immediate and supreme representative of God upon earth; and has been
placed in that position by God Himself. And since the Primacy is
neither in whole, nor even in part of human derivation, but comes
directly and immediately from Christ, no man or number of men, whether
kings or princes or individual Bishops, nor even a whole Council of
Bishops, have any warranty or right to command him in religious or
ecclesiastical concerns.[9] The Council of Florence declares that: "To
him, in Blessed Peter, was delivered by Our Lord Jesus Christ the full
power of ruling and governing the Universal Church". Now this "full
power" accorded by Christ cannot be limited except by the authority of
Christ. Though the Pope is not the Sovereign of all the faithful in
the _temporal_ order, he is the Sovereign of all Christians in the
_spiritual_ order. If then--and this is admitted by all--we are bound
in conscience to obey our temporal sovereign and magistrates and
masters, and must submit to the laws of the country, so long as they
do not conflict with higher and superior laws, such as the Natural Law
and the Revealed Law, with still greater reason are we bound to obey
our spiritual Sovereign and the laws and regulations of the Church.

3. To object that the Pope may possibly make a mistake when not
speaking _ex cathedrâ_ though true, is nothing to the point. For civil
governments are far more liable to fail in this respect, and as a
matter of fact, do frequently abuse their power and pass unjust laws,
and sometimes command what is sinful,[10] yet that fact does not
militate against the soundness of the _general_ proposition that
lawful superiors are to be obeyed. Nor does it diminish the force of
St. Peter's inspired words, in which he bids us be subject, for God's
sake, "whether it be to the king, as excelling, or to governors as
sent by him for the punishment of evil doers ... for such is the will
of God" (Peter ii.). Nor does it detract from the truth and validity