This is why the
form of government, in the case of the State, may vary. It may be at
one time monarchical, and at another republican, and then oligarchic,
and so forth, whereas the Church must ever be ruled by one Supreme
Pontiff, and be monarchical in its form. Further, it is generally held
that even when not speaking _ex cathedra_, "the Vicar of Christ is
largely assisted by God in the fulfilment of his sublime office; that
he receives great light and strength to do well the great work
entrusted to him and imposed upon him, and that he is continually
guided from above in the government of the Catholic Church." [Words of
Father O'Reilly, S.J., quoted with approval by Cardinal Newman, p.
140.] And that supplies us with a special and an additional motive for
prompt obedience.
"Two powers govern the world," wrote Pope Gelasius, to the Greek
Emperor Anastasius, more than fourteen hundred years ago, "the
spiritual authority of the Roman Pontiff, and the temporal power of
kings". These two powers have for their end, one the spiritual
happiness of man, here and hereafter, the other the temporal
prosperity of society in the present world.
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