Veritas et Sapientia – Either Papa Francis Is Wrong, Or Moses Is

Mandeville, LA – [Editor’s note: This site and the Mike Church Show have held Dr Fesser’s position since the rumors about this began, but Dr. Fesser has placed the crisis in such an unambiguous form that the question must now be answered by every good-willed Catholic: confess the licit Death Penalty as dogma or be pronounced anathema. – Ed. MC]

“If Pope Francis really is claiming that capital punishment is intrinsically evil, then either scripture, the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, and all previous popes were wrong—or Pope Francis is. There is no third alternative. Nor is there any doubt about who would be wrong in that case. The Church has always acknowledged that popes can make doctrinal errors when not speaking ex cathedra—Pope Honorius I and Pope John XXII being the best-known examples of popes who actually did so. The Church also explicitly teaches that the faithful may, and sometimes should, openly and respectfully criticize popes when they do teach error. The 1990 CDF document Donum Veritatis sets out norms governing the legitimate criticism of magisterial documents that exhibit “deficiencies.” It would seem that Catholic theologians are now in a situation that calls for application of these norms.” Pope Francis and Capital Punishment