When Roman Catholicism bases its bedrock of authority on an ever-changing position of leadership (just like Mormonism), it never ceases to amaze me what men can dream up. And with no real, fixed, eternal foundation by which to measure all new revelations, decrees, and doctrines, whatever the pope (or a prophet) says must be accepted as truth and cannot be scrutinized or challenged because the people lack a source of unchanging truth.

Without a solid, non-vacillating source of truth to stand on, those who follow the pope (or the prophet) simply get carried along to and fro with every wind of doctrine, resulting in their eternal destruction at the hands of those who promised them peace and safety and assured them that everything was all right.

Examining the claims of any man, even that of the Apostle Paul as the Bereans did in Acts 17 (and were called noble for doing so), is necessary. Without a basis to measure what a man says (and holding him accountable to that standard of measurement) then you are at the mercy of a sinful son of Adam and are entrusting your eternal soul to whatever that man says.

Case in point: According to this article in Zenit, the Romish organization  recently announced this whopper of a tale:

On Benedict XVI’s behalf, the Apostolic Penitentiary is granting a special plenary indulgence to those who pray before the remains of St. Celestine V during the year dedicated to him.

That’s right, if you pray in front of the corpse of a dead man you can receive a “special plenary indulgence.” I can’t make this stuff up (but apparently Rome can).

His remains will be on pilgrimage during this year throughout the dioceses of the region where people were affected by the quake, so that the faithful, having fulfilled the other requirements, can receive the indulgence.

“Having fulfilled the other requirements?” What can they possibly add to the already completed, perfect sacrifice of the spotless Lamb of God? What “other requirements” does the Bible say we must fulfill?

Galatians 2:16 is pretty clear that

A man is not justified by the works of the Law but through faith in Christ Jesus, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, so that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the Law; since by the works of the Law no flesh will be justified.

So what basis of unchanging truth, what foundational, eternal authority does Rome appeal to in order to validate this Romish teaching? Apparently not the Word of God, as this article never once points to Scripture to support this gross error. Instead Rome actually references a previous papal error to support the current papal error.

As a gift to all the people, [Celestine V] decided that those who confessed and were sincerely repentant, and visited the Basilica of Santa Maria di Collemaggio in that city, between Aug. 28 and Aug. 29, would receive the remission of sins and the absolution of punishment. Until then, a plenary indulgence was only granted to those who went to the Holy Land as crusaders and to pilgrims who visited the Portincula of Assisi.

So Celestine V, who taught the false gospel of obtaining “remission of sins and the absolution of punishment” by one’s own ability (in this case if someone visited a certain Basilica), is now the object of the furtherance of this false gospel by virtue of us praying in front of his dead body? This sounds like great fiction at best, occultism at worst.

And where did Celestine V come up with this idea? Notice in the previous quote that Celestine V simply “decided” this new wind of doctrine. What power he must wield, and with no basis by which to measure truth, how can this ever be challenged? For a Roman Catholic it cannot, and this is why Rome is so adamantly opposed to Sola Scriptura.

The article continues:

The prelate added: “Celestine wished to remind us of the great love of God, of God’s forgiveness, of reconciliation, of conversion and of peace.

Apparently this is a “love” and a “forgiveness” that the Romish god could not completely provide to his people unless they were able to travel to a certain city between August 28 and August 29th in the 13th century.

Rome can keep its impossible gospel, and I’ll stick to the perfect Word of God which tells me where God’s peace truly comes from: “Having made peace through the blood of His cross (Colossians 1:20).”

If Celestine V or Pope Benedict XVI had spoken in Berea and given the above “teaching” to the Bereans, and they searched the Scriptures to see if it were so, would they have been able to find it? Certainly not, for even Rome can’t find Scripture to support this aberrant teaching. But such is the liberty of Rome (and any cult) that puts the words of its leaders above that of the very Word of God. And such is the reason why Rome attacks the Word of God so vehemently, because it stands in direct opposition to Rome’s teachings, and Rome will only be at “peace” when it extinguishes all opposition, whether by torture, murder, threat of ex-communication or attacking the precious Word of God.

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But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. – Titus 3:4-7