Was The Pope Ever Considered “God On Earth”? 

A recent article appearing in this paper (March 14, 2013) suggested the Roman Catholic Church called the Pope “God on earth.” Disagreement of whether the Roman Catholic Church refers to its leader in this manner is a topic of interest to a few. I would like to share some facts that would support this claim of the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. A number of historical documents refer to the practice of calling the Pope “God on earth” - consider these historical documents:

"The supreme teacher in the Church is the Roman Pontiff. Union of minds, therefore, requires... complete submission and obedience of will to the Church and to the Roman Pontiff, as to God Himself." (Leo VIII, «On the Chief Duties of Christians as Citizens», Encyclical letter, 1890).

"God separates those whom the Roman Pontiff, who exercises the functions, not of mere man, but of the true God...dissolves, not by human but rather by divine authority." (Decretals of Gregory IX», Book 1, Chapter 7.3)

"The Pope and God are the same, so he has all power in Heaven and earth." (Pope Pius V, quoted in Barclay, Chapter XXVII, p. 218, "Cities Petrus Bertanous".)

"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." (Ferraris Ecclesiastical dictionary)

"The Pope takes the place of Jesus Christ on earth...by divine right the Pope has supreme and full power in faith, in morals over each and every pastor and his flock. He is the true vicar, the head of the entire church, the father and teacher of all Christians. He is the infallible ruler, the founder of dogmas, the author of and the judge of councils; the universal ruler of truth, the arbiter of the world, the supreme judge of heaven and earth, the judge of all, being judged by no one, God himself on earth."
(Quoted in the New York Catechism)

"All names which in the Scriptures are applied to Christ, by virtue of which it is established that He is over the church, all the same names are applied to the Pope." (On the Authority of the Councils, book 2, chapter 17)

"The Pope is as it were God on earth, sole sovereign of the faithful of Christ, chief of kings, having plenitude of power." (Lucius Ferraris, in "Prompta Bibliotheca Canonica, Juridica, Moralis, Theologica, Ascetica, Polemica, Rubristica, Historica", Volume V, article on "Papa, Article II", titled "Concerning the extent of Papal dignity, authority, or dominion and infallibility", #1, 5, 13-15, 18, published in Petit-Montrouge (Paris) by J. P. Migne, 1858 edition.)

In practice the Roman Catholic Church follows the same course as having the Pope to be God on earth. When Pope Pius IX defined the use of “Papal infallibility” at the First Vatican Council (1869-1870) the Roman Catholic Church determined the Pope is incapable of error or deception. This would place a man on the level of God. Semantics aside, the reality of calling a man “infallible” is a grievous sin when man elevates himself to God. The apostle Peter never did that nor taught the followers of Christ to do so (nor did Paul). Can we find any evidence in scripture where Peter is called “Pope”? None! Jesus built His church on the confession of Peter, not Peter (Matthew 16:16). Jesus is the only living bread (John 6:51) – not the Pope.