Papal Power and the Obedience of the Faithful October 9, 2023 | By Charles J. Chaput ... John Rist and his new book, Infallibility, Integrity and Obedience: The Papacy and the Roman Catholic Church, 1848-2023. .. ... Rist is a Catholic convert and, like Erasmus, a serious scholar. His career includes a large and admirable body of work in the classics, ancient philosophy, and Christian theology and philosophy. Unlike Erasmus, alas, prudence is not Rist’s strong suit. In April 2019, Rist was one of nineteen names on a public letter to bishops of the world accusing Pope Francis of heresy. The letter was excessive in tone and weak in substance. It backfired on the signers’ reputations. And the incident casts a shadow on the author’s latest book, which has its own regrettable flaws. The target of Rist’s text is a set of “serious unresolved problems in the understanding and governance of the Church itself.” These are rooted in the growth of “excessive papal power” that breeds su...