Why We Need the Pope: The Necessity and Limits of Papal Authority

This monograph examines papal authority within Catholic theology while engaging Protestant objections and addressing contemporary challenges to Church governance. Horn constructs a defense of the papacy that acknowledges institutional failings while maintaining the theological necessity of papal office for Christian unity and doctrinal coherence.

The work responds to both Protestant critiques and Catholic anxieties about papal authority, particularly those emerging from recent scandals and perceived doctrinal ambiguities. Horn employs a dual methodology, combining scriptural exegesis with historical analysis to demonstrate continuity between biblical foundations and developed papal doctrine. His approach particularly emphasizes the Petrine texts in Matthew 16 and John 21, arguing that Protestant interpretations fail to account for the institutional requirements of a global Church spanning two millennia.

Horn's central argument posits that papal authority serves as a divinely instituted safeguard against doctrinal fragmentation, evidenced by the proliferation of Protestant denominations following the Reformation. He contends that while individual popes may err in prudential judgments or personal conduct, the office itself remains protected by divine providence when exercising its teaching authority on faith and morals. This distinction between the person and the office forms a crucial element of his theological framework.

The author addresses the apparent tension between papal infallibility and historical instances of papal error by carefully delineating the conditions under which infallibility operates. He argues that critics often conflate different levels of papal teaching authority, failing to recognize the limited scope of infallible pronouncements. Horn also examines the development of doctrine, suggesting that apparent contradictions often reflect legitimate theological development rather than reversal of established teaching.

Significantly, Horn acknowledges legitimate limits to papal authority, distinguishing his position from ultramontanist extremes. He argues that proper understanding of papal authority requires recognizing both its necessity for Church unity and its boundaries within the broader structure of Catholic governance, including the roles of bishops, councils, and tradition.

The work contributes to contemporary debates about religious authority by offering a reasoned defense of hierarchical church structure against both secular individualism and Protestant models of dispersed authority. Horn's argument implicitly challenges purely rational or democratic approaches to religious truth, asserting that divine revelation requires an authoritative interpreter to prevent subjective interpretation from undermining objective truth claims.