Two common questions a priest hears are: “When is a
teaching of the Church infallible?” and “If a teaching is not
infallibly proclaimed, do I have to believe it?” Before we
proceed further we must clarify that the issue of infallibility
pertains to Faith and Morals. What we mean by this is that
when the Church exercises infallibility in teaching on Faith
and Morals, the Holy Spirit protects the Church from
teaching error. This protection of the Holy Spirit also
extends to the deposit of Divine Revelation, that is the
Bible.
Most people when they hear the word “infallibility” think of
papal infallibility. And they often take it to mean that
anything the Popes says has to be believed by Catholics as
true. That is just silly. If the pope were to look out on a
rainy day and proclaim that the sun was shinning, one
could properly respond, “Holy Father, you are mistaken.”
Papal infallibility has only been exercised twice, and as
noted above, must pertain to issues of Faith or Morals.
Certain other conditions must be in place for the exercise of
papal infallibility. The Pope has to speak ex Cathedra, that
is in his teaching role and note that he is doing so in
making a solemn proclamation, which binds all the faithful.
The only two times this was done were in 1854 when Pope
Pius IX proclaimed the doctrine of the Immaculate
Conception as an article of faith, and in 1950 when Pope
Pius XII proclaimed the Assumption as an article of Faith.
Both of these teachings had been held since the earliest
days of the Church even though they had not previously
been solemnly defined.
The Magisterium or Teaching Authority of the Church
exercises infallibility when it solemnly defines an article of
Faith, for example during an ecumenical council. The
council must be in union with the pope and cannot in any
way override the pope. Unity comes from the top down:
the pope does not have to be in union with the bishops but
the bishops have to be in union with the pope. If there is
any disagreement between some bishops and the pope on
issues of Faith and Morals, it is the bishops who are wrong
not the pope. Ecumenical Councils are only valid when in
union with the pope.
Even when the pope is not speaking ex Cathedra on
Faith and Morals, he is still owed “religious submission of
mind and will.” This is clearly stated in Lumen Gentium,
the Constitution of the Church. The single exception that I
know of is Pope Benedict XVI’s book Jesus of Nazareth in
which the pope specifically states, “that this book is in no
way an exercise of the Magisterium, is solely an expression
of my personal search … everyone is free, then, to
contradict me.” This does not mean we can contradict the
established truths with which he deals in this book but only
with his own original interpretations. Even so, we should
remember that aside from being pope, Benedict XVI is also
one of the most formidable intellects and theologians of our
time and so merits especial attention.
(Next week I will discuss how this applies to Humanae
Vita).