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| Original title | Du Pape |
|---|---|
| Language | French |
Publication date | 1819 |
| Text | The Pope at Internet Archive |
 |
| Papal primacy,supremacy andinfallibility |
|---|
Catholic episcopal councils compared to popes |
Existing dogma compared to popes |
Objections and controversy
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The Pope (French:Du Pape), also titledOn the Pope in English, is an 1819 book written by Savoyard philosopherJoseph de Maistre, which many consider to be his literary masterpiece.
Maistre argues that, in theChurch, thePope issovereign, and that it is an essential characteristic of all sovereign power that its decisions should be subject to no appeal.
Maistre mostly writes from the perspective of theordinary magisterium having an infallible character, whereas theFirst Vatican Council defined a dogma on the infallibility of theextraordinary papal magisterium, in the limited circumstances when the Pope decides that it is time to define a dogma. Nevertheless, among modern theologians it is generally agreed that certain forms of the ordinary magisterium can at times be infallible, such as the bullApostolicae curae or the encyclicalOrdinatio sacerdotalis, as John Paul II explained inAd Tuendam Fidem.
Maistre examines the relations of the pope with temporal powers.
As to the schismatic Churches, Maistre believed that they would fall into philosophic indifference as Catholicism was the only religion fully capable of being compatible with science.[1]
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