INFALLIBILITY

BASIC R.C. BELIEF

A special gift whereby the Church is preserved free from teaching error in

matters of faith and morals. It is expressed by definitions of popes,

decrees of general councils, creeds and professions of faith. It is also

exercised when doctrines are unanimously taught by the bishops of the

world.

Papal infallibility does not imply sinlessness, but means that the Pope,

when speaking ex cathedra on a matter of faith and morals, cannot err. This

was defined by the Vatican Council(I) as being retroactive to all preceding

popes.

He speaks ex cathedra when, in virtue of his office and apostolic

authority, he intentionally defines a doctrine which must then be held by

the whole church.

Papal encyclicals are not thought to be infallible. Since 1870, only one

teaching was given that is universally accepted as infallible: the

definition of the Assumption in 1950. The pope is believed to be infallible

when he canonizes a saint.

POST VATICAN II

From FALSE TRENDS IN MODERN TEACHING, page 20: "In writing (encyclicals),

it is true, the Popes do not exercise their teaching authority to the full.

But such statements come under the day-to-day teaching of the Church, which

is covered by the promise, `He who listens to you, listens to me.' Luke

10:16.

CHRISTIAN COMMENT

The Lord Jesus recognized the need for an Infallible Teacher for His

Church, and authorized the Holy Spirit as the One Who would lead into all

truth (John 16:13). His ability to convey truth to Christians is taught in

I John 2:27.

From Dick Knolls' newsletter, August 1979. "The basic issue is this: how is

the guidance of the Church given to the faithful? If the Church claims to

be the final authority, where do I hear her voice? The answer to that

question has been formulated in many statements of Canon Law and in many

papal encyclicals, but the most detailed reply comes in the statements of

the First Vatican Council supplemented by the celebrated decree of Vatican

II on the constitution of the church, LUMEN GENTIUM.

"In Vatican I the emphasis had been firmly laid on the supreme authority

of the pope and on his infallibility in all matters of faith and morals.

Vatican I, however, ended prematurely in 1870 when the troops of the

victorious Italian nationalists entered Rome. The sudden termination of the

Council furnished an argument for the claim that the decree was an open-

ended one which needed supplementation by a further statement defining the

role of the bishops and their relation to the papacy. This further

statement came in Chapter III of LUMEN GENTIUUM, but far from finalizing

the issue, it led to further controversy with Rome.

"The decree claims for the bishops as a body what Vatican I had claimed

for the Pope, namely, the power to teach without error the doctrine of

Christ. Individual bishops do not enjoy the prerogative of infallibility,

Nevertheless, when in the course of their authentic teaching on faith and

morals they agree on a single opinion to be held as definite, they are

proclaiming infallibly the teaching of Christ.' This means that when they

act together and in agreement with the Pope, and when they define a

teaching on either faith or morals as obligatory for the faithful, they are

teaching infallibly.

"There is, however, a problem even here for the R.C. who is much more

sympathetic to papal and episcopal claims that (Hans) Kung is. Seamus Ryan

presents in his commentary on the decree of Vatican II, THE CONSTITUTION OF

THE CHURCH. `It is difficcult to see how one can ever be quite sure that a

particular teaching of the dispersed episcopate is infallible.' For

justification of this difficulty, he points to the discussion on the

subject of birth control. Judging by the tests of Vatican II, the episcopal

agreement for years on this subject bears the clear stamp of infallibility.

But the present debate indicates that many would deny this teaching is

infallible. It is no wonder that this problem remains and Ryan adds rather

wryly, `A dispersed diaconate which is infallible, but never knows when, is

a puzzling paradox.'

"Hans Kung wrote, `We are nevertheless bound to point out that the

attribition of infallibility to the college of bishops, based on the

traditional unhistorical theory of the bishops' direct and exclusive

apostolic succession, stands exegetically, historically, and theologically,

on feet of clay.'"

Some historic notes re Infallibility.

1. In 590, St. Gregory I first used the term "ex cathedra."

2. Liberius, in 385, subscribed to the Arian heresy to gain the

bishopric of Rome.

3. Gregory I called anyone who would take the title Universal Bishop an

Antichrist.

4 .Adrian II declared civil marriages valid; Pius VII condemned them.

5. Vigilinus, Innocent III, Clement IV, Gregory XI, Adrian VI and Paul

IV all disclaimed the attribute of infallibility.

6. The Donation of Constantine recorded the conferring of certain

privileges and honors to the Bishop of Rome. This became part of official

Canon Law and was used by the Popes to bolster their claims (Adrian I to

Charlemagne in 778; Leo XI in 1054; Urban II to support his claims to

Corsica in 1091; also Innocent III, Gregory IX and Innocent IV). Roman

Catholics today admit that it was a forgery.

7. From KEENAN'S CATECHISM, 1869 edition. "Q. Must not Catholics believe

the pope in himself to be infallible? A: This is a Protestant invention; it

is no article of Catholic faith." After 1870, the question was omitted, but

in 1896, the following was added:

"Q: Is the Pope infallible? A: Yes, the Pope is infallible. Q: But some

Catholics,. before the Vatican Council, denied the infallibility of the

Pope, which was impugned by this very Catechism. A: Yes, they did so under

the usual reservation, insofar as they then could grasp the mind of the

Church, and subject to her future definitions, thus implicitely accepting

the dogma."


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