This pope has been especially terrible, but I’m not just picking on the Catholic Church. Jesus said, “In vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9). I oppose any doctrine, of any man, in any church that is a “commandment of men” and violates the teachings of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He IS the LORD, and His word is the final authority. No human has the right to change it.
So, when a pope or any other human, condones something the Word of God condemns, then I will oppose him and the teaching he/she espouses. The Bible is the guide, particularly the New Testament because that is Jesus’s final will and testament. Thus, I’m going to search that document for the church He established (Matthew 16:18; Acts 20:28). I don’t read anything about a “pope” in the New Testament, much less “cardinals,” “archbishops,” “archdeacons,” or a special class of “clergy” called “priests.” Every Christian is a priest (I Peter 2:9). That’s not Martin Luther’s doctrine (much of which I oppose as well), that’s New Testament doctrine. I’m not going to call any man on earth my spiritual father: “Do not call anyone on earth your father, for One is your Father, He who is in heaven” (Matthew 23:9). As this current pope is doing, many popes down through history have exalted their will and their words above God’s. I can’t go there. As far as I can tell, that is exactly what modern Leftists do, and everyone else who rejects the Bible.
So, to me, this pope is bad. But then, they all have been for I find no authority in the New Testament, in the teachings of Christ, for such a creature to exist. And “as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).