Softcover, 201 Pages
What does it mean to say that the Apostle Peter—and each of his successors—is kepha, the rock on which Christ has built His Church? Could this rock ever be allowed to crumble, without the Church herself crumbling? Can a successor of Peter fail in his office, or even in his faith, without negating the Church’s indefectibility? What are the nature—and limits—of the pope’s infallibility and primacy? Has the role of the supreme pontiff sometimes been exaggerated or distorted?
Today questions like these are asked with greater urgency than ever, owing to the pontificate of Pope Francis. In Super Hanc Petram, Fr Lanzetta answers them with balance, realism, and confidence in Divine Providence. Lanzetta investigates Pope Francis’s sources, leitmotifs, methods, and goals, examining the return of nominalism and pragmatism, the elevation of pastoral care over doctrine, the proclamation of a mercy that severs charity from truth, the substitution of “a people on the move” for “the mystical body” and of a panreligious humanistic fraternity for the salvific Christian mission, the inversion of hierarchy by synodality, the selective use of Vatican II as an impetus for “paradigm shifts,” an evolutionary vision of doctrinal development driven by sociological-cultural theories, and the supplanting of eschatology by ecology.
Pastors, theologians, laity, converts, non-Catholics interested in the Church and her relationship with modernity—all will find Fr Lanzetta’s study valuable for the light it sheds on the age-old office of the papacy and on the tempestuous reign of its most recent incumbent.
Praise for Super Hanc Petram
“Fr Lanzetta provides clarity on the nature of the papal office together with accurate analysis of Pope Francis’s theology. A timely gift for a storm-tossed Church.” — Most Rev. Athanasius Schneider
“A serious and important critical work on the roots of Pope Francis’s thought.” — Eduardo J. Echeverria
“This book is convincing and clear; it satisfies our need for understanding.” — Roberto de Mattei
“Fr Lanzetta explores the theological implications of the conflict that we now face, as well as its possible origins.”— Philip F. Lawler
“Masterfully tackles the thorniest questions of the current crisis in the Church and in the papacy, while maintaining a supernatural perspective.” — José A. Ureta
Fr Serafino Maria Lanzetta is a Marian Franciscan based in the diocese of Portsmouth (UK). He holds a doctorate in Sacred Theology and a post-doctoral habilitation in Ecclesiology. He is lecturer in Systematic Theology at St Mary’s University Twickenham, London, and at the Theological Faculty of Lugano (Switzerland). He is also an author and broadcaster.
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