“Dear brothers and sisters, Happy Easter!” – Pope Francis (1936-2025)

These were the final words Pope Francis addressed to the public as he returned to the house of the Father on 21 Apr 2025, aged 88. While his intended Easter message was much longer, the rest of the message was conveyed by the master of ceremonies at St. Peter’s square instead, given his breathlessness from double pneumonia. Here is his Easter message in full.

“Dear brothers and sisters: In the Lord’s Paschal Mystery, death and life contended in a stupendous struggle, but the Lord now lives forever. He fills us with the certainty that we too are called to share in the life that knows no end, when the clash of arms and the rumble of death will be heard no more. Let us entrust ourselves to him, for he alone can make all things new! Happy Easter to everyone!”

Passing of a great man

In my eyes, I hold deep respect for the late leader of the Catholic church. Unlike his predecessors, Pope Francis made it his life mission to take the church towards a radical direction, focusing on modern-day issues such as climate change, decriminalization of homosexuality and denouncing global conflicts. It is refreshing to see followers of Christ so open and dedicated to discussing and taking a stance for these issues that trouble our society today. Certainly, by today’s standards, Pope Francis was more “liberal” than most and that may rub some believers the wrong way. Yet, by boldly expressing a stance on climate change, LGBTQ, wars etc., he has made it clear that the church cannot remain a mere witness to these events – believers must be a force of good instead. I was in awe that even in his last days on earth, he delivered a powerful message that showed his care and concern for the many that suffer from wars and conflicts in the Middle East, in Africa, in Ukraine, in Myanmar etc. All believers would do good to learn from Pope Francis by adopting a global perspective in our personal prayer and worship of the Lord. 

While I don’t fully agree with some of his takes on specific issues, I respect his answers and perspectives to difficult questions about the treatment of LGBTQs, abortion rights and many others. May the Lord acknowledge and reward him for his service in the kingdom to come.

All of these apply to the Catholic church who subscribe to the authority of the pope. But protestant denominations don’t. I worship at a Protestant church too, but I found myself wondering, nonetheless.

Should protestants care about the pope?

Catholicism vs Protestantism

Protestants rely on the bible as the sole source of authority on all spiritual matters. This view, known as sola scriptura, was not the norm among believers for over a millennium until the debut of a German theologian named Martin Luther. Luther strongly rejected the teachings and authority of the pope and the Catholic church and proposed novel doctrines to the faith, such as salvation by grace alone (sola gratia). For modern-day protestants so used to their views of the bible, scripture, salvation and spiritual authority, note that a lot of our precognitions of the faith were not an original part of Christianity. Christianity was, is, and will continue to be a battlefield of views of the divine for generations to come (just google how many Christian denominations they are).

In the eyes of protestants, there are good reasons to argue for sola scriptura and against papal authority. For one, the Catholic church hasn’t always behaved well over the ages, and popes are as fallible as you and I. Thus, it seemed foolish to designate authority to a fallible man prone to corruption and the evils of the world. By emphasizing, perhaps even over-elevating the authority of scripture above all others, protestants can have a direct claim that their ways are “truer” as they are rooted in scripture, uncorrupted by the views of man. Furthermore, by bolstering this view with a sprinkle of “scripture” (see 2 Tim 3:16), it creates a circular logic that “scripture proves scripture”, complete, unchallengeable and incorruptible by others. “Scripture” became king, and everything we need for our faith has been revealed to us through scripture alone.

“All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the person of God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim 3:16-17 NRSVUE)

Major problems with sola scriptura

I covered in a previous post on the problems with interpreting 2 Tim 3:16-17 to support biblical inerrancy. Even as a worshipper at a protestant church, I am inclined to agree that there are huge problems with the doctrine of sola scriptura. For one, most non-fundamentalist scholars agree that there are contradictions, imperfections, mistakes and textual corruptions across the bible. Even taking out the scribal errors, many stories and records of God’s interventions remain difficult to reconcile with our precognitions of God and Jesus today. Why did God harden Pharoah’s heart? How could God have lost the war against Moab? How was resurrection possible before the atoning sacrifice of Jesus? How could an all-loving God have endorsed slavery throughout the generations?

Scripture isn’t perfect. And it was never meant to be because Man isn’t perfect.

Today, we are starting to see the cracks in the protestant church as a result of sola scriptura. Preachers shouting out ridiculous teachings from their pulpits to condemn marginalized groups such as the LGBTQ community. People extrapolating God’s promise of restoration to the nation of Israel to push for the genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza. Believers prophesying the end based on revelations, even though that was not the point of the apocalypse of John. Parents denying children healthcare and vaccines in favor of the healing and protection from the Holy Spirit. The list goes on.

This nonsense has got to stop.

Back to the Pope

In my view, declaring scripture, or anything as the sole authority of our faith, is unfruitful at best and dangerous at worst. We are not God, nor we have direct revelation to God’s thoughts, ways and motivations. We could probably infer general principles on how God might expect us to act or live out our lives. However, when it comes to specifics like picking a career path, siding with a new political party, moving to a new community, having children etc., we are forced to weigh multiple sets of considerations together to make a spiritually informed, yet practical decision.

This uncertainty is why believers require multiple sources of counsel in our lives. One of those sources encompasses the church, its members and its leaders (which includes the Pope). Why else do we gather to do bible study and debate on ways to interpret scripture and apply it to our lives? In the case of the Pope, he commands the highest level of authority within the church and has tremendous sway in how the church should live, act and relate to the international community and political leaders. Whether you agree with Pope Francis’s stance on societal issues, he has definitely channeled his position to sway the church’s stances on society’s contemporary issues.

Without counsel, plans go wrong, but with many advisers they succeed. (Proverbs 15:22 NRSVUE)

My point above isn’t the same as saying the papacy is a necessary position for the church to function. Protestant churches function just fine without a common figurehead that unites the views of all protestant believers. But the counsel of the pope is surely not something any believer, catholic or protestant, can ignore or take lightly. If His holiness, with his access to scripture (like any other believer) chooses to endorse a novel call towards environmental stewardship, or hospitality towards LGBTQ believers, it should encourage all believers and local churches worldwide to reflect and rethink on our views on these same issues. All Christians have access to the same text in the bible. Why haven’t we engaged in these issues before? And do we agree with his (the Pope’s) views?

I maintain seeking counsel from diverse groups of people (leaders, family, brothers and sisters) should be a persistent attitude among all believers, no matter their denomination. Neither scripture, nor the Pope, nor your favorite church pastor, nor your parents, nor yourself should be the sole source of spiritual authority in your life. But with many advisers, we can better make decisions that please our Heavenly Father, while living out our earthly call to be salt and light to the people around us.