St. Alphonsus Liguori on the Pope and Heresy

“That some Pontififfs have fallen into heresy, some have tried to prove it, but have never proven it, nor will they ever prove it; and we will clearly prove the opposite in the end of Chapter X. Moreover, if God allowed, that a Pope was notoriously heretical and contumacious, he would cease to be Pope, and he would vacate the Pontificate. But if it were a hidden heretic, and did not propose any false dogma to the Church, then no harm would come to the Church: but we must rightly presume, as Cardinal Bellarmine says, that God will never allow any of the Roman Pontiffs, even as private men, become a heretic, notorious, or hidden.”

(Verità della Fede, p. 455, cited in Kramer, Paul. To deceive the elect: The catholic doctrine on the question of a heretical Pope . Kindle Edition.)

To those who hold Opinion No. 3, 4, or 5 of the Five Opinions expounded upon by St. Robert Bellarmine regarding the pope and heresy, you oppose St. Alphonsus Liguori.

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