Facts of Faith

Other Marks of Identity

“He Shall Speak Great Words”

THE little horn was to “speak great words against the Most High.” Daniel 7:25. We shall now quote a few extracts from authentic Roman Catholic sources showing the fulfillment of this prophetic utterance: Pope Leo XIII in his “Great Encyclical Letters” says: “We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.” — p. 304. In this encyclical the pope has capitalized all pronouns referring to himself and to God. FAFA 61.1

In a large, authentic work by F. Lucii Ferraris, called “Prompta Bibliotheca Canonica Juridica Moralis Theologica,” printed at Rome, 1890, and sanctioned by the Catholic Encyclopedia (Vol. VI, p. 48), we find the following statements regarding the power of the pope: FAFA 61.2

“The Pope is of so great dignity and so exalted that he is not a mere man, but as it were God, and the vicar of God.... FAFA 61.3

“Hence the Pope is crowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven and of earth and of the lower regions.... FAFA 61.4

“So that if it were possible that the angels might err in the faith, or might think contrary to the faith, they could be judged and excommunicated by the Pope.... FAFA 61.5

“The Pope is as it were God on earth, sole sovereign of the faithful of Christ, chief king of kings, having plenitude of power, to whom has been entrusted by the omnipotent God direction not only of the earthly but also of the heavenly kingdom.” — Quoted in “Source Book,” (Revised Edition) pp. 409, 410. Washington, D. C.: 1927. FAFA 61.6

The Catholic Encyclopedia says of the pope: FAFA 61.7

“The sentences which he gives are to be forthwith ratified in heaven.” — Vol. XII, art. “Pope,” p. 265.

Pope Leo XIII says: FAFA 62.1

“But the supreme teacher in the Church is the Roman Pontiff. Union of minds, therefore, requires, together with a perfect accord in the one faith, complete submission and obedience of will to the Church and to the Roman Pontiff, as to God Himself.” — “The Great Encyclical Letters,” p. 193.

We leave it with the reader to decide whether or not these are “great words.” St. Alphonsus de Liguori, a sainted doctor of the Roman church, claims the same power for the Roman priests. He says: FAFA 62.2

“The priest has the power of the keys, or the power of delivering sinners from hell, of making them worthy of paradise, and of changing them from the slaves of Satan into the children of God. And God himself is obliged to abide by the judgment of his priests.... The Sovereign Master of the universe only follows the servant by confirming in heaven all that the latter decides upon earth. “Dignity and Duties of the Priest,” pp. 27, 28. New York: Benziger Brothers., Printers to the Holy Apostolic See, 1888.

“Innocent III has written: ‘Indeed, it is not too much to say that in view of the sublimity of their offices the priests are so many gods.” — Id., p. 86. FAFA 62.3

These must truly be called “great words FAFA 62.4