Absolutist Papal Maxims of the Jesuits

 

Absolutist Papal Maxims of the Jesuits 

1. There is but one Supreme Authority in the World, and that is the Pope.

2. God hath delivered over unto the Pope the Power and Rule of Heaven and Earth, therefore we must be obedient unto him upon pain of damnation.

3. All Right and Power are lodged in his Breast.

4. No Law can be made to bind Christians, but by the Pope’s Authority, as of old the Israelites received none but by Moses.

5. The Gospel would not be the Gospel, if the Pope had not approved of it.

6. The Pope can take away any man’s Right, and give it to another.

7. The Pope can do any thing, above all Right, against all Right and without all Right.

8. If Christ commands one thing, and the Pope another thing, the Pope is rather to be obeyed than Jesus Christ.

9. The Pope’s Decretory Letters are to be received and esteemed as Authentic as the Word of God or the Holy Scriptures.

10. It is Sacrilege to question the Pope’s Actions, and he is cursed of God who violates the Pope’s censures.

11. If the Pope affirm that to be black, which our Eyes judge to be white, we ought also then to declare, that it’s black, upon pain of our souls.

12. The Pope hath the sole Rule and Power of the whole World in Temporals as well as in Spirituals, and therefore can depose Emperors and Kings, and may dispose of their Dominions as he shall think convenient.

13. If the Pope shall depose a King and give his Kingdom to another, and the people will not receive him, the Pope may bring him in by force of Arms, because he is Judge of all and instead of God on Earth.

14. Not to believe that the Pope can depose Kings is [to be], and that deservedly, damned for Heresy.

15. Christ had not done wisely if he had not left the Pope power to depose Kings.

16. If a King be a Heretic or favorer of Heresy he may be deposed.

17. If the Pope shall declare a King to be a Heretic, he hath no right to his Kingdom, and the Pope may depose him.

18. The Pope can give the people liberty either to choose or take new Masters; by this means they keep all Kings and Princes in their Obedience and Submission to the Pope.

19. All Protestants are Heretics, and therefore they ought to be killed.

20. It is better and safer to make alliance and amity with Turks, Infidels, or Jews, than with Heretic Protestants, because they may draw us into the errors of their novelties.

Bibliography: 

The Jesuits Catechism, According to St. Ignatius Loyola, A. H., (London: John Lawrence, 1685) pp. 43-47.