The Pope of Rome and the Protestant

 By Pastor Benjamin Glaser - Posted at Thoughts From Parson Farms:

How Are We to Observe the Election Taking Place in the Roman See?

Good Morning,

Given the ubiquitous coverage the Roman Pope receives on American television, especially the channels that most of you watch on a regular basis, it is probably a good idea to talk a little bit in this prayer and worship help about why the Roman Catholic Church is treated as almost the one true Church by our Media. Some of that is because for whatever reason most of the talking heads on those networks are themselves Roman Catholic so it comes natural for them to report on stuff that they are interested in. Yet for those of us who are Protestants it can seem a bit odd. That is especially the case for those of us who are children of the Westminster Confession of Faith.

A large part of the reason of course for the more than normal conversation on this matter is that the College of Cardinals is meeting in Rome at present to select a new Pope after the death of Francis I. It is worth our time to take a second just to go over how that works. There are 133 Cardinal Electors from around the world who will use a ballot, much like what we use to elect elders and deacons to select the 267th Roman Pontiff. The ballot is rectangular, with the top-half bearing the Latin phrase Eligo in Summum Pontificem and the bottom-half left open for the cardinal to jot down the name of the man they desire to serve. The only men eligible for election are one of the 133 cardinals present for the vote. To be a Cardinal Elector one has to be under 80 years of age and specially appointed by the previous Pope for that role. Each time a vote is held the cards are taken and if there is not a 2/3s majority the ballots are burned and a black or grey smoke will appear. However, if the 2/3s majority is reached then the smoke will be white and the new pope will then be presented to the awaiting crowds in the St. Peter Square. The name of the pope is often seen as a testimony to what kind of Pope he will be, and it is carefully selected by the man beforehand and then told to the world in an amazing spectacle of grandeur.

Why should any of this matter to us? In the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church until 1976 we confessed that the Pope of Rome was, “ . . . that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalts himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God.” Basically as Magisterial Protestants we are not fans of the Pope, to put it mildly...

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