Now many of you reading
the above conversation will no doubt think something doesn’t sound quite
right. And you would be correct! Our well meaning Catholic
friend above very inaccurately described Papal Infallibility, but there
is enough truth in his statements to be confusing to a lot of people, and
potentially damaging if we are trying to explain our faith to others.
So what do Catholics really believe about Papal Infallibility and where
does that doctrine come from?
Let’s start by seeing just how
much we know about infallibility itself. Karl Keating, in his book
Catholicism and Fundamentalism, uses this example. Let’s say that
the pope is infallible, not only in matters of faith and morals, but also
in trigonometry. If he were presented a sheet of paper with 100 math
problems on it, what is the least number he would get correct? If
you said 100, you may have a good grasp of math, but not infallibility.
The correct answer is zero. He could leave the page entirely blank.
You see, infallibility is a negative protection. It prevents the
pope from getting the wrong answer, but does not enable him to know the
correct answer. He would have to learn trigonometry on his own.
If he did not do his homework, he would have to leave each answer blank.
But, as we know, the pope is
only infallible when teaching on matters of faith and morals as leader
of the Christian world. He has to learn these things on his own,
just as we would, through study of scripture, Church documents, the writings
of the Church Fathers, theologians, and much time spent in prayer.
He must come to his own conclusions—they are not given to him by revelation.
But when he comes to these conclusions in matters of faith and morals,
he is protected by the Holy Spirit from teaching in error.
Infallibility does not mean
that the Pope is free of sin. This is called impeccability, and Catholics
do not believe that the Pope is impeccable. But many will try to
prove that the Pope is not infallible by citing examples of Popes who have
fallen into sin. With 2000 years of Popes to choose from, the amount
of bad apples they can cite is amazingly small, but it still misses the
point. Infallibility is absence of error, not of sin. Popes
are human beings, and can certainly sin.
So why do we believe in infallibility
at all? Well, a lot of it goes back to the Scriptures themselves.
Since many people who will be questioning Papal authority are from Protestant
churches that believe in sola scriptura (that the Bible alone is the only
guide for our faith), it will be helpful to know where in the Scriptures
this notion can be found. Citing other sources will do no good if
the person you are talking with only recognizes the authority of the Bible.
There are several Petrine verses,
so called because they deal with Peter’s authority in the Church.
The most well known is from Matthew 16:17-19. This is after Peter
makes his profession of faith that Jesus is the Messiah. “Jesus said
to him in reply, ‘Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh
and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And
so I say to you, you are Peter [Kepa, which means “rock”], and upon this
rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
it. I will give you [singular] the keys of the kingdom of heaven;
and whatever you [plural] bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever
you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.’”
This verse sets Peter apart
from the other disciples by changing his name from Simon to Peter, meaning
Rock. He then promises to make him the foundation of his Church.
He also gives him alone the keys to the kingdom of heaven, which signifies
his authority. Many non-Catholic Christians will argue that the second
“rock” in this verse refer not to Peter but to his profession of faith.
Simple grammar argues otherwise. The phrase “this rock” would have
to refer to the immediately preceding noun, which is Peter. His profession
of faith was two verses earlier. Again, let’s use an example supplied
by Keating. In the sentence, “I have a car and a truck, and it is
blue,” which one is blue? Obviously it is the truck. It would
be even more clear if the reference to the car was two sentences earlier.
Others say that in the original Greek
the phrase reads, “you are Petros (meaning little rock), and upon this
petra (meaning big rock) I will build my church.” Therefore the second
rock could not be Peter. The problem with this is that “Petros” was
only used in Greek because it is a masculine form of the feminine “petra”
and therefore suitable as a man’s name. But Jesus was not speaking
Greek. In Aramaic, the language Jesus would have used, the word in
both cases is “kepa,” which is neuter like our English word “rock.”
So it would have read, “you are Kepa, and upon this kepa I will build my
church.” No difference exists until it is translated into Greek.
Other Biblical examples can
also be cited. Let’s examine a few of these. Look to John 21:15-17.
Here, right at the end of the Gospel, Jesus charges Simon Peter to “feed
my lambs” and “tend my sheep.” Look in Luke 22:32. This is
right before Jesus foretells Peter’s denial, and Jesus tells him, “I have
prayed that your own faith may not fail; and once you have turned back
[after the denials] you must strengthen your brothers.”
Christ also told his apostles
to go preach the gospel and promised the protection of the Holy Spirit
(Jn 16:13). That promise ensures that the Church will never fall
away from the teachings of Christ (1 Tim 3:15). We as Catholic believe
in the Apostolic succession, that is, that these promises made by Jesus
were for all of time, and were therefore passed on from the original Apostles,
the first bishops, to their successors for all generations, down to our
own. This applies also to Peter, the first Pope. To believe
otherwise would mean that the Church today has no authority at all, nor
did any church after the last Apostle died. We would have nowhere
to turn to for truth.
This protection means that when
all of the bishops of the Church gather together at an Ecumenical Council
and teach on a matter of faith or morals in union with each other, they
cannot be wrong. We call this teaching body of bishops the Magesterium.
We believe that this Magesterium is infallible in its teachings.
However, we also believe that
the Pope alone among the bishops has a special infallibility. Although
not formally defined until 1870, this was a notion that was held even by
early Christians. As the primacy of the Papal office became clearer
to the growing Church, so did Papal infallibility. As early as 256,
Cyprian of Carthage wrote, “Would heretics dare to come to the very seat
of Peter whence apostolic faith is derived and whither no errors can come?”
In 433 Pope Sixtus III said that to assent to the Bishop of Rome’s decision
is to assent to Peter, who lives in his successors and whose faith cannot
fail. Augustine of Hippo even said, “Rome has spoken; the case is
closed.” So even though they did not have the defined term “papal
infallibility” as we do now, they understood it in its practice.
This also means that all Popes,
not just those since 1870, have been infallible—they just did not have
as full an understanding of their own infallibility as those after 1870
did. So why was it only defined in 1870? Well, traditionally
in the Church only defines a doctrine when that doctrine is called into
question. The Church does not “make up” new doctrine. It cannot
add to the deposit of faith that was left to us by the Apostles after Pentecost.
But it can come to a clearer understanding of that faith, and 2000 years
of study and prayer have led us to a much clearer notion of what Christ
intended our Church to be than those very first Christians could have had.
Throughout the life of the Church,
there have been various individuals or groups who would question a church
teaching. This would lead to debate, and often even heretical teachings.
Sometimes these conflicts caused issues to arise that no one even thought
of before! It is during times such as these that the Church makes
an official definition, to close the matter. During the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries, after the Reformation and during the Enlightenment,
the Pope’s authority was called more and more into question. This
is why, in 1870, at the first Vatican council, it was decided to formally
define the Pope’s special infallibility.
The Catechism of the Catholic
church teaches us that, “’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. When the Church
through its supreme Magisterium proposes a doctrine ‘for belief as being
divinely revealed,’ and as the teaching of Christ, the definitions ‘must
be adhered to with the obedience of faith.’ This infallibility extends
as far as the deposit of divine Revelation itself” (892).
So you can see from this that
the Pope’s every word is not infallible, nor any documents he may have
written prior to becoming Pope or as a private theologian. In these
he is just as fallible as any other learned man. But when, in his
office as Vicar of Christ, he “proclaims by a definitive act a doctrine
pertaining to faith or morals,” then we are called by our faith to obey.
This faith stems from a faith in Jesus Christ, who made Peter the head
of His Church on earth, who promised these charisms to him, who promised
to stay with his Church forever and that “the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it.” Our faith in Christ would lead us to obey the authority
of His Church, which is one, holy, catholic and apostolic.
To read the Catholic Encyclopedia article on Infallibility, go on line
to:
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07790a.htm
Catechism
of the Catholic Church. The United States Catholic Conference,
Inc., Doubleday, New York; 1995.
Keating, Karl. Catholicism
and Fundamentalism. Ignatius Press, San Francisco; 1988.
The New American Bible. St. Joseph Edition. Catholic
Book Publishing Co, New York; 1991.
Catholic
Apologetics &