''The Pope'' (''Du Pape'') is an 1819 book written by Savoyard philosopher Joseph de Maistre, which many consider to be his literary masterpiece.

Sovereignty of papal power

Maistre argues that, in the

Church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * Chris ...

, the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

sovereign ''Sovereign'' is a title which can be applied to the highest leader in various categories. The word is borrowed from Old French , which is ultimately derived from the Latin , meaning 'above'. The roles of a sovereign vary from monarch, ruler or ...

, and that it is an essential characteristic of all sovereign power that its decisions should be subject to no appeal.

Role of papal infallibility

Maistre mostly writes from the perspective of the ordinary magisterium having an infallible character, whereas the

First Vatican Council The First Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the First Vatican Council or Vatican I was convoked by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1868, after a period of planning and preparation that began on 6 December 1864. This, the twentieth ecu ...

defined a dogma on the infallibility of the extraordinary papal magisterium, in the limited circumstances when the Pope decides that it is time to define a dogma. Nevertheless, among modern theologians it is generally agreed that certain forms of the ordinary magisterium can at times be infallible, such as the bull '' Apostolicae curae'' or the encyclical Ordinatio sacerdotalis, as John Paul II explained in

Ad Tuendam Fidem ''Ad tuendam fidem'' ( en, To Protect the Faith) is an apostolic letter of Pope John Paul II issued motu proprio on May 18, 1998.John Paul II''Ad tuendam fidem'' accessed Jan-9-2013 The apostolic letter modified the Oriental and Latin codes of c ...

Relations with temporal powers

Maistre examines the relations of the pope with temporal powers.

Relations with schismatic Churches

As to the schismatic Churches, Maistre believed that they would fall into philosophic indifference as Catholicism was the only religion fully capable of being compatible with science.Joseph-Marie, Comte de Maistre". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.

References

1819 non-fiction books History of the papacy Books about sovereignty Books in political philosophy Books by Joseph de Maistre {{Catholic-Church-book-stub