charism, he IS PETER, and thus, has complete and total unabated, unencumbered rulership over the governance of the whole Church, whose unity and continuity he alone guarantees and tangibly signifies.
The universal supremacy of the Pope is the one infallible and nonnegotiable dogma of Catholicism that is the cornerstone of the foundation of true Christianity. Accordingly, all of the Faithful, as adherents of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church are required to submit in obedience and filial devotion to him, remaining spiritually close to him in love and affection, even when we may not always agree with or understand everything he says or does. And such passionate devotion has nothing whatsoever to do with your false Strawman arguments and protestations about “papalolotry” which are concepts rooted in the poisonous, diabolical deceptions of the apostate heretic Luther and his freemason cohorts, vomited from the abyss of hell; and all who consent to such fallacies are the bastardized spawn of Luther and tools of Lucifer himself.
No, you can be certain that all true Catholics love their Holy Father and reject any reasoning used to falsely justify besmirching, denigrating and blasphemously demeaning the sanctity of his Office and person. Thus, as the Faithful, we are called upon to love Pope Francis and pray fervently and unceasingly for him, never to disrespect or disparage him for any reason at anytime whatsoever. It is not given to us to judge the Supreme Pontiff in any way. He alone is the Judge and the Legislator for the whole Church, and can be judged by no human on this earth.
To believe ANYTHING else is simply not Catholic.
