Hyperpapalism & Luther: Strange Bedfellows

The debate between papal apologists and traditionalists concerns the role of reason in the life of faith

Photo of Luther statue by Wim van 't Einde (source)

As anyone familiar with online discussions knows (perhaps to his weariness or chagrin), traditional Catholics are frequently accused of being crypto-Lutherans, rebellious followers of that German heresiarch in rejecting Vatican I’s dogma of papal infallibility and primacy.

Never mind that traditional Catholics clearly and unequivocally endorse Vatican I’s dogmas on precisely these topics while pointing out that the claims of the Council are more limited than the conclusions some people draw from them, and that there are genuine open questions about how far primacy and infallibility extend—questions the Council itself wisely left open. I have responded elsewhere to the charge that traditionalists are “like Protestants because they rely on private judgment.”

Here, I would like to turn the tables and point out how, in a fundamental way, it is the hyperpapalists—or papal absolutists, or positivists, whatever you wish to call them—who are, in fact, the crypto-Lutherans.