- Key People:
- Pius IX
- Related Topics:
- papacy
- ex cathedra declaration
papal infallibility
What is papal infallibility?
Who was the pope when papal infallibility was defined as dogma?
What is required for a pope to speak infallibly?
papal infallibility, in Roman Catholic theology, the doctrine that the pope, acting as supreme teacher and under certain conditions, cannot err when he teaches in matters of faith or morals. It was officially defined as dogma in 1870 during the First Vatican Council (1869–70), which was convoked by Pope Pius IX. Essentially, the doctrine holds that the pope, as a direct successor of St. Peter the Apostle, cannot be wrong in definitive statements about faith. The proclamation was vigorously debated during the council and continues to be a subject of controversy in the modern Roman Catholic Church.
Meaning and criticism
As an element of the broader understanding of the infallibility of the church, the doctrine is based on the belief that the church has been entrusted with the teaching mission of Jesus Christ and that, in view of its mandate from Christ, it will remain faithful to that teaching through the assistance of the Holy Spirit. As such, the doctrine is related to, but distinguishable from, the concept of indefectibility, or the doctrine that the grace promised to the church assures its perseverance until the end of time.
The term infallibility was rarely mentioned in the early and medieval church. Critics of the doctrine have pointed to various occasions in the history of the church when popes are said to have taught heretical doctrines. The most notable case was that of Honorius I (reigned 625–638), who was posthumously condemned by the Third Council of Constantinople (680–681; the sixth ecumenical council) for his role in promoting monophysitism, a heresy teaching that Christ has only one nature rather than two (i.e., human and divine), and monothelitism, a heresy maintaining that Christ has only one will.
" height="20" alt="HEW Logo">
Declaration as dogma
Notably, Pius IX’s reign (1846–78) occurred as the papacy was under attack from Italian nationalists and amid calls for reform in the church. (Indeed, from 1870 until his death eight years later, Pius was a self-imposed “prisoner of the Vatican,” refusing to acknowledge the newly unified Italian government.) He had become convinced that the real danger to the church lay in modern secular ideas and that liberalism must be destroyed and that the church’s authority must be centralized and strengthened. Even before convoking the First Vatican Council, Pius had employed the doctrine of papal infallibility on December 8, 1854, when he declared the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which asserts that the Virgin Mary, the mother of Jesus, was free from all taint of original sin from the moment of her conception.
The definition of the doctrine of papal infallibility was promulgated on July 18, 1870, in the dogmatic constitution Pastor aeternus (Latin: “Eternal Shepherd”) of the First Vatican Council. This document states the conditions under which a pope may be said to have spoken infallibly, or ex cathedra (“from his chair” as supreme teacher). It is a prerequisite that the pope intend to demand irrevocable assent from the entire church in some aspect of faith or morals.
Despite the rarity of recourse to this claim, and despite the emphasis given to the authority of the bishops in the Second Vatican Council (1962–65), the doctrine remained a major obstacle to ecumenical endeavors in the early 21st century and was the subject of controversial discussion even among Roman Catholic theologians.
