143. The infallibly of the Pope

The infallibly of the Pope

YOUCAT Catechism + Catechism of the Catholic Church Lesson 143

Ave Maria series

143  Is the Pope really infallible?

Yes.  But the Pope speaks infallibly when he defines a dogma in a solemn ecclesiastical act (”ex cathedra”), in other words, makes an authoritative decision in doctrinal questions of faith and morals.  Magisterial decisions of the college of bishops in communion with the Pope also possess an infallible character, for example, decisions of an ecumenical council.  [888-892]

Pope Venerable Pius XII. …..On 1 November 1950, in the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus (The most bountiful God) Pope Pius XII declared the Assumption of Mary as a dogma: “By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” …..143

The infallibility of the Pope has nothing to do with his moral integrity or his intelligence.  What is infallible is actually the Church, for Jesus promised her the Holy Spirit, who keeps her in the truth and leads her ever deeper into it.  When a truth of the faith that has been taken for granted is suddenly denied or misinterpreted, the Church must have one final voice that authoritatively says what is true and what is false.  This is the voice of the Pope.  As the successor of Peter and the first among the bishops, he has the authority to formulate the disputed truth according to the Church’s Tradition of faith in such a way that it is presented to the faithful for all times as something” to be believed with certainty”.  We say then that the Pope defines a dogma.  Therefore such a dogma can never contain something substantially “new”.  Very rarely is a dogma defined.  The last time was in 1950.

“I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.  When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.”  John 16:12-13

Ecumenical Council (Greek oikumene=the entire inhabited world): assembly of the Catholic bishops from all over the world; not to be confused with “ecumenism” in the sense of efforts to bring about the unity among Christians.

Dogma (Greek dogma=opinion, decision, doctrine): an article of faith proclaimed by a Council or the Pope as divine revelation contained in Scripture and Tradition.

Ex Cathedra (Latin=from the chair, symbol of teaching authority): This technical expression designates the special case of an infallible magisterial decision of the Pope.

[888-892]

The teaching office

888 Bishops, with priests as co-workers, have as their first task "to preach the Gospel of God to all men," in keeping with the Lord's command.(Presbyterorum ordinis 4; compare Mark 16:15)⁴¹⁵ They are "heralds of faith, who draw new disciples to Christ; they are authentic teachers" of the apostolic faith "endowed with the authority of Christ."(Lumen gentium 25)⁴¹⁶ –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

889 In order to preserve the Church in the purity of the faith handed on by the apostles, Christ who is the Truth willed to confer on her a share in his own infallibility. By a "supernatural sense of faith" the People of God, under the guidance of the Church's living Magisterium, "unfailingly adheres to this faith."(Lumen gentium 12; compare Dei Verbum 10)⁴¹⁷ –CCC

890 The mission of the Magisterium is linked to the definitive nature of the covenant established by God with his people in Christ. It is this Magisterium's task to preserve God's people from deviations and defections and to guarantee them the objective possibility of professing the true faith without error. Thus, the pastoral duty of the Magisterium is aimed at seeing to it that the People of God abides in the truth that liberates. To fulfill this service, Christ endowed the Church's shepherds with the charism of infallibility in matters of faith and morals. The exercise of this charism takes several forms (continue below): –CCC

891 "The Roman Pontiff, head of the college of bishops, enjoys this infallibility in virtue of his office, when, as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful - who confirms his brethren in the faith he proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine pertaining to faith or morals. . . . The infallibility promised to the Church is also present in the body of bishops when, together with Peter's successor, they exercise the supreme Magisterium," above all in an Ecumenical Council.(Lumen gentium 25; compare Vatican Council I:Denzinger-Schönmetzer 3074)⁴¹⁸    When the Church through its supreme Magisterium proposes a doctrine "for belief as being divinely revealed,"(Dei Verbum 10 § 2)⁴¹⁹  and as the teaching of Christ, the definitions "must be adhered to with the obedience of faith."(Lumen gentium 25 § 2)⁴²⁰    This infallibility extends as far as the deposit of divine Revelation itself.(compare Lumen gentium 25)⁴²¹  –CCC

892 Divine assistance is also given to the successors of the apostles, teaching in communion with the successor of Peter, and, in a particular way, to the bishop of Rome, pastor of the whole Church, when, without arriving at an infallible definition and without pronouncing in a "definitive manner," they propose in the exercise of the ordinary Magisterium a teaching that leads to better understanding of Revelation in matters of faith and morals. To this ordinary teaching the faithful "are to adhere to it with religious assent"(Lumen gentium 25)⁴²² which, though distinct from the assent of faith, is nonetheless an extension of it. –CCC

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