Question 9 – I am a Protestant Thinking About Becoming a Catholic. How Can I Be Obedient To The Hierarchy and To The Pope?

Interview Organization: Confraternity of Our Lady of Fatima
Interviewer Name: Christopher P. Wendt
Date: December 13, 2020
Many Catholics make the mistake of identifying the Pope as the entire Church, but the Church is greater than any single pontificate. The Pope is the visible head but also a member of the Church. The Church is the Mystical Body of Christ, living in the Eucharist and the communion of saints. Catholics should not rely solely on the Pope but follow the truth of the faith, even when errors are spread, and pray for the Pope’s conversion. The Church’s focus should always be on Christ, not the Pope, who is His servant. We need a more supernatural vision of the Church.
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Transcript:

Well, I think there is a fundamental error in this person and in many Catholics who identify the Pope as the entire church. This is not true. The Pope is only a member of the Church. He is the visible head of the Church, but he's also a member of the Church.

Therefore, the Church is greater than a single Pope. The Church is greater than a single pontificate. You cannot depend on your Catholic life only upon one pontificate; it is too human.

As I repeat, the Pope is not the continuous center around which the church is living. It is wrong. We cannot have this wrong vision of people-centeredness. The Church is more deeply the Mystical Body of Christ.

The church is living in the Eucharist. And the church is Our Lady, the apostles, all the saints, the Doctors of the Church, and all the generations who lived and will live. They are the church. So the church is greater.

Therefore, you have to enter, and God calls you to the Catholic Church. This is the only truth: this is His Church. When you enter, you do not have to look every day at what the Pope is saying. No.

Even when the Pope is spreading errors, you'll say he is committing an error, but I know the Catholic faith. I know the Catechism. I will follow this and pray that the Pope may convert. I will become a Catholic because this is the will of God. It is the only Church and flock that has Christ, and I have to go there.

So, with these, we have to correct our wrong vision of the Catholic Church, which is not what we can leave, even to a Pope who is not doing his duty well, but, I repeat, the Pope is not the continuous, daily center of the Church. It is Christ. He is only his vicar. He is the servant of the servants of God. So, we have to have this more supernatural vision.