"[As a Catholic,] I owe obedience to the Pope only insofar as the spiritual head of my Church. Nevertheless, I have maintained and maintain that this spiritual authority extends to the morality of temporal things, in so far and only in so far, as they are spiritually related or have a spiritual character; that is, so far as they have a right to pronounce for the Catholic conscience, whether they do or do not conform to the law of God; for the Pope as the head of the Church is the interpreter and judge for Catholics of the divine law, natural or revealed. ... [Oh, and by the way:] The Pope [prior to 2018] has recognized the [death penalty] as compatible with the law of God...."
-- Orestes Brownson, 8 October 1855
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