290 ANDREW J. SHIPMAN MEMORIAL 



against it. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom 

 of heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it 

 shall be bound also in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt 

 loose on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven" (Matt, xvi^ 



17-19). 



It is a declaration of position and power never vouchsafed 

 to any other Apostle. Simon the fisherman was not the first 

 of the Apostles in time, for Andrew was first called ; nor the 

 first in love, for John was the well beloved ; nor the most 

 steadfast, for he denied his Master. Yet he was the only 

 Apostle whose name was changed by Our Lord, and a specific 

 reason given for doing so. Even with the same breath in 

 which He foretells Peter's denial. Our Lord prophesies that 

 his faith will fail not and gives him charge of his brethren. 

 His charge over his brethren and the Church is repeated even 

 after the resurrection. As Our Lord and the Holy Ghost were 

 to be with the Church until the end of the world, these pre- 

 rogatives descended to the successors in the teaching body of 

 the Church, and the special prerogatives of Peter descended to 

 his successors in office. Otherwise they were useless ; and 

 most of all to those who have lived since the days of the 

 Apostles. 



Even as the primitive society or Church sent out to teach all 

 nations had Peter at its head, so it has continued ever since. 

 The teaching body of the Church has deacons, priests and 

 bishops, and, as the Chief Bishop of them all, the great Bishop 

 of the West, the Pope of Rome. He is the successor of Saint 

 Peter, as testified in every liturgy, menology and church his- 

 tory from the earliest times. He is the centre and focus of 

 Church authority. I have not the time to discuss the succes- 

 sive history and organization of the Church, although I would 

 gladly do so. But a word may be said of the great preroga- 

 tive — the flower and blossoms of the promise of Christ, that 

 "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it, and I will give 

 unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven" — the infalli- 

 bility of the Pope. Infallibility does not mean that the Pope 

 is sinless, or incapable of sin ; or even, to use an extreme illus- 

 tration, that he is able to write a book on theology wholly free 

 from error; or to decide without mistake upon matters of 

 science, history, art or politics — it is confined to his solemn 

 official judgments on matters of faith and morals when he gives 



