From the bulletin of August 9, 2020
As we learned last week, the First Vatican Council was most famous for solemnly declaring that the Pope had the ability to teach doctrine infallibly. It is often called the charism of infallibility. That word “charism” is used by the Church to refer to spiritual gifts and in this case means that the Pope, because of the authority he inherits as successor to St. Peter, has the spiritual gift of teaching without error. Now, it is important to remember that, whenever the Church defines a doctrine, she is not changing what we’ve always believed. It simply means that we have a clearer understanding of what we’ve always believed and that, because of current circumstances, it is necessary to state that belief in a clear and definitive way. In other words, Catholics have always believed the Pope had a special charism of infallibility and this is the first time it was explicitly stated in those words.
Still, how does the Church justify this teaching? By believing in Scripture and Tradition. First, there is the fact that Peter is established as the leader among the Apostles. Every list of the Apostles puts him first and St. Peter is often singled out by Jesus for a particular ministry of leadership and protection. In Matthew 16, Jesus declare Simon Peter the “rock” (same word that translates as “peter”) of the Church and that the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church. In Luke 22, Jesus tells Peter that he prayed for him and that it is his responsibility, after the scandal of the cross, to “strengthen your brothers.” Then, after the Resurrection, in John 21, Jesus specifically entrusts the ministry of shepherding and feeding the sheep to Peter. In Acts 15, we see the Council of Jerusalem, where leaders in the Church were debating how to handle Gentile converts to Christianity. After much debate, Peter stands up and speaks and Scripture tells us that “the whole assembly fell silent” in response. After Peter’s death, the early Church recognized his successor, St. Linus, as the leader. The bishop of Rome after him was St. Clement. Though St. John the Apostle was still alive during the reign of St. Clement, Church controversies were settled by St. Clement as the bishop of Rome – a sign that the authority he inherited from St. Peter was recognized even though St. John was still around. Throughout the history of the Church, Ecumenical Councils had to have the approval of the Pope – St. Peter’s successor – to be accepted as authoritative. A number of councils and decrees throughout history have declared that the Pope has a special primacy and leadership in the Church as the Vicar of Christ.
Since it is the Church’s responsibility to hand on the Truth of our salvation and the devil is the father of lies, it stands to reason that Jesus’ gift of the Holy Spirit would protect the Church from ever losing the Truth he entrusted to her. As the sign of unity and leader of the Church, the Pope is given special guidance by the Holy Spirit to prevent him from ever losing the saving Truth of Jesus Christ. So, the Church has taught and Catholics are required to accept that the Pope has the charism of infallibility when he teaches on faith and morals, even if they don’t fully understand all the reasons behind it. Nonetheless, we should try to understand what this infallibility means and doesn’t mean.
This does not mean the Pope never sins or never makes mistakes. History makes that claim impossible. The First Vatican Council was very clear that this infallibility only applies in very specific circumstances. He can’t infallibly predict the weather and he isn’t infallible in all of his personal theological opinions. The council uses the words ex cathedra, which means “from the chair.” The “chair” of St. Peter is a symbol of the authority given to the Pope. Essentially, it means that the Pope has to specifically intend to teach something as doctrine in order for it to be infallible. It also has to be a matter of faith and morals, so he can’t use it for certain scientific or political claims. Finally, it is rarely used. We know of only two times it was directly used to teach something. All the other doctrines are taught in conjunction with councils and synods. Next week, we’ll take a deeper look at some misunderstandings.
In Christ,
-Fr. Albert