When is the pope infallible catholic

But the canon is worded very carefully, to show the specific context within with it applies, and we need to unpack it to fully understand its limitations. First of all, nothing is ever proclaimed infallibly if it does not pertain to faith or morals.

The Pope, who routinely comments publicly on current events, constantly makes statements which do not fit this description. Just recently, in fact, the Pope made some public statements about social networking and the use of Facebook.

No doubt the Pope checked his facts and educated himself about this phenomenon before speaking publicly about it, and thus we Catholics should of course listen attentively and respectfully to what he has to say—but there is nothing infallible about his comments, because they do not directly address an issue of faith or morals. Thus it is quite possible that the Pope may have made a mistake in his remarks: he could have made a factual error, like getting a date or a statistic wrong; or he might have overlooked some aspect of social networking which he understandably knows nothing about.

The point is, on such issues the Pope is a mere mortal like anyone else, and we Catholics are certainly not required to accept everything he said about Facebook as infallible! Secondly, the canon indicates that when the Pope speaks about doctrinal matters, he does not speak infallibly when he does not intend to.

This is, incidentally, how the term ex cathedra fits into the whole equation. It is, of course, a metaphor, but its point is that when the Pope intentionally speaks in a definitive way on a dogmatic issue, he is being guided by the Holy Spirit and thus he cannot err. We can thus see why that the vast majority of papal statements and writings are not infallible pronouncements. Still, we Catholics know that throughout the past years, there have certainly been many official papal statements on doctrinal matters.

The answer to this seeming contradiction lies in the relatively short history behind the precise wording of canon The fact is, the Catholic Church has accepted from time immemorial the general notion that the Pope, as Vicar of Christ on earth, cannot lead the Church into error. The First Vatican Council, which was convoked in , was never technically finished; Council Fathers adjourned for what was intended to be a temporary pause, at the outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War in —but the Council was never resumed.

During the year or so that it was in session, however, the Church focused the bulk of its attention on articulating the nature and extent of papal power. It was here that we find, for the first time, a clear-cut explanation of the infallibility of the Pope:. Therefore, such definitions of the Roman Pontiff are… irreformable. This objection, of course, illustrates the common confusion between infallibility and impeccability. Other people wonder how infallibility could exist if some popes disagreed with others.

This, too, shows an inaccurate understanding of infallibility, which applies only to solemn, official teachings on faith and morals, not to disciplinary decisions or even to unofficial comments on faith and morals. Even Fundamentalists and Evangelicals who do not have these common misunderstandings often think infallibility means that popes are given some special grace that allows them to teach positively whatever truths need to be known, but that is not quite correct, either.

For this Paul rebuked him. Did this demonstrate papal infallibility was non-existent? Not at all. Paul acknowledged that Peter very well knew the correct teaching Gal. Fundamentalists must also acknowledge that Peter did have some kind of infallibility—they cannot deny that he wrote two infallible epistles of the New Testament while under protection against writing error.

So, if his behavior at Antioch was not incompatible with this kind of infallibility, neither is bad behavior contrary to papal infallibility in general.

There is no point in giving the details here, but it is enough to note that none of the cases meet the requirements outlined by the description of papal infallibility given at Vatican I see Pastor Aeternus 4.

According to Fundamentalist commentators, their best case lies with Pope Honorius. They say he specifically taught Monothelitism, a heresy that held that Christ had only one will a divine one , not two wills a divine one and a human one as all orthodox Christians hold.

Even a quick review of the records shows he simply decided not to make a decision at all. Later, in the 14th and 15th centuries, the Conciliar Movement canvassed the idea that the Church should not be ruled by a sovereign pope, but rather that its supreme authority resided in its councils. Conciliarists believed the pope could err, but a corporation of Christians, embodied by a general church council, could not.

At the time of the Reformation, Catholics looked to the pope as a symbol of the old faith in countries which had become Protestant. The 17th century saw a scientific revolution, often treated with scepticism by a defensive counter-Reformation papacy, which feared that scientific ideas would lead its followers astray.

The 18th century saw the papacy battling Gallicanism — the idea that monarchs were on an authoritative par with the pope. In the 19th century, the idea of papal infallibility came to a head.

There is one foundation on which it is worthwhile to build a house. This foundation is Christ. There is only one rock on which it is worthwhile to place everything. Accordingly, do not forget that neither that Peter who is watching our gathering from the window of God the Father, nor this Peter who is now standing in front of you, nor any successive Peter will ever be opposed to you or the building of a lasting house on the rock.

Indeed, he will offer his heart and his hands to help you construct a life on Christ and with Christ. After lengthy discussions, the dogmas of the Pope's primacy over the universal Church and of the infallibility of the papal magisterium were approved at Vatican Council I.

What is the significance of these dogmas of the Church? By Sergio Centofanti One hundred fifty years ago, on 18 July , the Constitution Pastor Aeternus , which defined the two dogmas of the primacy of the Pope and papal infallibility, was promulgated.