Catechism on papacy

Here is a portion of what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says about the pope:

* "The Pope, Bishop of Rome and Peter's successor, is the perpetual and visible source and foundation of the unity both of the bishops and of the whole company of the faithful."

* "The Pope enjoys, by divine institution, supreme, full, immediate, and universal power in the care of souls."

* "The task of interpreting the Word of God authentically has been entrusted solely to the Magisterium of the Church, that is, to the Pope and to the bishops in communion with him."

* "Christ governs [the Church] through Peter and the other apostles, who are present in their successors, the Pope and the college of bishops."

* "The Lord made Simon alone, whom he named Peter, the 'rock' of His Church. He gave him the keys of His Church and instituted him shepherd of the whole flock. The office of binding and loosing which was given to Peter was also assigned to the college of apostles united to its head. This pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs to the Church's very foundation and is continued by the bishops under the primacy of the Pope."

* "The Roman Pontiff and the bishops are authentic teachers, that is, teachers endowed with the authority of Christ, who preach the faith to the people entrusted to them, the faith to be believed and put into practice. The ordinary and universal Magisterium of the Pope and the bishops in communion with him teach the faithful the truth to believe, the charity to practice, the beatitude to hope for."

* "The Roman Pontiff, head of the college of bishops, enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his office...by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals....The infallibility promised to the Church is also present in the body of bishops when, together with Peter's successor, they exercise the supreme Magisterium, above all in an Ecumenical Council."

(4/28/05)