But when Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. For prior to the coming of certain men from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he began to withdraw and hold himself aloof, fearing the party of the circumcision. And the rest of the Jews joined him in hypocrisy, with the result that even Barnabas was carried away by their hypocrisy. But when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in the presence of all, "If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like Jews?

According to the Roman Catholic Church, the source of papal infallibility is the Holy Spirit, who protects the supreme teacher of the church from error and therefore from misleading the people of God. From the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 892, we read:

Divine assistance is also given to the successors of the apostles, teaching in communion with the successor of Peter, and, in a particular way to the bishop of Rome, pastor of the whole Church, when, without arriving at an infallible definition and without pronouncing in a ‘definitive manner’, they propose in the exercise of the ordinary Magisterium a teaching that leads to better understanding of Revelation in matters of faith and morals. To this ordinary teaching the faithful ‘are to adhere with religious assent’, which, though distinct from the assent of faith, is nonetheless an extension of it.

However, a close examination of the writings of popes throughout history proves there has been no divine assistance given to them. The Holy Spirit, who inspired the writers of the New Testament, can not be the spirit who protects popes from error. There are numerous papal statements that stand in direct opposition to God’s holy word. Yet in spite of these contradictions, Catholics remain steadfast in their loyalty to popes. From the selected quotes below you can see how popes have rejected the words of the Lord Jesus Christ who said: "I am the way, and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). The apostle Peter made it clear that Jesus is the only way of salvation when he said, "there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). Yet popes, throughout history, have led Catholics down the wide road to destruction by offering other ways and means of salvation.

"The foundation of all our confidence is found in the Virgin Mary. God has committed to her the treasury of all good things, in order that everyone may know that through her are obtained every hope, every grace, and all salvation. For this is His will: that we obtain everything through Mary. Sweet heart of Mary, be my salvation!" Pope Pius IX

"For, since it is the will of Divine Providence that we should have the God-Man through Mary, there is no other way for us to receive Christ except from her hands." Pope Pius X

"He will not taste death forever who, in his dying moments, has recourse to the Blessed Virgin Mary. What will it cost you to save us? Has not Jesus placed in your hands all the treasures of His grace and mercy? You sit crowned as Queen at the right hand of your Son: your dominion reaches as far as the heavens, and to you are subject the earth and all creatures dwelling thereon. Your dominion reaches even down into the abyss of Hell, and you alone O Mary, save us from the hands of Satan." Pope Pius XI

"Nothing comes to us except through the mediation of Mary, for such is the will of God. O Virgin Most Holy, no one abounds in the knowledge of God except through thee; no one O Mother of God, attains salvation except through thee! Every one of the multitudes, therefore, whom the evil of calamitous circumstances has stolen away from Catholic unity, must be born again to Christ by that same Mother whom God has endowed with a never-failing fertility to bring forth a holy people." Pope Leo XIII

"Mary, not one of thy devout servants has ever perished; may I, too, be saved!" Pope Benedict XV

"Outside this Church there is no salvation and no remission of sins." Pope Boniface VIII

"We believe with our hearts and confess with our lips but one Church, not that of heretics, but the Holy Roman, Catholic, and Apostolic Church, outside of which we believe that no one is saved. " Pope Innocent III

"He who is separated from the Catholic Church will not have life. He who is separated from the body of the Catholic Church, however praiseworthy his conduct may seem otherwise, will never enjoy eternal life, and the wrath of God remains on him by reason of the crime of which he is guilty in living separated from Christ...All those who are separated from the holy universal Church will not be saved." Pope Gregory XVI

"It must be held as a matter of faith that outside the Apostolic Roman Church no one can be saved, that the Church is the only Ark of Salvation, and that whoever does not enter it will perish in the Flood. It is a sin to believe that there is salvation outside the Catholic Church! You must indeed see to it that the faithful have fixed firmly in their minds the absolute necessity of the Catholic faith for attaining salvation. Protestantism is the Great Revolt against God." Pope Pius IX

"Those outside the Church do not possess the Holy Ghost. The Catholic Church alone is the Body of Christ...and if separated from the Body of Christ he is not one of His members, nor is he fed by His Spirit." Pope Paul VI

"No one, even if he pour out his blood for the name of Christ, can be saved unless he remain within the bosom and unity of the Catholic Church." Pope Eugene IV

"We declare, say, define, and pronounce that it is absolutely necessary for the salvation of every human creature to be subject to the Roman Pontiff." Pope Boniface VIII

"Into this fold of Jesus Christ no man may enter unless he be led by the Sovereign Pontiff, and Only if they be united to him can men be saved." Pope John XXIII

"Those who are obstinate toward the authority of the Church and the Roman Pontiff... cannot obtain eternal salvation." Pope Pius IX

Throughout history Roman Catholics pontiffs have shut off the kingdom of heaven from men by proclaiming their own way of salvation. These destructive heresies have sent millions to their graves with a false hope. Only when they come before Jesus Christ at the Great White Throne Judgment will they realize they were deceived about life’s most important decision—whom will I trust for eternal life. Instead of trusting God and His word they put their trust in fallible popes and their heretical teachings. If only they had paid attention to the message of the Bible: "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in man" (Psalm 118:8). "Do not trust in princes, in mortal man, in whom there is no salvation" (Psalm 146:3). "Cursed is the one who trusts in man...but blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord" (Jeremiah 17:5-7).

There is good news for the one billion Catholics who follow the pope today. They can still repent from the Catholic plan of salvation and believe the glorious Gospel of grace. By turning from the teachings and traditions of fallible men to the living and abiding Word of God—the imperishable seed which brings forth life—they can know the truth and be set free from the bondage of deception.

All pope quotes were taken from The Apostolic Digest, Sacred Heart Press, Irving, TX, 1987.