Does the Pope have the Power to Change Everything?

Although you may be astonished, the answer is no! The Pope cannot turn the Church upside down based on his own ideas.

 The election of a new pope is no where similar to that of the election of a new president or prime minister where it generally means a transfer of power from one party’s ideology and manifesto to another party’s ideology which inevitably leads to changes and reversals of the policies of the previous administration or government.  

The pope, however, as the Vicar, or representative, of Christ, is very different from a president.  The pope holds an important office, indeed he holds the keys to bind and lose. However, it is not the Pope’s Church. It is Jesus Christ’s Church and the pope is not the policy maker (like presidents and prime ministers) but the representative of Christ. 

The election of a new pope is Jesus Christ continuing to take care of His Church, sending a new Shepard for His people. The overarching philosophy, goals, and mission are coming from higher up, Jesus Christ. 

The pope is the caretaker of eternal truths whilst in office, carrying out the mission of Jesus Christ. The pope is caretaker of the rich tradition and teachings of the Church. He cannot just abandon it but in fact has to preserve what he inherited and to pass it on to his successor.

As such, current Pope Francis elected in March 2013, like all 265 of the popes who preceded him, will not teach anything contrary to the Church’s beliefs on matters of faith and morals.  This continuity should itself be a source of great joy to Catholics, for these teachings are beautiful and even liberating.  

For example, Pope Francis being a Jesuit commented at his election "Oh, how I would like a poor Church, and for the poor." He cannot actually sell off all of the Church’s land, basilicas, art works or the Vatican Museum and give it to the poor and bankrupt the Church. It remains his sincere personal wish but as Pope, he has to be caretaker of the riches of the Church and pass it on.

Similarly, he cannot ditch doctrines and alter traditions as he pleases. For example, his predecessors have declared that the Church has no authority to ordain women. A new pope cannot just reverse all these prior teachings and radically make new ideologies of his own. 

What he can do, is inspire the whole world, by his words, leadership, and example, to embrace the truths of the Gospel and the person of Jesus Christ. As Universal Pastor, the Holy Father can gain the world’s attention, be so compelling in strengthening the Church and bring more and more people into its fold.

The pope can however make reforms and should make them where necessary.  For example, he can and should restructure the Roman Curia or Vatican Bureaucracy for the better. He can and should and will institute stricter discipline to protect children from abusive priests. The pope can allow married man to be ordained priests, but likely will not do so or if allowed likely on a limited scale (perhaps allowing only married deacons to ordained priests). 

What the Pope cannot and will not do, is to alter or change the Church’s dogmas. The Church’s ideology in matters of faith, morality, belief system cannot be touched. For example, the pope cannot change the Nicene Creed, cannot allow women to be ordained or allow divorce. It is also not the pope’s job to change those doctrines of the Church with which the world is ill at ease.

 On the contrary, it is the pope’s duty is to hand down to future generations the teachings he received from his predecessors and ultimately from Christ Himself.

In 2005, Pope Benedict XVI commented on the papacy’s powers and about its limitations. Seated upon the Lateran Basilica’s throne, the most potent symbol of papal authority, Benedict rejected the notion that the pope is “an absolute monarch whose thoughts and desires are law.” Rather, he continued, “the pope’s ministry is a guarantee of obedience to Christ and to His Word. He must not proclaim his own ideas but rather constantly bind himself and the Church to obedience to God’s Word, in the face of every attempt to adapt it or water it down.”