Page:William John Sparrow-Simpson - Roman Catholic Opposition to Papal Infallibility (1909).djvu/92



can better illustrate the development of thought on the papal power after the Council of Trent than the theories of Cardinal Bellarmine. A nephew of one Pope and friend of another, a Jesuit, resident in Rome, a Cardinal in 1600, he strikingly represents the extreme tendencies of the Italian School. He put forth to the world in his volumes of Controversies a systematic and elaborated conception of supremacy and Infallibility certainly unsurpassed.

The supremacy of Peter is upheld on the ground that our Lord said to him in the Apostles' presence, "Feed my sheep." In this injunction all sheep must be included. And therefore the Apostles themselves are sheep whom Peter must feed. While the Apostles, it may be admitted, derive their jurisdiction direct from Christ, the Bishops receive it direct from the Pope. Confirmation of this principle is sought in the relation of Moses to the Elders, and also in the monarchical character of the Church's constitution. According to Bellarmine, it is essential to the monarchical idea that all authority reside in one, and from that one be communicated to others. The Bishops are not successors of the Apostles; since the latter were not ordinary but extraordinary and delegated pastors, and as such have no successors at