Gerardi, John, Catholics shouldn't fear Michele Bachmann, The Daily Caller, "WELS's teaching sounds a bit more alarming than it truly is. As was described in this article in The Atlantic, the denomination takes a fairly moderate interpretation of what it means for the Pope to be the Antichrist. WELS simply holds that the Catholic Church's teaching of Papal infallibility is opposed to the Lutheran teaching of the primacy of the Bible; WELS members argue that by putting himself in the place of God's written word (the lone source of authority on matters of faith for traditional Lutherans), the Pope opposes himself to Christ. He is thus anti-Christ — an Antichrist."
WELS Topical Q&A: Religion - Roman Catholic (05), "The Lutheran Confessions cite two main reasons for labeling the pope as the Antichrist. 1). He takes to himself a right that belongs only to God, the right to make laws for the church. If he says it is a sin to eat meat on Friday, it is. If he says it is okay, then it is not a sin anymore. He forbids priests to marry, contrary to the will of God. He refuses innocent victims of divorce the right to remarry, a right Scripture grants them. In these and many other instances he acts as a usurper of a right that belongs only to Christ. 2) He curses the most basic doctrine of the Bible, justification by faith alone. In the decrees of the Council of Trent he curses anyone who holds this doctrine and teaches salvation by faith and works. What could be more anti-Christian than that? The fact that the pope is religious and in the church does not disqualify him from being the Antichrist. It is, in fact, one of the prerequisites since the Antichrist is a religious deceiver in the church. He is not only an opponent of Christ, but a usurper of Christ's position"
