Pope John Paul II | Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith

In 1981, Pope John Paul II revived the “Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith,” a new name for the organization of the Inquisition, presided over by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.

Since Ratzinger’s appointment as Pope Benedict XVI in 2005, Cardinal William Levada was Prefect of the Congregation, until his retirement in 2012. The current prefect is Gerhard Ludwig Müller.

Pope John Paul II also appointed tough disciplinarians to the hierarchy of the Church and stated in 1987 that the “Catholic Church is not a democratic institution…It is an institution governed by Jesus Christ, a theocratic one.”ⁱ

He was convinced that all opposition to the Church is unnacceptable, as TIME noted in 1993:

"Opposition to the teaching of the church's pastors cannot be seen as a legitimate expression either of Christian freedom or of the diversity of the Spirit's gifts," writes John Paul. "It is prohibited — to everyone and in every case — to violate these precepts. They oblige everyone, regardless of the cost."ⁱⁱ

Despite these bold moves, he expressed confidence that the ecumenical movement would succeed in uniting the churches once again. His book Crossing the Threshold of Hope says this:

Southern Cross (September 17, 1995)....

Pope John XXIII, who was moved by God to summon the Council, used to say: “What separates us as believers in Christ is much less than what unites us.” In this statement we find the heart of ecumenical thinking...we need to be more united, more willing to advance along the path toward the unity for which Christ prayed on the eve of His Passion. This unity is enormously precious. In a certain sense, the future of the world is at stake.ⁱⁱⁱ

In September 1995, Pope John Paul II issued a statement claiming that recognition of the primacy of the Pope is essential for unity. An article in a 1995 Southern Cross read, “Pope: For unity, all churches must accept papal authority.”^iv

For the Catholic Church, this unity does not only apply to the Reformation churches, but includes all the people of the world:

Christ bestowed unity on his Church from the beginning. This unity, we believe, subsists in the Catholic Church as something she can never lose, and we hope that it will continue to increase until the end of time.^v

All men are called to this catholic unity of the People of God...And to it, in different ways, belong or are ordered: the Catholic faithful, others who believe in Christ, and finally all mankind, called by God’s grace to salvation.^vi

The final object of ecumenism, as Catholics conceive it, is unity in faith, worship, and the acknowledgement of supreme spiritual authority of the Bishop of Rome.^vii

Somehow, Protestantism seems blissfully unaware of the compromise of faith it has to contend with in order to accept papal authority and unity of churches under his authority.

Ahead to Unity Among Christians

i. www.ewtn.com/library/councils/trent4.htm
ii. John Moody and Richard Osling, "A Refinement of Evil," TIME (October 4, 1993).
iii. Pope John Paul II, Crossing the Threshold of Hope (New York: Alfred A. Knopf Inc., Random House, 1995): 146, 151.
iv. Cindy Wooden, "Pope: For Unity, Churches Must Accept papal Authority," Southern Cross (September 17, 1995).
v. Article 820, Catechism of the Catholic Church.
vi. Article 836, Catechism of the Catholic Church.
vii. Priest J. Cornell, as quoted in Charlene R. Fortsch, Daniel: Understanding the Dreams and Visions (British Columbia: Prophecy Song, 2006).